Common Loon

Day 8 

We survived our first week on the road! It has been quite an adventure so far! We have been to 8 states, 5 capitol buildings and have seen so many new things. I can't believe how beautiful America is. I need to find a way to show our route we have taken so far... that will have to wait until tomorrow. 

Today we left our hotel in Bismarck and headed straight to Starbucks! It was a chilly 63 degrees so I actually bought a hot drink in the middle of July. Totally unheard of in Texas! I also enjoyed my blueberry scone. Yummy! 

Our first destination was Jamestown, North Dakota. We put the destination into GPS and she took us to a neighborhood dead end... When we finally found the place we were pleasantly surprised at what it was.  This is home to the largest buffalo and a frontier village. If you are driving through North Dakota this is worth a leg stretch! It is a free place to visit. It is a cute little recreation of what a frontier town would have been like. You can see into each of the buildings and there is even a general store. They have many items that are from the time period that you can see. 

After our time in Jamestown we headed for Minnesota! To get there you have to go through Fargo. We went into the visitor center and found some props from the movie, along with the original script! The young male worker offered us hats and to take our picture. Of course we said yes!

After some fun at the visitor center we headed for the Minnesota Welcome Center. Yay! They have one. We then turned around to go back to North Dakota to get pictures in front of their sign. We were disappointed many times with North Dakota and their welcoming you to their state. 1. No welcome sign on Highway 83 from farmland. 2. The welcome sign on I-94 was in the middle of the road (way to dangerous for even us to attempt to take pictures with.) 3. No welcome center with a North Dakota sign. We have pictures with all the other states so far! 

We left the welcome centers and took off towards Minneapolis/St. Paul; the Twin Cities! We had about a 4 hour drive ahead of us. Most of this drive was in the rain. I don't mind rain except when you are driving in it or wanting to walk around and see the sights. On our drive we found this awesome radio program called John Tesh Radio. There is music and then every so often they will teach you something. I'm not going to share everything we learned but here are some of the highlights:

1. Ice Machines at restaurants hold more bacteria than toilet water.
2. Car companies are making cars more geared toward people 60 and over with more automatic features.
3. A handbag can have more bacteria (especially leather ones) than a toilet.
I hope that gives you some things to ponder!

When we finally arrived at the capitol it was a beautiful evening. St. Paul, Minnesota is my 19th capitol!! Look how beautiful that building is!

Dome

Cool gold statue.

 Quick Facts about Minnesota:
State Bird - Common Loon - It looks like a duck with a black head and spotted black/white feathers.
State Flower - Showy Ladyslipper
Capital: St. Paul

We then went on an adventure to our hotel and Celeste went for her run. To find out more about her run check out her blog! You won't be disappointed! http://34justme.blogspot.com/

Our evening ended with a dinner at Panera. Always a good choice if you are looking for a bakery with wonderful sandwiches and soups. An interesting situation came up while we were eating. There were these 2 guys there working on their computers (looked like it was for school or work) and these older ladies went up to them and said something along the lines of "have you guys even said 2 words to each other? What is this generation coming to?" I had to think about that really hard because in my eyes they were working (like we all did in college). I didn't find anything wrong with that. I remember going to a restaurant with my books and computer with friends and working on stuff separately but we were still "together". Nothing against older people but you need to think about the situation. They weren't on their phones, they were clearly working on something. Maybe the library was closed? Maybe Panera is the only place with free WiFi? So many different scenarios! OK, stepping off my soapbox.

We then went exploring for postcards. What is open on a Sunday that would sell postcards? Barnes and Noble? Nope - they don't sell postcards. The mall? No - they close early on Sundays. Gas Stations? Let's try! After driving around for 10 minutes we spotted a gas station. Oh... no postcards :( But, they suggested Walgreens! After driving for another 10 minutes we found one!! Success! To us it was an adventure. Just imagine us driving around and praying that we can find a postcard and maybe you will et the "adventure." And that is how we ended our day.

One last thing: Are you wondering why I am spelling Capitol with an 'o' instead of an 'a'? You are not alone! Here is the difference:
Capital is the city
Capitol is the building

Thanks for reading! We have new states coming up in tomorrows blog so check back!