An Oasis

May 15--Minot, ND

The shower was just about as bad as I thought. It wasn't very sulfur-y, but it was very iron-y. It was rather like taking a shower in liquid iron. And the water was so soft I don't think I got all the soap out of my hair, and could hardly tell when I was rinsed. But I did sleep well--or at least, well enough.

Puck woke me up before 5am, and I ignored him for a while before I got up to go to the toilet. When I got back, he bothered me a while longer before I finally locked him in the kennel. I got about another hour of sleep before Nell woke me very politely, and I got up and fed both of them. Before I left I checked the tires; they weren't as inflated as they could have been, which might be why I'm not getting the mileage I got last year. Things are looking better since.

I bounced out of the KOA and headed west. I got through Fargo and stopped at a truck stop to get an egg and cheese sandwich from Subway, which was quite tasty. I headed off-interstate at Jamestown and wound through lots of little prairie towns on the way to Minot. I do wonder what some of these very tiny towns do for schooling; do they send students to a consolidated school, and if so do what do they do when blizzards hit? There's not much shelter out here.

They've obviously gotten a lot of rain here; many of the fields are flooded, and the "seasonal lakes" are full. I saw a lot of ducks (including one that had been hit by a car, which I don't think I've ever seen before), and almost hit a mama duck with a train of ducklings who decided to cross the road. I missed them, and the road was empty long enough that I suspect they are fine. I also saw some birds that I would swear were loons, but I'll have to look them up to be sure. They were definitely diving birds, though. Plus lots of dead deer.

I got to Minot and hoped to stay at a campground that got lots of good press; unfortunately, they are now only renting long-term (a week or more), presumably to oil workers who can't find an apartment (North Dakota is I think the only state that was never in a recession, and it's so full of people wanting to work in/around the oil fields that there simply isn't enough housing for everyone, and maybe not even enough campgrounds, since people are living in their cars, weather permitting). I didn't want to go to the KOA, which didn't impress me when I drove past it. So I'm at the same campground I stayed at last year, and it's just as nice as I remember. I got a truly level site that's not flooded, the water tastes great, and the weather is perfect (warm with a cool breeze); it's just barely spring here, I guess, since the trees are just barely in leaf. Whatever it is, it's great.

I'll be here through Monday morning, when I expect to take on Canada. I probably won't post tomorrow, since I won't be doing anything exciting (bleaching the water tanks/reading/napping/eating/cleaning the rig), so tune in then!