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I came up with some other bullshit to impart from the road. For those who thought i've been deprived of getting to see any sort of roadside attractions, you should thank your lucky stars that North Dakota caters to the lazy tourists who would like to see things from their car before deciding to drive to the attraction and pay exorbitant entrance fees to see rather kitschy and boring things. So here's a couple of things i got to see from my car.
Home on the Range (above left): i'm guessing that this is someone's functioning ranch. It's maybe 11 miles in from the western border of North Dakota. We were kind of thrown off by the giant green roadsign that read "Home on the Range 1 mile" Had to stop and ponder that one. I've driven through ND three other times and haven't noticed that one before. Well as we drove a little further down, we saw the words written on the hillside. Yea, that's about all we saw. Still a little hazy on what exactly it was. Maybe next time i'll stop. you never know.
We also saw the world's largest buffalo, metal sculpture, and dairy cow. The last of which is the only one i actually managed to snap a picture of from the car (above right). Last summer when i hydroplained while driving through a rainstorm, it was quite near to the cow. Don't have any particular sentimental attachment to the cow, just remembered that tidbit.

So right now we're in St. Cloud, MN at Travelodge. As we were pulling up oustide, Maureen and i both looked at the building thinking, is this it? either it was going to be super creepy and overrun with bugs and rodents or it was a lot nicer than we'd ever have imagined a Travelodge could be. Has a sort hacienda look to it, with a nice large drive-up with an awning over it. I went inside to check in and the interior was interesting too. The desk clerk was an interesting character. She told me she dyed her hair blonde recently, but that she's actually a brunette and that she wasn't sure she could pull that off etc etc. She was quite entertaining and talked at me for a while. Told me that the Hotel used to be a Bar and restaurant about 12 years ago. There's still the foot-rest bar under the counter at the check-in desk. It's two stories and has an interesting staircase that runs up from the lobby. I'll have to take some pictures to share in the morning. It's really quite an interesting place.
alright, more tomorrow. hopefully.