Day 9 – Fargo, North Dakota – State 47
It seemed a long time coming but today was finally here and I was going to step into State 47. I had to drop of the hire car at O’Hare and gave myself plenty of time to drive the 5 miles to the Car Rental Facility. The signposting wasn’t that clear and I had to make a U-turn and double back to find the entrance road.
The train that runs between terminals was un-surprisingly busy as was Terminal Three. As I was only carrying hand baggage I printed off my boarding pass at a screen outside of the terminal and refused the offer of a $76 upgrade as well as a $24 offer to move up the boarding group number and joined the TSA line. I am not certain why but after having the boarding pass inspected I was sent to another TSA lane to pass through security screening.
My bag had to be re-screened which was negative and then I was in the terminal heading for concourse L. The process had taken about an hour all told. O’Hare was crazy expensive but at least the coffee at McDonald’s was reasonably priced. Some places were charging $6 for a bottle of Smart Water.
TIP: Take an empty water bottle and fill it up after passing security. It will do for the moment.
I found a seat at the gate amongst the passengers waiting for their Baltimore flight and watched the world go by. The arriving flight from Fargo was quickly made ready and it was time for boarding. This time around I was in boarding group 9 but I had an assigned seat so wasn’t too concerned. On internal flights they allow cabin bags with wheels and yet there isn’t the overhead space for all the bags so as a routine it seems that if you are in boarding groups 6,7,8 and 9 you are requested to have your bag checked into the hold but it is obvious that this not to everyone’s liking and they seemed reluctant to comply. I don’t understand why they allow so many oversized cabin bags with such limited space and it causes so much dissatisfaction.
Onboard the overheads were not full despite the announcements to the contrary. My bag easily fit under the seat in front and there was plenty of leg room. The flight lasted 1:37 and we arrived well ahead of schedule. The walk into the airport was short and here I was State 47, North Dakota.
I called the hotel for the shuttle and only waited about 10 minutes before the van arrived. The driver said that my room was ready for check-in, which was really good news. The first impression was of a green and flat landscape and yet Fargo is in the Valley Region but I couldn’t see any hills or mountains. Apparently the Red River that flows between North Dakota and Minnesota has created a valley but it is very shallow.
After a quick freshen up I went to reception to ask if they had an area map which they didn’t but they were so accommodating that they printed something off for me to follow.
As I was on foot my itinerary was limited but ticked the boxes for me. First stop was Fargo/Moorhead Visitors Center. Of course the map in my mental microwave made everything seem closer than it actually was and even getting to the right side of 45th Avenue was much further than I anticipated. The sidewalk was empty and traffic thundered past me to the next stop lights ahead. I crossed over the I94 in about 8 different crossovers……hang on surely not? The I94 I was on that wasn’t I on this trip much further south? The I94 runs from Billings – Montana in the West to Port Huron – Michigan in the East.
Both Fargo – ND and Moorhead – MN are separated by the Red River but share a metropolitan council of governments including public transportation.
The Fargo Moorhead visitors centre is set back quite away but sits in its own grassy area. The building is a former grain elevator paying homage to the agriculture that is evident in the area. There was complimentary coffee on offer and it was the neatest visitor’s centre that I had been into. There were framed pictures for sale of iconic Fargo sites as well as a lot of ‘Fargo’ movie links. The star of the show though is from ‘Fargo’ the 1996 Coen brothers film and of course it is the wood chipper along with a bloodied foot sticking out of the funnel.
I saw the background for the photographs of visitors who have indeed saved Fargo – ND- Best for Last Club. It crossed my mind to discuss with someone that this was my 47th state but still I fell 3 short. I wonder where my ‘best for last’ will be? Hawaii probably.
There is a replica woodchipper in the garden area surrounded by imprints of hands and autographs of famous Fargo and North Dakota residents as well as a Welcome to North Dakota sign. Everyone I spoke to was so friendly and spent time in conversation with me. I was hoping to hear the accents from ‘Fargo’ but I found out that those had been exaggerated for artistic purposes.
Another mile walk further up 45th to Walmart to see if there were any North Dakota or Fargo t-shirts to get – ticked! I needed a break and unfortunately for me there was a Culver’s in front of the Walmart’s. I say unfortunately because I was beginning to think that I was becoming obsessed with their Frozen Custard Milkshake of the Pumpkin Spice kind. Their selection of salads was great as well. I got into conversation with the server who was intrigued as to why an English visitor chose Fargo to visit. I did have to correct him about the number of states there are because like many people 52 seems to be the go to number.
The last thing on the list was a North Dakota Starbucks Mug to add to my collection. There was a branch nearby Walmart which looking at the map on the phone was only a 5 minute walk but I couldn’t find it so I ventured even further to the Target. I was lucky and bought one from Target and then faced the long walk back to the hotel.
I returned to the room exhausted but happy that everything had gone according to plan.
Day 10 – Fargo, North Dakota – Chicago
After breakfast I took a walk in the other direction and was taken by surprise when virtually the first thing I came across was a Starbuck’s. I wish I knew about the day before and saved my feet. Oh well.
When I returned to the hotel the receptionist told me that as she was on her own today the airport shuttle would be available so they had booked me a taxi to take me to the airport at their expense. I thanked them for the consideration and their good customer service. The taxi arrived ahead of schedule to take be back to the airport and I noticed the fare on his phone was nearly $27. So thank you again La Quinta, Medical Center, Fargo!
Apparently the airport at Fargo is ranked as one of the busiest small airports in the country. It only has one terminal and 4 gates. There is a large gift shop on the second floor which was very comprehensive with both North Dakota and Minnesota souvenirs. The inbound flight from Chicago was late today and after boarding we had to wait about half an hour on the runway waiting for another American Airlines flight to land.
Arrival into O’Hare was delayed by almost an hour and then everything seemed to unravel for me. The car hire with Avis was expecting another $46.01 even though Ebookers had confirmed that there was nothing further to pay. I didn’t really have a choice at that point. More about that in another post.
When I went to collect the car I was told to choose any from two lanes so the first one was a Chevy Bolt which I realised as I went to leave the facility was an electric vehicle which is no use to me at all because I wouldn’t have a clue how to charge it up. I had to navigate against the flow of exiting cars to discuss with Avis and they said just choose again. The second choice hadn’t been cleaned and didn’t have a full fuel tank. Avis marked the receipt that allowed me to return it to them at the same level. I had been told that I had an express checkout so headed for that lane but could exit with a QR code ……..what QR code. I discovered two days later that Avis had emailed one to me! I had to make a U-turn at the exit to join the ever growing agent manned lane again against the flow. My stress levels were rising.
It didn’t really get any better because the GPS was playing up and kept scrolling through a menu that I hadn’t set. The map kept disappearing and it kept offering alternative routes because of road blocks ahead which there might or not have been. I tried turning it off and on again but it kept doing the same thing. I finally recognised the supermarket near the UPS store to collect my bag from with great relief. At least that was easy to collect and in theory I wasn’t far from my night’s hotel if I could get there courtesy of Tom Tom. I made it safe and sound but needed a break. No such luck. I got to the room which was fine and went to open the combination lock on the case and it just wasn’t having it no matter how many times I tried. It had been a little bit suspect when I set the number but I did get it to open and re-lock on a couple of tries but it wasn’t playing ball. In anger I twisted the lock and it snapped apart. Phew!
One battle left was with Ebookers about the additional charge for the Avis car. I had enough for today!
States 46 & 47 (Kenosha WI – Milwaukee WI – Chicago IL) Days 7 & 8
States 46 & 47 (Chicago IL – Kenosha WI) – Day 6
States 46 & 47 (Deerfield IL – Waukegan IL) – Day 5
States 46 & 47 (Altoona IA – Deerfield IL) – Day 4
States 46 & 47 (Council Bluffs IA – Altoona IA) – Day 3
USA Road Trips by Max 
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