What to wear in Minot

[magiccity]

By your first comment, you shoud be arriving here in February. By then it should be warming up to, say 10 degrees. It's only 7 degrees today, but by next week, it will be back in the teens and 20's. You'll have fun here. Minot and Minot AFB is a great place to be. ct

[jbaint]

We have one 3 year old dd and my ds is due to be born in April. I would love to get any information/advice about how to get by in Minot with what will soon be two kids. I am clueless (except for the posts here on the site) as to what activities there are for a baby, a toddler and for myself. I don't fish or hunt. Is there any activities for the spouses (my husband is an AF Firefighter) out there to be a part of other than that? Do any of you know anything about the medical facilities there, especially pediatrics and labor & delivery? What about vehicles...would it be best to get one when we get there or prior to? What's the best vehicle to have there...car...SUV...truck? Should it be brand new or would it be okay to risk a used one? I know its a lot of questions...I just want to be prepared. Thanks for all the helpful information everyone has already provided. It has really helped put my mind at ease.

Janet

[kwill]

Don't worry -- Minot's got everything that Montgomery, Alabama, Norfolk, Virginnia, and Tacoma, Washington, has (except the scenery.) There is no better place to raise kids than in North Dakota (my brother raised his two in Williston,) and you'll find it one of the safest places on earth. My kids were shocked (shocked, I tell you!) to find out that snakes, spiders, ants and plants were poisonous in Florida (they were used to collecting North Dakota snakes for pets.) As for vehicles... what do you like to drive? Drive it. FWD, AWD, or 4WD are best, but North Dakotans have been driving RWD as long as everyone else, too. One thing about North Dakota cars -- white is not a favorite color because it you DID happen to go off the road in a snow storm, white's hard to see in a blizzard and easier to hit. BTW, all those recent ice storms in Kansas and Oklahoma? North Dakota doesn't have anything like that and you don't have to worry about losing your electricity. One more thing -- medical facilities are great. Minot is NOT at the end of the world, though as the saying goes, you can see it from there.

Karen

[Haver]

If you have to get huge bulky parka, make sure you also get something lighter weight for when its not that cold out or for when you've gotten used to the cold. Maxing out your outerwear can impose some navigational issues on you, and clumping around in a mall or grocery store in heavy snow boots and a parka rated for 40 below can be uncomfortably warm. You need to consider the indoor as well as the outdoor environment, so something you can slip off while indoors (such as snowpants) might be preferable to thermal underwear.

You need to block the wind, and if you let yourself get wet you will be pretty miserable - nylon is your friend, fuzzy mittens are not, especially when you drop your keys in a snowbank and have to fish them out. Gloves are pretty essential. Ears and nose are also vulnerable to wind chill, so a hat or hooded jacket are good to have, as well as a muffler or scarf of some kind. If you're just popping in and out of the car these last may be optional, but keep them handy.

Buy local, and you won't make any big mistakes. Also learn where the Marshall's and Burlington Coat Factory outlets are because late in the season the larger department stores will have already moved on to spring apparel.