Big Sky Adventure- Day 16- North Dakota Prairie

It is said the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain and the wind in North Dakota blows everywhere and very strongly!  And in the prairies have nothing to slow the wind.

But nothing can detract from the beauty of this part of the country.  The rolling hills with the miles of wheat, canola and other crops mixed with pasture show nature and cultivation at its best.

We left Dickinson heading east following a scenic bypass.  We diverted down what is called the Enchanted Highway, a thirty-mile stretch between Gladstone and Regent.  A retired school teacher from Regent decided that something was needed to attract tourists to the very small town so he created a series of super large metal sculptures that are spread out over the drive between the two cities.  Apparently his idea is successful as there were several people visiting the pieces of art as we were.

But the drive was well worth the effort regardless of the sculptures.  Such beauty!  The fields of green grass, I couldn't identify what it was, spread over the hills looking like the manicured grass of a resort golf course.  But the highlight was the fields of golden blooms on the canola.

There are very few structures in this stretch of road except the occasional silo so we were surprised when a steeple appeared on the horizon.  We found a very small community with a church that dates back to the early 20th century.  Down a gravel road we found St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church, built by German and Scandinavian immigrants.

Out there in the country, all the side roads are gravel.  the sign posts indicate that all these roads are named street and avenue as is illustrated here!

Back on the scenic byway, we headed east toward Bismarck.  Over the rolling hills on a weather- and time-worn asphalt highway except for the 30 mile stretch that was gravel.  The gravel road is so well maintained that we were able to go 50 mph. Other than the dust generated, it was a good diversion as we saw only two other vehicles on that road.

Tomorrow we visit birding sites around Jamestown, ND before, alas, we head for home.

Big Sky Adventure Day 3

Not much adventure today but an awful lot of driving!  Omaha to Custer, South Dakota is a long drive, over 9 hours.

I never realized the size of Omaha but it's a fairly large city, situated on the border with Iowa.  Leaving out of there and heading northwest, we first got to see an abundance of corn.  At this time of year, it's all very short but it's everywhere!  The rolling hills of the central part of the state is nothing but corn and the industries that support its growth.

The rolling hills give way to the flatland, flat as far as the eye can see.  The road is straight, interrupted every 20 to thirty miles with a small town, centered around the grain silos with the business district away from the main road.  One small town’s sign directs one to the business district which is down a gravel road!

Next comes the higher hills in cattle country.  You can drive dozens of miles between houses with the pasture land lining the road on both sides, ranging to the horizon.  Beautiful grassland!

The last part of Nebraska has the hill tops flattened, forming the buttes.  This terrain continues and gets even higher as we got into South Dakota. This is also cattle country.

We are now at Custer State Park, just south of Rapid City.  This is a beautiful park, at least the little we've seen so far, with lots of wildlife.

The only wildlife we've gotten to experience so far was in the restaurant where we had an appetizer of sausage made from rabbit and rattlesnake!  It was a very good sausage although I'm not sure I could have told the difference between it and a Polish sausage in a blind taste test!  My main course was bison tenderloin while Mary enjoyed walleye.  Maybe we’ll see more tomorrow!