Fargo, ND

 

Well, after 1850 miles, we arrived in Fargo (the first of our planned destinations).  We stayed a little longer on Wednesday in Bismarck to take care of some housekeeping.  Because our tires were a little sun-baked from all their time in Arizona, we had planned on replacing them at some point.   That point finally arrived – we felt it would be more comfortable driving with new tires and not have to worry about another one blowing out.  There was a tire shop near the KOA and after some checking around, we decided to take the RV (still unnamed) over and have the tires replaced.  We’ll use the one we replaced in Green River as our new spare.  Now the only thing we need to do is replace the hubcap which we lost when the tire blew – how difficult can that be :-).  While we were waiting for the “retiring”, we drove around Bismarck, checking out the capitol.  They have an unusual capitol – not your normal domed edifice.  It’s a square, high rise building which stands out against the North Dakota landscape.  Very different.  We also took advantage of the downtime to get some laundry done.  Found a neat, very clean laundromat and whiled away an hour or so watching the clothes whirl around.

 

Picked up the RV a little after noon and they wanted us to drive it for twenty miles so that they could retorque the wheels.  They said that was a good idea to prevent any of the lug nuts from loosening – sounded like a great idea to us.  Drove north into the countryside and then returned for the final touches.  From Bismarck, we headed east (again) for Fargo – this was one of the few days we stayed on the Interstate for the entire trip.  Not many options west to east and so we set the cruise control and drove across more prairie to Fargo.  RV seemed to ride better with the new shoes, but maybe that was just wishful thinking on our part.

 

Arrived in Fargo around 5:00 p.m. and found our campsite.  We are staying at Lindenwood Campground which is in a city park on the Red River.  Close to I-94, but with the soundproof qualities of the RV and some white noise from TV and the A/C, it’s not noticeable.  The only sites they have are back-in (didn’t have the luxury of a drive-thru site).  No real problem and the RV ain’t going anywhere for several days.  Quickly set up and then called to announce our arrival.  Vi made arrangements with Karen to meet at the Spitfire Restaurant for dinner.  Ken, Melanie and Celsey drove in and joined us, even though they had already eaten.  Afterwards, we drove over to Michelle and Adrian’s for a glass of wine and more family reunion.  Fun evening and we spent the first half hour admiring the renovation work M&A had done on their kitchen/family room.  A beautiful job and very well-done.  They were getting ready for Colin’s graduation party on Friday, so there decorations all over.  Fun evening and I think we made a small dent in their wine cellar.

 

Afterwards, it was back to our happy home by the river.  Schedule is a little flexible for our stay here, but hopefully, we can get some golf and shopping in (guess who does which).  I also want to drive up to Grand Forks either Thursday or Friday to meet up with the son of one of my Air Force compatriots.  Johnny and I were stationed together in Okinawa back in the 1960’s and were very close friends.  He was a maintenance officer with the SAC wing and I was the admin officer.  We travelled together to Thailand and other locations – visiting Young Tiger operating locations in Thailand – part of which involved a train trip from Korat to Bangkok and then down to U-Tapao AB.  I had lost track of him because he was originally from Rochester, NY, but somehow ended up in Grand Forks, ND where he went to law school and eventually became an attorney general there.  Looked him up several years ago and located him in Grand Forks.  Too late to meet up with him because he had passed away by that time.  All the time we had been coming back to North Dakota, we could have met up.  His son and family still live there, so I wanted to meet them.  I had sent some photos of our time together in Okinawa and our travels.

 

Our campsite doesn’t have wi-fi, so this posting may be a little delayed until we find an spot with internet access. 

p.s.  Late breaking news - who knew they had Starbucks in Fargo!  They're not allowing people to sit inside so I'm out on the patio catching up on e-mails (and watching a long line of cars trying to get their morning fix).