Day 1, May 10: Dakota, Ho!

Well, at last we have begun the journey that will mark a travel milestone for us – our 50th state in the U.S., North Dakota.

The journey began with brother Darrell dropping us off at Hartsfield-Jackson (Atlanta International) about 2:30pm. We checked in, then headed to the Delta lounge on the B Concourse waiting for our 4:25 departure. The flight left close to on time; there was a bit of a delay as technicians tried to get our in-flight entertainment system working. They did, and then we left. The flight itself was definitely choppy at first, but settled down about thirty minutes in.  We landed in Minneapolis at the F gates and then made our way to the Delta lounge between the F and G gates, from where our next flight would be departing. We hung out there for about 1-/2 hours, taking the pictures below to memorialize the occasion.

Delta Lounge, Minneapolis Airport, May 10, Waiting for flight to Fargo, ND 

We left the Delta lounge, making our way to the G gates, and we arrived just in time for boarding. The flight from Minneapolis was all of 39 minutes from takeoff to landing. Still, it was pleasant enough, smooth sailing and a pleasant crew of attendants. Shown below are some photos I took though the airline window, as we were approaching and landing in Fargo’s Hector International Airport. Clearly, the mainstay of land use around here is agriculture. Miles and miles of farms, farmhouses and silos, as far as my eyes could see.

We landed and the distance from the gate to the exit for baggage claim was very short, as you might imagine. It is a very small airport, compared to other metropolitan areas we have flown into. However, that is not surprising given that the population of Fargo is about 138,000. I stopped at the rental car counter to get our car, while Patrise waited for the luggage in the baggage claim area.  The same agent worked the Avis and Budget rental car counters. We were renting from Budget. Meanwhile, it took the luggage quite a while to arrive. We remarked that we are spoiled living in Atlanta. Still, we took in the small airport's charm while waiting for the luggage to arrive, which was about thirty minutes later.

We loaded up the car, drive to the hotel (Doubletree in West Fargo), then checked in. We have had a quick dinner in the hotel restaurant – garden salad with chicken for her, fire cracker shrimp tacos for me – then headed back to the room to unpack a few items, get dressed and ready for bed, and settled in.

Tomorrow, we will lounge leisurely in the hotel for the morning, then get out to see a bit of the town in the afternoon. We have dinner reservations for Rosewild, for Patrise’s Mothers’ Day recognition. We have decided to visit the North American Bison Discovery Center on Monday. It is about 1-1/2 hours drive west of Fargo. Then Monday afternoon, we will meet Josh Holmgren, Patrise’s brother, either at the hotel or somewhere halfway between Fargo and Minneapolis. Minneapolis is about 3-1/2 hours from Fargo. That may be close in prairie terms, but big sister is not comfortable with little brother driving that much distance to see us, have dinner, and drive another 3-1/2 hours back to his home. Frankly, I have to agree with her on that point.

Enough for tonight. Tomorrow, we explore a bit of Fargo.