Are we there yet !
Quite a long drive today !!
And in all sorts of weather !
Today turned into mostly a driving day due to the weather – so not a lot to report. The weather was sunny, wet, windy, cold and stormy throughout the day. And in a flat, open landscape, the sky and its contents tend to loom large !
Started out not too bad …
When we left Grand Forks, the weather was pretty clear and sunny. We were heading west and according to Adrienne’s book, on a drive that was a “long, flat and (dare we say it?) dull drive with little but endless horizontal plains and the occasional frontier fortress to keep you company”. So in the words of “Travelman”, Richard Ayoade, “Why have we come?”
Well, it’s all part of the adventure 😂😂 And the changing sky around us sure gave us plenty to look at. Now when you look at a map of the USA, North Dakota is pretty much in the middle from east to west and in fact Rugby, in North Dakota happens to be the geographical centre of North America (US & Canada). A monument has been erected to mark the location that the town claims is the geographic center of North America. Like all these things, there is now a dispute based on how this was measured but Rugby have their monument anyway !
We had been through quite a lot of rain prior to Rugby and it was still raining when we arrived so we pushed on to our next stop in Minot (sounds like “Why not”). As you may have registered from the name Rugby, English place names are prominent in the area – we drove through York, Leeds, Surrey and Norwich along the way. These towns were named after cashed up Brits who were pumping money into the fledgling towns in the 1880’s.
However the population was coming from elsewhere and the Scandinavian Heritage Park in Minot features remembrances and replicas from each of the Scandinavian countries: Norway, Sweden and Denmark, as well as Finland and Iceland. Its standout structure is the replica of the original Gol Stave Church that was built in Gol, Hallingdal, Norway. It was freezing when we got there – 12 degrees but probably 6 with the wind chill – but the rain held off till coffee time so we had to huddle in the warmth of the car for our coffee today.
From Minot we turned south and as we left it was more like sunrise or sunset then the middle of the day as it was almost dark from the surrounding storm clouds ! Luckily we were heading away from the worst of it however there was still quite a bit of rain on and off and also occasional lightning.
So our last stop before Bismarck was the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Centre
at Washburn. I have mentioned this pair and the Corps of Discovery on previous tours, as they set off from St Louis under the instructions of Thomas Jefferson to explore west, for a large part following the path of the Missouri River . We passed on visiting Fort Mandan as the rain had returned again and the guided tour times didn’t really fit for us. So we moved on to Bismarck.
Corn fields ! Who’s have guessed ! Even Lewis & Clark found them !
Adrienne managed to find a mall where we could stretch our legs for a bit – and no purchases ! – before we made our way to our hotel – the Staybridge Suites. Unfortunately being Labour Day, their “Monday Night Social” dinner was not on so we went nearby to Red Lobster and had a nice meal of Cajun Chicken & Shrimp. We actually had to queue to get in – this is America, 5.30pm is peak dinner time ! 🤣
Heading further west and hopefully to warmer weather tomorrow !
Today’s Tour Trivia – Bismarck was originally named Edwinton in 1872, after Edwin L. Johnson, a supporter of the transcontinental railroad. Before that, it was known as Missouri Crossing after the Lewis and Clark Expedition crossed there.
Edwinton had its name changed to Bismarck by the Northern Pacific Railway company in 1873, in honor of Otto Von Bismarck, to attract German investors and immigrant settlers to the region. This plan was successful, as gold was discovered in the nearby Black Hills of South Dakota, and saw thousands of people move here.