Fargo, North Dakota

In my effort to visit all 50 states, I planned a weekend drive up to North Dakota. 

What followed is perhaps one of the dullest road trips ever.

Nine hours in the car (or more, my mind kind of blanked out after a while)

Maps, baby!

My road trip style is old school!

Somewhere in Minnesota

Finally into Fargo. Hungry after a day in the car, so stopped at this friendly looking mothership.

Shreddin'

Not too bad. Fun place. Headed to my hotel with leftover space pizza.

Like last weekend in Kentucky, the rain came down.

It eventually stopped.

Finally! The highlight of the trip....?

Complete with foot.

Outside the visitor center is a walk of fame. Def Leppard, Conway Twitty, Metallica, etc.

And Weird Al!

And a big purple dinosaur?

After too much fun at the visitor center I drove to the downtown area, near the Red River.

A Sunday on a holiday weekend in a big-small town means there are few options.

Walked the main street, had some coffee, walked down to the River.

Red River

There is a nice bike path here.

I was struck by the architecture of the civic and government buildings in downtown Fargo. It's blocky and kind of menacing. If I knew more about architecture I could probably tell you a specific style.

Found the all-important Amtrak station!

Buffalo all over the place with colorful paint jobs!

This Tigerallo is outside of the Red River Zoo.

On the way home I stopped to visit Prince's Paisley Park outside of Minneapolis.

I took the VIP tour (tour booked online months before the trip), which covers more of the house/studio and includes a photo opportunity.

They are militant about keeping out cell phones and cameras, so this is all I could get.

It was an interesting tour though, even for a casual Prince fan. 

I did get some video footage of this (rather dull) road trip, which you may view here.

Bonus side detour to Iowa's Largest Frying Pan!

A dull, quiet road trip isn't all bad. I saw lots of Minnesota highway, did some reading, worked on some personal projects, got some sleep. Overall, it was a pretty chill couple of days.

Thanks for stopping by!