Fargo

This week I had a business trip in Saint Cloud Minnesota. It is 2.5 hours away from Fargo North Dakota. North Dakota is 1 of the 5 remaining states I have yet to step foot in.  It would be a long drive, in frigid temperatures.

I went for it.

While I didn't see much or spend much time there, they had a lovely TGI Friday's where I was able to have some salmon and head back to my hotel 2.5 hours away.  While my memory of Fargo will fade forever, something the waiter told me will remain with me for a very long time.  He said, "it's so cold right now, that you can actually take a cup of hot water and throw it in the air and by the time it lands it will be ice." 

On the radio the news had been updating the listeners on how cold it was. For the record it was -35 (that's 35 degrees below zero) when I went outside to try throwing the water in the air, and that was without the wind chill.

It was so cold that the weather service issued it's first "Extreme Cold" warning for the state.

It was so cold that Siberia was warmer at -24.

It was so cold that as cars passed me on the road they "clouds" similar to jets flying at 35,000 feet.

It was so cold that when I got back in my car the foam in the seat was frozen solid and provided no comfort as I sat down.

It was so cold that the blower setting on the heater was set on 3 (maximum of 4) for 2 straight hours of the drive.

It was so cold that the Mississippi river was frozen over, (okay in Minnesota that may be common but it's still a huge river this far north and it's something to see it completely frozen over).

It was so cold that I was within 35 degrees from the lowest temperature ever recorded in the lower 48 states which was -69 recoded in Montana in 1954.

My meeting went very well and I doubled back to the city to check out the Mall of America.

At one time it was the largest mall in the USA.  Inside there is a Nickelodeon sponsored theme park, that included a ferris wheele, roller coaster, and an awesome Lego Land. It had an amazing Transformer creation that was about 2 stories tall.

Next to the mall there is an inside water park.  It makes sense why the water park is inside, otherwise they would only be able to use it 2 months a year in such a cold place.

By the way the water that I threw into the air did not freeze by the time it landed on the ground, but it sure was a fun experiment.  I tried spitting too and it didn't freeze either by the time it landed.

It's good to be home where things are warming up and I'm thinking of setting up the trampoline soon so the boys can go outside and get some exercise.

This was Logan's last week being off track and he gets to go back to school next week.  He loves school, but won't like waking up tomorrow and not be able to play video games.  It's back to structure and it all cuts into video game time.

This week Jill was able to take the kids swimming with Shanel and her kids to Marv Jensen rec center.