Dalagutan U.S.A. Tour 1993

U.S.A. Tour

1993

In 1993 we had the chance to make our second U.S.A.-tour. From July 25th to August 9th we visited North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota again.
And again, thanks to Carrol Juven in Juven Tours and Travel , Fargo.

We flew in with Nortwest Airlines Oslo-Amsterdam-Minneapolis-Fargo. (And again, our base was Fargo and the hotel in the south-west corner of junction Interstate 94 and University Drive, only this time the name had changed from the former "Oak Manor Inn" to "Expressway Inn".)

The band on this tour was (left to right on this picture):
Atle Aanesbug (fiddle and keyboard), Per Holten (accordeon and bass guitar), Inger Onny Sletta (fiddle), Arne Bergheim (accordeon, diatonic accordeon, and drums),
in front: Jostein Dønnem (guitar and bass guitar) and Odd Inge Rotmo (guitar).

(The picture is taken in Morris, MN, in front of our rented Ford Econoline van. On our first tour we rented a Plymouth van). (Here in Norway we drive a Mercedes Benz van).

In 1993, we played on the following places:
- Community Center Hanska, MN
- in Morris, MN
- Eagles Club, Valley City, ND
- Bethany Homes (senior home) Fargo, ND
- Kringen Lodge (Sons of Norway) Fargo, ND
- Community Center, Dalton, MN ("Norske Dag")
- Coachman Inn, Cooperstown, ND (two nights)
- Griggs County Retirement Home, Cooperstown, ND
- Civic Center, Maddock, ND
- Mount Carmel, Alexandria, MN

On this picture (above) we are stopping in Pelican Rapids, MN. On our 1989-tour we played in Pelican Rapids, but not on this tour.

We stayed some nights in hotels, but like on our first tour, we were fortunate to be invited to stay in private people's homes some of the nights. It was a great experience to get to know the families, and how people live in U.S.A. We still miss the wonderful homemade pancake, egg and bacon breakfasts...

We met so many nice people, and it wouldn't be right to mention some and forget others - so we let this picture (to the right) be representative of the hospitality and friendlyness we met everywhere. This is Odd Inge, Per and Arne visiting Elmer Seim just outside Detroit Lakes, MN. Elmer had a wonderful sense of humour!

On one of our days off, we went to the great country music festival, the "We Fest" at Soo Pass Ranch, Detroit Lakes, MN. Some of the artists we could hear was Don Williams, Holy Dunn, Vince Gill and Kathy Mathea. The friendly attitude at the festival and the great music, was a wonderful experience for all of us. On this picture (to the left) are Inger Onny (scratching her legs from the bites of the famous Minnesota mosquito...), Per, Odd Inge, Arne and Atle.

Talking about music, we will also mention the music stores where we rented (and bought some) instruments and sound equipment. Some came from "Beehive Music" (David Berdahl), and some from Harvey Lane - both in Fargo N.D., and "Marguerite's Music" in Moorhead, MN. Great service!

On our second tour, we didn't meet any local bands. But on our 1989-tour we got to know the members of two Fargo bands quite well. One was "Old Friends", with Larry Kielland and his friends. Another great local band was "Burbank Station", Rick Adams from that band is still playing - now with The Roosters. A great guitar player and a great voice.

Arne is a truck driver in Norway, and it was an old dream come true when he got the chance to take a drive in a real American tractor/trailer. In Maddock, ND, he drove this Kenworth. (picture to the right).

Jostein is also an admirer of American cars, he have had a Mustang and a Buick some years earlier. But the dream was always to one day drive a Cadillac. In Fargo, he rented this brand new 1993 De Ville, and took it to Interstate 29 down to South Dakota.

So many great memories from our tours to U.S.A. in 1989 and 1993!

(About time we went there again, or what....?)