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Wow, another 48 hours without internet access! And what a busy two days! Yesterday, we left our hotel in Mandan and drove a few miles south to Fort Abraham Lincoln State park. The park contained a recreated Indian village called On-A-Slant Village. The small recreated village is built on top of the old Mandan village of the same name. Also in the same park is the actual Fort Abraham Lincoln, home to the 7th Cavalry and George Custer. Next up was a stop at Garrison Dam, the 5th largest earthen dam in the world. I’d hoped for a tour of the power plant and associated facilities, but no tours were being offered that day. Grabbed lunch near the dam at the Burger Stop where I enjoyed a fine cheeseburger along with some peanut-butter flavored soft-serve. From there we headed north to Rugby, North Dakota, which is the geographical center of North America. After snapping some photos there, we drove up to the International Peace Gardens which straddles the border between Canada and the U.S. This being rather early in the season, there weren’t any flowers planted in the gardens, but it was still a beautiful monument to the lasting peace between the two nations. I’m guessing the odd time of year explains the anal cavity search we got from the U.S. customs agents on the way back into the country. Either that or I just look like a shifty character. Just south of the Peace Gardens we discovered a giant turtle made out of car wheels, called the “Wee’l Turtle.” (Hey, I didn’t name it…) We had dinner at KJ’s Pizza before driving the last bit to our hotel, a gorgeous B&B in Mountain, North Dakota called The Melsted. We were the only guests that night, so we got plenty of attention from our hostess who made us feel right at home. (Oh, and get this — we indirectly host The Melsted’s website — it’s hosted by Blizzard Internet, who is colocated with Dynamicnet who is colocated with Profitability.net. Small world!)
This morning we had a tasty breakfast consisting of eggs with onion and cheese and stuff, watermelon cubes, blueberry muffins, and nut bread. After taking our leave of the Melsted we drove north to Walhalla where we visited the Gingras Trading Post, a small state park. The park consists of two buildings, the old trading post and Gingras’ home. The two are the oldest two buildings still standing in their original locations in North Dakota. The trading post was the center of trade in the upper Red River valley, making for lots of interesting history surrounding the area. Based on the suggestion from our guide at the Trading Post, we made a short drive above Walhalla to an overlook over Pembina Gorge, which also took us by the cemetery where Antoine Gingras is buried. Next we headed across the border into Canada, headed for the snake dens at Narcisse. Again, Mappoint decided the quickest way there was all dirt roads. Eventually we hit some roads so bad that we’d still be there were it not for the trusty Land Rover off-road capabilities. So, after 100 miles or so of those dirt roads, we popped out onto pavement. We stopped for a quick bathroom break and noticed a giant statue of two snakes doing….what snakes do in the spring. Another 30 miles north and we arrived at the snake dens. We were about 2 weeks too late to see them at their peak of mating when they pour out of the dens by the thousands, but there were still countless snakes slithering all over the place, all entwined together in orgiastic ecstasy. Definitely not a place to visit if you have a fear of snakes. You literally had to watch your step to avoid stepping on snakes in some places. By now we were waaay behind schedule, so we overrode Mappoint’s ideas and found our way out of Canada on paved roads and beat a quick path south to Blanchard, North Dakota. About 3 miles west of Blanchard is an antenna for a local TV station. A big antenna. A REALLY big antenna. As a matter of fact, it’s the tallest manmade object on earth. No joke! It’s 2063 feet tall and we could see it from at least 8 miles away. Finally we wound our way down through Fargo and to our current hotel in Pelican Rapids, Minnesota, the (what else) Pelican Motel.
Tomorrow: World’s Largest Pelican, Source of the Mississippi, Copper Harbor
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