What the heck is in Minot, North Dakota?

I drove for seven hours when I left Minnesota and I ended up in Minot (My-not) North Dakota. Two hours of that ride was farm land and hay bales. The majority of the population in Minot is enlisted in the Air Force and work on the nearby base here. Besides the fact that the speed limit is 75 on the highway, there is nothing exciting about the city itself and there are no popular monuments or landmarks. So what brings me to Minot? An old friend of mine Shawn!

I haven’t seen Shawn in eight years (2001 for those of us who don’t calculate well) we met on a People to People trip to Australia. For two weeks Shawn and I were inseparable. He was for sure one of the older brothers I never had. We balled together (waxed those kids from Cali out on “The Cove”), went out together, and climbed the Sydney bridge together. Certainly someone I will look up to always. And I was a short seven hours away so there was not a chance I wasn’t going to live it up with him, even just for a night.

Shawn joined the Air Force a few years back and now works on nuclear weapons. Just like those years ago Shawn is still a mentor to those around him. Keeping in touch with people in the academy and all the other places he’s been. Sitting at his place talking with him makes me feel like I’m not alone. He truly grasps what’s going on in my mind. The reasons for the trip, the urge to travel and being comfortable with being different and standing out Shawn gets it. We’ve lost touch but after this trip for sure we will keep in better contact.

So my overwhelming question was what do you do in Minot? We went out to this place called Tap. For $10 it’s all you can drink. Shots, Beer, mixed drinks anything. I guess with all this open space there isn’t much to do besides go out and party and that’s exactly what we did. Teamed up with Shawn’s buddies Juan and John (Yes John, Juan, and Shawn) we caused some craziness. Danced, laughed and just had a great time. Shawn told me his philosophy (which I’m definitely adopting as my own) “You bloom where your planted” it’s not where you are or even who your with, but what you make of what you have that truly matters. And in Minot, North Dakota we bloomed to the fullest.

I originally thought that I would only be staying in North Dakota for the day. But Juan and John are cool kids so with Shawn at work for three days I’m crashing with them for the night. Minot here I come.

Just some Stats from the trip:

1. The Trip alone I’ve traveled over 3200 Miles

2. I’ve had Isabella since July 4^th weekend (Happy Birthday baby 2 months and 6,000 plus miles yay) so in 3 weeks I’ve already gone more miles than the first 5 weeks.

3. I’ve been to 13 different states along the way and two time zones.

4. I’m loving every minute.

One Mile at a Time.