Minot

We thought about flying from Bismarck, but the airline wanted about $1500 to make the change. So we rented a car to get to Minot to take the original flight. For a couple of days we wavered between resuming the trip from Bismarck and starting up again on the original route when we get back to Minot. A lady in the Bowman visitor center told us about road closures and we easily got reasonable reservations along the alternate route, so the choice was made. Bruce called to reserve a car in Minot when we return to get us back to Bismarck only to learn that all Minot rental cars are committed to FEMA. Our only choice was to rent a car in Bismarck for a week & leave it in the airport parking lot while we're in Vermont. Hold that thought for a minute.

So on Thursday, I did laundry while Bruce picked up the car, then we both decided what to bring along, handed the rest of our stuff over to the hotel to store while we are away, took our bikes to the shop for mid-ride service, and headed north.

It's a pretty drive. We stopped at a Lewis & Clark interpretive center and at the Audubon National Wildlife Refuge. We pulled into Minot late in the afternoon. We had a reservation at the south end of town; the room we had originally reserved was underwater. Minot looked pretty good. No mud, no traffic issues, plenty of open stores. It was when we stopped that we began to see: the signs all over the hotel reminding us not to use tap water for drinking, tooth-brushing, food washing or preparation; the disposable plates and utensils at the restaurant; the very limited drink options at the restaurant ( they buy their ice, the chefs boil big batches of water to wash the lettuce - but they aren't offering mac & cheese right now); the endless thank-yous to the Red Cross posted in the supermarket.

In the morning we headed to the airport at about 5. We were incredibly lucky that the road that took us straight to the airport had reopened to 24 hour use for the first time that day. The desk clerk at the hotel had heard the press conference where the change was announced & had recognized Bruce in the lobby & told him about it. That saved us from taking the longer and slower bypass, and gave us a hint of just how thoughtful people are in the town. Once we reached the river on our way to our flight, we could see the muddy residue that extended for blocks beyond the bridge. We no longer saw water lapping at buildings. But once we took off, we did see some rooftops just above the surface. That water still has a long way to recede.

When we arrived at the airport we had to do something with our rental car. Someone at Hertz had told Bruce that they would prefer to have us leave it in their lot, but to take the keys with us and leave Hertz a note explaining what the car was doing there. Sounded like a good idea.

Bruce went to the yet-to-open Hertz counter to leave the note. Unfortunately, his hand slipped and the car keys fell right down into the car return box. Which was, of course, locked. I looked around for somone to ask for help. Uniforms are effective. I made a beeline for the only uniformed guy I could spot - one of the TSA crew. He smiled as I bore down on him. I told him that I knew it had nothing to do with his job, but explained what had happened. He said the Hertz guy often showed up pretty early, but he'd check also around a bit. I asked how much time we should allow to go through security - he said maybe we should go through by about 6 for the 6:30 flight. Actually, there was never a security line while we were there.

We sat and waited and wondered. After a while a young TSA woman came out to talk to Bruce & get more details. She wasn't sure if we would get the keys out, but we were not to worry- her mother works the counter & all would be ok even if we had to pick them up on our way back. She also said we could wait to go through security until our flight began boarding. This was not JFK.

Bruce had a brief relapse into his anxious mode. What if our flight back is delayed and the Hertz counter is already closed when we get there? Before that idea got too far, a man wandered in behind the Hertz desk. Bruce rushed up and talked to him. It took a minute to get things clear, but the guy just opened the box up and handed him the keys. We traded thumbs-up gestures with our TSA buddies and that was that.

Minot. I am glad we got to experience it. Not so surprising that of the 12,000 people evacuated, only about 300 needed room at the shelters.