Keeping America safe from . . . the DeYoungs?

We began this beautiful day with a walk around the regional park, which is really nice.  The lake is beautiful and there were many birds—mostly ducks and gulls but we also saw a hawk and, possibly, a pelican or something that closely resembles one.  It doesn’t seem possible that we saw a pelican on the prairie but we have not consulted our bird guide to see what else it might have been.  We were only a couple of hours from the border and we were excited to be returning to the U.S.—not only is it home but we can use our cell phones and the distance is marked in mileage and the temperatures are in fahrenheit so we can actually understand our place in the universe.  The scenery was interesting—coal mining, oil, and agriculture and there were lots of lakes and rivers.  However, my favorite site was a sign on a restaurant in Estevan, a smallish Canadian town, “Sushi Thursdays—no really, chef knows.”  But crossing the border was a bit of a drag.  It took an hour.  We were pulled over for a thorough review, as were some nice middle-aged Canadians whom we had met at the campground.  They asked us lots of questions (separately) and gave the camper a cursory interior search.  The agents completely unpacked the Canadians, on the other hand, and they searched the inside of their bags.  Why us?  Why not those young glowering truckers?  Who knows.  They were courteous and gave us a friendly wave good-bye when they were finished.  And, they kindly let Don keep the dogs on leash rather than impound them in a kennel during their search . . . BUT sheesh.  We were honest, smiled, and tried to look like who we are—law abiding retirees.  There are no photos of the border crossing--strictly forbidden.

We stopped in North Dakota to take a photo of the marker of the middle of the north American continent.  Our stop is our first in the U.S.—a state park that is open all year and has water until October—Turtle River.  It is very pleasant and we were able to take our lawn chairs out and enjoy a few minutes of sunshine before the sun dropped below the horizen. 

366 miles; Turtle River State Park, North Dakota (near Grand Forks) N 47° 56.678’ W 97° 30.133’