Daniel Cann

The bus journey turned out to be a pleasant and mellow one. This Greyhound was not crowded so we could all spread ourselves out and enjoy more comfort and legroom. On board were a friendly Native American couple and a lad from Tennessee who sounded exactly like Elvis Presley! Lunch was at a diner, which was a real spit and sawdust place in the middle of nowhere. The scenery was generally flat and featureless upon leaving South Dakota.

That evening we stopped at Omaha, Nebraska and the following morning we stopped at another diner straight out of fifties America in Des Moines, Iowa. Both States boasted acres of farmland but not much else I’m afraid!

It was a relief to finally arrive at the Greyhound station in Minneapolis. Tiffani arrived and I noticed that she was more petite than Delana and had blonde hair, but there was no doubting that she was Delana’s sister. There was no doubting that the two tired looking guys with English accents were her sister’s friends from Alice Springs and Uluru! Introductions and pleasantries over, she dropped a bomb on us: Delana was still living in Alice Springs as an illegal alien working as a nanny with no work visa!

Tiffani very graciously offered us to stay at her place despite not really knowing us. She had a friend called Brian with her who blocked out a lot of sunlight and probably played American football. He was amiable and laid back but obviously there to check Ben and I out to see what we were like which I thought was fair enough and reasonable under the circumstances. Back at Tiffani’s pleasant suburban house in Eagan we had a barbecue and soon relaxed.

‘It was funny as I kept coming home after work getting these phone messages from you Dan letting me know that you were on your way! I had no idea who you were. But I checked it out with Delana and she said you were both okay.’ She smiled reassuringly.

Brian added ‘Yeah, anyone who is a friend of Delana’s is a friend of ours.’ I further broke the ice when I learned that Brian was from Davenport, Iowa and said ‘That’s where the Middleweight Champion, Michael Nunn is from right?’ He seemed impressed and we soon got talking about other sports and our travels so far. Phew! Things were working out again!

That evening Tiffani took us to the home of the Minnesota Twins, the Metro Bowl. It was my first Major League baseball game and the large crowd and atmosphere reflected that. As Tiffani worked there we had complimentary seats and free baseball caps and programmes. Its good to be connected! The stadium was an indoor one and had a large dome no doubt because of the severe weather conditions the State of Minnesota experiences in the winter.

After the game we went clubbing in town with Tiffani and her very attractive (and leggy) brunette friend, Jennifer. Although Ben and I felt a little awkward at times as we had no prior history or point of reference with Tiffani we were both made to feel very welcome and the four of us got on well together. Tiffani had really made a big effort to make us feel comfortable and welcome which was greatly appreciated.

The Sunday was spent at the Mall of America, which is the largest indoor shopping complex in the World. Not only did it have streets and streets of shops of every name and description it even had a built in fairground and aquarium! Only in America! As the saying goes.

Afterwards Tiffani drove us to Lake Calhoun and the source of the famous mighty Mississippi River. Minneapolis is famous for its lakes and it was easy to see why. This was nature on a grand and impressive scale. Again we were lucky to find yet another American happy to show us around their home. We also saw the State Capitol building of St Paul and the cathedral, very impressive.

That Monday it was time to leave Tiffani as she had to work and we were on our way to Chicago later in the day. She had been an excellent hostess making two strangers feel very welcome in her home. The rest of the day was spent walking around downtown St Paul. At one point this tall black guy playfully pointed his fingers at Ben pretending they were guns and shouted ‘Hey Bandito!’ Ben glowered at him but it was fair to say if you choose to wear a huge poncho and a red bandana in a large city you will attract attention!

We went to see ‘Anaconda’ at a huge multiplex cinema, a horror film set in the Amazon that provided over the top entertainment as well as a few unintentional laughs. After coffee and bagels at a café we walked to the Greyhound station. Poor Ben continued to bare the brunt of a lot of amused stares and comments from passers by. ‘It keeps me warm!’ He protested. I just stifled a laugh and decided not to tease him (much).

After a short wait we were on our next overnight Greyhound, this time bound for the Windy city of Chicago, famous for Al Capone, the Bundy’s, the Griswold's and the Sears Tower.