Fargo, North Dakota - October 7th to 8th, 2022

Traveling during the shoulder season has its perks. The biggest one being low crowds and no problems finding camp sites. The down side is that things start shutting down and some essentials are hard to find. We experienced both the ups and downs on our way to Fargo, North Dakota.

We left Theodore Roosevelt National Park at the first sign of light on Friday morning. We had a long drive in front of us. As we were driving out of the park, a herd of feral horses crossed the road in front of us. It was like they greeted us to say good-bye. At the park entrance, a handful of deer were there to wish us farewell as well.

Friday was the hunt for potable water. The AllStays app listed several RV dump stations along our route on I-94 from Theodore Roosevelt National Park to Fargo, North Dakota. We stopped at the first one and dumped our gray water. The dump was iced over, but not frozen shut. Temperatures over night had dipped down into the low 20’s. There was a rinse water hose at the dump, but no fresh water hose. Ann went inside to ask. Nope, they had no potable water and they were getting ready to shut down the rinse water for the season.

Two more dump stations and still no fresh water. The dump station at the Flying J truck stop was even closed because they turned off the water. We gave up looking and decided to treat ourselves to some food while we contemplated our situation. We had nine more nights on the road and chances were pretty good that the water will be turned off at all the remaining campgrounds on our itinerary. We only have the capacity to go three days without filling up, four if we really conserve. Conserving water also meant not washing up or washing our hair in the sink of our Red Tail Lodge. We both could use a shower since it had been over a week since we used one.

This was our first time in North Dakota, but the scenery driving across the plains was a familiar one. Wheat fields were dotted with hay bales. Pastures dotted with cattle and horses. Dry, brown fields of corn and sunflowers were waiting to be harvested.

Our first food stop was in Bismarck, the Brick Oven Bakery. It is located in a cute downtown area. We picked a good one this time. We both had the fresh fruit Danish which had a little dollop of custard topped with a fresh raspberry and a couple of blueberries. Delicious! Their breads also looked good. So after finishing our chai lattes and Danishes, we bought a loaf of bread.

They only had a couple of cranberry walnut loaves on display, which wasn’t exactly what we were looking for. When Ann asked if that was all the bread they had, they said they had quite a few more, but they were too hot to bag up. So we got a hot country loaf. We left the bag open during the rest of our drive so the crust would stay crisp and chewy and not soak up the steam from the warm loaf.

For lunch, we stopped at Sabir’s Buffalo Grill in Jamestown. The restaurant was in another lovely downtown area. We both had burgers and fries, Ann’s was the bison burger with sweet potato fries while Keith had the mushroom and Swiss beef burger with regular fries. Ann enjoyed her meal a little better than Keith did his. Keith thought his meal was OK, but appreciated the atmosphere of the restaurant.

Over lunch, we considered our options for fresh water. The two nights near Fargo, where we planned on camping at the Jorgen’s Hollow Campground in the Sheyenne National Grassland, were the only nights we did not have campground reservations. So if we wanted to change plans, the next two nights would be the optimal choice. We could try to find a hotel for one or two nights, which would give us access to nice showers. Keith did a quick search of the Fargo area. Most of the hotels were booked full for the weekend. Ann searched for a private RV park. There was only one in the area, Governor’s RV Park in Casselton, just 30 minutes west of Fargo. It was run by Days Inn, but it didn’t have very good reviews on Campendium. She called them. Yes, their water was still turned on. Yes, they had showers and laundry available. Yes, they had an available camp site for us. Great! We’ll take it!

We didn’t know that Days Inn ran any RV parks, but they did here. The RV park was right behind their hotel. A public laundromat with restrooms was in a building in-between the RV park and the hotel. Showers were in the locker rooms inside the hotel next to their indoor water park. For an extra fee, campers can have access to the pool and fitness center of the hotel.

Was the RV park in a pretty location? No. Is the campground quiet? No, I-94 runs right by it. Are the camp sites spacious? No, just a picnic table separating the sites. However, the sites were all full hookups, which meant we could dump and fill as much water as we needed. The flush toilets were clean. The showers were hot. Was it an ideal campground? No, but it had everything we needed.

We arrived in the afternoon. This gave us plenty of time to do our laundry and take showers. That left us with all of Saturday to go grocery shopping and explore Fargo. For a late afternoon snack, Keith had a cheese sandwich on the country loaf of bread we bought. Ann tried a slice of the bread with butter and raspberry jam. The bread was as good as it looked, simply scrumptious. For dinner, we ate more of the bread. This time Keith had leftover BBQ beef on his bread, while Ann ate her bread with smoked gouda cheese. We knew once we bagged the bread, it would lose its crispy crust, but if we left it out too long, the bread would dry out too much. Good bread is always better on the same day it is baked.

We started off Saturday taking care of the most important thing, joining the Best for Last Club at the Fargo-Moorhead Visitor Center. North Dakota was our 50th and final state to visit. Forty nine of those states have been in our Red Tail Lodge over the past four years. Our van did not go to Hawaii, but we were in Hawaii for a brief visit over thirty years ago. North Dakota has a little club you can join if it is the last state of the union that you visit, the Best for Last Club. If you join, they give you a t shirt and a certificate. It’s a quirky little perk, but we like quirky!

Inside the visitor center is the wood chipper from the movie Fargo. Just outside sits a replica of the wood chipper. We’ve never seen the movie, so we’ll have to put that on our list of things to do. Also outside is the Celebrity Walk of Fame, with some hand prints and signatures of famous people in cement. Unfortunately, a few of the prints were done in what must have been poor cement, because they were crumbling.

Then we drove to downtown Fargo. The downtown district, the few blocks surrounding Broadway N from Main Avenue to 6th Avenue, has a wonderful, lively vibe to it. Most of the buildings have beautiful old architectural details. Even a new apartment building going up nearby looked like it was trying to retain the same character and charm of the old buildings. Nice! We like that. There are also a couple of old train depots. One is still being used as a train depot while the other is a bicycle shop.

Our first stop was Twenty Below Coffee Company on Roberts Street N. Their apple streusel scones were delicious. After finishing our chai lattes, we walked up Roberts Street to the Cathedral of St. Mary before heading back south on Broadway.

It was Saturday morning, so the Red River Market was in full swing on 2nd Avenue N, with live music on the stage in Broadway Square.

It was getting close to lunch time, so we strolled over to Pounds on 1st Avenue N. One of the staff members at the visitor center recommended the place, although she said all of the restaurants downtown are great. Pounds has a retro feel with an extensive menu in addition to beer and other alcoholic drinks. Keith ordered the Good Ass Chicken Sandwich with fries while Ann opted for one of the Hippie Bowls, the Te Amo. Both were wonderful.

Fargo sits on the Red River. The river is the boundary between North Dakota and Minnesota. Although it feels like one city, it is Fargo on the North Dakota side and Moorhead on the Minnesota side. We wandered across the river on the 1st Avenue bridge to Moorhead. Just on the other side is the Hjemkomst Center. The two main attractions of the center are the Hjemkomst viking ship and the Moorhead Stave Church.

The viking ship is a full scale replica of the Gokstad viking ship. The replica was built by Robert Asp from 1974 to 1980. In 1982, a crew of 12 sailed the replica from Duluth, Minnesota to Oslo, Norway. The story was fascinating. Robert Asp did not live to see the voyage, but four of his children were part of the crew who sailed the ship across the ocean.

The Moorhead Stave Church is a full scale replica of the Hopperstad Stave Church in Vik, Norway. Gaylord Paulson built the Moorhead Stave Church from 1996 to 2001. It was all the intricate wood carvings that took so much of the time, even with Gaylord’s woodcarving experience that spanned decades. The viking church paid homage to Gaylord’s Norwegian heritage. You can see the outside of the church without visiting the Hjemkomst Center, but the hourly guided tours of the inside alone are worth the small admission fee for the center.

There are more local history exhibits in the two floors below the viking ship, but we had reached our museum saturation point by that time, so we did not do it justice. You probably have more patience than we do when it comes to museums. Our information overload limit is pretty low.

It was now time for ice cream. We walked back over the bridge to Fargo and to the Silver Lining Creamery on the corner of Broadway and 2nd Avenue. It did not disappoint. The hand-crafted ice cream was very creamy and very delicious. We noticed they also have another store in Rapid City, South Dakota. We’ll see if we can work that one in on our way to Custer State Park in a couple of days!

After stopping at a Hornbacher’s grocery store, we drove back to the campground. We had never heard of Hornbacher’s before, but they were all over Fargo. In fact, they only have nine stores, all located in Fargo and Moorhead. It was a nice store. We picked up some of the store brand smoked bratwurst. We’ll let you know how they taste after we’ve tried them.

Our original plan was to go out for dinner in Fargo. However, after the coffee shop, lunch at Pounds, and the ice cream, we were so stuffed that we had no desire to eat dinner. We just had some snacks later that evening back at the campground before turning in for the night.

Joining the Best for Last Club was our motivation for visiting Fargo. We are so glad we went. Fargo turned out to be a lovely place to stroll around and enjoy the local food and sights.

Check out our related video: Fargo, North Dakota

(Ann)