Sunday August 20, 2006 5:40 am Bismarck, North Dakota Sunrise 6:47 Sunset 8:44 Hours of daylight: 13:57 Day 5 of our trip to Virginia

A. Morning Musings

5:40 am It is + 18 C, with a forecast high of 89 F (+ 32 C). Today is a our second consecutive travel day. Yesterday we primarily drove south, today it will be east as we aim for Bloomington, Minnesota. Although we will be travelling 704 km (which is 140 more km than yesterday) the estimated travel time is 6 hrs 25 min (which is 55 minutes less). Today we will be driving on Interstate #94.

The weather forecast for Bloomington is sunny with a high of 81 F. I quickly googled "conversion Celsius fahrenheit" and now have a website bookmarked that gives a quick conversion. It will be a high of 27 C. This looks like a good day.

B. Plan

Drive from Bismarck, North Dakota to Bloomington, Minnesota.

C. Actual/Notes

	History 07 August 20
History Chronology
Notes for "Citizens" (1989) by Simon Schama. 6:00 am I am going to try making a few notes from my rereading of chapters 3 - 5 but this may not work too well as we may start packing up for our drive to Bloomington Minnesota before I can get fully into this. Still, it is worth a try. The first step is to add items to the following three headings Key people Louis XVI Marie Antoinette Lafayette Talleyrand Turgot Vergennes Necker Malebroi (sp?) Malesherbes Key events Seven Years War 1756 - 1763 Coronation of Louis XVI 1765 American War of Independence 1769 - 1776 (1775 - 1783) French Revolution 1789 - 1799 Setting France in difficult financial situation due to supporting America as well as trying to maintain both a strong navy and a strong army. Now to "mark"the above effort by comparing it with my earlier notes. Not too good. I forgot Vergennes who was the foreign minister responsible for the military policies that led to such a huge deficit. Also I was unable to spell Malesherbes and I even forgot to add Marie Antoinette! My dates for the key events were a little better, but I missed the dates for the American War of Independence (1775 - 1783). This activity is an excellent way to begin a session. But that is as far as I have got this morning. Now to get ready for the drive. Hopefully I will be able to return to this after we get settled in Bloomington. 6:20 am 4:30 PM Continuing ... I want to add items to the Inspiration chart, and make a few notes based on quotes from the book. This will include items from chapters 3 - 5.   Here is my revised Inspiration chart. 5:00 PM 7:40 PM We are back from our walk and I have some time to complete my notes for today. Part One: Alterations - The France of Louis XVI Chapter Three Absolutism Attacked [p. 96 - 121] Twenty years before the Revolution there were 3 types of opposition to absolute rule by the king: within the king's court (e.g. Malesherbes) by the Parlements (appointed legal councils) nobility (many actually had received their titles through merit) These three factors were all part of the milieu that made up French culture and society. Chapter Four The Cultural Construction of a Citizen [p. 122 - 182] Rousseau's books "Emile" and "Social Contract" gave a voice to a natural culture with high moral principles which acted as an alternative to the court life in France following his death. Beaumarchais wrote a series of three plays which were very popular social critiques of French society. I purchased these plays while we were in Regina a few days ago! Chapter Five The Costs of Modernity [p. 183 - 199] "It could be argued, though, that the French Revolution was as much the interruption, as the catalyst, of modernity." [p. 184] This is the exact opposite of the conventional interpretation of the French Revolution, but it is a fair comment. "the great period of change was not the Revolution but the late eighteenth century." [p. 185] "The 'old regime,' then, was not a society doddering its way to the grave. Far from appearing moribund, signs of dynamism and energy may be found wherever the historian looks." [p. 185] partnerships between government and the academic faculties (e.g. Academy of Medicine) major improvements to roads and communications creation of special schools for the blind and deaf international trade was at an all time high improved industrial and business practices. 8:20 PM

2:45 PM We have arrived in Bloomington, Minnesota and are now in our Holiday Inn room. Another good day's driving. We left Bismarck, North Dakota at 7:15 this morning, arriving at the state border with Minnesota at 10 am. There was a noticeable increase in the volume of traffic once we crossed into Minnesota. In North Dakota the road was almost bare of vehicles but Interstate #84 was much more like the road between Edmonton and Calgary. We saw numerous corn fields and many lakes in Minnesota.

Just east of a place called Spiritwood there was a small sign saying Continental Divide 1490 ft. I assume this was a north-south watershed division. I was close. A check on Google "united states continental divide Minnesota" indicates that there is a 3-way continental divide in Minnesota separating north, east and south watersheds.

Here are 4 images from today. These were taken with shutter priority and set at 1/1000. This is the first time I have tried this. The idea is to take pictures while driving down the highway (more accurately, when Phyllis is driving down the highway). Some of the pictures of zoom close-ups (of corn, for example) did not turn out that well. I assume the camera did not have time to focus properly. I will continue to play with this in the days ahead.

Tourist rest area at Moorhead, just across the state line from Fargo, N. D.	Budweiser plant at Moorhead
Minnesota countryside	Minnesota cornfield

7:30 PM We went to the hotel's pub & restaurant for a plate of nachos and a beer and then took an hour walk around the neighborhood. We only saw two birds - a European Starling and a Blue Jay. The highlight for me was when we stopped at a corner gas station and they had the Sunday edition of the New York Times ($5). That should keep me going for a few days.

D. Reflection