My New World: North Dakota

I lived in South Dakota and Wyoming for over 45 years yet had never been to North Dakota. It. Was. Time!

First stop was Dickinson. Mark Jastorff, a friend and High School classmate, was working at Dickinson State so I made plans to stop and visit. It was good to see him and catch up. He gave me a tour around campus, and I was impressed. Dickinson State is a nice school and Dickinson is a good-sized college town. People were friendly and very helpful. There is a very nice Veteran’s Memorial that I visited and will include pictures of.  I was impressed that Dickinson had put together such a comprehensive site.

Next was the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I did the South Unit the first day, well I got diverted when I saw a group of wild horses and turned off before I got to the park. I went down a back road trying to get a closer look at the wild horses. My penchant for taking off on back roads sometimes leads me to some great discoveries and sometimes gets me into trouble. This one is a story for another day! Back to the park, I found it to resemble the badlands in South Dakota in a lot of ways but in others it was its own beautiful wonderland. The first day I didn’t see much for wildlife, but the views and the walking paths were plentiful as you can see from the pictures. 

Day two I headed to the North Unit and here I found the wildlife. Almost first thing I had a standoff with a Bison. He just stood there in the road and stared at me, daring me to come any closer. Now I’m no dummy! I was raised among wildlife and contrary to what the picture shows I was a LONG way away from this guy and was ready to retreat if needed. That big guy was going to win any stand off between us and he knew it, so he finally turned around and walked away looking for some real excitement. There were some nice hiking trails in this unit also and some beautiful scenery. This unit to me didn’t resemble the badlands as much, it had a different feel to it. I wouldn’t mind going back to visit this park, but it wouldn’t be at the top   my list.

The International Peace Gardens were the next on my list and they did not disappoint! The campground here was great. The individual sites were large with water, electricity and sewer hookups. They were closed for the season so there was no charge, but you could still camp which is the same set up that the National Park Service does in several of its locations after a certain date. There were a few other campers, but we were spread out, so it was like having the campgrounds to ourselves. The gardens were nice although most of the plants had finished blooming and were in fall mode as it was in early October. The attendant said the best time to visit is in late June, July and August when everything is in full bloom. I enjoy the fall foliage of the trees, so I thoroughly enjoyed my trip through the gardens.  I was impressed with the water effects and other decorations set up throughout the gardens. At one end of the gardens there is a Chapel. This Chapel came at an important time for me as I was doing some reflection on whether this RV trip was the right thing to do for me. I sat down in the chapel and when I stood the first thing I saw was this saying: “Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step. Only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find his right road.” Dag Hammerskjold. This told me what I needed to know, and I haven’t stopped looking for the horizon since!

Then I was on to my next adventure which happened to be Grahams Island State Park in Devils Lake. It was a wonderful place to camp! As I was driving to the Island, I drove across a strip of road that was surrounded by water so I knew I was definitely driving to an Island. Once there I started seeing deer which was amazing. My camping spot was close enough to the water that it was just a short walk and I sat on the dock, listened to the waves and watched the sun go down. It was so soothing and something that the water loving Pisces in me was desperately needing by this time. There were quite a few campers, but the spots were large, so no one seemed to be close. They had full hook ups, but I didn’t need sewer so had the option of only water and electricity. A big plus was that even though it was a State Park they gave a discount for the National Park Senior Pass. I had a restful night and was ready to continue my journey the next morning.

The next day led me to Grand Forks and school friends and neighbors that I had grown up with. They happened to be staying with their daughter, so I got to meet their family and catch up on the last 40+ years! This is one of the things that is making this adventure so worthwhile, being able to catch up with friends! We had so many great adventures together when we were growing up and it was wonderful to hear and see that her life has continued to be exceptional. Sadly, we had to say goodbye but hopefully it won’t be another 40 years before we see each other again.

The road now leads me to a whole new adventure where I get to learn so much more about my family, but that will be in a future blog.

Thank you all for following along with me on my travels. Please let me know if there is anything you would like me to go more in depth about. My side trip to see the wild horses? What’s it really like to park and hookup your rig? Anything else you would like to know? Just send me and e-mail and I will see what I can do.

“Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step. Only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find his right road.” Dag Hammerskjold.