Friendly Faces

The second we crossed the North Dakota border, going 90mph was impossible. It seems every few miles there was a sign "Speed Zone Ahead" or "Fines Double in Construction Zones" or "Slow to 45mph". The crazy thing is that there was never any obstruction, or construction, or anything that should deem a slow-down. There weren't even very many cars on the road! In North Dakota they must want to keep people awake and on their toes while on these roads. Good idea. I said to Niece, "Well, we're still making really good time, assuming I don't get pulled over." Jinx!

The whirring of traffic lights to my rear competed with the gorgeous sunset. Pulling over, the next thing I knew there was a tall freckled face boy at my window in a Police Officer costume. He had twinkling eyes and a cheerful disposition. Obviously, he'd read our windows and knew we were out to see all 50 states. "Thousands of people could be reading about this on our blog in a couple of days," I reminded him. We were set free with a verbal warning and immediately the vibe in North Dakota was a positive one for us!

*Are you reading this Mr. Police Man? Thanks a million!

Poor Doodle almost always misses animal sightings. Luckily for her she sees all kinds of crazy animals on her own that we don't! This has been happening since she first started spotting pink bears in Arizona. Well, here's an example of one of her animals -- a big green alligator -- and I actually saw it, too!

A couple of hours later, it was pitch black and we were entering roads that were lit by the stars and lightening only. I called our B&B for directions and they went something like this, "Turn right at Coleharbor, go over the dam (it's lit up so you can't miss it), turn left in 8 miles and then right on a gravel road." We really tried, but when we finally found the Coleharbor sign, there was no turn! We found a bar with a lot of activity in the parking lot so we asked a man in a truck to help us out.

He and his wife had pulled in to see what all the commotion was about (an ambulance pulled in) and there we were in need of them! What a sweetheart couple! They reviewed my directions, filled in all the gaps like, "See that orange light off in the distance? Turn right there." Then they actually offered to let us follow them to our first turn off. When I called the B&B man again, he kept saying things like, "You just don't worry a bit. I'll drive out to the main road to find you if I don't see you coming down the hill soon." We'd entered Central time by surprise so we didn't get in until midnight. Ugh.

One thing we can say with certainty: North Dakota people are warm and gracious.