I'm sure I saw this in a movie once

There I was, 17 years old and surrounded by a bunch of Americans at least 10 years older than me, on a party bus complete with champagne buckets and a pole, heading to Valley City, ND. Never heard of it? Neither had I, but it was home to my lovely sister in law and, among others, “Jim, seeking sheep and goats.” At least according to the notice board at the local creepy gas station, which still rented films on VHS and most likely had a shotgun hidden under the counter. So, miles from anywhere, group of people I met less than a day ago and a suitably eerie setting. I suddenly had the distinct feeling that I’d wandered into a horror film. And wasn’t it always the foreigner that was killed/eaten first? Oh dear.
Thankfully, having survived our journey through what can only be described as no man’s land, we arrived in Valley City, ND. Population 6,585. All of whom knew exactly who we were and why we were gate crashing their town: my big brother’s wedding. Not that it was too far a stretch; I doubt they’d ever met an Englishman before. Especially not one who had romantically abandoned his job and family in the UK to marry the love of his life in the US. Aww. In order to make us really feel at home, what felt like the entire town joined us at the town’s only bar, The Captain’s Pub, to dance the night away. Much alcohol flowed (except in my direction. 17, remember?), and after sampling the local delicacies from Pizza Corner, we hitched a ride back to the hotel and spent most of the night watching a lightning storm from the top of a hill. Surrounded by a group of people I barely knew and thousands of miles from home, I had the most fun I think I’d ever had in my life (until my other brother’s wedding. One thing you can say about my family is that we know how to do weddings). It just shows how you can write off the tiniest of towns in the most boring of places, until you find yourself sitting in a field watching a lightning storm. Sure, Valley City was never on my ‘List of Places to Visit Before I Die’, and I doubt it’s on yours either, but its kind and welcoming people took us in and made us feel like family. It’s certainly one weekend I was never expecting, and one I will never forget.