All things must come to an end, and we were starting to see the end of our wonderful trip.
It started with a lovely view from our balcony.
with our free breakfast at the Holiday Inn in Detroit lakes. There was apparently some problem in the kitchen (or elsewhere) and it took absolutley forever. It was also, as we had in Glencove, suprisingly mediocre.
Then it was time to hit the road, Here, by the way, the obligatory photo our rental car, a Nissan Rogue. Quite satisfactory.
We stopped at a very large antique mall in Detroit Lake, and saw lots of neat stuff.
We headed west and re-entered North Dakota.
We drove through Fargo, but it was just from the east-west Interstate to the north-south Interstate,
We got to Grand Forks far too early to check in, so found a shopping center to explore. Well, more of a shopping district. I walked through Michael's Crafts and Norbert through Loewes. To each his/her own, right? Lunch at, I believe, Hardee's.
Hoping against hope, we went to the motel, the same one we had stayed in our first night. HOWEVER..... the computer system was down for updates (or something), which meant they couldn't check us in and more importantly, couldn't create key cards to open the room door!
We had already discovered that there was not much in Grand Forks that appealed to us to see or do, so it was frustrating. Back to the shopping area, where Norbert looked at everything in Best Buys while I sat in the car and read a cookbook. (Satisfactory for both of us!)
Back to the motel, where we could finally check in. Then it was laundry time! I was shocked and upset with myself to discover I had apparently NOT packed my travel container of laundry pods and quarters for the machines. Back to the front desk, which provided us with both. She warned me about keeping the pod away from children. I told her my child was not only 31, but at home in Germany, and we both had a good laugh.
The washer and dryer did the job, and we napped. Got things sorted and folded, ready for the final packing (ugh).
We decided to treat ourselves to a good dinner (after all that fast food) and headed to Texas Roadhouse for some great steaks. 
As usual I had the filet mignon and Norbert the prime rib, and both excellent.
LAST DAY
The final day is always a problem and even more so when we can barely think of a way to kill time. Our flight was at 17:30, and we figured to be at the airport at 15:00 (that's 5:30 and 3:00 for you Americans).
We had a leisurely breakfast, packed everything, and dawdled as long as we could, checking out as late as possible.
Our first stop was in the University district, at the Japanese Garden in Sertoma Park. It was nice but quite small.
It was a nice place to sit and rest and enjoy for a while. We then went to another park, which was entirely forgettable.
Of course, we headed back to the shopping area. Norbert did the Best Buy thing again, and then we went to a Goodwill shop, where I no doubt bought yet another cookbook or two.
The most interesting thing about it was the sign on the door, something to the effect of "No guns allowed in this store. This is an open-carry state, but WE DO NOT ALLOW ANY GUNS AT ALL."
And I must add that the entire vacation we never saw a single gun.
Conveniently, there was an Arby's in the area, so we got our much-loved roast beef sandwiches as a good send-off lunch.
We headed next to Walmart, near the airport, so that we could pick up some more candy to take home. then on to the airport, turned in the car and waited about half an hour before we could check in. Once checked in, we went to our gate, one of only two. It is a tiny airport, two gates and one luggage band.
Waiting there, I sat across from this door, which I was convinced was watching me.
Short flight to Minneapolis. We had a very quick connection there, and the airport is large. I don't think we would have caught our flight home had I not been in the wheelchair. I think the man pushing it set a new speed record, which we greatly appreciated!
Overnight flight, got into Amsterdam and then on to Düsseldorf. Our friend Mattes picked us up and brought us home. Later in the day we picked up Amy from the Cat Pension, so we were all together again.
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