Out on the Prairie

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Today was the longest drive yet, about 460 miles from Rapid City, SD to Minot, ND. Wow! Once you get just north of Spearfish there is nothing, absolutely nothing around you for miles. There are no cars behind you, in front of you, or passing you in the other lane. And it gets windy. Though the mammoth tumbleweeds didn't come until I got to North Dakota just north of Bismarck. These tumbleweeds were big enough to knock the car right over. Alright, I'm exaggerating a little. That's about the only excitement in some of these areas, counting a tumbleweed here and there. I'll have to remember to count how many on my way back.

I arrived at my newest hosts late Saturday afternoon. I'm staying with Bob and Colleen, who have three boys ranging from 21-26 who are all moved away from home. Bob and Colleen have moved to their new place in town just over a year ago and are still trying to settle into after a busy year of two of their sons getting married this year. Colleen works at the high school helping needing students develop their language skills. Bob is a contractor who studied history in college and loves looking at the weather patterns such as the big gusts of wind rolled in this evening.

I have to say I feel right in place here. The magic word... hockey! All three of their boys played hockey, which is how I made the connection with Bob and Colleen. I studied abroad two years ago and befriended my professor Darcy. Darcy's son played hockey with one of Bob and Colleen's sons at the University of North Dakota. So one day I asked Darcy if she knew of anyone I could stay with in ND.

Well it was a long haul today and I'm looking forward to a wonderful night of sleep and a great few days getting to know another area, my hosts, and others.