North Dakota - Day 28 - Enchanted Highway

Red Trail Campground, Medora

Wednesday, 28 July 2021

today's route

On the road

I stopped first at the grocery store, which was one of yesterday's undone errands, and walked the dogs, so it was 8:40 before we got on the road.

Not far out of town, I passed an old white building with the letters ZCBJ on the gable, the number 147 underneath that, and other letters under those.  I looked it up and learned a lot more than I expected.  Those letters stand for Západní Česko Bratrská Jednota which, in English, means Western Bohemian Fraternal Association.  It was started in Iowa in 1908 as a social organization for the Czech community, and eventually grew to 10,000 members.  I'm guessing this building outside Bismarck was Lodge 147.  Now the only thing I can find online is that it denotes a cemetery, which may be why the building I saw looked old and tired - it may not be used any more.

I've noticed North Dakota is real chary with its use of no-passing stripes on uphill roads.  In places where even I - in my elevated cab - can't see over the top of the hill, there's not a stripe in sight.  They do use them, but the state highway department seems determined to limit those uses.

As you can see on the map, I spent most of today's drive heading west.  I saw lots of decent-sized hills with beautiful views of more hills, valleys, trees, cropfields of different colors, scattered farms with buildings and paddocks, horses and cows.

I passed through the town of Flasher, "Bulldog Country" they say, a nice little place (pop. 232) that's big enough to include a golf course.

I started passing huge fields of sunflowers - I saw them all day and stopped counting at 9 of them.  But that's misleading because each one was acres of sunflowers, all turned to face the sun, of course.  And I saw many more fields where the plants weren't far enough along to have flowers yet.  There'll be a good sunflower harvest from North Dakota this year.

I stopped for a break at the town of Elgin and thought it odd that there should be a town with this name in both Texas and North Dakota.  But I looked it up and learned there are 20 states with towns called Elgin.  This one had a nice park that I think was sponsored by the Elgin Lions Club and included a softball field, tennis courts, a playground, and a trailer park and campground.  That last was empty, and there was a sign asking RVs to pay $15/night for electricity and tents $5/night.  This park was next door to the Elgin Saddle Club Rodeo grounds, where they charged $10 for adults, $6 for kids.  It all sounded like fun, actually, though we were just here to take a walk and have some lunch.

The wind had been strong all morning, but here it had increased so much that it was blowing the potato chips off my plate, and when we got back on the road it was blowing the RV around as well.

Near the town of Burt I saw goats, and wondered if those were the first I'd seen in ND.  A little farther on I saw a vulture and again wondered if this was the first I'd seen in the state.

Lots of wheat and corn out here.  There were pale gold wheat fields as far as I could see in any direction.  It occurred to me I might be seeing this country at its best - that this time of year with all the fields planted and the crops growing and the cows with calves and horses with foals - it's a vibrant time of year here.

It also occurred to me to wonder whether North Dakota had been part of the Dust Bowl, and indeed it was.  The Wikipedia article focuses mostly on Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, but it crippled farms as far north as Canada.  Dust drifts 8' high wound up on North Dakota plains.  It was caused by 3 lengthy periods of drought and a failure by farmers to use farming practices to accommodate the drought.  The grass didn't grow so the cattle starved.  Dust storms blew away the topsoil.  And hoards of grasshoppers ate whatever was left.  Because of John Steinbeck, I tend to think of the Dust Bowl in terms of Oklahoma.  But FDR came to visit North Dakota in 1936, to see for himself what conditions were like.  It's just one of life's little ironies that the Dust Bowl coincided with the Great Depression, and almost certainly made it worse.

I've noticed that in Texas, when I see a clump of trees, I figure there's a water source nearby.  In North Dakota, when I see a clump of trees, I figure there's a house nearby.  So often here, the trees have been planted as a windbreak by the homeowner.

The check engine light came on again - steady, then blinking, then steady.  So much for cylinders #1 and 7.  I'm starting to think I should just get someone to disable this stupid light.  I don't believe it actually means anything in this vehicle.

Speaking of computer weirdness, my new refrigerator has some differences with my old one.  The difference that's been irritating is that, while it's being powered by propane, every now and then it'll beep a warning.  I haven't gotten around to reading the owner's manual to find out what they say about it, but I do know I haven't found any common set of circumstances for when it goes off.  The beep is very annoying and I have to stop driving, climb out of the driver's seat and over the dog and dog bed between the seats, and go back and turn the frig off, then turn it back on again to reset, then climb back over the dog and dog bed into the driver's seat.  That maneuver is more difficult with only 1 non-painful arm.  Today the frig beeped 3 different times and I got really tired of it.  

Enchanted Highway

I'd never heard of the Enchanted Highway until I came to this state.  But almost every person I've talked to in ND has suggested I come see it - so today's the day.  It's a 32-mile stretch of road running south from I-94 that was the brainchild of Gary Greff, artist and owner of the Enchanted Castle in the tiny town of Regent (pop. 160).  He worried that his town was dying and wanted to entice people to take a detour from the interstate by creating giant metal sculptures.  He's succeeded.  I saw a tour bus stop there while I was getting gasoline.  Here's a link to more explanation about this guy and his project.   https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story

I started at Regent and worked my way north.  Here are the sculptures I saw in order, south to north.  (The titles are the artist's.)

Tin Family

Teddy Rides Again

This next is (obviously) not a sculpture but a natural landmark.

explaining the history of this landmark

I think this is Black Butte.

Pheasants on the Prairie
I had trouble getting an angle that included
both the adults' spots and the 3 babies.

Fisherman's Dream
note the fisherman in the boat on the right side of this

Grasshoppers in the Field

This was at the grasshopper exhibit.

The Maze of Enchantment

Deer Crossing

Leading up to . . .

. . . Geese in Flight
The mountains below the geese aren't real,
but instead are part of the sculpture.

The Geese are right on I-94, easily visible to passing motorists.  This sculpture has been Guinness-certified as the World's Largest Scrap Metal Sculpture.

The road itself was not so enchanting for me; it had been crisscrossed a zillion times with streaks of tar, resulting in a washboard driving surface that was really uncomfortable and tiring to drive on - especially with my not-too-functional arm.  Usually those lines of tar mend gaps in the road surface, I think, but I found it impossible to believe there was a constant need to repair gaps along 32 miles.  If the road were really that gap-y, wouldn't they just repave it?  But the sculptures were worth the drive.

Back on the road

I saw one of the very few personalized license plates I've seen in ND.  This one said: 2DLLOO. 

I saw more working oil wells and lots of agriculture as I continued west.

I came to a sign saying I was in the Little Missouri National Grasslands.

I heard a radio interview with a woman who grew up in ND but currently lives in western Montana.  She said where she lives the beauty is the obvious, jaw-dropping kind.  But she said North Dakota has an unobvious beauty where you have to slow down and take time to appreciate what's around you.  And that's exactly what I've been finding.  The more time I spend in this state, the more I can see how beautiful it is.

Painted Canyon Visitor Center

It was mid-afternoon when we got here and the visitor center and parking lot were crowded.  And I was one of the few wearing a mask.  This is part of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and I'd hoped for an area with a driving loop.  But all they've got here is a short walkway to an overlook for a view.  I didn't go partly because I didn't trust the dogs to behave, but mostly because it didn't look like the view would be worth the trouble.  At this time of day and with cloud-covered skies, the colors get washed out.  The visitor center says it's at its best after a rain or at dawn or sunset.

Still, I appreciated the display they had about TR's connection with North Dakota and its influence on him.

the caption for this picture is shown below

part 1

part 2

The following is a sort of timeline of TR's life.

All over ND I've seen TR quoted as having said, "I never would have been President if it had
not been for my experiences in North Dakota."  I'm sorry to say no one's ever explained
why he was connecting the 2, but my guess is that his time here taught him the value of
conservation, and he pursued politics to achieve that end.
As president he designated more than 230 million acres of national parks, forests,
monuments and wildlife reserves.

I was curious if TR holds the record among presidents for creating the most protected areas.  Apparently the answer is yes and no.  If you're curious too, here's the link.   https://www.adventure-journal.com/which-president-protected-the-most-land

And I saw one more display, with an obvious point:

Wildlife Petting Chart

Back on the road

Something else everybody in ND told me to go see was the town of Medora.  It's the gateway to the South Unit of the TR National Park, but apparently it's trying to establish itself as a tourist destination separate from the park.  I saw billboards everywhere advertising shows and restaurants and so forth here.  But I figured if I wasn't interested in such things in Branson MO then I wouldn't be here either.  Still, I booked 2 nights at a campground here to be handy to the park and other places in the area.

It was a good idea, but next time I would stay absolutely anywhere other than this ghastly campground.  Actually, the campground may be okay, but the owner - who runs this place with an iron fist - is one of the rudest people I've met in my life.  And her practices in running this place verge on the criminal for deceptive practices.  I saw those comments online before I booked and I should have should have should have paid attention.

Fortunately for me, I'd planned to spend most of my time visiting local attractions so I didn't have to spend much time here.  I'm not going to detail the horror show I was dealing with, except to say (1) it rivals that KOA in Muskegon MI for unprovoked (and really stupid) bad behavior toward a customer, and (2) I've learned a lesson about paying attention to online comments.