August 24, 2012

TODAY STARTED OUT ON A DISAPPOINTING NOTE. I remarked to Carole that I was looking forward to using my Fargo accent, and she spoiled my fun by telling me that Fargo was in North Dakota. I considered using a southern Fargo accent, but concluded that I might merely confuse people. While filling our gas tank, I displayed what my daughters refer to as my “Indiana” personality while chatting up a bib overall bedecked local. He noticed our license plate and asked where we lived. When I told him that we lived a couple of blocks from Lake Michigan, he asked if the fishing was good there. I replied unabashedly that I had had good luck with the large Coho in the Lake. He then gave me a coupon which knocked off almost two bucks from my gas bill. As I have always told our daughters, “[i]t pays to be nice.”

After driving for a couple of hundred miles through undulated and unpopulated territory, we reached the Badlands. During the two hundred mile drive, we saw a number of herds of cows but not a single person on the land. We saw fewer than a dozen trees on our drive.

When we reached the Badlands, we stayed right in the National Park! By staying in the park, we got to pay a lot of money, stay in a cabin, and avoid such motel niceties such as Wi-Fi, cell phone accessibility and free breakfasts. To be honest, the cabin was a cut above what I expected and our back porch offered a great view.

We didn’t do much our first day in the Badlands. Carole signed up for the Jr. Ranger Program, a learning experience designed for kids 2 to 12 years of age. When we ate dinner, I did my usual sampling of local specialties. I ordered and enjoyed a buffalo burger; Carole ordered a hamburger.

Wherever we have traveled, I have made a point of eating the local fare. When we were in Tangier, for example, we ate at a place right out of Indiana Jones. We were seated with a handful of other Americans; the food was served on a large revolving tray. Because the only food recognizable to our American eyes was rice, everyone but me gobbled down the rice. I didn’t eat any of the rice, but sampled everything else on the tray. On the following day, I was slightly ill.