Minnesota

We are certainly in a different part of the world here, from the Sun Country crew who briskly sent back a mother of four young children from pre-boarding and told a tottering wheelchair-bound lady "just stand over there for a minute" when standing was what she patently couldn't do, to the other crew member who said when Stefan asked for a blanket, "oh you don't want one, they're dirty!"!

The luggage carousel was D, we were told - but the signs said it was C. The car rental lady said, "oh dear, I was just going off to move a car!" The receptionist said, "none of our rooms are clean yet." They all have taken truth serum, and it is curiously refreshing.

It looks like England, lush green fields, drizzling rain, but in Winona county five people just drowned in flash floods, a house was washed off its foundations and onto the railway track, and the fields were awash, some roads closed.

We are in Onalaska Wisconsin now, staggering off to lunch after the overnight flight. Wish for a decent night's sleep before we shoot tomorrow.