Plains Adventures
I had to go to North Dakota for work the week before last. I was kind of grumbly about it, because it was a two-day drive each way and I had to do the (admittedly small) project all on my own.
The trip involved a swing through Bismarck, which is right on the edge of where the landscape starts to get really interesting - out of the flat lowlands of glacial lakes and wide river valleys and into the rougher terrain of the High Plains. The towns where I would be working and staying were to the north and the quickest way to get there was via a US highway running up the east side of the Missouri. I took a road on the west side, however, because I wanted to visit an old site we excavated in 2005 that is now at the bottom of an artificial lake. (I didn't visit it directly, of course - no scuba gear - but there is a park there now so I could get out and take some pictures).
I decided to continue north on that side of the river to the next bridge since it seemed easier and more direct than going back down and around through Bismarck. As I started heading north, the pavement disappeared almost immediately and I had to drive most of the next hour on dirt, determined not to waste time turning back. Fortunately the road was in pretty good shape and it wasn't muddy. Also, the scenery was definitely better on the west side, as I found out three days later driving back down the other side, and the whole thing turned into a fun adventure.
I was pretty much completely de-grumpified at this point.
Of course, I had to go do actual field work after this, but the soil turned out to be relatively sandy and there was a combination coffee shop/quilting store with really good cinnamon rolls and I got to drive through some flatter but still very majestic country, filled with enormous wind turbines and dotted with prairie sloughs. (It's the weirdest thing to come up out of a deeply incised but rather dry valley and see all these big ponds everywhere, just hanging there in the uplands.) Also, the drive out there and back allowed for a stop at the Ancestral Home each way, which provided both cheap and pleasant accommodations and broke up a long, monotonous drive nicely.
So that all worked out.
When I got back home, I found the irises and pink tulips had already bloomed and then passed their peak, but at least I got to enjoy the tail end of that. The phlox or whatever also bloomed. One of them is white and has become very dome-shaped and in the dark it looks like some kind of strange fungus out of the corner of one's eye.
P.S. If you are passing through Fargo from the east, don't assume you will stop and eat on the far side of it. Fargo doesn't really have a far side - I mean, it does but there's nothing there and the next town with food is a bajillion miles away.
P.P.S Don't try to get breakfast in Bismarck on a Sunday morning unless you are willing to eat at McDonald's. Everything else is mobbed or doesn't open until after 11:00.
P.P.P.S. Actually, the best thing to do is to get a bunch of GoPicnic meals and live off of those for a week. Stocking up on those saved me from gas station food when I found out that it is possible for a town to have two motels and no restaurants.
The trip involved a swing through Bismarck, which is right on the edge of where the landscape starts to get really interesting - out of the flat lowlands of glacial lakes and wide river valleys and into the rougher terrain of the High Plains. The towns where I would be working and staying were to the north and the quickest way to get there was via a US highway running up the east side of the Missouri. I took a road on the west side, however, because I wanted to visit an old site we excavated in 2005 that is now at the bottom of an artificial lake. (I didn't visit it directly, of course - no scuba gear - but there is a park there now so I could get out and take some pictures).
I decided to continue north on that side of the river to the next bridge since it seemed easier and more direct than going back down and around through Bismarck. As I started heading north, the pavement disappeared almost immediately and I had to drive most of the next hour on dirt, determined not to waste time turning back. Fortunately the road was in pretty good shape and it wasn't muddy. Also, the scenery was definitely better on the west side, as I found out three days later driving back down the other side, and the whole thing turned into a fun adventure.
I was pretty much completely de-grumpified at this point.
Of course, I had to go do actual field work after this, but the soil turned out to be relatively sandy and there was a combination coffee shop/quilting store with really good cinnamon rolls and I got to drive through some flatter but still very majestic country, filled with enormous wind turbines and dotted with prairie sloughs. (It's the weirdest thing to come up out of a deeply incised but rather dry valley and see all these big ponds everywhere, just hanging there in the uplands.) Also, the drive out there and back allowed for a stop at the Ancestral Home each way, which provided both cheap and pleasant accommodations and broke up a long, monotonous drive nicely.
So that all worked out.
When I got back home, I found the irises and pink tulips had already bloomed and then passed their peak, but at least I got to enjoy the tail end of that. The phlox or whatever also bloomed. One of them is white and has become very dome-shaped and in the dark it looks like some kind of strange fungus out of the corner of one's eye.
P.S. If you are passing through Fargo from the east, don't assume you will stop and eat on the far side of it. Fargo doesn't really have a far side - I mean, it does but there's nothing there and the next town with food is a bajillion miles away.
P.P.S Don't try to get breakfast in Bismarck on a Sunday morning unless you are willing to eat at McDonald's. Everything else is mobbed or doesn't open until after 11:00.
P.P.P.S. Actually, the best thing to do is to get a bunch of GoPicnic meals and live off of those for a week. Stocking up on those saved me from gas station food when I found out that it is possible for a town to have two motels and no restaurants.