We spent the night in a motel that serves as a temporary home for migrant men who work in the oil fields. Lots of men. Lots of dirt. People living out of their trucks, grilling on their tailgates or eating microwaved dinners. Lots of beer. We left at 7 AM.
Drove a couple of hours. Stopped briefly at the Lewis and Clark Interpretative Center -- yes, we're back on their route along the Missouri. We'd hoped to tour the exhibits there and see the old forts, but we only had time to peak inside and snap a photo.
We continued on to Bismarck, the state capitol, where we had lunch with the state EMS director, Tom Nehring. He's a very pleasant man, and we spoke in depth about the state of ambulance services in rural North Dakota. After lunch we drove on to Fargo, where we stopped to do laundry and email. It was about 7 PM by the time we left Fargo. It wasn't at all like the movie.
About 8 PM, we pulled into Molly Murphy's pub in Fergus Falls. I picked it because it was near the interstate and had good reviews on my phone, plus I like the name Fergus Falls. We drank beer, ate, watched sports on TV and talked about where we might go next.
After dinner, we drove about another hour into Minnesota, where we camped for the night at a rest stop. The bathrooms were clean, but there were a lot of big rigs there. Unfortunately, the one parked next to us was a refrigerator truck that left its loud engines running all night. But we cozied into the teardrop and read for a while and slept most of the night until about 6 AM, when we took off again. Some days are more exciting than others, but even the in-between days are better than working an office job or being at home, where things all too often stay the same. Out here, you never know what might happen. But it might just be laundry.
