Little House Travels: Flight Board in Bismarck

Don't steal the flight board...

In North Dakota for the first time. This was after a phone call from my friend Dante, who saw I was in Dallas for a layover; he was heading to Dallas and we just missed each other. 

One of the cleanest facilities ever. Ice skating during the day, and roller derby at night. 

The first leg of my visit to the Dakotas meant work first: I had to judge a skating test session for a club in Bismarck. They were kind enough to fly me there in the first place and it was a great experience. 

That sky!

Rules dictate I can't divulge the details of the tests, but the facilities were wonderful, the skaters polite and well-trained, and I had the privilege of working with three judges I had never worked with before: Mike from Washington, Dianna from Manitoba, and Helena from Tennessee. While I did a lot of work, they, being dance judges, were doing all the heavy lifting and probably did three times the tests that I did. 

On my first night, I was determined to do vacation-type stuff and went to the Laughing Sun Brewery to see the band Dad Bods while enjoying a flight of kettle sours: Beach Scooter, Red Dwarf, Space Probe Blue, and Space Probe Orange. I didn't have a favorite, I enjoyed them all. There was axe-throwing and professional bull riding on TV as well. 

Inspiration for the next playlist.

Dad Bods was a riot, just two guys with guitars playing 70s yacht rock and old country. It was one of the guy's wife's birthday, and she sang a John Prine tune with him. 

The next day, I was on two hours on, two hours off schedule, and attempted to score deals at the neighborhood yard sales. Great prices, but sadly nothing I needed or wanted. I did find a sports park teeming with tons of little kids playing soccer, and also - a dirt race track for cars! Fiddling with the dial, I found the classic rock station, The Walleye - rockin' the River! 

Goo goo gah joob.

After a full day of judging, the debate was on whether we would do our own thing or go out to dinner together. "The Walrus!" Mike declared was the place to go. I was going to spend plenty of time on my own this trip, so I gladly accepted the invitation. A kettle sour of raspberry pink lemonade and a tasty rib-eye highlighted a pleasant evening. 

Let's go!

The next day it was breakfast in the lobby with the Orange Creamsicles softball team and wrapping up the test session early. I got a sparkling lemonade from Panera and was on my way.