“Oh, Canada”

Another day in the fierce wind. Everywhere we stopped today, people were talking about it.

Going back a few days, when we were waiting at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport for the charter bus, there were LOTS of other people also waiting for the same reason, with more showing up every 20 minutes or so. People started talking to one another and comparing notes. One group had made this trip 7 times. Another couple was going on their 4^th trip. A couple that left on Friday was on their 15^th trip. (I don’t think I could do that. I need more variety.)

Waiting Inside

Waiting Outside

Us Waiting

It was fun getting organized in our motor home when we got to Forest City. On Saturday morning, we saw the orientation video -- and my head (almost) exploded. There was way too much to learn and remember.

Saturday's Line-up

Going to Orientation

Susan in Front of Ours

On Sunday, we ate dinner at the Tower City Café. There was a (radio) tower, but there was no city. 

Mother's Day at the Tower City Cafe

 Some fun facts we later learned about North Dakota include the following:

               The capitol is Bismark.

               ND is the birthplace of actress Angie Dickinson, basketball player & coach Phil Jackson, journalist Eric Sevareid, and bandleader Lawrence Welk.

               ND is the 17^th largest state, with 70,655 square miles; it is 212 miles long north to south and 360 miles wide east to west.

Milk is the official state beverage.

               The town of Rugby is the geographical center of North America. A rock obelisk about 15 feet tall marks the location.

               The town of Rutland cooked the world’s largest hamburger, weighing in at 3,591 pounds and feeding 10,000 people. (It doesn’t give the year, but if it was recent, I’m sure it would have been on Food TV.)

               ND grows more sunflowers than any other state, but the state flower is the wild prairie rose.

               The all-time high was 121 degrees at Steels on July 6, 1936.

               The all-time low was -60 degrees at Parshall on February 15, 1936.

After we left the hills around Minot, it got flat again. As soon as we entered Canada, we could see lots of mining that reminded me of the phosphate mines in Central Florida. Later we passed salt mines that were on the surface -- giant lakes of salt water. As the wind blew over the surface of the lakes, it looked like dried salt being flown away.

The ground slowly rose the further west we came. We looked for Clint Eastwood from “High Plaines Drifter,” but he was nowhere around.

We drove through Moose Jaw earlier today and are staying in Medicine Hat tonight. I can’t connect to the Internet right now, but I’m curious as to how those towns got their names. (I’m writing in Word and will post later.) Tomorrow is Calgary, Banff NP, and Jasper NP.

*****We drove through Banff and Jasper National Parks via the Icefields Parkway -- the most beautiful place I have ever seen.  Photos of that later.******

Thanks for reading,

Charlotte and Susan