Back to ND

I am back in North Dakota after spending a week with Tammy in Minnesota.

I caught the Amtrak train out of Red Wing, MN last night after Tammy and I visited with Brian and Alison at their new home in Winona.  While there I tried the Walnut Veggie burger that Brian - a vegan - recommended at the restaurant. Ummm... I'm gonna continue to support ranchers and eat hamburgers.

The train was 20 minutes late.  A few other people were also getting on the train but I reached the car and boarded first.  I was able to get two seats by myself. Until Minneapolis I sat across from the stairs as those were the only pair of seats for single passengers that were open. Not the best spot. At Minneapolis I moved back to better seats. While a number of people ended up doubling up as the night wore on no one woke me up and I kept my two seats for myself which makes for better sleeping.  There were more people on the train than usual for October.

I slept late - until after 9 am. It was snowing outside and the grass was covered.  The train lost lots of time in eastern North Dakota due to the snow. Amtrak announced that the signal switches indicating train traffic were snow covered as the BNSF railroad hadn't cleared them yet. Therefore Amtrak had to go slow. Very slow. We got to Minot 2 and 1/2 hours late.

Poor Dick. He called the station for the train's arrival time before the train slowed down and was told the train would arrive at 9:30 am, about an hour late. He arrived at the train station then to get me. The train didn't arrive until after 11 am.

In Minot it was still snowing lightly.  The roads are wet and the grass is white.  It looks like Winter.  Bring back global warming, or at least normal Fall weather.