But here goes nothing.
North Dakota was very sedate. In fact, this whole leg of the trip has been littered with complacency, most likely because we're in familiar turf. We know how to be Midwestern. The good news is that we're still exploring.
Our first official North Dakota stop was in a very small town. Being a Sunday evening, not much was happening, but as Ryan fueled Vincent, a Yelp notification popped up on my phone that I was within 100 yards of a well-reviewed food establishment. As such, we ended up dining at a dive bar called Trio. The bartender was brand new, but she whipped up some delicious food while we sipped cold bottled beer and played Scattergories at the bar.
We spent the night at the Fort Ransom campsite, specifically due to the abundance of hiking in the area. Our first night, we barely parked before a violent lightning storm drifted by. My phone cheerfully let me know that a tornado watch was in effect, and though there was no rain, there were high winds and thunder.
The next morning, we sponged our way through some wet trails while the skies threatened to dampen our hike. There was a light chill in the air that gave the surrounding hills and meadows a Scottish Highland feel, and we actually enjoyed the use of light jackets.
Our phones were at 16% and 6% charge, respectively, so I did not get to log this hike on my hiking app. That also meant no GPS. Thankfully, we were aided by a mildly inaccurate map, and managed to do an approximately 3 mile loop through forest, fields, and hills.
After our hike, it became abundantly clear that we needed to stop for coffee and supplies, so we headed to Fargo after a brief foray at a very well stocked random gas station. The clerk looked only mildly amused at my purchases of coffee, breakfast sandwiches, a 5lb bag of Dot's Pretzels (you need to try them), and Diet Mountain Dew. At 11am.
Once in Fargo, we enjoyed a wander around Target and a stop for Taco John's. We hit a few bottle shops with little success, and then sat in the parking lot of our hotel, listening to American Gods on Audible until it was time to check in. We hadn't bathed in an embarrassing succession of days, so getting a chance to stand under water with a bar of soap was critical.
After a thorough cleansing, we headed out for the Ales portion of the Ales and Trails experience. Fargo has a variety of fantastic breweries, but ironically, our first stop was in Minnesota. Oops.
Junkyard Brewing had an excellent vibe, and a very tasty rice lager.
We then zipped back into Fargo, and hit up Drekker, which was phenomenal. We were also the only people in there, since Tuesday isn't a heavy-hitting drinking time for most people. Then again, most people don't live in a van, so there ya go.
Most flights of beer are quite small, but Drekker poured us generous half pints of beer, and we took our sweet time sipping beer and talking. We hashed over family drama, horse drama, our feelings on the road, world peace. We discovered that Danny Devito and Phil Collins have a similar look. We talked about how the Universe gives us signs... it got pretty deep.
Then we realized we hadn't actually eaten dinner, so we rolled out to Fargo Brewing, which was not only equipped with a killer charcuterie, but conveniently located right by our hotel.
We lingered here for a significant amount of time, not only because the beers were tasty, but because they had cute cat videos on instead of sports or news, and I am a sucker for cute cat videos.
Back at the hotel room, we slept the sleep of people whose van mattress went flat months ago. The next day would be a full day of driving, so rest was essential.
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