Northern Migration, Pt. 2-I Can See For Miles & Miles & Miles & Miles…
I kept waiting for this major change in landscape after I got out of Chicago. Indiana was still just as flat as I remembered it. We’d come through when I was in high school to visit family & I sent a letter back home that said “So much to see in Indiana!” & I’d drawn a picture of a big corn field. It’s still corn.
Wisconsin wasn’t as flat, probably because it was still relatively close to the Great Lakes. Eventually , I saw these cool random rock formations, like those pillars in the middle of the Grand Canyon. Instead of the big hills I’m used to, there were plateaus. It kinda looked like someone had taken some hills & cut off the tops. It still wasn’t really flat, though.
It was after I started the third leg of the journey, heading out from St. Cloud, that I started to realize that the horizon line was getting further away. On a clear enough day, you probably could see through to forever. Somewhere along the way, I passed a sign for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum. If I’d known how long I’d be waiting for the truck to show up, I’d have stopped. Instead, I made a mental note to remember to stop & check it out at some future date. I’d loved the Little House books as a kid.
Right about lunchtime, I saw a sign proclaiming a restaurant at the next exit “The Home Of The Buffalo Burger”. Something about a buffalo burger just sounded wonderful at that moment so I pulled in to the Big Chief Café in Fergus Falls & had a seat at the lunch counter. While waiting for my burger, I noticed something staring at me from across the room- a giant stuffed buffalo head. I found myself highly amused at the idea of eating a buffalo burger whilst being stared at by a buffalo head, so I snapped a picture of it with my cell phone, much to the amusement of the locals. The burger was *wonderful*, by the way. I immediately sent a text to the BF telling him that I was going to take him there if he ever came up to visit.
Before too long, I got into Fargo. No sign of Steve Busemi, William H. Macy, or a chipper/shredder anywhere so I’m safe there. Also, very flat. As I drove up the highway towards Grand Forks, I finally realized what the landscape reminded me of. It reminded me of when they start building a subdivision & they take out all the trees & bulldoze the land flat so they can build the houses on a level surface. That’s what North Dakota looks like, except that that there are some trees around. At least, that’s what this part of ND looks like. I’m told that if I head out westward, there’s some really beautiful areas, so I may take some weekend jaunts around to check things out, depending on how busy I am with school.
The UND campus is really nice, though. Lots of trees & something called a coolly. It’s a body of water that used to be part of a stream or a creek or a river but over time has been cut off & is now a pond in the shape of a creek. Which we have a beautiful view of from the Metals studio. My Prof says it's the most beautiful view on campus. I figure it's got to be in the top 5 at least because they just built the new President's Residence right next door.
Wisconsin wasn’t as flat, probably because it was still relatively close to the Great Lakes. Eventually , I saw these cool random rock formations, like those pillars in the middle of the Grand Canyon. Instead of the big hills I’m used to, there were plateaus. It kinda looked like someone had taken some hills & cut off the tops. It still wasn’t really flat, though.
It was after I started the third leg of the journey, heading out from St. Cloud, that I started to realize that the horizon line was getting further away. On a clear enough day, you probably could see through to forever. Somewhere along the way, I passed a sign for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum. If I’d known how long I’d be waiting for the truck to show up, I’d have stopped. Instead, I made a mental note to remember to stop & check it out at some future date. I’d loved the Little House books as a kid.
Right about lunchtime, I saw a sign proclaiming a restaurant at the next exit “The Home Of The Buffalo Burger”. Something about a buffalo burger just sounded wonderful at that moment so I pulled in to the Big Chief Café in Fergus Falls & had a seat at the lunch counter. While waiting for my burger, I noticed something staring at me from across the room- a giant stuffed buffalo head. I found myself highly amused at the idea of eating a buffalo burger whilst being stared at by a buffalo head, so I snapped a picture of it with my cell phone, much to the amusement of the locals. The burger was *wonderful*, by the way. I immediately sent a text to the BF telling him that I was going to take him there if he ever came up to visit.
Before too long, I got into Fargo. No sign of Steve Busemi, William H. Macy, or a chipper/shredder anywhere so I’m safe there. Also, very flat. As I drove up the highway towards Grand Forks, I finally realized what the landscape reminded me of. It reminded me of when they start building a subdivision & they take out all the trees & bulldoze the land flat so they can build the houses on a level surface. That’s what North Dakota looks like, except that that there are some trees around. At least, that’s what this part of ND looks like. I’m told that if I head out westward, there’s some really beautiful areas, so I may take some weekend jaunts around to check things out, depending on how busy I am with school.
The UND campus is really nice, though. Lots of trees & something called a coolly. It’s a body of water that used to be part of a stream or a creek or a river but over time has been cut off & is now a pond in the shape of a creek. Which we have a beautiful view of from the Metals studio. My Prof says it's the most beautiful view on campus. I figure it's got to be in the top 5 at least because they just built the new President's Residence right next door.