Minot to Milwaukee ...

(A) Minot   (B) Lakeville   (C) Milwaukee

Once we visit the Scandinavian Heritage Park in Minot, ND we found our self a gas station and bought Freddie a drink and got on the road again. After some more car problems and a brief stop at Casselton (which I will talk about in a separate post) we made it to Lakeville which is just south of Minneapolis.

Where we met a really funny lady that work on the front desk of the Comfort Inn we stayed at. She gave us access to a couple of deals for 'Friends and Family of Comfort Inn' which gave us cheaper rates later in Niagara Falls, however I'm getting way ahead of myself. So after spending the night in Lakeville we headed for Milwaukee where Kim's friend Micheala lives. We ended up staying about 5 days in Milwaukee thanks to Freddie misbehaving again but it was actually a nice break from the constant driving. We stayed a few nights in a, well it was a really interesting motel that's all I have to say about it and after that Micheala was very kind by offering us some free accommodation.

While there for our unexpected longer stay we did some of the touristy things like wine tasting and stuffing our faces with Cheese. We also went to the Milwaukee Art Museum thanks to Micheala's sister who go us free tickets to an art exhibition there. I'm not really into art and wanking on about it but it was pretty good and I enjoyed it so I guess if enjoyed it, it must have been an art critics idea of a wet dream.

Milwaukee Art Museum with its wings up.

The Building on the other hand got me more excited it is amazingly designed with wings that raise up from the roof on the hour as far as I understand. They however didn't raise while we were there due to strong winds. I personally think it would make an awesome Cathedral and that Anglican Church in Christchurch should look at its design its pretty spectacular. It has another thing going for it. It has a massive window that looks out over Lake Michigan. But I can imagine sitting in a Cathedral Building like the Museum on a Sunday listening to the sermon and looking out over calming waters.

From the inside looking out towards the Lake Michigan

Besides visiting the Museum we also walked along the river and explored a couple of markets. However the most fun bit of our stay there for me was when we went to the Piano Duel Bar. The principle basically is that there is two pianist and they try and out play each other while taking request from the audience. In the end it had the feel of being a Karaoke Bar meet private concert with some comedy mixed into it. If you ever get the chance of going to one of these bars do so it's well worth it.

However like most things our time in Milwaukee was up and we had to move on our next bed would be back in friendly Canada in the City of Windsor but that's a tale for another day.

Till Laterz ...

Me and Kim Wine Tasting

Me, Kim and Micheala Wine Tasting

At the Duel Bar 

At the Duel Bar 

At the Duel Bar 

At the Duel Bar 

Minot ...

Minot is where the 'A' is just FYI

So as I said in my previous post we decided to head to Minot, ND and stay the night there. From memory we arrived around 9pm at what turned out to be a truckers motel, we decided to stay there the night anyway.

After spending the night on the internet seeing what Minot was all about I discovered the following.

Nearly 40% of the city's residents are of Scandinavian ancestry, and every October since 1977, Minot has been the host to the Norsk Høstfest, North America's largest Scandinavian-American festival. Scandinavian Heritage Park is located in Minot. Scandinavian Heritage Park features remembrances and replicas from each of the Scandinavian countries: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, as well as Finland and Iceland. - Wikipedia

So the next morning we set of to find this park and do the tourist thing. We finally found it and went for a wander and sliding around a frozen park.

The "stave church" in Minot's Scandinavian Heritage Park

The "stave church" in Minot's Scandinavian Heritage Park

The "stave church" in Minot's Scandinavian Heritage Park

Hans Christian Andersen Author of the Little Mermaid and Ugly Duckling 

Me being Birthed from a Scandinavian Horse Thingy

Some Scandinavian House Thingy

To the U.S of A ...

As I mentioned in the last blog we arrived in Banff, AB around 8pm and set of to find somewhere to stay. We where ment to have been staying in Calagary however our 4 hour trip across the mountain pretty much screwed that for us. Banff however turned out be a really cute little place it reminded me a lot of Queenstown in NZ minus the lake though. It's also a ski town but this time skiing wasn't on our agenda. We finally found somewhere to stay and settled in for the night.

The next morning after exploroing the little town for a bit we decided to head for Calgary we probably bummed around in Calgary for an hour before deciding it was borring and started heading for our next destination, Medicine Hat. No I'm not just randomly naming things its actually a town. Yup a town called Medicine Hat and  yup we stay there for the night and lived to tell the tale, yup its called Medicine Hat.

After Medicine Hat we crossed the border into Saskatchewan. Now after we crossed the border back in Alberta its gone down hill in the literal sense and the physical sense. The Rocky Mountains end on the border of Alberta and BC and the rest of Alberta and Saskatchewan is flat as a pancake. So anyway after Medicine Hat we crossed into more nothingness I was warned that its easy to fall asleep behind the wheel here. Having done that once before I wasn't looking to do that again however I can see how easy it could be. We made it safely across this exciting landscape and crossed the border into North Dakota, U.S of freaking eh.

When we crossed the border it was late afternoon and we decided to head to Minot instead of staying in the small border town of nothing. However from the moment we cross the border into the USA it felt like we have entered a strangers house the wrong way. Through the back door walking pass the laundry and stepping over laundry baskets and dog bowls. Except there was no small lady apologising about how busy she has been this week and haven't gotten around to cleaning it yet. But yes it just felt strange and that we came through the border crossing that the staff use and not tourist.

Will blog about Minot tomorrow.

Till Laterz ...