July 12th &13th From Grand Rapids MN to Fargo ND

We stayed in Grand Rapids MN last night. After almost a week of sleeping in a tent we decided to spring for a hotel. It was worth every penny. Setting up camp, cooking is a lot of work and then taking everything down is a lot of work. We were getting very little downtime at the campsites. Plus, there was a pool, wireless internet, cable and continental breakfast. The people of GR were super friendly. Everywhere we went they were helpful and interested in our trip. We found they were particularly proud of the fact Judy Garland grew up there.
I've never been much for The Wizard of OZ or anything else involving a combination of Miss Garland and munchkins. But even I (Josh) fell into a mindless daze and thought that visiting the birthplace of such an amazing American figure would be a great idea. I mean since we were in town and all. So off we went to be dazzled by the Judy Garland museum. On our way to finding the house we learned that it had been moved from its original location to be in a better tourist location near the local hotels. The house was closed. So the only thing that we were able to do was take some pics outside and around the grounds. I did however learn that I may make the ugliest Dorothy ever. After that anti-climatic visit to Garland-land, we went to the old historic school in the center of town, complete with yellow brick road. It was full of doll and quilt stores. The building was very neat though. And people in Grand Rapids, Minnesota are exceptionally nice.
Soon after we filled up with gas and made a dash for the North Dakota boarder. As we came across the state line I was thrilled to see a small (I'm being generous) county fair. Rickety rides like the Genesis and Hangglider-o-matic which at any moment felt as though you would plummet to your death. But that's half the fun, right? It also came complete with 4H exhibits. Which included more species of rabbit then we knew existed. We swung in and spent about an hour seeing the animals and riding rides. It was no Cedar point or Six Flags but "small town carnival" was on our list of things to find on this trip. Check.




We then set out in search of the small town of Hope ND (60 miles outside of Fargo). I had a friend (my sister's husband's father) that we were going to unexpectedly drop in on. Luck had it that I remendered how to get there (it been 5 years and I didn't have his address) and that Kim was happy to see us. He welcomed us in graciously; gave us more than enough food to eat and a bed to sleep in. We had decided to stay a few days and just relax in the silence that is the farmland of North Dakota. Little note on North Dakota (from Kathy). It is as flat as people say it is, which I guess I didn't believe until we were driving through it. And the silence? It took a day or so to get used to. No noise from distant cars, no constantly hum of electricity. My ear drums were roaring the first night we were there. Devoid of background noise I could hear all the ringing caused by previous damage (i.e. Gogol Bordello concerts, but I'm not going to stop going) After the initial shock at hearing nothing wore off, it was wonderful. As uneventful and empty as North Dakota seems, it was well worth spending a few days there.