I woke up this morning at 03:30 and could not go back to sleep. Part of it was because the people a few spots over are apparently afraid of the dark and left the exterior light on, which was as bright as a spotlight. I decided to stay put for another night so I will see what help the owner is with this issue. He is a really nice guy and said he would take care of the problem. One nice thing about waking up this early, if there is one, is I have the Wi-Fi to myself!
Several months ago I bought a Wi-Fi extender for the house, as my Wi-Fi signal was too weak from the main house to use my computer or devices. It definitely helped with that problem. The other nice thing is that many who travel use the same extender for a boosted signal while in range of a weaker signal, and that is another reason I bought it. I got it hooked up for the first time during the wee hours of being awake this morning. It does a few things. It takes the signal and amplifies it, which is a necessity in some campgrounds I have been in. It also provides an additional layer of security by password-protecting my devices (on top of my VPN).
Perhaps at some point I will get a cell signal booster but I have not needed it yet. It’s not like I absolutely must have cell service like many do; I control my devices – they don’t control me. It’s also extra money to spend for that service on top of a cell plan. I can get by even doing my blog offline and posting later. When I travel it is not time-sensitive since I post several days after I leave.
I took out this morning to explore Bemidji and see what was going on around the city, plus I wanted to get some pictures. It was a bit cool and I was wishing I had a heavier jacket with me, and now that I think about it I did. I thought I had everything in the trailer. Oh well, I lived to type about it. There was one thing in particular I wanted to see on the shores of Lake Bemidji. The man, the ox, the legend…
I did get to see some other things in the park as well. I took a stroll and got a few pictures of Lake Bemidji.
In the picture of the gulls (they are NOT called seagulls…just gulls) there were squirrels running around near the birds doing what squirrels do. The birds would go after them and it was fun to watch.
The downtown area had some neat shops and a few empty storefronts, no doubt due to the ‘rona. There were several works of art around on the corners and I found a few interesting.
I believe this one can be yours for $14,000 
I went to the farmer’s market and to me it was kind of funny seeing a box of Washington apples, but it is the largest apple producer in the nation so it is not surprising. There were homegrown veggies, home-canned jams, jellies, asparagus, salsas…many things that looked delicious (well, not the asparagus). There was one lady there who had these bags of what she called “puff corn”.
A bag of that after a trip to the dispensary and you’d be grinning big. Crunchy, light, sweet and delicious. A very satisfying treat. Not sure how it was made, but they look homemade. I found recipes for using that store bought “puffed corn” (the stuff like styrofoam) and tossing it with a coating. The store bought ones in the bag are not that big and these did not resemble those in texture.
I went back to the campground and took care of tonight’s bill and chatted with the owner. I decided that since I had that taken care of I was going back to town and walk some more to relax and get some exercise in. Plus buy more puff corn.😁
On the way I hit the liquor store for some local hard ciders to try and found a few good ones. I also picked up an “airplane” bottle of Snoop’s gin & juice to give that a taste. Snoop hasn’t steered me wrong with any of his other products.
I got back to town to wander around a bit more and went in a few shops to look around. I don’t buy much unless it’s a unique sticker to go on the trailer. I have to watch my diet so dining out is a rare treat these days, but I saw a sign talking about a Maid-Rite, a classic burger place, and I immediately searched for that one. It was a picture of an old store no longer there I guess since the closest one is near Minneapolis as far as I could find. I will have one sometime.
Up until today I have been pretty much the only one wearing a mask anywhere when I had to go inside someplace. I got the stink eye in ND in more than a few places because I had one on but I was never confronted about it.
I did go back to get more puff corn but she only had one bag left so I got it. When I got the other bags this morning a guy driving by me yelled out “Once you start eating those you cannot stop!!!”. Hahaha. I figured I best get more but should have turned around then. I did see some really good looking veggies but I cannot eat them fast enough and really not much place to store them. I saw signs for a street party in downtown tonight but I will be staying away from that kind of crowd.
It has been a few days since I had my overnight oats so I turned around on the highway and went back to Aldi for some frozen berries. I had a breakfast sandwich this morning and a low-fat salad for lunch but it’s gonna be some Cheerios for supper to stay close to my diet. I did spring for some Choceur bars, little filled chocolate bar sticks that are individually wrapped and available only at Aldi. Easy portion control to stay within my diet and a small treat that is very satisfying.
I am getting the grocery supply whittled down and have been repacking things from the cooler into the fridge. I will have several empty containers so I will be able to store them in the emptiness of the cooler when I get my oat bars, cashew milk and those pesky hard ciders out of the way; it’s all that is left in there other than my Kerrygold butter and I am NOT tossing that. I ended up tossing out my ketchup and mustards since I cannot really eat deli meats anymore. That saved some real estate in the fridge. I’ll be cooking out of the freezer for the next few meals to get more room in there. I have done pretty well getting stuff into the fridge but the cooler has been a real luxury to have to expand capabilities.
I got back to my site, had my salad (been a few days since I had one and it was just what I needed), and made up oats for the next two mornings so that is taken care of.
I got a few more reservations made tonight. I then did a German lesson on Duolingo. I did another lesson when I was in Three Forks. I had too much going on for a while but could have done the last few months so I am trying to get back into it. I don’t think I can converse much but I can get several phrases figured out just by looking at them.
Now that everything is done it’s time to sit back and relax for the evening.
Until next time, Hab einen schönen Abend!