Fargo, North Dakota

Whenever I think of Fargo, I think of the movie – I’m not recommending it. And, I don’t remember if it was a good (“good”) movie or not – I only remember two things: the accents of the people and the wood chipper. I saw it on TV (so, edited) but IMDb says it’s rated R, and from what I can remember of the wood chipper scene, that’s a good rating...and apparently, (again, according to my memory) they weren’t strict with their editing... Blecht.

The Wood Chipper is on display at the Fargo-Moorhead Visitors Center. Roadsideamerica.com says,

"While the wood chipper's time on-screen was brief, its use as a body-disposal device made for a disturbingly memorable scene."

True.

I couldn't view the wood chipper (which, I know - movie prop, not covered in blood (or at least not real blood), but still grosses me out), so we walked around the Fargo Walk of Fame, also at the Visitor’s Center. Started by a local business man, Mike Stevens, the Walk includes a variety or random celebrities - from Toby Keith to Bill Gates, George Bush to Burt & Ernie, Aerosmith to Art Linkletter, and many many more! (I’d list them all, but you should go see for yourself!)

We stayed at a nice campground (Lindenwood Campground in Moorhead-Fargo) right along the river, and conveniently beside the Interstate. Its surprisingly quiet, though - there's a noise wall and lots of trees, so the whole scene is very serene.

The campground has alot of recreational things to do - fishing, biking, a playground. According to their website (http://www.fargoparks.com/facility_camp.html) you can rent surrey bikes, fun cycles, tandem bikes and handicap bikes at their Information Center. I saw people circling on their surrey bikes and it looks like so much fun!!

 Instead, we settled in at our site beside the river and watched the guy across from us trying to fish. I thought he was living in his tent and trying to survive by fishing with his pole, string and safety pin, but Peter went to meet him, and apparently, he was just there for one day, but hadn't brought any food, thinking he'd just eat the fish he caught ... He looked like he lived there..

 

Imagine the scene: he baited his hook, tossed it in the water, propped his fishing pole up with some twigs, and went about... 20 feet away, laid down on a blanket, hands behind his head, feet crossed, staring at the sky. .. very relaxed...but if he caught something, he'd never get to it in time to reel it in.

Ok - so, he caught something, but didn't know what to do and was running around with a fish on a line - Peter had to go help him.. I don't know what happened next.

Other things (besides the surrey bike) I would put on my "to-do" list for next time in Fargo, will include the Air Museum & Rocket and the Space Alien Bar & Grill...not the wood chipper.. Not ever... not even next time.

Tomorrow (oh, well, in blog time, Wednesday), we’re meeting Richard, Shannan and the boys in Minneapolis! YAY!

(In other news - I can't figure out how to put a "follow" button on here, so if anyone could tell me that, that'd be great! Also, I can't figure out how to allow people who aren't members of "blogspot" to comment, either... I'm certain it's an easy fix, but I don't know what it is... In the meantime, I'm also blogging on http://biggestballofstring.wordpress.com, which has a "follow" button right there and anyone can comment...)

 



Outlook, SK (or as Peter calls it "Look Out!")

I don’t know how many of you have ever been to Saskatchewan (again - Sas-KATCH-ewan, not Saska-CHEW-an), but Peter told me years ago that we would never, ever go. Not even to cross it off "the list".

This is because his grandparents were from there, and they had had to drive that long, straight, road, back and forth, back and forth, to visit. And, while I’m completely entertained by long straight stretches with nothing in them but grass and the occasional cloud, it’s probably much more boring to 3 little boys, trapped in the car.

But then! Friends moved there - and not to the thriving metropolis of Saskatoon, but to a little town an hour or so south, called Outlook (Google map http://goo.gl/maps/DtyrQ). So, despite the "never, ever going", we’ve been there now - let me see - this time was our third time! (once to Saskatoon, and twice, so far, to Outlook.)

  

Outlook is a comfortable, friendly little town, where they keep a list beside the till at the local grocery store so you can sign up to attend the latest wedding shower, of the latest someone that everyone knows!

Instead of car dealerships, mainstreet is packed with farm equipment dealerships, and it’s not unusual to share the road with (or more accurately - to be run off the road by) massive combiner or the machines that haul the irrigation sprinklers...

It’s ok, though, to be run off the road in Saskatchewan. Except for the rolling hills, here and there, it’s completely and totally flat. (Apparently, the highest point in Saskatchewan is 1467 feet and the lowest is 699 feet...)
 

THIS is a picture of (or was it from?) one of the highest points in Saskatchewan.

Really! I’m not kidding!

 There’s lots to see and do in Outlook and we actually ran out of time, but one of the things is walking the Skytrail Bridge. It's an old railway bridge, converted to a pedestrian bridge, that goes over the South Saskatchewan River, and is over ½ mile long.

 http://town.outlook.sk.ca/skytrail/skytrail-1.html

The River is a beautiful, lazy (at least at this point) river, and the weirdest thing about it is that it’s running North - my brain really wanted it to be running South and had a hard time wrapping itself around the northern flow.

It turns out that

"Saskatchewan"

is taken from a Cree word for

"Swift Flowing River".

I don’t get it - I guess there’s probably rapids somewhere...? (Probably someone who’s been there more than 3 times,

or someone who lives there, could answer that...?)

Below the bridge is a nice, full hook-up campground with a public pool, at the Outlook & District Regional Park (just in case you decide to visit and don’t know anyone). http://www.outlookregpark.ca/campground1.html

And, if all of that doesn’t entice you, THERE ARE FIREFLIES!!!

(See you Sunday - we'll be enroute to North Dakota.)