Moving Forward

  Day 4 Mystery Tour finale Simple itinerary today. Arise in Bismarck, push the pancake button, drink a cup of coffee, and board the bus for home. On I-94 the bus made an unexpected right turn into ND32. But then this is Mystery Tour so why was I surprised? We drove south for 18 minutes and stopped at one of the best schoolhouse restorations I’ve ever seen—and I’ve seen a few. The Nome Schoolhouse . We ate a fantastic lunch and then learned the art of needle felting. I made a string of stars and fell in love. With needle felting, that is. Mystery Tour 2022 ended today back in Brainerd. For my last reflection, I’m giving you four travel tips to end day four. I gathered them from my companions on the bus. 1. Whether introvert or extrovert, everyone thought traveling with a group was a satisfying experience. It’s easy to connect if you want to, and equally easy to wander on your own if you need to recharge alone. Several people shared tips for overcoming the fear of travel, but Gilbert (1

  Just when you think it can’t possibly get any better, it does. Take breakfast at the Sleep Inn. I wasn’t going to have pancakes until I saw it. A space-age pancake machine right out of the Jetson’s. You push a button and batter drops onto a conveyor griddle inside a windowed metal box about 18 inches long. When the batter hits the end of the runway a fully cooked pancake emerges through a slot and drops into thin air. You catch it with your plate. Let’s do that again! Yup. Twice before I reluctantly gave up my place to the next in line. They weren’t that tasty but so much fun. Today was jam-packed. First, Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park and a tour of General Custer’s house. A young historian dressed in a period uniform (corporal) gave an outstanding performance totally in character as he welcomed led us through the Custer’s home in their absence. Our group played along, asking the corporal questions as if we really were visiting the 7th Cavalry Headquarters in 1875. Next we saw a Na

  Mystery Tour Day 2 report. Sunrise in Minot. Sunset in Bismarck. North Dakota is hands down my number one favorite state in the USA. Always has been. After today the trophy definitely stays put. In between Minot and Bismarck we toured the American Freedom Coal Mine and Gasification Plant near Beulah, then had a picnic lunch at Lake Sakakawea State Park, then a tour of The National Fisheries, then a stop at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, after which we toured the Mandan Fort, then supper at Olive Garden in Bismarck, ending with a craft session at the Board and Brush where each person stenciled a project onto a board. Whew! It’s now 10:07pm and I’m finally in my jammie’s ready to get my thoughts on paper. Two takeaways for day two. Number one. Open minded people are problem-solving people. The coal gasification plant is a case in point. There was a day when coal was a truly dirty energy source. “Coal kills people,” shouted the environmentalists. “Without coal people die,” the

Mystery Tour Day 1. From Brainerd to Fargo, ND where we made our first stop at the West Fargo Visitor’s Center. Took pictures of the colorful buffalo and side walk hall of fame, Chuck Yeager’s handprints. Go Air Force! Then north to Cooperstown, ND, where we ate at a Pizza Ranch, then toured a Cold War era missile site. Then west to Minot. Why not! We ate at a shiny diner named Krolls. German food was their specialty. I had cabbage rolls and a German noodle soup with a chocolate malt for dessert. I am way too full. One thought to end day one. Mindfulness is when you deliberately switch on your senses. You choose to see the evolution of the lilac bloom, how the haze of faint buds in the morning east, burst into voluptuous shades of purple as we approached Minot to the west. Mindfulness hears the hum of many conversations between friends who haven’t seen each other since the last trip they took together. PTS Tours is more than a travel business, it is a community of longstanding travel