[pohonkelapa]

funny to think that they didnt have much in the way of plastics in the olden days so everything was wood & metal,
like these snow sleds,or matts moms steel eye & wooden peg-leg.


"warm fer yer form."


i was gonna say "tyke-tryke" till i noticed there were 4 wheels.


how many toddlers fingers were chopped off by these beasts?

[pohonkelapa]

my favorite cereal EVER now i have to wait till the year 3000 to have it again!!! life is not fair!


mythical lamp-birds.


you have to wear em like that if you buy em.


with a sky like that its a shame that plane is earth-bound.

[pohonkelapa]

one-time bank that until recently was an antique shop.you cant trust any of the buildings.


jake looking pensive on the 2nd floor of an antique shop that was the old pharmacy/soda fountain on the 1st floor & was
probably some kind of flop-house for a while,too.
what is that window above the door called? i've only seen them in old cartoons.


this place was creepy.hold me.


weirdest floor covering ever.

[pohonkelapa]

i always thought bricks just came in red.


"help us seeenor--we can no breeez!!!"


it only picks up radio from the early 1980s,like maybe night ranger.


dirtiest car ever.

[pohonkelapa]

then we went to an estate sale/auction at the eagles aerie.
i am a compulsive tooth-brusher.


you have to get a number to bid.


it was a big deal,even my parents were there.
or its just that there was nothing else to do,which is more likely.


the boys got bored pretty quick,but i drove so they were stuck.
old & sneaky wins every time.

[pohonkelapa]

double-wide motel chair!


the Sheyenne River,in all its silent majesty.
or something.


junk always looks more interesting when it belongs to someone else,so i bought some.


HUGE windmill outside valley city.

[pohonkelapa]

heres one of the windmill thats not blurry.
too late,i am not changing it.


end of the 1st full day we had a nice fire to keep the predatory mosquitoes at bay.


the little camper where i slept & kept extra pants cuz you just never know when yer current pants can get
caught in farm machinery or something equally tragic.


next day was a big shopping day in the BIG city,yup,you guessed it,fargo ND!

[pohonkelapa]

the only palm i saw the whole time.


jake learns to spell his name.


the boys tried out for a stage play.


cool old chinese restaurant.the had spicy sauce.i was in love.

[pohonkelapa]

heres the sign out front with their phone #.
the area code is 701. call them & ask if they deliver.


either this is the ceiling or i was really drunk.


mmmmmmmango.


dont feed the fish or you will be publically shamed.

[pohonkelapa]

this was like a chinese disneyland,but in fargo.


i need one of these for my opium den.
i mean,uh,rumpas room,hehe.


"lets eat!"


"more chili sauce!!!"

[pohonkelapa]

ryan goes in for the sauce while jake is pre-occupied.


ambience.the only one in north dakota.


the bamboo screen on the walls is really bamboo screen wall-paper.
i was totally fooled.


i walked in & suggested they call it "yog-art."
they just stared at me till i left.

[pohonkelapa]

we wondered why all the old banks turn into antique malls? you think that'll happen to B of A?
so we decide to make a "withdrawal..."


looks like a good place to rent a room by the week & write that novel.


someones 1960s modular night-mare.

[pohonkelapa]

the dirt is black--like my conscience.


sunglasses are a must.

[Kim]

So no earthquakes in North Dakata, eh? All those old brick buildings still standing, far rarer sight in California. Fun to see all the houses and miscellaneous farm buildings, too.

Fun pix of all the junk sho--, er, I mean, antique stores. After looking at those pix it was very soothing to see more photos of the green trees and fields, though.

That Chinese restaurant is so typical of small towns across the US, very heavy on the exotic decor. Probably no stray cats in town, eh? (That's what an uncle in Oregon used to say when we went to eat at the Chinese place in La Grande, Oregon.) How would you rate the food on a scale of 1 to 10?

It's obvious the boys are related to you. And as the travel log progresses, their behavior gravitates toward yours, does their mother know they succumbed to your influence?

[MattyB]

That panel/window above the door might be called a Transom. Not positive though. Incidentally, "Transom" is also the word I use to describe a very handsome transvenstite.

[pohonkelapa]

kim i rate the food at the chinese place as an 8,it was pretty fresh & good.

the boys mom knows what they are in store for,she HAS been my sister for her whole life!

matt

[MattyB]

Paul,

Look it up dicktionary face

[osideterry]

Paul, was there a chiffarobe in the basement at the thrift store? Because chiffarobes are mentioned twice in the movie "To Kill a Mockingbird", and that basement looks exactly like where a guy could find one.

[pohonkelapa]

terry i think they were pretty well-stocked in that dept.
btw,"mockingbird" is one of my fave films.

matt you managed to mis-spell it even with a dictionary.
you are hopeless.

[Wal]

Thanks for sharing Paul, how were the palms when you got back home ?

[pohonkelapa]

palms were great thanks to palmgrovers expert "palm-sitting!"

[pohonkelapa]

here is a video of the estate sale/auction-thing.

[MattyB]

That video is too long. I don't have the patience to sit through it.

[Jeff Searle]

pul,

a very interesting trip you took. i'm thinking about making plans to go there sometime in january, can I have your sister's phone number? probably one day is enough, right? i want to visit the botanical gardens there. Thanks.


Jeff

[pohonkelapa]

jeff i will give you her # but it'll be long distance,since she lives here in socal.
there is a botanical garden,its called the "peace garden." not "piece" as in "piece of _ _ _ _."
there are lots of tropical plants & palms there & january IS the best time to see them.remember to wear shorts & sandals,no need for coats or jackets or parkas or snow mobile suits.
have fun!send me a post card!

[pohonkelapa]

time for the saga of the "taco bell lucha libre finger puppet wrestler" tm.


"hola,i am the taco bell lucha libre finger puppet wrestler."


"let us fly thru dee air like birds!"


"senor,i am mui escared! heeeeeeeelllllpppppppppp!!!!!"

the end.

[pohonkelapa]

back in tower city my mom shows me where rhubarb comes from.
you may be surprised...






thats right,it comes from LAWNS.

[pohonkelapa]

yard scenery.


from my parents lot looking east.


lots of big cottonwood trees around dropping fluff.


my parents have decided to sell the lot in tower city.kinda sad to see it go.

[pohonkelapa]

new home being built on the east side of town.kinda surprising.


the lawns are rather expansive.


cottonwood tree & a fairly new "log cabin" style home in the background.
dont think a few farmers eyebrows were not raised over that.

[pohonkelapa]

sometimes i like to just drive around & look at the old homes.


nicely maintained victorian home.


most remaining homes from this era or inns or something like that.


cool old church.


what were these people thinking?

[pohonkelapa]

sometimes you hardly ever see any other people around.


"can you people read any quieter in there?"


there are more churches than you can shake a crucifix at.


north dakota "winter show" bldg on the right.my grandfather was among the folks who got this going.

[pohonkelapa]

across the street from the winter show is a park with indian burial grounds.
good thing they didnt build a hotel or something right on top of it.


this was one of the few places i had cell reception but i had to stand on one of the rocks or mounds.


the park sits on a bluff over-looking valley city.
valley city is famous for having the longest railroad bridge in the country & for being where the "onion field" killer is from.
i am not making this stuff up.


this new-age BS has been around longer than i thought.

[pohonkelapa]

it was interesting for about 4 seconds.


i thought the earth was much bigger.




jeez,i can pile rocks up,too.

[pohonkelapa]

the bane of my ND experience.


what a great place for some quality alone time--right in the middle of one of this states biggest tourist attractions.




the lawn mowers are big here,too.

[pohonkelapa]

finally got ahold of my cousin nathan.he asked me to buy beer(you can the the reflection of it in the upper right of the pic).
snapped a few shots on the way out of valley city.

[pohonkelapa]

heres nate.he grows cactus & chilis in his basement in minnesota.


for some reason we had to drive out in the country.oh yeah,more beer.


to hot & dusty to even roll down the windows.


more bins.lotsa people get killed in em by grain suffocation.

[pohonkelapa]

we happen to drive by the farm my grandparents used to live on where my mom grew up.




back at my cosuin johns farm the reunion festivites are really getting hot.


thats john on the right.we are hangin out in his new 8000 square-foot equipment garage.

[pohonkelapa]

this is about as much fun as you can have in north dakota.


my cousins nate & amanda.she lives in manhattan but grew up in ND.




john has the funniest laconic sense of humor.

[pohonkelapa]

cousins are coming outta the woodwork.


there was much merriment.


nates parents.they are moving to valley city since retiring a few years ago.


ice cream trucks can SMELL hot sweaty little kids who are craving ice cream from 20-25 miles away.

[pohonkelapa]

dunno what this is but i caught quite a few of em.