Grand Forks, ND

Run Time: 57:00 + 2-minute kick

I spent 2 nights in Grand Forks – a rare 2-night hotel stay. It was nice to get up the next morning, eat some breakfast, send some emails, and then grab a few items and a coffee and hit the road. I have become efficient at packing the suitcase and backpack, but still, it was nice to leave clothes on the bed, toiletries on the bathroom counter, and laptops on the desk.

There were only 2 prospects to visit in Grand Forks, but I had to drive to Winnipeg, and Grand Forks is the ideal launch point. I hit 1 prospect in GF first thing, drove across the border, visited 5 distributors and prospects in Winnipeg, and made it back to GF in time to hit the second prospect before the end of the business day. And I did not have to spend the night in a Canadian hotel with no HBO Max West Wing episodes.

It was windy all week as I drove through Minnesota, Manitoba, and the eastern edges of North Dakota and South Dakota. It was windy on this run. I followed some edge-of-town streets away from the hotel and came across a gravel road that was perfect for running. It was a public road, but I could not help scanning all directions for the pickup truck with wayward teens and shotguns. Fortunately, I was alone on the prairie with the exception of a couple of fairly hip-looking dog walkers.

Grand Forks was about what I expected: a small, gray, windy prairie town. Winnipeg was disappointing: rundown, dirty, cold. It reminded me of that time of year when the winter snowpack has all just melted, and there is the soot and gravel residue on everything. This problem is, this is Fall, when the fair Summer weather should have provided ample opportunity to clean the place up. Houses get painted in Summer. In Winnipeg, the primary house paint color is “peeling.”

I ran only the first night in Grand Forks. It was a little colder the second night, with some rain, so I considered taking a nap when I got to the hotel. Then I saw the IHOP next door, and I walked over and had a spectacular dinner breakfast of sausage, eggs, hash browns, and pancakes. The restaurant was nearly empty. It was one of the best road meals I have had since starting this job.