July 3--From Glasgow to Devil's Lake ND

We left Glasgow after a good night's sleep and a hearty breakfast. Our travel days had taken on a certain routine. First we put all the luggage away, got drinks from the camper, decided who would drive (Jeff almost always started out) and the passenger's duties would be to decide on the morning music and act as navigator. It is such fun to start out the day, not really knowing where you are going or where you are going to stop. Such freedom is rare when most of the time the days are scripted and planned from beginning to end. It is a real gift to have this time to wander.

Today's route would take us through the Minot, ND which was in the news recently because of severe flooding. We did some research and found that Highway 2 was detoured south from Minot. We expected that it would be just a few miles, but that was NOT the case. First we went south, then east and then decidedly south/east and further and further away from Highway 2. Every time we tried to turn north, the road would be blocked by high water. We thought only Minot was affected by the flood. But it seemed like all of northern North Dakota was underwater.

After seemingly endless miles of fields and flooding, we finally found a road that was headed North and had no high water sign blocking the road. My careful research of the map and GPS on Jeff's phone indicated that by going north, and then east, we would come to the town of Devil's Lake which is located on the lake of the same name. There was a state park there that we hoped had room. Well, I plugged in the park address, and we followed the little blinking blue dot.....and followed.....and followed.....and followed......through a makeshift temporary road where a washed out bridge had been,

over horrible rough roads that went through parts of the lake, and around and down dirt roads until we came to a resort called Woodland. There were about a million people riding around in golf carts in every direction or in boats in the lake or fishing by the shore. NOT the campground we were looking for. And of course, being that it was the eve of the 4th of July, no room was available at the resort, either for camping or staying at the motel.

It was 9 pm, and we were exhausted and starving. We limped into the restaurant, expecting it to be closed or full or something. Instead we were given a marvelous lakeview table where the cool breeze and view of many sunburned and drunken North Dakotans greeted us. I don't know if the food was good or bad, but there was plenty of it and it was so nice to sit there and watch the sun set and not be moving. It is amazing how a really crappy day can turn into a really good time with a nice view and a beer.

After dinner, we did realize that we had no where to stay. So we called the local Super 8 motel and got a room. We were really glad to have a bed for the night, even though we had planned on camping, and the Devils Lake Super 8 was run down, stinky and hot. It was clean though.....And that was all that mattered at the time. We went to bed, relieved to be more than half done with North Dakota. And yes, they do talk just like the characters from "Fargo". "You Betcha!"