Farewell Dakotas

The epic journey has begun and instead of starting with a single step, we decided to start with an 8.5-hour drive from Medora, ND to North Platte, NE.  This was the single longest drive of the entire trip and it took Alison and I a mere 12.5 hours to complete.  Did we bite off more than we could chew?  Of course!  Will we make that mistake again?  Nope...not with a 5.5-month-old, anyway.

On Tuesday, the weather in North Dakota had warmed to 50 degrees as if to convince us that Medora was not as inhospitable as we might believe and that maybe we should stay a while longer.  We can't, but we did enter the park to say good-bye and were met with a plethora of bison and gorgeous sun-drenched bluffs.

 2-15-11 - I'm not as quick to shed my jacket in this gorgeous spring weather as Alison was

2-15-11 - Bison: Best viewed from the car

Keeping a baby sane for 12.5 hours is not easy.  Luckily, we took a route through Rapid City, which allowed me to show Alison the ultimate tourist trap: Wall Drug.

 2-16-11 - Wall Drug!

We made it to North Platte safe and sound, despite driving several hours through the dark Nebraska wilderness in what can only be described as prime alien abduction country.  We'll miss the Dakotas dearly, our home for the past four winters, but are very excited to see what lies ahead in this strange, new Eastern land.

Consensus 2010

I'm dying to hear how much hype there is in other states over the 2010 Census.  I don't remember seeing droves of commercials, flyers, and people out urging you to fill out the census form in Wisconsin in 2000, but then again, I was wrapping up my Junior year in high school, preparing for a trip to Spain, and hanging out with a new guy I liked (who I ended up marrying five years later).  In other words, I wasn't paying attention.

Here in North Dakota, the 2010 Census is a BIG deal.  Ads and flyers are everywhere, urging you to "please, please fill out the form and mail it back - our very existence as a state depends on it" (or something to that effect).  I had my census form hand-delivered to my doorstep by a volunteer Saturday.  I figure this over-the-top public awareness campaign is much more pronounced in North Dakota, where the population truly has been steadily declining and the poor state literally needs everyone to be counted in order to keep it on the federal funding map.

Given that we own a house in Minnesota, live in North Dakota, and are moving to Kansas in May, Nathan and I were pretty confused about where and when we need to reply.  I really, really wanted to give our +2 population count to North Dakota for several reasons:

1. I really do consider this my home, despite what my tax return and permanent address say.
2. You get a lot more bang for your census buck out here - adding two more people here is a much larger percentage of the population than in Minnesota!
3. North Dakota has been just plain nice to us.  Not only were we allowed to vote in the 2008 primaries (just by living here for 30 days and signing our street address on the paper form in the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame entryway), while Minnesota completely shut us out with their "must be present to vote" caucus system, they BY FAR charge us the least amount in taxes to live here.  Consider this: given the same yearly salary for our family in 2009, Minnesota charged us $5000 to live there, Kansas would have charged us $4022 for being full-year residents, and North Dakota's looking really good at $1699.  There are so many reasons to love North Dakota!

You can imagine how happy I was to find out that the date for which you count where you live is April 1, 2010!  So, we have a consensus for the census.  Without a doubt, I can say, "Yes!  I am living in North Dakota on April 1, 2010.  Sign me up for funding for that new stop sign on the corner of 1st & 2nd street.  North Dakota, you deserve it!"

Return to the Park

I haven't had a drive through Theodore Roosevelt National Park since January.  We only have six weeks left in North Dakota and no concrete plans to return, so it's time to start taking advantage of this beautiful place before we leave!

 Easy to forget these aren't mountains

Not a minute after leaving the house, the sun went away and I started one of the most wildlife-less drives of my life up the only plowed section of the park road.  The prairie dogs were out, but I got all the way onto the slushy East Boundary Road before seeing a single bison, horse, or deer.  I was starting to think there was some kind of Ungulate Council Convention deep in the park, that I hadn't been invited to.

This place is still gorgeous and half-covered with snow.  I find myself really excited to see large sections of prairie peaking out, even if it's still dormant and brown.  Finally, I was able to find tiny bison dots along the East Boundary Road and white-tailed deer in the campground. 

I was about to give up on seeing anything really interesting, when I rounded the final turn right before leaving the park.  There, not 20 feet from my car on the road, were a dozen pronghorns - the closest batch I've ever seen!

It's funny how nature rewards you for being patient, and sometimes apathetic.  I'm hoping soon the park will recognize how long I've waited to see a mountain lion and award me that sighting too.

Square Butte

Debunking the North Dakota Myth

Here is a hilariously accurate portrayal of the winter North Dakota I know, but it conveniently ignores the other 320 days of the year, when you CAN see the North Dakota Badlands and other super-cool places you really should want to visit.



There's no place like ND...I dare you to visit!

Home Sweet Home

The title of this blog post is ironic because as of Saturday, I am officially a nomad.  Or maybe I'm the opposite of a nomad since I technically have two places to live.  Whatever the case may be, I am currently in Medora, North Dakota basking in the intense sun, breathing in the incredibly dry air, and watching yellowed corn husks cross the road by the hundreds wishing they were tumbleweeds.

All of the familiar giant animals and roadside attractions (Salem Sue, Jamestown's Buffalo, Geese In Flight, etc), seem to be welcoming me home, which it already feels like around here.  Today, we put down our first real roots - we joined the West River Community Center in Dickinson for the next three months.  Now, that's what I call commitment! 

Geese In Flight near sunset, which is 4pm here!

I have to admit I'm not entirely ready to give up Rochester, though.  I got a couple of very awesome parting gifts that only served to remind me how much I'm giving up.  A Dinner Club cookbook complete with photos and the word BACON always in caps serves as a reminder that I will REALLY miss my friends back home.  From my department, I got a web cam, so I can always feel like I'm closer than I really am.  I can't say it's not comforting and can't say that I won't miss the people and won't miss being "home".

Our very first webcam photo!

Bye, Rochester!

Fancy a Bite to Eat?

Since Nathan and I will quickly find ourselves 25 minutes from ANY restaurants this winter and next spring in a city where Subway, Wendy's, McDonald's, and Sonic are 2/3 of the entire restaurant selection, we're throwing dietary caution to the wind and trying to get our fill of our favorite restaurants in Rochester while we still can.

Last night, we checked off Famous Dave's, which is Nathan's favorite. Dave's is still a slim possibility in the future, since there are franchises located within the state borders of North Dakota and Kansas, but apparently BBQ is big in Kansas, so we're hoping for great things in Great Bend, which is 30 minutes from where we'll live.

Larned, KS from space (this makes it look like a decently-sized city! yeehaw!)

Last weekend, we found a coupon to Jenpachi, one of those "Japanese" steakhouses where they cook the food right in front of you. It's not something we'll be able to get any time soon and the food is good, plus you get dinner and a show for the price of dinner.

On the list remaining are The Redwood Room (my favorite restaurant in the entire world), City Cafe, Beetle's and Noodles.

In case you were wondering, it's official, we are pulling up stakes here in Rochester. We met with our real estate agent Friday and plan to put the house up for sale next year. Oh, I'll be back to work occasionally and more importantly to visit people here, but keeping up three residences with a house in the one place we almost never are sounds pretty annoying to me.

Noah's Ark

While these Theodore Roosevelt ungulates are enjoying the new spring grasses, the rest of the state of North Dakota is not so high and dry.




Everyone has heard of the Fargo flooding, but did you know that the rest of the state is underwater too? As I was driving yesterday, all day I'd see little pockets of former farmland-turned-ocean like this one - its waves slowly creeping to the road and lapping at its eroding edges.


At one point, it didn't just stop at the edges, instead I-94 became a shallow water funland.



I decided, since I've been kicking myself ever since I drove by two weeks ago, that I would exit and check out the Red River in Fargo. I was surprised to see that the Maple River, which I cross before entering Fargo, was HIGHER than when I last crossed - instead of being less than a foot away from the steel tresses of a neighboring bridge, it was half-way up them! The flooding from THAT river in the roadside ditches went on for miles.

I got off the freeway when I started to see makeshift dirt dikes again. To actually see the river this time I had to drive two blocks into one of the most affected neighborhoods. The street closest to the river had a giant pile of dirt right down the middle. On one side, the houses appeared to be fine, except for the sandbag piles protecting their lower two feet.



...but on the other side...



I was having flashbacks to the year we had 3.5 feet of water in our basement thanks to the Great Brown Deer Flood of '97.

I walked a little farther and found a closed Gooseberry Park. I didn't see any boats, any animals marching two by two, and for that matter, any people, the whole time I was back in this neighborhood. Seems they've given up for now, silently poised for the second crest of the Red River coming this week and waiting for those storm clouds to finally clear up!

Confessions of a Dakotaholic

This was one wedding where both the Bride & the Groom got cold feet. On Wednesday, two of our friends who have been engaged for 10 months and wondering when they were ever going to get back to Massachusetts to allow their families to watch them get married, threw in the towel and decided to have an impromptu wedding in the park. I confess that it was by far the second best wedding I have ever been to.

We found out about it two weeks ago, no invitations were ever sent, and the morning of, the bride didn't even know what she was wearing. Rumor had it that the dress code was jeans and "something warm", so I pulled on some sweatpants under my jeans, threw on a button down shirt, a fleece, my coat, hat, gloves, and my hiking boots. A little afraid that Nathan had gotten the wrong message, I felt better when we pulled up to the visitor's center and there was an elated couple - also in jeans and jackets.


Not more than 15 of us - all of us related to park employees or local law enforcement - caravaned into the park for the ceremony, which started off feeling more like a funeral procession, but ended on a cute spot overlooking the Little Missouri River. The spectators grew by double right before the ceremony when a group of bison joined us on a parallel bluff. Thank goodness the Justice of the Peace kept it short, because it was FREEZING! Really, we have evidence. It was so fitting, though - for a pair that both loved & worked for the park, it started and ended with pictures at the visitors center.



Now, you know you're in North Dakota when:
1) At least one person at your wedding is in full cowboy get-up.
2) You are presented with this - a packet of recipes from the North Dakota Beef Commission and Cattlewomen!


That pretty much puts the booklet on safe pregnancies we got from Milwaukee County to shame.

The reception was the best part. It was, of course, in the top floor of the only restaurant/bar in Medora that is regularly open - The Iron Horse. They had all of the elements of a great reception - cake, appetizers, dinner, good fun, and the groom's brother, who couldn't make it out for the wedding, called and opened up the bar. The best part was, though, it was so easy and SO fun that it made me wonder why I ever thought my wedding had to go the whole nine yards? If I could marry Nathan all over again, I would definitely be taking some pointers from Dan & Jen!


Yes, by the way, that is beer in their champagne glasses. :)

In other news, Nathan drove to Bismarck today for an Elk Management public meeting. If you read his blog, you'll have already heard about the Elk Management plan in excruciating detail, so I won't get into it here. The funny thing is, I am one of about three people left in town today...which inspired me, at about 12:30pm, to get out of town too.

I'd already worked way too long and hard this week, so I thought it might be fun to go into town and see a movie! Just in luck, the Dickinson Carmike Theater had "Confessions of a Shopaholic" playing. Just the kind of brainless, hopefully entertaining theater I needed (and the best part is, matinee prices are $4)!



So, I drive the 30 minutes to Dickinson, get money, park the car, walk into the mall and.....yes, the theater is closed. What? Did I look at the right theater, day, time? Oh Well. I hung out in the mall, got some errands done, and came home. It just goes to show you that not everything is great about North Dakota and when it comes to going to an established, public event advertised on the internet, always call.

North Dakota Dreamin'

I'm in Rochester right now, but there's really nothing exciting to report. So instead, let me draw your attention to where Nathan and I ate last Saturday in Williston, ND: Trapper's Kettle.

You will need to watch the video on their website as the location in Belfield (15 miles from Medora) was in a show called "Extreme Truckstops" on the Travel Channel. We haven't been to that one, but I have a feeling we'll get there soon. I've actually made fun of this place before as the sign outside simply reads "Restaurant" and the usual vehicles in the parking lot indicate not only that our Alero would be out of place, but that if we didn't sport beards, cowboy boots, and a road-weary expression we wouldn't be seated. Luckily, Nathan is working on two of those and the Williston location was more family-oriented.

It was a great little place - fantastic tomato soup and my chicken fried steak came with some red thing that we still can't identify (Schrute Farms?). There weren't as many dead animals as the Belfield location too, just a nice set of traps and a cute buffet-filled canoe. All in all, I'm looking forward to visiting the location closer to home - there's really no end to the fun things you can find just around the corner in North Dakota!