Grand Forks, North Dakota

Woke up this morning at 6:00am as I was expecting a very long driving day to Minneapolis. Everything was ready to go so by 6:30am I was in my car, programming the GPS to my hotel in Minneapolis.

I was extremely tired and hungry, two feelings that one doesn’t want to have while driving highways devoid of any scenery whatsoever.

I have to admit I was a little sad I left Winnipeg—there’s much more here to explore, and in Manitoba in general. I will come back.

After about half an hour, or hour (who counts) I got to a tiny little town close to the USA border, called Morris. Reminded me of those tiny towns in Ontario that you drive by, fill up some gas, maybe have lunch and move on. I like those tiny towns. Make you feel peaceful. That’s why I chose to live in Waterloo and not in, say, Toronto: Waterloo isn’t really tiny, but it’s very spacious, friendly and green. I like the peace and quiet.

If only I could afford living in a peaceful, spacious & quiet environment in the Vancouver area… Ah. What a difference a few million dollars could make.

Anyway, continued on my way to the USA and arrived at the border. I did take the time before the trip to issue the Nexus card. Using it, I was able to cross immigration / customs in Toronto’s airport without even being questioned. However, the Nexus card didn’t seem to impress the North Dakota border crossing staff. The agent asked me what is it exactly that I’m doing in the border crossing in North Dakota with a British Columbia‐plated rental car.

I had to tell him the truth. I told him that I’m following Mark Knopfler’s tour in North America.

Needless to say, he wasn’t very impressed. I guess this is not the type of things border crossing agents hear every day. After some consultation with another agent, they decided to have me pull over for a vehicle inspection, of course after he took all of my concert tickets and inspected them very closely.

So I spent about 45 minutes altogether in the border crossing. You know, it’s very easy to say lots of bad things about the USA border crossing officers. True, some of them, sometimes, have bad days and they’re more strict than others. Well, everybody has bad days some times. Those people at the border, after all, are trying to do their jobs.

They are paid by the USA government to keep the country clear of people with bad intentions. That’s the job of every border crossing officer in any country; the reason for the USA guys being very strict (as a matter of fact, the Australians are much more strict—at least so I’ve heard from many sources) is that there are a lot of people out there seeking to do really bad things. When we talk bad about border crossing officers, we do it because we only see ourselves attempting to cross the border. We don’t see the drug dealer, the terrorist, the murderer, the thief—all of them also trying to cross the border, most of them look exactly like us.

Border crossing is never a pleasant process, but my experience shows that full collaboration and honesty is the best way to go. If you’re honest and have no bad intentions, and have no reason to hide anything—just collaborate and you’ll be amazed how friendly some of those officers can be. Lots of people feel attacked or having their “personal space” invaded by border crossing officers, and it ticks them off—hence problems occur. Just be patient, accept the fact that those people are just trying to do their jobs, be collaborative and you should be fine.

So I was driving into North Dakota, which is very similar to Manitoba when it comes to view (at least up until now). Craving my daily espresso, I asked my GPS really nicely for some coffee spot. The nearest one was in a city called Grand Forks which appears to be the first big city you encounter once you cross the border via the Pembina Crossing.

What struck me as soon as I entered this city is that it is very, very clean. It is so clean and tidy that it seems you could eat your meal right off the road. Very green, too, and very spacious. The coffee place I ended up in is called “The Coffee Co.” on 2100 South Columbia Road. What a lovely coffee shop. I took something I never heard of before—Cafe Breve—which turned out to be just like a latte, only made with half‐and‐half instead of milk. Very tasty. I liked.

Here is a picture of myself and Abby, the Barista:

People appear very polite and quiet in here.

Very interesting place. I should come back.

Feeling awake now… Caffeine is doing its job. Off I go.

Isaac