Fargo, North Dakota

Fargo!

Unsurprisingly it was a long, straight and boring ride to Fargo in North Dakota. But to keep things interesting the wind pushed me all over the road. To counter this you just go really, really fast. The logic is sound, trust me.

I arrived in Fargo and was met by new host Eric. Eric was a University lifer who was looking to become a professor. He had either multiple degrees or nearly multiple degrees. He was an awesome guy though, one of my best hosts. It's fantastic when the people you stay with are just really chill, but also really easy to talk with. And he was an engineer! (By the way he actually worked in an engineering firm as well).

The advantage Eric has as a student was that he looked so young, for a while I found it strange that he seemed so mature for such a young age. Turns out he was actually older than me! I'm guessing that the young look assists him a little with the partying (...and the rest...), where it would be almost impossible for someone like me!

Actually, I was just attracted to Eric's profile picture.

Eric gets attacked by a local "Gay Fargo Butterfly",
but still manages to smile for the camera.

Here's a great thing about couch surfing: You sure do sleep in some interesting places. When we walked into Eric's apartment, he said "here's where you are", and I thought "oh fucking sweet, my own room with a bed!". Nope, the room was his apartment, I was sleeping on the floor. But luckily, he had a super awesome air mattress so it was all sweet. And to be honest, this is what couch surfing is all about! By the way, the air mattress slowly deflated on me that night BUT I'M A HARDASS SO I JUST SUCKED IT UP! I LAID THERE AND WISHED I WAS SLEEPING ON A HARDER SURFACE!

This sign helps drunken students
remember where they are.

Eric took me down to the campus where there was free food and bowling. Yep, the university has bowling alleys. We played one game where - after a few initial terrible frames - I managed to pull it together and got something like 130. Eric had a much higher score. We then headed out to downtown Fargo for a few drinks. Turns out even Fargo has some nice places and their own microbrews! I had my first pumpkin beer, which was good but honestly I could only handle one. All other beers were fantastic though!

The next day I had to take care of a few couch surfing requests. So Eric and I sat around his apartment for a bit - he drew sketches for his engineering class. I asked him to accurately and precisely and sketch me like his French girls, but he refused. Afterwards I headed out to go see the most famous attraction in Fargo...

If you're like me, there one thing you know about Fargo: The Coen brothers movie with the same name. And like me there is one scene that sticks out above all the rest...

Yep, at the Fargo Visitors Center has the woodchipper from the movie Fargo. For the price of $0, you can get a picture with the famous prop from the actual movie. It is even signed by the Coen brothers so you know it's legit. They even give you a free attractive hat to wear. By the way, everyone on North Dakota wears these hats all the time, I have to insist they remove them when I take their photo.

When Eric told me about the woodchipper in town I thought "I MUST see this", and I'm so glad I did. Oh and interesting tidbit: Fargo wasn't actually shot in Fargo. Some Fargoeans believe that there is one shot that is from downtown, but even that is contentious.

But all that aside, I quite liked Fargo, it is a funky little college town with good beer and night life. Might suck in winter though! Oh and Eric - fucking awesome host!