Cross-Country Road Trip Day A Million: A Slow Day in Devils Lake, North Dakota

If there’s an appropriate adjective for the trip through far western Michigan, northern Wisconsin, Minnesota, and most of North Dakota, it’s ‘boring.’ Or maybe ‘stultifying.’ Certainly not ‘engaging,’ or even ‘oddly arousing,’ that’s for sure.

But one thing I’m coming to realize is that it’s not really an emotion that goes away with time. Everybody here appears to be bored, including the state troopers in Devils Lake, ND. Because that’s the only possible reason I can think of for why they pulled me over: doing 75 in a 70 zone would hardly cause the cops to bat an eyelash anywhere else. Hell, the cops do 130 on the 401. I’m not really annoyed or inconvenienced by the stop; it’s only $25. I’m just baffled. I guess the cop just wanted somebody to talk to.

Oh, and I locked my keys in my car in Grand Forks. I’d pulled over to stretch my legs and take pictures of the eerily massive University of North Dakota arena. 11,000 seats and $110 million for an arena in a teeny little town in a dinky little state. I never got the American obsession with college sports. Anyhow, I was a tard and left the keys on the passenger side seat. But Triple-A saved my ass. Thanks for the membership, Mom!

Minot, ND, is even smaller than Grand Forks. But the hotel is cheap. Which probably explains why the phone doesn’t work.