North Dakota

Did I drive 2.5 hours one way just to cross North Dakota off the list of states I've visited?  Yes, yes I did. 

For what it's worth, Eats N Treats in Bowman, ND has really good food.  

Bear Country

Bear Country is a drive thru animal park in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  It was recommended to me by the Airbnb host in Spokane, and I'm so glad I went.  There really are bears everywhere.  (And also, a bunch of other animals).  Bears.  Everywhere.

They also have a little area for smaller animals, but the highlights is definitely the baby bears.

This post brought to you by this bear who does not care what other plans you may have.  He will be sitting there all day.  All. Day.

Cause I'm a Wanderer - Q1

1st Quarter: By the numbers:

• 7,000 miles driven
• 7 States (TX, NM, AZ, NV, CA, OR, WA)
• 7 Airbnbs
• 7 Hotels
• 3 Family Guest Rooms (Big thank you-s to Sam-ecito, T3, and Becky + 2 dinners and the best queso around from Erin!)
• 9 Places Crossed off THE LIST (+1 revisited)

Airbnb

Overall I've stayed at some great Airbnb-s, but I really like the one in Medford.


First, my view was unbeatable.

Second, the hosts had 3 dogs: 2 boxers and an Australian shepherd.  I didn't see much of the shepherd, but the boxers would race down the stairs the instant they heard me come outside.  They stand patiently waiting until I start to back out and then they go nuts. I had to back out and around a little, but once I head down the hill they race me to the bottom.  It was literally my favorite part of the day.  I caught it on my dashcam one day...it records in 1 minute segments, so it's broken into 2 videos....

Marfa

Fun Fact: Marfa plays a significant role in the later chapters of Golden Prey by John Sandford, and so, of course, I re-read those chapters again so I could see where everything took place and how it was laid out. 

I went out to the Marfa Lights viewing area on Monday and Tuesday.  No luck on seeing the notorious lights, but on Tuesday night a storm was rolling in.  

The viewing area was pretty crowded even though it was super windy…warm, but windy.  As I watched the lightning and the storm cloud move closer I started talking to another lady from Houston.  We were both commenting that the storm had us a little worried and we were ready to head back to town the instant it started to rain.  In approximately one millisecond the wind turned from warm to ice cold.  We looked at each other and practically en masse the crowd headed to their cars and got out of there.

You can’t take pictures basically anywhere in town (lots of little art museums), but I got a dashcam for my trip and spent a while driving around town to use those little stills or video.  But, nope, I greatly overestimated the record time and by the time I got to El Paso all the Marfa footage had been recorded over.

The last stop, on the way out of town was Prada Marfa.  It’s pretty much just how it looks in pictures.  There were maybe 4-5 cars pulled over and it’s a pretty remote stretch of highway so you can sort of amble across the highway.

Hipster, artsy-fartsy invasion of Marfa!

As a quirk of a weird little town, practically nothing is open on Mon – Tues.  So many restaurants, museums, everything was open either Wed-Sun or Thur-Sun. 

Overall, I didn’t think it was worth the trek out there, but it was a good place to stop to break up a very long drive to El Paso.

Havana Ooh Na Na

Tips for visiting Cuba:

I read a whole lot about Americans in Cuba before I left, and that helped lessen some of my anxiety. Which was really high.

1. You’re required to keep your itinerary for 7 years, and could be audited by OFAC at any time.
2. I went with a cruise and they provided the paperwork for the Visa Application and added the processing fee to my ship account.  
3. The Visa application/entry process was super easy.  The Cuban officials obviously do it a lot and they have it down.  This goes for the money exchange process as well.
4. Speaking of money exchange, technically foreign currency isn’t accepted.  So you should be prepared to exchange the total amount of money you’ll need.  Also, US credit cards will not work anywhere in Cuba.  Don’t plan on getting a little cash and then charging stuff.
5. Currency exchange has a conversion fee of 3% except for US dollars which is 13%.  My advice is if you have a bank that allows you to convert currency for free (like Wells Fargo) go change your US $ into either Canadian $ or Euros before your trip.  Then when in Cuba, exchange the CAN or EUR for CUCs.
6. You cannot get CUCs (Cuba’s tourist currency) outside of Cuba. But the exchange windows in the travel center are easy and fast, but you might have to ask for specific denominations.  The first day I didn’t get any small bills and ended up buying a little souvenir just to get some change.
7. I was nervous about the whole trip and didn’t venture out alone at all.  However, I think if I were to go back (after having gotten my feet wet, and explored with a group) I’d feel comfortable exploring a little on my own after the official tours.

In New York You Can Be a New Man (Be Drunk Steve) – Getting there

Listen, I had the option of taking a non-stop flight from HOU to LGA.  But looking at the flight schedule for me and comparing it to Cort’s schedule from SLC – she would’ve been stuck waiting at the airport for a couple of hours.  So I bit the bullet and decided to fly to LGA via Dallas/Love Field so that we’d get in within about 30 minutes of each other.

The flight out of HOU was initially delayed just 15 minutes.  No problem, right?  Then it was delayed 30 minutes.  We finally boarded and the flight attendants told everyone not to worry, the flight was only 53 minutes.  Phew, okay, I knew my connection was tight, but that would still work. Except then, we sat at the gate for another 15 minutes because of some “paperwork” issue.  When we finally pushed back the Captain got on the PA and said not to worry, because the flight was only 48 minutes.  WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHER 5 MINUTES?!

Anyhow, I spent the next 48 – 53 minutes worrying about my connection and hoping it would leave from a gate close by to where we deplaned. Also, I seriously had to use the bathroom, and was crossing my fingers that I’d have enough time for a bio-break before boarding. We finally landed and wonders of wonders we landed at Gate 5 and I was scheduled to depart again at Gate 7 AND there was a bathroom between them.  

Quick pit stop, and I headed toward the Gate 7 where people were lining up. But the board was not for a flight to LGA.  I panicked.  I couldn’t see any of the big departure boards anywhere, so I headed toward the gate agent to see which gate I needed to run to.  I caught the tail end of her telling someone that the LGA flight was delayed but to stick close to Gate 7. 

FOUR HOURS LATER….they were telling us that our plane was almost ready.  So yeah, I had plenty of time to make that connection, and Cort ended up waiting at LGA until almost midnight for me to show up.  It would have been faster for everyone if I’d just taken the original non-stop flight.  In fact, at one point I was considering trying to get on a flight back to HOU to catch the non-stop flight. Apparently there was something mechanically wrong with the original plane and they had to rustle up a replacement for us.  At least I came away with a $100 travel voucher.

The good news (aside from the travel voucher) was that I chose the correct side of the plane to sit on, so as we descended into LGA I could see all of NYC lit up outside the window.  I should’ve have definitely taken pictures, but my phone was waay under the seat.  But trust me it was spectacular. (I Googled it and someone has posted a video on YouTube.

We’d decided to take a Lyft to Grand Central Terminal because navigating a bus/subway/train transfer at midnight didn’t seem like fun, and there was practically no traffic.  It was an excellent idea. We fairly easily found the Metro North train going to Tarrytown and jumped on the train just before it departed.  A very drunk, Steve – with encouragement from his wife – hefted our bags up on the overhead shelf and then helped us get them down again.  Thank you drunk Steve and friends, we appreciate your help. 

Once we figured out the train station we ordered another Lyft to take us to the hotel.  After the driver accepted he called Cort and cancelled saying he wouldn’t make enough money for it to be worth it.  Class act, that one - definitely no drunk Steve. I think this made Cort a little nervous, but having been nearly murdered in Budapest in a similar situation, I just Googled a regular taxi company and we got picked right up.

The hotel concierge (another kind soul) comped us bottles of water and soda, after hearing our travel tale, and said there was a pizza place that delivered until 4 am.  When we got to the room, though, the thought of ordering pizza, waiting for delivery, eating and going to bed seemed like sooo much work.  So I pulled out my emergency snacks (ALWAYS CARRY EMERGENCY SNACKS! You never know when an emergency will happen and snacks will be necessary), and we granola bar’d dinner.

Seriously, that was one long-ass day.

The rest of the posts about the the trip to NY will be over on 1000 Places to See - a couple of times a week until the story is told.