Fargo jet set

Fargo was such a nice city that I took two days out of the saddle to
relax and explore a little. There's a vibrant downtown area spilling
off of Broadway with excellent food (try Hodo), interesting
storefronts (walk into Sign & Symbol for an interesting conversation),
and hip urban coffee shops (Atomic Coffee, where the fashionable Fargo
youth intermingle with rotund retired farmers, sweet old ladies
reading inspirational books, and the work-from-wifi para-cubicle set).
Oh, and seeing a movie in the restored art deco movie house downtown
is worth an evening, too.

The photo here is from the Plains Art Museum which has a vibrant
regional collection as well as world class travelling exhibits. Most
interesting to me was the Walter Piehl painting. Never before had I
seen Western Americana themes (i.e., rodeo) depicted in a legitimately
contemporary style. Tight, reworked draughtsmanship overlayed by
expressive abstracted colors capturing the jolting movements of
bullriding. Kind of a more figurative Diebenkorn, if Diebenkorn would
have spent his time in Wyoming rather than California.

Fargo is on the list of places to go back to.