So I woke up this morning and walked downtown to get some breakfast. I discovered a farmers market, with some live music, and bought a loaf of bread.  I’m not sure how I will eat a whole loaf of bread but the free sample tasted good so I bought it.  It was some kind of Oatmeal Honey Cracked Wheat or something like that. I also bought a freshly squeezed glass of organic carrot juice across the street and then headed to down to the river to eat my breakfast.  It was only 11 am and it was already starting to get hot.  It was nice to be outside and for a change I was eating a healthy meal.  I decided I will stay another night in Grand Forks.  I’ve been zipping through some of these towns so quick that I haven’t been getting much of a chance to really find out that much about them.  I decided this one looked like it was worth the time and effort so I cruised over to the Visitor’s Center to see if they could give me any guidance.  I had seen a speedway on my way into town and thought it might be interesting to check out some of the races at night. Somewhere I read that you could get a discount ticket at the visitor’s center which was my main motivation for going.  So I asked what the must do things in Grand Forks are but didn’t get much of a strong opinion on anything.  So the visitor’s center was only mildly informative but I did get a bunch of maps, so it wasn’t a complete waste.    

    So I left the visitor’s center with the intention to go to Cabella’s and then after that most likely the Japanese Gardens.  For some unknown reason though instead of heading towards Cabella’s like I had planned I started following the directions to the Japanese Gardens.  A fortunate twist of fate as it would turn out.  I arrived at the gardens and got out my camera and tripod figuring there should be some good photo ops.  As I was walking through the park I saw some people barbecuing.  As I was getting nearer I saw one of the guys looking at me.  I had my tripod slung over my arm still in its case so I started wondering if maybe they thought I was carrying a gun or something.  Maybe that’s ok here, who knows.  Either way, in NY if someone’s looking at you it either means there will be trouble or maybe they want something from you.  But I’m not in NY, I’m in Grand Forks, ND.  As a grew close enough the guy asked me if I was hungry and wanted some food.  Not exactly what I had expected.  They said they had plenty of extra food but at first I declined.  But then when I realized I would actually be able to talk to some people I decided to accept the generous offer.  Hey free food never hurts either.  The guy introduced himself as Matt and set me up with a burger.  I put my camera down and didn’t end up picking it up until about 5 or 6 hours later.  The barbecue as Matt told me later was called Matt’s Big ‘Ole Barbecue and was a way to try and get some old friends back together.  Getting older unfortunately, as we all know, makes people drift apart due to lack of time and things are never the same as when people were younger and had more time to all hang out together.  So this was their attempt to kind of get the old gang back together, or at least that’s how I understood it.  Besides Matt, there was Jill, Erin, Zack, Kara (all pictured above), Corey, Jenna, Roxy, and a bunch of other people whose names I either never got or have unfortunately forgotten.  I’m terrible with names and am shocked I’ve remembered (or think I’ve remembered) as many as I have. I’m sorry if I’ve misspelled or mistaken anyone’s name above. Usually, I forget a name as quickly as its told to me.  

    So everyone was really nice and welcoming so I stuck around for the whole afternoon as other friends came and went.  After all, I had no place to be and was having more fun hanging out with them than I would have been had I been anywhere else by myself.  We played bocci ball (which I haven’t played in a long time) and croquet (my first crack at the sport) and eventually concocted some kind of large firecracker/ ball of flame.  I also tried my first chippers, which are chocolate covered potato chips.  Erin was even kind enough to buy me my own box of chippers, which we eventually devoured.  Jill introduced me to every newcomer that arrived at the barbecue who all probably thought it was a little strange how I came to be hanging out with them. She also suggested I try The Red Pepper which is a place that serves grinders w/ taco meat and some mystery sauce (more about that later).  Corey had the bocci ball and croquet set and Zack was in charge of building the firecracker (I hesitate to use the ‘b’ word for fear that Big Brother is checking every site that contains that word and will then start a file on me).  Matt did the cooking and somehow I think 2 entire cans of lighter fluid were used.  After dinner everyone split up and the BBQ was over.  However it was a great time for me and I’m thankful for them having invited me.  The weather also happened to be great as well.

    After the BBQ I headed to the speedway to see some racing.  The track was tiny, I think 1/3 of a mile around.  And the featured racing was for Sprint Cars (pretty small cars).  Apparently the NST (National Sprint Tour) was in town on Friday and Saturday so the tickets were more expensive than usual ($35 as opposed to normally $15).  However, according to the announcer the final race of the night was the biggest race ever to take place Grand Forks. Lucky me.  Being in the stands you actually get small pieces of dirt thrown at you from the the cars as they whip around the turns as fast as they can. Well that’s what happens in the shorter races after they’ve wet the track down.  For the longer races with more cars the small pieces of dirt give way to clouds of dust that consumes the crowd for almost the entire race.  The racing was quite good though (and loud) and I’m glad I ended up going. Right after the last race finished it started to downpour so everyone got soaked on the way to the parking lot.  By the way, the sky gets so blue out here its fantastic.  When the clouds rolled in it got a dark blue unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

    On the way home I decided to stop at the Red Pepper to try a turkey grinder with taco meat.  I started off with a half of  a sandwich but after eating it I quickly order another one.  The bread was soft (which usually is a negative but not this time) and the combination of turkey, cheese, taco meat and the mystery sauce was great. Maybe not the healthiest thing in the world but who cares. It was the perfect end to the perfect day.  Tomorrow I will be rolling out of town. Let’s see what it brings.