A North Dakota Story
Day 19 of our virtual road trip takes us west from Minnesota to North Dakota. My first visit to North Dakota was in 2007 on the same road trip I mentioned yesterday.
We were traveling with our trailer that year. We had crossed Montana and pulled into a rest area near Theodore Roosevelt National Park after dark the night before. We got in the trailer and went to sleep for the night. (That is just the handiest thing about traveling with a trailer!)
The next morning when we got out to look around we were surprised to discover that we were literally on the edge of the Badlands.
Lyle and I went for a little walk along the rim while the kids had breakfast and got ready for the day.
The scenery was quite dramatic after crossing the plains of eastern Montana the day before. I love the variety of the American West!
We stopped in Bismark to do some Lewis-and-Clarking on a keel boat–not that it was actually in the water, but that’s beside the point. We had visited a number of Lewis and Clark sites throughout the northwest previously, so it was fun to add that location to our experiences.
And then it was on to the Frontier Village in Jamestown. See that little girl eyeing the stagecoach coming down the road? She’s been a lifelong lover of horses and all things western. However, she wouldn’t dream of asking to ride on the stagecoach because she knows her frugal mama is not apt to want to pay for experiences that cost extra.
Daddy, on the other hand? Oh, Daddy!
Daddy insisted that she and I should definitely take a stagecoach ride. Was it worth it? It absolutely was! (Sometimes I have to concede that Lyle is right when it comes to spending money.)
I thought the pioneer church was so interesting with the rustic wood stove juxtaposed beside the ornate altar.
That evening we added the North Dakota sticker to the map on the side of our trailer.
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Here’s my journal entry for that day:
Sunday. July 1, 2007.
Bad Lands to Jamestown, North Dakota.
Short day on the road. We stopped at a park in Bismark, North Dakota and had fun climbing on a replica of the keel boat that Lewis and Clark rode on from St. Louis to Bismark, up the Missouri River. Rebecca thought we must be getting close to Missouri since it was the Missouri River.
The “not fun” part of that stop was when I spotted a little water snake wiggling in the parking lot by our truck. I screamed! The rest of the family laughed at me.
At Jametown we enjoyed touring the Frontier Village. It was a collection of old buildings from the pioneer era. Most had been furnished appropriately, but not necessarily consistently in regards to representing a particular time period. Still, it was interesting and a lot of fun.
Rebecca was thrilled when her daddy suggested that she and I should ride the stagecoach. It cost $5 per person but he thought it would be worth it. And it was! Rebecca had so much fun peering out the window trying to see the horses, and waving at the people as we went by. And I just had fun watching her!
We had reservations at the Jamestown Campground for the night. It was good to have a chance to just relax for several hours.
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My blog post from 2007:
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Have you been to North Dakota? If so, please share a memory in the comments! That will make this series even more fun!
2 Comments
Sheila @ Making the Most of Every Day
I would love to do some Lewis and Clarking! That keel boat is so interesting! Not at all what I pictured!
Karla Ezell Cook
We haven’t seen very many “early American” (as in colonial) sites, but we did try to visit any Lewis and Clark sites that were in the vicinity as part of our homeschooling experience.