Fargo, North Dakota

Is it horrible to admit, that my only impression of Fargo, North Dakota was from the 1987 Coen brothers dark comedy?  

The city does pay homage to the movie with a wood chipper at the visitors center. We got there just after the center closed!  I was really looking forward to sitting in it with with my leg sticking out. BTW, the movie wasn’t even filmed in Fargo!  

Much like the flying pigs in NWA, local artists paint bison and you can search for them all over town. 

The little city is not rural (like I had in my mind).  It does, however, get an average of 50 inches of snow every year.  Very  much like I picture when thinking of Fargo. 

We met a local and said “We are heading out to explore”  and she said “well,  lower your expectations“.  Ha!  

The downtown area has super cute homes with well manicured lawns. The businesses are equally coiffed. 

There is a big street art scene - similar to NWA. Murals all over the place. 

We had no idea that Fargo is separated from Minnesota by a little river - aptly called the Red River of the North. I had it on my list to see the Stave Church. It was actually in Minnesota right across the bridge from Fargo. 

Built between 1996 and 2001, the Hopperstad Stave Church Replica in Moorhead, Minnesota, as a tribute to Norwegian culture in the area. 

The name comes from the support pillars (staves) in their interiors. Structurally, stave churches combine a Catholic, medieval, basilica-style church and a traditional Scandinavian log buildings.  

The Vikings believed that dragons guarded against evil and have their place next to religious art and crucifixes. Wood dragon heads on the roof and the shingles are designed to look like scales of a dragon. 

A local school guidance counselor had a dream to build and sail a structurally accurate Viking ship. He researched all aspects of a period ship and built “the homecoming”. He was able to test it in Lake Superior before he died. In 1982,  his sons, experienced sailors from Norway, a truck driver and 4 college students (a 13 person crew)  successfully sailed this vessel from Duluth, MN to Bergen, Norway. Amazing. 

We are spending three nights in North Dakota- so we added the state to our travel map. We will have to spend more time in Minnesota before we add it to our states visited in our RV map. 

Half a trip is better than no trip!

What a crazy two weeks. I will start with the big news that literally shook our world. Mark was diagnosed with cancer. Just the word makes me emotional. But as far as cancer goes- it could have been so much worse. So here is the scoop. 

We have been on a journey to drop some pounds. For me it is a lifelong and constant journey! Mark has been super successful and is down about 30 pounds. With his weight loss, he noticed a lump in his neck at the collarbone. Mark went to the doc who said probably a lymph node and you are fighting an infection. We had Morgan look at it and she freaked out (in her head) and called a radiologist that she used to work for. The radiologist got Mark in the next day and did an ultrasound and biopsy. Results of a squamous carcinoma came 24 hours later. Mark had squamous skin cancer removed from that same location 5 years ago. 

PET scan and MRI a couple of days later. Not metastatic from another place in his body. The tumor is in the muscle attached to his collarbone and has eroded part of the bone. 

He started immunotherapy and will take infusions every three weeks for a couple of months to see if the tumor will shrink. We met with a head and neck surgeon. Surgery will be scheduled in September. The tumor will be removed, as well as, all the lymph nodes from ear to tumor and a bit on the other side. A thoracic surgeon will also remove part of his collarbone. After surgery he will have a little radiation and will be done. 

Morgan gets the credit for her cancer network and helping Mark get lightening fast health care since it was only 10 days  from diagnosis to first treatment. 

We had planned a 5 week trip to Glacier National Park and Banff with Montana, Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain National Park outside of Boulder on the way home. But we cutting the trip in half so he can be back for his next infusion. 

We are so grateful for a good PET scan and soon this summer will be a road bump in life. 

Heading to a new state for us, North Dakota, for our first bit of exploration. 

Day 4 Camp Cowling- The Gateway Arch

Camp Cowling draws to an end on day 4. It has been a blast and our cups are full. Mark and I hope that we have created some new memories. With three growing boys, 6 month old Ruby and Mark and I in one RV we had to get creative with storage and had to keep belongings in their places. But it worked. We will see if the boys decide they want to be in a tent in a couple of years. 

After looking at the Gateway Arch for 4 days from the RV park, the boys were glad to finally go up in it. 

Well, not so much Austin but he braved it with a little support from meme and papa. Austin isn’t a big fan of heights. 

The monument we know today began in 1935, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt designated property along the St. Louis riverfront to be developed as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (now known as Gateway Arch National Park). 

While the land was cleared for construction, the City of St. Louis deeded the Old Courthouse to the National Park Service to be incorporated into the Memorial. 

In 1948, a nationwide design competition determined what shape the Memorial would take, and in 1963, construction began for a stainless steel arch. 

Completed in 1965, the mid century modern Gateway Arch serves as a invitation to explore the west.

Nolan dreaming of the big leagues! 

Day 3 Camp Cowling - City Museum and Helicopter tour!

City Museum St. Louis ain’t no museum. It is a children’s climbing paradise with crazy art and sculpture added in for fun. 

Started in 1993 by a local artist and his wife in an old shoe factory and warehouse to entertain their own children - this place has grown to 10 stories (in and outside) of tunnels, caves and passageways that adults and kids can get lost in for hours. 

We sat and enjoyed these while the boys wore themselves out!  

Pro tip- if an adult plans to try and navigate the sometimes tiny tubes, slides, tunnels - bring knee pads and gloves!  

Every inch is a sculpture or theme - even the floor is mosaic! 

A big treat was a helicopter tour around the Arch,  Busch Stadium and the downtown area. 

Owen had never flown…

 and Nolan was pretty sad to miss the big league baseball game ….so meme and papa has to come up with a surprise. 

Austin and meme decided to keep our feet firmly planted on the ground. 

St. Louis Zoo - Day 2 Camp Cowling

Our day started out early when Miss Ruby decided at 5 am that she needed to go out. News flash - you can not sneak out of a RV.  Everyone woke up but stayed down for another hour. 

The St. Louis Zoo started in 1904. I told that to fact the boys and Owen says that means it is 118 years old. The kid is good at math!  

It was a beautiful way to spend the day. We roamed around all the exhibits and it was the first time that we saw the boys actually interested in the animals. 

I asked Austin his favorite and he said the Seals. 

Nolan said the Hyenas - perfect choice for him!  

Owen said the anaconda - and I gotta say it was freaking huge. On a side note, we were looking at the snakes and papa - made a snake noise and grabbed Nolan’s neck. He jumped 3 feet.  It was hilarious and even Nolan laughed. 

Mine was the Hippopotamus! Which, by the way, was our girls “code word” when they were little. 

 But the orangutans came in a close second. This old lady was 53 years old. 

Mark said his was the giraffes. Speaking of giraffes - we took this picture about 5 years ago….

And then again today!  

Can’t remember the name of this animal but it was stunning. 

Lunch and bomb pops provided renewed energy. 

Back at the RV - the boys got remote control cars…

And worked with Papa to build and paint wooden cars. 

Day two in the books - after some dinner and much needed showers!