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So we left the atrocity that is the Mall of America bound for the Badlands in South Dakota. Unfortunately, on I-90 , while escaping Minnesota, the van threw a rod. We had to replace the whole engine. The first mechanic was messing around with us so we found a mechanic in a nearby town, Freeborn, pop. 623. They said they could do it faster and a thousand dollars cheaper. The owner, Wayne, came right away and towed us back to his shop. I rode in the cab with him while the others rode backwards in the van. They started working right away on it. We even got a loaner car. We went back to the town by the highway and ate a diner. The waitress invited us over to her place above the restaurant for a few beers. We ended up going to another bar back in Freeborn, the Powerhouse Grill. There was a bunch of good ol' boys that called us over right when we walked in. They proceeded to entertain us with country antics while we got polluted and played pool. Also, we ran into one of the mechanics who happened to be Wayne's brother Al. He offered to let us use his apartment above the post office that could have been nice with work, but it wasn't. Beggars can't be choosers. We would have frozen trying to camp, the temp was -20 with the wind chill, and we didn't have our van. We spent our time drinking with Dawn and Theo, the bartender at the powerhouse, going to the library, and going to the mall. It was hard finding things to do because there really was NOTHING to do. The wind blew hard all day and it snowed a lot. Justin and I drove for two hours to visit my Grandfather in Iowa. We slept a lot. We finally got the van back and drove as fast as we could out of Minnesota. I could be perfectly happy if I never go back to Minnesota.
The van and the gas station where we broke down
The Diner where we met Dawn
Having fun stranded in Freeborn
The apartment above the post office
Our dead van
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