We were the last of the transients to get out of that park in Grand Forks this morning and we left at 8:30.  The smell was still there and the place was still creepy.  Glad to see that place in our rear view mirrors!

Rog was so tired today from bucking 25-30mph head winds all day.  It was a chore keeping the truck and RV on the road and in our lane.  Big Blue sucked down fuel like there was no tomorrow.  We stopped for lunch and another RV pulled in at the same time.  He was griping to Rog about it being his second day of driving into the wind and he was getting 7mpg on his truck.  We averaged 10.6  when our normal is about 14. The wind was strong and it was constant.  Very draining on us.

We stopped at a nice road side rest  next to a small lake for lunch, but had to eat inside because of the wind.  See the waves on the water?  The temperature was about 67. The majority of today the scenery was farms and small lakes and wetlands.  I was surprised at how much water there was everywhere.  I guess I didn't think of North Dakota as being wet, but it is (at least where we were) and very green.  There were lots of ducks, geese, egrets, red-winged blackbirds, sea gulls, and I even saw a yellow-breasted black bird - something I've not seen before.  It was quite beautiful.  There were a few hawks but I'm not sure what kind - small ones, though.  Rog said the drive was boring today, but since I get to watch more than the road, I didn't find it so.

In a small town called Rugby on US2 is this monument claiming that the town is the Geographic Center of North America.   There were also signs there with mileages that didn't quite make sense to us, but maybe has something to do with the way things are measured.        I 

Curiosity got me again because the signs didn't seem right so this evening I googled Geographic Center of North America in North Dakota and this is a link  to what I found.  Seems this site was determined in 1931 and new measurements show it is not correct. A small town nearby called, of all things, Center, actually is the center. Interesting article if you want to click on the link above.  Rugby isn't tearing down their monument, though.  

As I always write down the address of where we are going so that when we set out I can enter it in SAL.  Most of the time it works - especially if I put in the correct address.  Well, today's destination was a little tricky.  Minot, ND has two 500 54th Streets.  I chose the wrong one.  One had SW and one had NW. We ended up turning at a rather strange place in town and then down a residential street.  Seemed wrong, but we couldn't figure out what the problem was.  I googled RoughRider Campground on the phone and it came up something different than what SAL had.  Then I entered the campground name in SAL and the two devices finally agreed.  The campground is in the NW part of the city, not the SW.  Oh, well, saw some interesting areas and got Roger's blood pressure up all at one time!  

The campground is a pretty nice one and I'll post photos tomorrow.  We have a nice view of a ranch across the road with cows and horses.  No bugs to mention - they probably don't like the wind, either.  But, when the wind is just right there is a faint manure smell.  I hear trains but no road noise.  There's a small creek bordering one side with a gaggle of Canadian geese on the banks.  

As we pulled in and were just about hooked up the skies opened up and dumped on Roger for about 15 minutes.  This was after he couldn't get the power to turn on with the 50 amp breaker. He tried the 30 amp breaker.  Nada.  Great - we are already unhooked from the truck and leveled.  He did stop to think for a minute as to what the issue was and figured it might be our surge protector had blown.  He took it off and plugged in without it and we had power.  He then tried the surge protector on other power poles and got nothing.  So, tomorrow we will be trying to find a RV accessory place so we can replace it.  It'll only be about $300.  Have to have it, though.  Lost a microwave once  (more than $300 to replace) because of power fluctuation before we invested in one.  

Now the water ??? leaks.  He can't figure out why.  It just started yesterday.  He wanted a beer or two tonight but settled for a cup of chamomile tea to calm down after this day of work, confusion, and busted stuff.  

We are staying here tomorrow - it's our rest day after three days on the road.  We'll be doing laundry and looking for an RV parts store. 

P.S. passed 5,000 on the trip odometer yesterday.