Fargo and Grand Forks

 

A rainy day in North Dakota!  Off and on showers throughout the day, so it was a good day to take a quick trip up to Grand Forks while Vi went shopping at the mall in Fargo.  She met up with Melanie while I went up to meet with Sean Johnson at the Blue Moose in East Grand Forks.  Nice drive up with lots of construction on I-29 which forced all traffic over to the south bound lane with one lane of traffic each way on that side.  Nobody drives slow around here so it didn’t make for any traffic jams.  Grand Forks is a neat town (home of UND which both Celsey and Carley attended) – the NDSU side of the family just barely accepts its’ existence.  Speaking of NDSU, this was the first year that they were not a power house in the FCS.  Their string of FCS victories was broken, mostly because of the Spring season which caused them to lose their star players to the NFL draft.  Strange how the pandemic has affected so many things in our lives.  As we are slowly coming out of the pandemic, it’s awesome to be able to get back into a “normal” way of life – no masks, being able to visit, etc. 

 

Met with Sean Johnson and we had a nice discussion over lunch about my friend and his father – Johnny.  Sean has had an interesting life – born in North Dakota, worked as a chef there, Lake Havasu, and in West Seattle, lived in Arizona, but then moved back to Grand Forks.  He returned to college and got a degree in information processing and works for Digi-Key.  We shared some memories of his father and it was a good time.  After lunch, I drove back to Fargo, but decided to take the road on the other side of the Red River, which is in Minnesota.  So instead of I-29 or US 81, I traveled down US 75 into Moorhead.  The farm land is beautiful and is in various stages.  I really like the black soil.  Don’t think I would want to drive across those fields, even in the Jeep – it’s like thick mud and clay right after the rain.

                         

Before crossing over into Minnesota, I passed by several interesting operations.  One was Rahr Malting which makes malt for brewing beer and another was American Sugar which processes the sugar beets.  Huge operations.

Driving through Minnesota wasn’t any different than driving through North Dakota – same prairie, same fields, but it was interesting that on the North Dakota side, the north-south railroad was still in operation and contributed to the various plants and operations; while on the Minnesota side, the railbed was more of a Rails to Trails with tracks torn out.  Interesting how the infrastructure affects so much of the countryside.  I-29 also runs on the North Dakota side, so that helps contribute to the business side.

 When I returned home, Vi and Melanie brought Karen over to see the RV and Ken joined us a little later.  Wine may have been involved!  Plans were made to meet up for dinner at The Bar Down in West Fargo where Russ and Melinda, Rachel (their daughter), and Melissa joined the rest of us for a great dinner.  Huge restaurant with lots going on. It’s amazing how the area around Fargo and West Fargo has grown over the years.  There are just so many new shops, restaurants, apartment complexes, housing developments, etc.  For us coming back each year (except for the last one), it is always an interesting sight.   However, it’s an easy area to get around in.  Melanie and I were having a discussion about how folks around here don’t use left and right when giving directions, it’s always east or west, north or south. 

 Friday is Colin’s graduation party, so everyone is looking forward to that.