Doug and Anna Hoffman have given us a glimpse of real life in North Dakota. First of all, when we arrived in town Anna was working the polling place for the local election and Doug was at work as business manager for the Trenton School District. In spite of this, they invited us to let ourselves into their home, never having met us. We were grateful to be in out of the weather.
Brandon, Doug and Anna Hoffman, Williston, ND
Doug and Anna told us how their home was originally a business establishment. It was used by a woman who always had a rummage sale going on. When Doug and Anna moved into their new home, people still walked right in, looking for bargains. One remarked, "boy, you sure don't have much here for sale do you?" Anna just casually mentioned that, "no there wasn't much, but I may be able to put something together, after all, this is our home now."
The morning after the election Doug shared the front page newspaper story with me: LOCAL ELECTION VOTING PENCILS FAILED. The hot topic of this election was whether or not to raise taxes one dollar per year for mosquito abatement. This was a 100 per cent increase. It passed.
As Anna had just taken us on a field trip to visit Fort Union, I learned that mosquitoes were the bane of existence for the soldiers in this region in the 1800s same as today. Mosquitoes here are so vicious they drive people to drastic measures. During the days of the army post, mosquitoes drove soldiers to abandon their post. In present time, the Commissioner of Mosquito Abatement in Williston quit the job because the locals threatened to harm his family. They were sure he was not doing what he was supposed to do because the mosquitoes were as vicious as ever. We have not had the opportunity of coming face to face with the dreaded monster mosquitoes.
We left Williston at 5:30 Central Time. It was 34 miles before we arrived in Ray, the first town. I was glad to stop in a gas station/convenience store/cafe for a second breakfast. The waitress was so nice. I asked for milk for the coffee rather than creamer and she continued to refill the glass until I had my fill of coffee.
A woman walked in and asked about the bicycling. When I explained we were raising funds for Habitat, she got very excited because her sister lives in a Habitat House in Great Falls, MT. I also spoke with a couple, Mr and Mrs. Lang who said they donated regularly to Habitat and couldn't wait to hand me $5.00 and introduce me to their friend Art Rice who is 101 years old.
L to R Mrs. Lang, Art Rice (101 years old!), Mr. Lang
When I hopped back on my bike the tailwinds propelled me down the road and the coffee seemed to have shaved down the hills. I was entertained along the way by a fox sneaking along the side of the road. I also stopped to watch the drama of a big hawk being chased away by a puny little red wing blackbird. The win for the round I observed went to that courageous little red wing.
When I arrived in Stanley, Carol was just pulling in. I was surprised she had just arrived and she informed me she'd had a flat, repaired it and was still in town before me.
We were greeted at the Lutheran Church by Minister Mark Narum. He offered us everything we need for our comfort and more. When we went to explore downtown Stanley, we saw the local paper with Pastor Mark's picture on the front page. Congratulations were in order as he has just been promoted to Bishop.
Newly Promoted Bishop Mark Narum
Stanley, ND is famous as the home of the Whirl A Whip. This is a special kind of flavored whipped ice cream. It even comes in Dill Pickle flavor. I declined this experience but Pam and Carol thoroughly enjoyed it. They didn't try dill pickle.
Barbara Missed Out on the Whirl-a-Whip
2 comments:
I don't know, I don't think I could have passed on the whirl a whip -- sounds like an amusement park ride. But dill pickle???? And do they eat the whipped cream just by itself or do they put it on something? Anyway, it must be nice to be known for something anyway!
It's so corny to say this, but what the heck, the whole blog is full of corny; it's what we do in our family, right? That courageous little red wing, in my mind, symbolized you guys riding; and not sure what the hawk symbolized? Maybe big business and oil? Naw, that's too much, huh? How about the elements? And you guys are winning. Congratulations!
Was that headline about the voting pencils a joke? It seems like a play on electronic voting controversy. But maybe the voting pencils were electronic. Anyway, the mental image I got cracked me up. And getting to vote for a $1 increase -- per YEAR! That's great.
Anyway, thanks for keeping us posted (no pun intended).
I talked to Nancy and she didn't know how to post a comment -- I don't think she even knew it was an option, so I told her how to do it. But she said she faithfully reads your blog and loves it. So maybe there are lots more fans out there; I'm just the only big-mouth one that always has to put my two cents in.
Hilary
Oh yeah, I wanted to comment that the 101-year-old gentleman looked at least 20 years younger in the picture. Very impressive.
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