Okay, bad 'Sound of Music' reference, but I was so excited to see hills on our trip west! It is one of my biggest challenges of living in this area (oh, and the cold winters...seriously - 20 below here and - 20 below in western ND/eastern MT DO feel differently...my Dad has explained the whole aspect in relation to humidity, etc.). Anyhoo, I really, really, really am not a big fan of 'flatness' and that is what the Red River Valley is all about (hello - spring flooding - like pouring a glass of water on a tabletop in this area). But I digress.
Once I hit Bismarck, I start to see the rolling hills and it makes me happy.
Carson and I got started on Thursday morning. He simply is the easiest traveler in the world, so it really isn't fair to Grace to compare the two of them! With a couple of books and electronic Yahtzee, he's set. Most of the time, he just watches the horizon or just the landscape in general. Our first stop was Bismarck for lunch. Carson thought he struck gold when we went to Burger King and landed a Transformers toy.
Next - a stop in Dickinson. This was going to be a somewhat brief stop, but I'm so glad it wasn't! We visited the Bransons for a while. Angie and I caught up and Carson and Jaken played like they were neighbor kids. You name it, they played it. It was so great to finally see your beautiful home, Ang! I simply can't believe you'll be moving Celessa down here in just a few weeks!!!
We grabbed supper in Dickinson and started out. We drove through the North Unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It was amazing. It is incredibly green, thanks to the unusual July rain. I thought we'd spend about a half an hour driving around...ended up over an hour, but it was worth it! We saw a sizable herd of bison (I'm guessing about 75). They were so close to the car we could have touched them. I had my window down at times to capture pics, but would roll up again if they got close...much to the relief of Carson. At one point he exclaimed from the back seat "Mama - roll up your window...I can smell bison poop!". I explained they just happen to be stinky animals. He wasn't impressed with their personal hygiene habits.
We pulled in to Williston and caught up with Papa Chip and Loni at a BBQ class they were taking. It was fun, as I got to see three of my cousins there - great surprise! Carson got to draw names for the door prizes and the grand prize was a beautiful NDSU rock hanging. When a participant won it, Carson was bummed. The winner heard we had a connection to NDSU and gave it to Carson. What a kid!
We got settled in at Papa's and Loni's. More to come hopefully tomorrow on the rest of our trip!
2 comments:
Must have something to do with where you grew up!! I love the flat of eastern ND but that is where I am from. Mark and I often joke that Tucson would be a great place to live if it were not for these darn mountains spoiling our view. I didn't even like the little bit of roll the Northwood area had. Silly how we become creatures of what is familiar to us.
Mostly I crave the color green. Arizona has no clue how to produce anything really green.
Love seeing the pictures of your darling.
Donna Berge
More on the flat vs. hilly. I grew up on a farm where it was just "slightly rolling". We were exactly ONE MILE from the perfectly flat. I always thought the flat was the PERFECT LAND. No trouble planting very straight rows, etc. I lived in hilly Minot for a while,but now I live in the flat land of West Fargo. I now find beauty in ALL of creation, no matter where I am.
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