Day 9: Rest Day
Welcome
Yesterday we had a second rest day in Bismarck, North Dakota.
We should have woken up in Minneapolis, but the weather had other plans. There was a large winter storm rolling through the Midwest and it was predicted to hit Minneapolis a few hours before our show. Offices and schools were already being shut down for the rest of the week. After careful consideration a decision was made to remain in place for an extra day and postpone the show.
So here we were in Bismarck, a hub of culture, history, and shopping. I was harbouring a feeling of regret at having already used up that beautiful first visit to Space Alien Grill & Bar, considering the limited range of activities within survivable walking distance of the bus. It was the coldest day so far, sitting at -20°C (-4°F) at around midday when I first went outside. I haven’t experienced anything much colder than this but my main takeaway from getting into the negative Fahrenheits is that you quickly find out where all of the weak points are in your cold weather clothes. The gap between your gloves and your jacket sleeve, your pants that don’t seal down the bottom, the tiny bit of your ear that isn’t covered by your scarf or beanie – these bits are rapid points of failure.
My morning routine was back with a vengeance though. I cleaned out the coffee machine, a Keurig K-Duo Essentials™ Single Serve & Carafe Coffee Maker, and put a fresh pot on. While this was dripping away I sliced a banana and a kiwifruit and entered them into my bowl of great grains cereal, Blueberry Nut Crunch, naturally flavoured, with real delicious BLUEBERRIES. Several spoons of yoghurt were then added along with some fresh raspberries, and finally a few glugs of milk. I even went a bit further yesterday and boiled some water to give my bowl a special treat when I washed it.
We all spent some quality time in the hotel lobby, enjoying a warmth that didn’t quite exist on the bus. There was a high quality playlist on. Mostly pop country music which paired well with the Holiday Inn Express 100% Arabica house-blend that we were drinking.
In the afternoon we went up to our day-room and sang through some songs, just making sure we could still do it after such a long break.
I got hit with a deadly prank. This is my bunk, and the ball I won in the Space Alien Grill & Bar Arcade.
Tristan hit the hotel gym and this time I was there to capture the evidence.
In the evening we went on an expedition to Olive Garden. It was about a ten minute walk to get there but by this time it had dropped to -23°C (-9°F) and the wind had picked up. People wrapped up in whatever they could, using t-shirts and N95s to cover exposed necks and faces. My scarf worked well but my gloves were useless in the wind and my legs got very cold. Gabe wore his pyjamas underneath several other layers, but was blinded when his glasses froze over.
Everyone showing off their protective outfits.
By the end of this walk I took cold weather more seriously. I tried to film how cold it was but I could only take my hand out of the glove for ten seconds, and then my phone reached its minimum temperature and turned off. Inside the restaurant we were warmed and then over-fed. A perfect winter storm experience.
The evening movie was Twilight I: A Vampire Spectacle. It gets better every time I see it and last night it was in extremely good form with several great new scenes I hadn’t watched.
