Rollin’ On The River #5 – The Dakotas: Heading South Again
By the time this edition of Rollin’ appears, I’ll be in South Dakota. The River and I are definitely headed south again!! It’s been a busy week, so let’s get to it, and this week, we’ll add some general stuff at the end.
* *NOTE: See below for access to ALL previous blogs and their pictures.**
Fort Peck Area (including Glasgow and Wolf Point) What a great area with wonderful people and hosts! My visit featured a night at the theatre, a dinosaur expedition, an evening lazily floating on the Missouri, and much more! A marvelous 3 days!
- River Float: Peace & Quiet, Lots of Wildlife & Scenic Beauty – and new friends! See RiverEvening.
- Sunset On The River: More sunset shots from above. Would you be willing to let me know your 2 or 3 favorites?!? That would really help. See RiverSunset.
- Dinosaur Expedition: An employee of the Chamber President (Jeff Presser) lives on a 6000 acre ranch with dinosaur fossils and from which a ‘major find’ of a T-Rex was removed. Jeff arranged a guided tour. See Dinosaur.
- Fort Peck Dam &: Area: Interesting story about how the Dam and town were built. Also, a more general focus on the dinosaur fossils in the area. See FP.Town.Dam
- Fort Peck Theatre: For some quick shots of this famous summer stock theatre, see FP.Theatre.
Williston, ND Lots of interesting and historical sights and sites, within an hour!
- Two Historic Twin-Sister Bridges: Within 20 miles of each other (though in 2 different states), these ‘dual’ bridges were both built in 1913. (One on the Missouri, one on the Yellowstone!) Unique because a whole bridge section could ‘lift’ vertically for steamboats. Ironically, by the time they were finished, steamboat travel on the Missouri was almost obsolete. But what glorious structures! See Bridges.
- Two Historic Forts: One a military fort, the other a trading post. Sitting Bull surrendered at the first. See Forts.
- Theodore Roosevelt National Park: What amazing beauty!! See TRNP.
Bismarck, ND My second (of four) state capitals. (Can you name them all?) And the largest of the four.
- State Capitol Building: Wow!! Tallest Capitol I’ve ever seen! (I’ll bet it’s a US record!) And modern, too. But definitely not a ‘Capitol’ feel. (I had to ask someone which building was the capitol!) See ND.Capitol
- Fort Abraham Lincoln: It was from here that Custer set out on his well-known last expedition. Lots of interesting stuff here, including great views of the river and countryside, Custer’s House, and more. See Ft.Lincoln.
- Fort Mandan: Lewis and Clark spent the winter of 1804-1805 here. Fascinating! See FtMandan.
- Earth Mound Indian Villages Near Ft Mandan, and other places, the Native tribes used earthen mounds for shelter. Most interesting. Some samples, preserved at Ft. Lincoln: Villages.
Potpourri of Piled-Up Pictures: I sent Pat some pics that haven’t made it into a blog, and she said “Where have you been hiding these good pictures?!” I think that means she likes some of these, too – perhaps you will, also. See Potpourri.
Earlier Blogs? New subscribers are joining us every week (feel free to share/invite anyone!), and I’ve been asked about seeing some of the earlier blogs. New or not, if you’d like to see any/all of the first 5 blogs, see BlogArchives.
Weird Fascinations 🙂 I’ve discovered 3 mini-obsessions on this trip: 1) Mo River Bridges! 2) River Tributaries & Confluences, and 3) State “Welcome” Signs! I’ll share the signs this week, and the other two next week. SO, here are 7 state signs I’ve seen so far, just since I left Branson. Mini-quizzes: A) Do you know which 2 of these states pictured do NOT have the MO River in them? B) Can you deduce which 2 I still have to ‘collect’? See Signs.
Non River Highlights Two more this week. Today’s are more like the old Krazy Pics. 1) Minions have come to ND!! I was driving on an rural highway, and almost drove off the road!! 2) We’ve all seen this type of thing before, but here’s a new variation I hadn’t seen! See NR.Highlights (Last week’s are there, too.)
Requests, Thoughts, Input? I’m having to choose each week what to include from all the photos I have. I’d love to hear if you have opinions of what you’re seeing or if you have ideas/requests. My chief critic has already suggested some things she wants to see, so if you have thoughts/input, let me know!
Up Ahead – A Quick Preview: During this next week, I’ll be visiting Mobridge, Pierre (and Fort Pierre), Chamberlain, and the Wagner/Pickston area. These are all in South Dakota.