FOLIO OLIO: ADVENTURER’S LOG: EARTH CYCLE EIGHT

Gentle Reader, in all honesty I think my wife is the smartest, most persistent problem solver in the entire world. And I mean that with all my heart.

Case in point: We (me) had decided to bypass the whole Williston area because it's, well, insane. She spent a couple of hours on line and found us a room near the Geographic Center of the Universe (North America, of course); something I had voiced interest in seeing.

But it was sad as shit. It's sitting on a corner of two nothing roads and behind it (it is actually in the parking lot) is a vacant commercial property that once housed a now defunct Internet Cafe and a Fitness Center.

So, then we drove to our motel and were told that the couple who were staying in our room had decided to stay another night and we were shit out of luck.
Thinking we were fucked we drove half a mile down the highway and came to...

This place is amazing. There is a statewide ban on smoking in rooms, but my wife got us a room directly next to the side exit.

On one of my wife and I's trips "out back" to smoke, there were two people, a man and a woman, already out there smoking. I, of course, got a fresh beer out of the cooler in the truck and offered them one. The man took one saying, "Well, nobody likes to drink alone." I liked him instantly.
Come to find out they were in a traveling band playing near there tonight. Pretty soon the whole fucking band showed up and we had a grand time. I showed them my tag and they went nuts. I learned a lot about them and they were all delightful. One of the things I found amazing was that not only have they not gotten tired of being on the road, they love it. Meeting people like that doesn't happen often, and I cherish it.

This motel also has...are you ready...a bar, a package store, a restaurant. It is ALL run by a young man and his wife. When my wife went in the lobby to check in, she had to go looking for him. He was next door selling a case of beer. They are cool as shit....real give a shit people. He told us that they don't work on Sunday, so there wouldn't be anybody here when we checked out, so just leave the key on the desk. Amazing, considering we could haul off everything in our room if we were so minded.

The arrow points to my tag...

I found the screw and anchor in place and did what I had to do.

In case you're interested...

Talked to these guys, thinking they were from Williston. They said they are working locally, meaning in or around the town of Rugby, ND...

So, tomorrow we head to Williston (my wife found a room there also).

Across the street from our motel...seriously, in the middle of fucking nowhere (three other buildings within a hundred miles)...there is a Walmart. A couple who had gone inside said that Walmart can't find enough workers to stock the shelves, so pallet of stock litter the aisles.

I'm sure you have figured this out already, but if you are looking for a job, western North Dakota is the place to be.
(by the by, the rainbow was in fact in that position when I took the photo)

OBSERVATIONS FROM THE ROAD

I am watching a TV show about global warming and a scientist just said these words: "And that's just simple physics." Physics, simple....yeah.

The speed limit on small roads in ND is 70...which means 75 or 80...or 90 since you can see five miles down the road for a cop.

If there is anything in the world that needs a touch screen, it's GPS. You ought to be able to bring up a map, touch where you want to go and hit Go and it will take you there. For us backroads people you could touch in your whole fucking trip, small town to small town and then just sit back.

Last night we ate at a restaurant where all the tables came up to my nipples...seriously. I felt like a child. I told my wife that I thought it was because there were so many extremely fat people (and there are) that they had crushed the springs. But it did have liver and onions cooked by someone who knew what they were doing.

All the bragging I've done about my wife should not be misunderstood to mean she has abandoned her desire to drive me crazy. Every time I go to the bathroom or go outside to smoke, when I come back she has the TV changed to the "We" Channel. Jeeeez. And then there is the way she manipulates the conversation so that she can use the word "Wherewithal" that she pronounces "Wherewithel", which causes me to tremble. Then she giggles, alerting me to her game.

THE ANTI-SERMON