It was a windy night, but I slept well at the Juniper Campground. With a steamy forecast, I was happy that we would be spending a large portion of it in the air-conditioned car. Following a quick cereal breakfast, Matthias and I were back on the road; we drove north on Highway 85 from Teddy Roosevelt Park’s north unit for a few miles to Watford, North Dakota, where we picked up Highway 23 to the east. We stopped to refuel in New Town and then continued on 23 further to the east where we caught Highway 83 north towards Minot, North Dakota, a town known for its large Air Force Base containing the Stratofortress B-52s. We lunched at McDonalds, caffeinated ourselves at Starbucks, visited the local mall in search of a cowboy hat for Matthias (struck out) and purchased road trip music at Best Buy. An afternoon of large corporation consumerism at its finest!
We headed east out of Minot on Highway 2 on a long stretch of flat road surrounded by farms and grazing land. We stopped at the geographical center of North America in Rugby, North Dakota, for pictures and a coffee and lemonade at the Cornerstone Café as we pondered exactly how this calculation is made. The waitress couldn’t tell us, but she did know that since the location was first identified 45 years ago, it had moved 15 miles away “due to erosion on the coasts.”
We continued further to the east on Highway 2 and exited on Highway 281 to the south around the west side of Devils Lake to Fort Totten, an Indian War era relic that had maintained or restored 16 of its original buildings to include soldiers’ and officers’ quarters, stores, bakery, mess hall, wells, etc, surrounding the parade grounds. In 1890, it was handed over to the local tribe and used as a school until 1959 when it was returned to the state of North Dakota as a historical monument. The exhibits and visitor center closed at 5:00 PM; we arrived at 4:58. The nice lady operating the visitor center let us peek in windows and wander around the grounds while she counted the till and shut down her computer. From the fort, we headed north to Devils Lake where we rejoined Highway 2 to the east. The topography around Devils Lake was quite interesting; we drove on several land bridges in the area. The lake’s waves lapped on both side of the road only a few yards away.
We stopped for supper at the Perkins in Grand Forks at the eastern edge of North Dakota. I had breakfast for dinner and Matthias had soup and apps. The food was ok, but after the McDonalds for lunch and the Perkins for dinner, I felt a little sick. I felt like I needed to work it off by paddling a canoe for about 3 days…
Nearly as soon as we drove out of the restaurant… we crossed the Red River into Minnesota! The air was suddenly cleaner, the scenery more beautiful! I was very happy to be back in my home state.
We set our sights on the KOA in Bemidji, Minnesota, and drove east as the sun set behind us.
We headed east out of Minot on Highway 2 on a long stretch of flat road surrounded by farms and grazing land. We stopped at the geographical center of North America in Rugby, North Dakota, for pictures and a coffee and lemonade at the Cornerstone Café as we pondered exactly how this calculation is made. The waitress couldn’t tell us, but she did know that since the location was first identified 45 years ago, it had moved 15 miles away “due to erosion on the coasts.”We continued further to the east on Highway 2 and exited on Highway 281 to the south around the west side of Devils Lake to Fort Totten, an Indian War era relic that had maintained or restored 16 of its original buildings to include soldiers’ and officers’ quarters, stores, bakery, mess hall, wells, etc, surrounding the parade grounds. In 1890, it was handed over to the local tribe and used as a school until 1959 when it was returned to the state of North Dakota as a historical monument. The exhibits and visitor center closed at 5:00 PM; we arrived at 4:58. The nice lady operating the visitor center let us peek in windows and wander around the grounds while she counted the till and shut down her computer. From the fort, we headed north to Devils Lake where we rejoined Highway 2 to the east. The topography around Devils Lake was quite interesting; we drove on several land bridges in the area. The lake’s waves lapped on both side of the road only a few yards away.
We stopped for supper at the Perkins in Grand Forks at the eastern edge of North Dakota. I had breakfast for dinner and Matthias had soup and apps. The food was ok, but after the McDonalds for lunch and the Perkins for dinner, I felt a little sick. I felt like I needed to work it off by paddling a canoe for about 3 days…
Nearly as soon as we drove out of the restaurant… we crossed the Red River into Minnesota! The air was suddenly cleaner, the scenery more beautiful! I was very happy to be back in my home state.
We set our sights on the KOA in Bemidji, Minnesota, and drove east as the sun set behind us.
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