skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Today started with almost everything going wrong. Boat battery was dead, weed whacker busted, lost internet, fridge shut off, lost all electricity at the house. So we ran into town and got almost everything fixed which provided ample opportunity for a tour of Park Rapids, MN. I've never seen a gas station/bar. But the weed whacker will be another day's battle. Sorry Loren... I guess "universal head" applies to every other weed whacker in the universe, I guess I picked a dud.
The day was full of water sports with the Andersons. I went water skiing today for the first time and totally got up! Naturally I advanced to slalom skiing which was basically me getting dragged behind the boat underwater... so naturally I advanced to hypothermia. Thanks for the tea, thermal socks, and crocs. Again I can feel my feet:) We then took out the mini catamaran for an afternoon sail. It was a cruise of fun questions, trying and succeeding at steering the sailboat with my first mate Maren, and MaryAnn falling asleep... I just thought she was a good listener. Dinner was fantastic, and full of bbq chicken we attempted doubles skiing and were quite successful. Anderson ski school is still at 100% success rate!
Thank you Andersons for a wonderful wonderful wonderful time in the Midwest. It was fantastic spending time with your family and I am glad we all got to know each other better.
This morning I woke up to a beautiful Bad Medicine Lake, the "Best Lake to Swim in Minnesota" by Minnesota Monthly. I've only seen clearer water in Hawaii. Here's more about it from the article. The article would not be complete without Don's quote at the the end.
Bad Medicine Lake lacks nutrients. That may be bad for certain types of critters, but it’s good for you, since it means the lake, southwest of Itasca State Park, is extraordinarily clear; instead of phosphorous-and-nitrogen-rich runoff, it’s fed by cool, clean ground water. Indeed, its transparency is more than 30 feet deep in spots—greater than one-third its maximum depth. And while Bad Medicine is famous as a rainbow trout fishery, the lake is also a great spot for swimmers and scuba divers, says Don Tschudi, who has owned the Bad Medicine Lake Resort & Campgrounds for nearly 50 years. “You don’t have to worry about that swimmer’s itch,” he says.
Today we celebrated another 50th wedding anniversary with some other friends down the lake, MaryAnn and Loren's own wedding anniversary, and on top of that Father's day. Maren and myself then stole away and did a 15 mile or so bike ride at Itasca State Park, home of the Mississippi River headwaters. With my elementary school Oregon Trail tendencies, I had to ford the great Mississippi. I only lost one wagon wheel, 200 pounds of buffalo meat, and little Timmy died of dysentery. However the crossing was a great success and my backpack remained dry.
I don't know I keep running into such good fortune, but everyday thus far has been blogworthy.
I awoke at the crack of dawn this morning around 8:15am for a lesson on the Anderson farm in Rugby, ND. I rode along in the tractor, learned about combines, and really got a solid overview on farming. The amount of technology involved in operations these days is surprising; autopilot, gps, & air seeders. It really was fascinating for this city boy to see how middle America "tills the land," and I actually learned what that phrase meant.
On the drive to the Anderson's cabin in Minnesota we made a stop at Fort Totten, the proclaimed best preserved military post of the Dakota frontier era. I am not entirely sure how prestigious that title is, but nonetheless it was neat to see. Brevet Major General Joseph Gilbert Totten was the chief engineer in the U.S. Army at the time of it's completion and thus the fort was named in his honor. In the honor of my arrival at Fort Totten I paid full admission even though I am the closest living direct descendant of dear Major General Joseph, which the lady in the gift shop wasn't having at all. As well she shouldn't because I totally made that up.
Now being from Los Angeles, I grew up understanding that the emergency broadcast system on the radio was a big crack up. You hear the terrible beeping sound, the lady says "this is a test" and you go along your way happy because you'll never recover the lost 45 seconds of Ryan Seacrest in the morning. Driving through North Dakota and Minnesota today changed that for me. I heard eleven severe weather warnings including golf ball sized hail, severe thunderstorms, and tornadoes. Luckily by the time I encountered the hail and thunderstorms I was already at the lake house, and the funnel clouds never touched ground.
We were standing on the dock at Bad Medicine Lake in Minnesota when this huge cloud system came out of nowhere and took the sky. It was one of the funkiest things I have ever seen, and I have seen some funk in my short life. The black clouds rushed over the lake at immense speed and totally filled the sky, and the stillness was suddenly filled with winds that grew to a reported 65 miles per hour. I mean the entire scene changed in about six minutes. But on the water, this eerie white wispy fog took flight toward us at an extremely quick pace. Recognizing this as being bad, MaryAnn said "It's time to get inside." And immediately God let loose and we ran inside where we watched the storm pass.
Tonight I write from the geographic center of North America... Rugby, North Dakota. Other notable features include the Prairie Village Museum, Frank's German Restaurant, and a supper club called The Eagles. I am staying with the Anderson family, some dear friends I made during my time at PLU and very gracious hosts.
This morning started with coffee and oatmeal at a local diner and then to a museum tour with my friend Maren, one of those gracious Andersons I told you about. After a riveting time at the museum we drove to downtown where we walked around a bit and eventually made it to Frank's German Restaurant. At Frank's we ordered donor kabobs and enjoyed the company of other Rugbians. The restaurant is small enough that all customers join into a collective conversation- a really cool perk of a small town, even Frank was having fun with us. Maren then took me to some local farmland where I thought it would be fun to do a photoshoot with all my best cowboy gear (see pictures below). Later we met up with Maren's parents Loren and MaryAnn and we proceeded to a 50th wedding anniversary at The Eagles supper club for a much loved couple who are icons in the Rugby farming community.
Rugby is a very small town and it felt as if the entire community was in attendance at the anniversary party, I kept seeing people from passing in town earlier in the day. A sideshow played. There was an attempt to capture the lives of two and all they loved and accomplished in 50 years in a 20 minute presentation. Not a critique on the quality of the sideshow, it was well done, but more an observation on life. A video just can't do the justice that the experiences and memories sitting in those chairs do, but it sure is neat to see old photographs of newly weds and new photographs of old people still in love. To see photos of a family so enriched by each other, and sons and daughter honoring their parents by putting on such an event, really put the Midwest into perspective for me. Being a pure outsider from the west coast observing this all has definitely provided a unique experience that is hard to articulate other than life's really about family and the community out here.
I am currently in Bismarck, North Dakota stealing internet at a Holiday Inn. Apparently coffee shops in Bismark close at 6pm. Also making blogging more difficult is that half the state is in the mountain timezone, and the other side of the state is in the central timezone. Not knowing this I arrived at a coffee shop at what I thought was 4:45pm, it was actually 5:45pm, and they were closing at 6:00pm. After five years in Tacoma, I think all coffee shops should be 24/7 and espresso machines come with routers. Also making blogging somehow even more difficult was that the kid working the front desk had never heard of WiFi. I immediately turned into the Hulk and smashed his kiosk.
The weather was fun today. I have included a small video below about how I felt today during my nine hours of driving in sideways rain. I didn't lock the lid on my truck today and the sideways wind actually blew the lid wide open. I didn't even know that was possible. Luckily none of my stuff blew out the back. I also went to Devil's Tower today. I did my best to keep my eyes open but couldn't pull it off, even after three attempts. Thanks for trying guy from Ohio. On my drive to Minot, ND I came across the Totten Trail. I'm not exactly sure what it was but it had a fancy sign.
Today was a very powerful day, fueled by a Country Kitchen breakfast of Biscuits and Gravy with BJ.
I left Nebraska and headed to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to check out Wounded Knee, SD. As soon as I got onto the reservation it was like entering a third world country, not even exaggerating. I drove the fifteen miles to Wounded Knee and checked out the visitor’s center. The visitor’s center is a 30-foot circular building created by a guy on the reservation who wanted the truth told, basically there are a few people who live on the reservation who hang out there and tell stories about the culture. Inside is a collection of artifacts and photos from the massacre in 1890 and occupation in 1973. Little back-story for my interest… I took a Native American spirituality class at PLU and we studied the Lakota nation. The class read an autobiography by Mary Crowdog called Lakota Woman, she was a player in the Wounded Knee occupation in 1973. She gave birth to her son during the 71-day skirmish- a very good read.
Anyway, at the visitor center I met Olaha, a mother of three at 27 and finishing up a BA in Lakota Studies at Oglala Lakota College. Olaha’s parents were involved in the occupation at Wounded Knee in ‘73 and she was born just seven months after. We talked for about an hour about the occupation and life on the reservation. She described the reservation as lawless, full of drunks, high theft and arson, unsolved murders, and gang and family violence… but that was five years ago. Today Pine Ridge is cleaning up its act from the inside, and a lot of credit can go to Olaha’s family. They have worked to create safe havens for the children and bringing back the Lakota tradition that alcohol, drugs, tourism, greed, and lack of family values has distorted. Olaha practices many of the Lakota ceremonies I learned about in my class, her daughter recently received her Lakota name in one of the ceremonies. Her family also organizes traditional rides on holy trails that last up to five days with 200+ riders. She was extremely proud of her heritage, as she should be, and is very optimistic that the future Lakota generations will carry the tradition. Olaha believes the Lakota will become a strong united nation again now that the government is less oppressive to their way of life and the youth understand again what it means to be native. A great conversation.
I also drove through Badlands National Park and went to Mt. Rushmore today. 
Well there is a first time for everything. Today was very full so I’ll give you the bullet points.- An overnight snowstorm nearly caved in my tent. I woke up with the side of the tent nearest my head, on my head.
- Yellowstone closed the East exit due to weather conditions so I got redirected south, ultimately sending my day to Nebraska. (Not exactly on the itinerary).
- Crossed the Rocky Mountains in 2-wheel drive without chains during a snowstorm.
- Drove all throughout Wyoming, a state that can blow wind in all four directions simultaneously. Even the tumbleweeds were confused.
- Then I met BJ.
BJ is a 31 year old teacher from Boston also on a cross-country adventure. He started in San Francisco and is headed to Boston, however BJ is walking. We met when I pulled off the highway out of curiosity. He wears a giant sign on his backpack with his website. BJ's Blog We chatted for a few minutes and then he revealed the reason for his walk. He is planning on hand delivering a notebook of personal messages to the next president of the United States of America, from America. I will make the point here that BJ is not a crazy person. He cares about his country, politics, and is brave enough to make a statement, an extremely physically demanding one at that. He left San Francisco on March 1 and hopes to arrive in Boston in November, he admits he is a little behind schedule. Anyways, he gave me his card and I drove away but I then realized he had given me another person’s card by mistake. I turned around and returned what was his and we then talked about the looming clouds and came to the conclusion that we could split a cheap motel room and sleep in comfortable beds, not outside in the rain. So we got a cheap motel room (stop worrying reader) and went to dinner at some local dive he remembered from a previous Americorps assignment. BJ is a totally sweet dude and I am glad our paths crossed. I asked him how he keeps walking everyday. He said because he started something he has to finish it, and it helps that he keeps meeting encouraging people. He has now been walking for over three months and it’s just what he does, he can’t think of doing anything else. Finding inspiration like this is why I am on the road. Hopefully he’ll get into politics. This was a successful pick up of a hitchhiker, and was an actual objective for this trip. I seriously doubt everyone walking on the road is this cool, so I’ll quit while I’m ahead so my mom won’t worry☺
