Captain’s Log -- Star Dates 08142009 through 08162009
Location: Transiting across the Galaxy of Minnesota into the Galaxy of North Dakota
(Translation: Bismarck KOA, Bismarck, North Dakota)
Trip Miles – 6623.8
Diesel Price -- $2.66 per gallon; 37.5 gallons loaded
Weather: Mixed; Brilliant sunshine to cloudy to driving rain; heavy winds in Bismarck, ND
Engineering Report: This towing problem at 2000 rpm (60 miles per hour) is getting the poor Chief Engineer all wrapped around the axle! He’s checking with Eide Ford in Bismarck on Star Date 08172009.
Medical Report on the Commodore: All wrinkles in right hand have returned. Mixed Blessing!

The weather on our last day in Duluth was absolutely gorgeous beyond belief. Our only trouble was…this is sad….we had failed to replace the camera battery after charging it the previous night! So…instead of empowering Barbara in taking her famous photographs… the battery sat neatly in the charging cradle in our trailer twenty miles away! Back to the ancient discipline of using our memories to record our experience!

In search of a geocache, we were led to a tiny hidden beach surrounded by vibrant flower gardens. We hoofed across the Highest Lift Bridge in the World and nosed around the informative Corps of Engineers Maritime Museum. Duluth has 11,000 acres of open space and graciously provided excellent trails in Lester Park for our late-afternoon hike.

Oh, if y’all just happen to be in Duluth, stop by Caribou Coffee Roasters in the Canal District. They sell a dark roast named “Obsidian”. Really FINE!

Rolling westward across Northern Minnesota on Highways 200 and 34 involved many miles of driving rain, large and small lakes and a billion more pine trees. The North Dakota Visitor Center at Fargo has a multi-colored bison statue and serves hot popcorn for free! A touch of CLASS! This touch makes a couple of weary travelers feel welcome!

Minutes of All-Hands Meeting of Star Ship Wolverine Crew with Ship’s Officers, Star Date 08152009

Crew: We are burned OUT! We don’t want to see any d--- LAKES…or sweet, happy FAMILIES on vacation…or cute little-blond-haired-blue-eyed KIDS…or impressive monuments to the HEROIC DEEDS of those mighty square-jawed pioneering VISIONARIES who preceded us! We don’t want to see any more d--- FAMOUS HISTORICAL SITES…or…hear any more INSPIRING PATRIOTIC messages! At that hokey National Buffalo Museum over in Jamestown, ND, we saw the Biggest Buffalo on Earth (a d--- bronze statue) but didn’t see any REAL buffalo in the bison preserve next to it! They must have been hiding in the d--- TREES! Crap! We just want to be HOME in San Diego NOW!

Captain: Suck it up!

Commodore: There will be a BRIGHTER DAY tomorrow!

Admiral: Whatever! (Blink)

Star Date 08162009… the Commodore was right! We made many calls to family and friends. Rolling toward Bismarck, we passed enormous waving fields of sunflowers, corn and wheat. I assumed the land hereabouts would be dead-flat, but it waves gracefully! The State Capitol Complex, with its vast green lawn, invited us to pause and look around! In the late afternoon, we viewed the majestic, winding Missouri River from a windswept hilltop.

At the North Dakota Heritage Center, the Captain bought a really COOL ball cap with a bison on the front. It makes him look stalwart. He’s happy now!

As the kid in our favorite Kaiser Permanente commercial says, “Things are lookin’ up!”

Affectionately,
Captain Baldy