Canada/West 2022:
Day 24 - Fargo


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Canada 2022: [Day 1 - Holmen] [Day 2 - Trempealeau] [Day 3 - Coon Valley] [Day 4 - Viroqua] [Day 5 - Cloquet] [Day 6 - International Falls] [Day 7 - Winnipeg] [Day 8 - Winnipeg] [Day 9 - Regina] [Day 10 - Grasslands NP] [Day 11 - Taber] [Day 12 - Waterton Lakes NP] [Day 13 - Banff NP] [Day 14 - Edmonton] [Day 15 - Jasper NP] [Day 16 - Bay View] [Day 17 - Woodinville] [Day 18 - Woodinville] [Day 19 - Mt. Rainier NP] [Day 20 - Macks Creek Park] [Day 21 - Craters of the Moon] [Day 22 - Yellowstone NP] [Day 23 - Lewis and Clark SP] [Day 24 - Fargo] [Day 25 - Heading Home]

Friday, September 2, 2022: Today was going to be our longest driving day on this trip, so we got up very, very early and were on the road well before dawn. The oil field flare stacks lit up the pre-dawn darkness.
We stopped for gas, ice, and two Mountain Dew Purple Thunders, which was an exclusive flavor for Holiday gas stations.
We also treated Septimus to a carwash, since he was filthy.
Our first stop of the day was the Scandinavian Heritage Park in Minot, North Dakota. We took a brief look at the Stave Church, ...
... and their huge Dala Horse on the grounds, ...
... and then stopped at a nearby McDonald's for second breakfast. You know about that, right?
We passed the North Dakota State Fairgrounds on our way out of town.
We were truly out of the mountains and into the farms of the Great Plains. There were planted fields everywhere.
We were driving US-2 across North Dakota, which took us through Rugby, North Dakota, a town that is as close to the geographic center of North America as the US Geological Survey can calculate. There were flags of Mexico, Canada, and the United States flying behind an obelisk marking the site.
Devil's Lake is a very large body of water in eastern North Dakota.
We stopped at a very cute rest area that was built to resemble a river steamboat.
It even had a little walkway that ran around the back of the building so that you could look out over the retaining pond as though you were on the back deck of the boat.
We had been on these train tracks when we came through here in 2012.
As we approached Grand Forks, we passed Grand Forks Air Force Base. The Northrop Grumman building on the base had a large number of unmanned aerial vehicles or drones parked on the ramp just outside.
We had planned to eat at The Kegs Drive-In restaurant, which featured large wooden barrels as part of the building, but it was closed and up for sale.
The sign on the door said that the last day of operation was August 24th, which was eight days earlier.
We drove back through Grand Forks, past Bob's Oil Co. with a vintage sign and office, ...
... past this food truck named "Oof-da Tacos," ...
... past a U-Haul: New Mexico truck, ...
... to this Taco John's where we grabbed lunch.
We drove past the Alerus Center, which the home stadium of the University of North Dakota football team. It is also a convention center and concert area, and features a 26,000 square foot ballroom.
We drove south out of Grand Forks, ...
... to the Riverside Cemetery in Fargo, where we walked to ...
... the grave of Rick Schense, a classmate of Debbie's at Macalester.
He died in 2008 from cancer. He was an important part of great memories from her freshman year.
His mother is buried in the same cemetery, so we paid her a visit as well.
When we were here last year, we stayed at the Lindenwood campground, which is just on the other side of I-94 from the cemetery, less than a mile from here.
We jumped back on I-94, and headed into Minnesota.
It was the Friday before Labor Day weekend, and the highway leading out of the Twin Cities were clogged with travellers. Luckily for us, we were trying to get into the Cities, so there was almost no traffic.
The Spoonbridge and Cherry at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden was shooting water from its stem. Someday, we'll have to actually visit this Minneapolis icon.
We crossed over the Mississippi River, ...
... and exited the highway at Snelling Avenue. There were so many changes from when this was Debbie's 'hood. This row of apartments and shops stands where O'Gara's Pub used to be, ...
... Dunkin' Donuts stands where there used to be a Dairy Queen, ...
... and Tono's Pizzeria + Cheesesteaks stands in place of the St. Clair Broiler.
But Carbone's Pizzeria on Randolph Avenue is still there.
We ordered a small Carbone's Special and a pitcher of Diet Coke. Mmmmm. So good. We also picked up nine frozen small Carbone's Specials to go and put them on ice in our cooler.
Our next stop was Bloomington, ...
... at the TownePlace Suites across from the Mall of America, to be precise.
We checked in, ...
... freshened up, and immediately headed out, walking across the street ...
... to the Mall of America.
Note to self for next time: the JW Marriott is attached to the mall. It would have been a much shorter walk.
We were briefly tempted by the M&M Store, but managed to resist.
The center of the Mall of America is an amusement park, with rides and games and all sorts of attractions, but we were here for exactly one reason.
LEGO! The LEGO Store at the Mall of America has a great area just outside the entrance, with tables and tubs of LEGO to build with your kids while you wait. Or for your parents to build with while you ride the rides.
Their Pick & Build wall was enormous, easily twice the size of any other wall we had seen so far.
This was also the thirty year anniversary of this store, and they were celebrating by having an exclusive minifig two pack that was free with purchase starting tomorrow morning for the first 375 customers who spend $50 or more. We were planning to come back for this tomorrow, but after talking to one store employee who said they were expecting a huge crowd and lines around the building, we decided to skip it.
We left with just Debbie's purchases, ...
... and one final look at the amazing play area outside the store.
High up on one wall of the central area, there was a tribute to Harmon Killebrew, a beloved player for the Minnesota Twins. The tribute includes this sign, and next to it, a seat from Minneapolis Metropolitan Stadium, which was their home field on this very site during his time with the Twins.
We bought ice cream cones for the walk back to the hotel.
The area around the mall was lit up beautifully after dark.
Back at the hotel, we tucked away Debbie's Pick & Build cup and Build-A-Minifig pack, and relaxed in the room until we fell asleep.

Day 25 >


Canada 2022: [Day 1 - Holmen] [Day 2 - Trempealeau] [Day 3 - Coon Valley] [Day 4 - Viroqua] [Day 5 - Cloquet] [Day 6 - International Falls] [Day 7 - Winnipeg] [Day 8 - Winnipeg] [Day 9 - Regina] [Day 10 - Grasslands NP] [Day 11 - Taber] [Day 12 - Waterton Lakes NP] [Day 13 - Banff NP] [Day 14 - Edmonton] [Day 15 - Jasper NP] [Day 16 - Bay View] [Day 17 - Woodinville] [Day 18 - Woodinville] [Day 19 - Mt. Rainier NP] [Day 20 - Macks Creek Park] [Day 21 - Craters of the Moon] [Day 22 - Yellowstone NP] [Day 23 - Lewis and Clark SP] [Day 24 - Fargo] [Day 25 - Heading Home]

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