August 5, 2008 - Minot, ND to Dickinson, ND

Note: Not all of the photos from August 5th are posted yet.

Minot, ND
I began the day in Minot, ND. My first stop was the Scandinavian Heritage Center. Some of you may be thinking this belongs in the same category as the "EXTREMELY IMPORTANT" places I saw previously, like the SPAM Museum, the Corn Palace, and the world's largest buffalo statue. But, it's actually a more serious landmark. Scandinavian people settled in Minot, ND. There are several buildings in the park and other exhibits. But, the most developed building is the replica of the Stave Church. This is a medieval church that resembles a ship and is made almost totally of wood. Metal is only used in a few places. Nails are not used to hold the building together. I assumed much of the design on the outside was decorative. But it all has a larger purpose. Only twenty or so of these churches remain. See photos of the Scandinavian Heritage Center.

Apparently, this part of ND had a hail storm a couple of days before. The visitor center lost electricity and it was still out by the time I visited.

After the Scandinavian Heritage Center, I looked around downtown Minot. This is a small city though it has a lot of shops. I visited St. Leo's Church and took pictures.

My destination for the early evening was Bismarck, the capital. I would be meeting a cousin and her husband for the first time. As many of you know, I study genealogy. This particular cousin is someone I've known about all my life and not a distant cousin I met through genealogy research. But, I never had the opportunity to go to North Dakota before.

Road to Bismarck, ND
I took U.S. 83 to Bismarck. The speed limit on this road is 70. Along the way there was beautiful scenery. Unlike eastern ND, the land is not totally flat. It's mostly gently rolling hills. There are fields and fields of sunflowers as crops. In some cases, the fields were at least a mile long. See the photos. These are not as good as they could have been. The road is 70 mph so I wanted to get the photos and get on my way. I stopped at various other spots on US 83. Here are additional photos.


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Bismarck, ND
My cousin and her husband took me to a nice Italian restaurant. It was great to finally meet them in person. We caught up with what is happening with both branches of the family. They both seemed so very nice. In all of this sight-seeing, it was great to see some family along the way. I had a wonderful time. I also learned more about North Dakota. It sounds like a very nice place. They are in a drought, however, and that is why there is not as much snow as we might expect. I also learned that the sunflowers had only just begun to bloom. So, it was perfect timing for my trip.

Trip to Dickinson, ND
My hotel for the evening was in Dickinson, ND. Dickinson is off I-94. As I went from Bismarck to Dickinson, the terrain moved from gentle rolling hills to bigger and bigger hills. It definitely got more interesting, though from my perspective even the flat land is nice because it's so different for me.


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At some point along I-94, I saw a sign indicating I was now in Mountain Time. It was great getting an extra hour.

Dickinson, ND
Dickinson is considered the "western edge." It is the western-most decent sized city in North Dakota. In an effort to save money, I requested the cheapest non-smoking room at the hotel. Apparently, the cheapest had two double beds and a suite featuring a separate living room. I would think the suite would make it more expensive.