North Dakota

I really didn't know what to expect since I had never visited North Dakota before. One thing, "Think Flat". Coming from West Virginia, seeing miles of road ahead of you is really an experience. Minot, North Dakota is a fairly remote city in the middle of the state. It is just a little south of the Canadian border.

I really enjoyed getting to meet the many city officials at the North Dakota League. Shawn Kessel is the League President and he is a really great guy. Probably one of the funniest things that happened was a film in which Shawn interviewed various city officals and quizzed them on North Dakota history. It was really well done.

Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota spoke to the group on Saturday and did a very good job of describing many of the issues facing Congress today. I had never met Senator Dorgan before, but he seems to be a very insightful Senator.

I met Mike Conduff, a former City Manager from Bryan, Texas. Mike is a consultant who presents a program on the Carver model of governance. Mike is really a nice person and I enjoyed getting to spend some time with him. I sat in on his session and he did a nice job of engaging the attendees. Mike and his wife are raising their three grandchildren. I really admired the way he spoke of his grandkids and how much he enjoyed being a "parent" again.

The airport in Minot is very acessible. We stayed right across the street at the Grand Hotel. It was a pretty nice hotel.

Minot is called the "Magic City" since it grew like magic many years ago. I kept thinking that a good slogan would be "Why Not, Minot". No one seemed to think that was funny.

So much for North Dakota. Pam and I checked off the map and it looks like I have 8 more states to go until I have visited the Big Fifty.

Maine is in a week or two and Alaska will be in November. That will leave only 6.