This will be brief. I'm still getting settled in to my new hometown, new life, new world, new everything. Possibly even a new country? Feel pretty far removed from the world up here.
While I realize North Dakota isn't exactly Siberia, it's still pretty distant from where I grew up and the life I used to know.
The drive here was fairly rough. Stupid me for trying this in the winter time. Hit an ice covered bridge in Wisconsin and had my first ever wreck. Yay! Thanx for keeping your roads clear, cheese heads. *flips Wisconsin both birds* .I. :Þ .I.
It was a bit terrifying, though. Trailer swung out from behind my SUV and just yanked me around the bridge like a ragdoll on an ice rink. I came within about 3 feet of going over the edge. Thirty foot drop to the highway below. I got lucky. Very lucky. That could have been my end.
Regardless, took some damage to my SUV and the crappy Uhaul trailer I was pulling.
Thanks to that, it was a full two days to get here.
Ended up driving through all of Minnesota and North Dakota at night, which sucked because I wanted to See everything. never been to either. Well, not true. I was about 90 minutes into southern Minnesota once. Thirteen years ago. And it was -85 with the windchill.
But that aside, yeah. Five hundred miles of driving, in the winter, in snow, twenty below, in the dark, in two states I've never been. Did I mention I'm stupid?
So, eventually, I get to North Dakota and you can 'feel' how wide open it is. The trees were so few, I sensed their presence as I passed by. That was creepy. This boy grew up around woods and forests. They are kinda missing way up nort' here. And with all the open, and all the snow, what few lights and towns there are, sorta lit up the ground decently. And the interstate was a bit more visible than it should have been back home. Not that that helped much. My view all the way to the capital was like...
While I realize North Dakota isn't exactly Siberia, it's still pretty distant from where I grew up and the life I used to know.
The drive here was fairly rough. Stupid me for trying this in the winter time. Hit an ice covered bridge in Wisconsin and had my first ever wreck. Yay! Thanx for keeping your roads clear, cheese heads. *flips Wisconsin both birds* .I. :Þ .I.
It was a bit terrifying, though. Trailer swung out from behind my SUV and just yanked me around the bridge like a ragdoll on an ice rink. I came within about 3 feet of going over the edge. Thirty foot drop to the highway below. I got lucky. Very lucky. That could have been my end.
Regardless, took some damage to my SUV and the crappy Uhaul trailer I was pulling.
Thanks to that, it was a full two days to get here.
Ended up driving through all of Minnesota and North Dakota at night, which sucked because I wanted to See everything. never been to either. Well, not true. I was about 90 minutes into southern Minnesota once. Thirteen years ago. And it was -85 with the windchill.
But that aside, yeah. Five hundred miles of driving, in the winter, in snow, twenty below, in the dark, in two states I've never been. Did I mention I'm stupid?
So, eventually, I get to North Dakota and you can 'feel' how wide open it is. The trees were so few, I sensed their presence as I passed by. That was creepy. This boy grew up around woods and forests. They are kinda missing way up nort' here. And with all the open, and all the snow, what few lights and towns there are, sorta lit up the ground decently. And the interstate was a bit more visible than it should have been back home. Not that that helped much. My view all the way to the capital was like...
But eventually I made it. You could see the city glow for about 45 miles. Surreal.
Once I cleared the last big hill, though (yeah, that was a joke), and the valley of my new hometown came into view, I have to admit it was pretty breath taking. Even in the dead of night, of this hellish arctic zone.
I am still getting used to things. It's a little more expensive than I am used to, but nothing like Cali or Colorado. And there is no Kroger's here. Grocery shopping just isn't the same. Especially when you see regularly stocked items on the shelf like 'Herring in Wine Sauce"
Really? Wtf?
Lots of blonds and redheads up here, too. And beards. Many, many, Many beards. Lots of German and Nordic descent about, from what I'm told.
But the people are pretty nice. Very helpful. They kinda stick together. But I guess that becomes inherent when you live on HOTH.
This weekend should prove intriguing. We have a blizzard watch, and a wind chill warning, and a white out watch. Prolly a buffalo stampede watch in there somewhere. Perhaps a "freeze to death since you're stupid for going to ND in the winter time" watch, too.
The company does make it all worthwhile, though. Very few regrets. I miss my children, of course. And one other.
But this is what it is. And I will enjoy. One way or another.
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