Minot AFB, ND
Why not Minot? Freezin’ is the Reason! It has been two weeks since we first pulled onto base and so far the weather has been amazing. The highs have typically been in the low/mid 70s (currently 53) and we have had tons of sunshine. I know that cool summer days with long hours of sunshine lead to brutally cold winter days with long hours of darkness, but we will cross that bridge when we get to it.
Our time here so far has been great. We are living on base in company grade officer housing, so we are surrounded by other young couples who are in a similar situation. The base community is great and the simplicity of the city is a nice change.
Neither of us had ever been to North Dakota, so moving here has definitely been a new experience. The state is beautiful and the people are incredibly nice. I have quickly realized that, in Minot, when someone ask me how I am doing they are not only actually interested in the response, but very likely to follow-up on it.
All of our “stuff” was delivered yesterday, so I am currently surrounded by boxes. Exactly one month had passed since they packed up our belongings in San Antonio… it is exciting to have everything back. We utilized the week we had in our empty new home to do some painting.
On the way up, we spent a few days in CO were we got to catch up with a good friend from Wake Forest, do some hiking, explore Colorado Springs, Denver, Boulder and Ft. Collins, and attend a Rockies game (which ended with a walk-off home run). From CO, we drove through Wyoming and the Black Hills of SD, where we visited Mt. Rushmore and spent the night in Rapid City. We really enjoyed the road trip, despite the fact that we were driving two vehicles. We have found that books on CD make long drives much more enjoyable.
As far as the base itself goes, the facilities here are generally fairly new and nice. The fitness center is great, our house was just built, the shopping/grocery stores are new, and the outdoor recreation center has snow mobiles we can rent!
Well, time to get unpacking. I will try to put up some pictures of our trip and the local area soon.
