The Big City

Although I haven't been blogging, I have kept up with my hiking regimen. Tuesday, I went into the park to do the Jones Creek Trail, but instead ran into a bison on the trail and decided to go bluff-climbing instead. Wednesday & Friday I had to walk around town due to events later those nights, and Thursday you're about to hear about.


Thursday Nathan had to go to Bismarck, which is 2 hours away, to test out on CPR and First Aid, so I decided to take the day off and go with him. On a whim, we decided to stop and take a closer look at Salem Sue, the world's largest Holstein cow. We found out from a friend at the park that New Salem had a choice between building a Recreation Center and erecting this gigantic, fiberglass cow - they chose the cow and those rumors I've heard of the veins are all true.

Even though I've only been here for two weeks, it was kind of fun to drive around Bismarck looking at the giant footprint of corporate America once again. We mourned the loss of cute little shops everywhere and then stopped at Kohl's to buy shoes and were excited to see a Coldstone across the street.

Before lunch, we decided to check out the North Dakota capital building, whose nickname is the "Skyscraper on the Plains". Maybe I've been spoiled by Madison's outstanding capital, but this is not a capital building. It did have a nice mall leading up to it, but you had to have the courage to take your eyes off the giant, evil scar plastered against the beautiful blue sky in the middle of North Dakota.

Across the street was the North Dakota Heritage Center. It was free, so we decided to try it out. Unlike the capital, the Heritage Center was packed full of some interesting things - a dinosaur & bird section, sections for each type of people living in North Dakota, and, Nathan's favorite, the special Cold War exhibit where we found out that Medora was pretty safe as far as Soviet targets go - those were all in the middle and Eastern parts of North Dakota. We also learned that a desk and a few bricks will keep you safe in the event of a nuclear holocost. (Really! Just ask the government!)


For lunch, I was forced to go to Famous Dave's despite a restaurant called Space Aliens being right down the street.

On our way home, we decided to take the scenic route North and visit the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site. Of all of the native cultures I've ever learned about, the Knife River Mandan Indians have got to have the most ingenuity. They made Earth Lodges, which were constructed of a layer of timber, then straw, then mud on the outside - far more sturdy than many of the houses in East Africa today. These lodges were usually about 40 feet in diameter and could fit giant families. They also made something I'd never seen before: bull boats. Made out of one buffalo hide, these round boats actually float!


We finished with a walk down their path to visit the actual village where Sakakawea lived, which is now just a field, but interesting to imagine yourself so close to the Lewis & Clark expedition. It's not New York or Paris, but this little trip to Bismarck, was enough excitement for me!