On Things Along the Way 33

For photo's: http://willemcoetzee.blogspot.com/2014/09/fotos-37.html

On August 27 we were on track to North Dakota and Manitoba, Canada, starting with a two-day stint at Bowman Haley Lake   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowman-Haley_Dam   . The getting there part, following route 85 north, was informative in its own right. It is truly cattle country and the soft rolling hills covered in grassland interspersed with irrigated feed production and dotted with bales of various shape – especially the rolled up variety, made for tranquility associated with pastoral scenery in general during an altogether long but pleasant drive. Great stuff! Turning off some 5 miles into North Dakota at a sign pointing to the Lake, had us follow a rough but paved road for some 8 miles through farm country that resembled the area in South Africa where Susan grew up and an Afrikaans poem came to mind:

 In die Hoëveld
In die Hoëveld, waar dit oop is en die hemel wyd daarbo,
Waar kuddes waaigras huppel oor die veld,
Waar ’n mens nog vry kan asemhaal en aan ’n God kan glo,
Staan my huisie, wat ek moes verlaat vir geld.
En as ek in die gange van die myn hier sit en droom
Van die winde op die Hoëveld, ruim en vry,
Dan hoor ek die geklinkel van my spore, saal en toom,
Sawens as ek bees of skaap toe ry.

Op die Hoëveld, waar dit wyd is, waar jy baie ver kan sien,
(Die ylblou bring ’n knop dan in jou keel)
Staan my huisie nog en wag vir my, wag al ’n jaar of tien,
Waar die bokkies op die leigrafstene speel.
Maar as die tering kwaai word en ek hoor die laaste fluit,
Dan sweef ek na die Hoëveld op die wind
Ek soek dan in die maanlig al die mooiste plekkies uit
Waar ek kleiosse gemaak het as ’n kind.

Toon van den Heever (1894-1956)

On the High-veld
In the High-veld where it’s open and heaven’s wide up there
Where herds of tall grass frisk about the veld
Where you can breathe freely and believe in God
Stands my little house which I’ve left for money
And when I sit here in the tunnels of the mine, dreaming
About the High-veld wind, wide and free
Then I hear the sound of my tracks, saddle and bridle
At dusk when riding to the livestock.
On the High-veld, where it’s spacious, where you can see far off
(The wispy blue brings a lump to your throat)
Stands my little house, waiting for me about a year or ten
Where the little deer play on the slate tombstones
But if the tuberculosis gets worse and I hear the last wheeze
I then wander to the High-veld wind
And in the moonlight I seek all the most beautiful places
Where I made clay oxen as a child.

It set great expectations for the camping area, which at first glance seemed to be met. It is a beautiful setting, albeit almost deserted, until we found a spot amidst some trees and next to one of the few other RV’s with people around. These were an elderly couple from Texas, expressing their gratitude for us having shown up. Lack of respectable restroom facilities and the appearance of general neglect, down to the marina area, were disappointing and in stark contrast to what we’ve experienced at similar US Army Corps of Civil Engineers projects, e.g. Potters Creek at Canyon Lake in Texas, (Things Along the Road 13) which is superbly managed.

After two nights, we were off to Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park in Bismarck, ND, on August 29 http://www.parkrec.nd.gov/parks/falsp/falsp.html  where we had a site with water hookup but had to use our generator for power. Getting there entailed going north on Route 85, which was pretty agriculture territory along the rather deserted highway. Then due east with I-94 across an expanse of prairie land for the better part of 100 miles to Mandan south of Bismarck, the capital of North Dakota. The State Park has quite a story to it, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Abraham_Lincoln    having been Custer’s base   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Armstrong_Custer   that experienced many an Indian onslaught in the late 1800’s. It was from this fort that Custer departed for The Battle of the Little Bighorn http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn where he and most of his 200 men perished. History thus hangs thick in the air at Fort Abraham Lincoln but nowadays  it is the lovely park and campground on the banks of the Missouri River that attract scores of visitors and we counted ourselves lucky for the two nights we got a spot there. A worthwhile daytrip to Bismarck on Saturday quickly became a virtually full day in the North Dakota Heritage Center and State Museum http://www.history.nd.gov/exhibits/ . This is a spectacular place, hands down among the best of its kind in the United States. Our education on the First Peoples, which kicked off with a heavy dose in Ottawa, Canada, a year ago, got a further idealized impetus that left one wondering how Custer and ‘Libbie’  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Bacon_Custer would have felt about it. What a difference 140 years make!

More schedule adjustments were called for when the original plans got hampered by failure to secure campsites, mostly due to weekend pressures – Labor Day in particular. We thus had to abandon the Little Missouri and Fort Stevenson State Park venues on Lake Sakakawea, ND, in favor of Mandan/Bismarck and from there, Minot, ND, where we could get reservations. The latter is where we headed next over the Labor Day weekend, to Rough Rider Resort,  http://www.roughriderrvresort.com/.  Expecting to see some of the now famous oil boom of North Dakota as we progressed north on Route 83, it largely escaped our attention, which remained occupied by the impressive agricultural activities. Cattle, some sheep and particularly wheat, soy bean and sun flower growing and harvesting, some of which resulting in seemingly endless displays of bales for getting livestock through the winter, were impressive.  But once in Minot there was a great deal of evidence of economic health http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minot,_North_Dakota  . It turned out that Minot is virtually a contractor staging ground for what happens further west toward Williston and the oil boom. Minot is also buoyed by the large Air Force Base http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minot_Air_Force_Base  of considerable importance along the lines of what we’ve observed at the Trident II Site in Arizona (On Things Along the Way 17). It is in fact part of what replaced the older nuclear deterrent fist of the US and we learned from our campground receptionist that the base is being expanded significantly, resulting in an influx of more personnel. Other than a terrific meal at the Longhorn Steakhouse, a ferocious rain storm and the presence of a Walmart, our two night stay in Minot was rather uneventful and Willem got our satellite TV connections that were shaky lately, restored. During the rainstorm Fickie and Stella stirred up a conversation with a ranching family in the restaurant. These jovial folks were very hospitable and invited us to their ranch to see moose and observe the ongoing harvesting, which we could not accept in view of time constraints. Bur from them we learned about caviar production off paddlefish http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_paddlefish   in Lake Sakakawea.

Next was Lake Metigoshe and resuming our original travel schedule on September 2,  http://www.parkrec.nd.gov/parks/lmsp/lmsp.html .The prairie, impressive farming, livestock and harvesting activities became gradually more dotted with small lakes and ponds which farming implements have had to dodge in their quest for plowing, tilling, planting and now, harvesting. Looking at the map further north into Canada (which in vast areas suggest visible land patches are virtually floating in a greater fresh water ocean) the increasing abundance of water in northern ND seemed like an introduction to what is to follow. More evidence of oil production and wind energy harvesting also became clear and the label on a honey jar highlighted the extraordinary virtues of clover honey from the Dakotas. Although clover wasn’t one of the crops we’ve seen, we have to admit lacking expertise to know it when we see it in the absence of its flowers, which might have been rolled into bales by the time we passed by. But other evidence, in the form of bee hives by the hundreds was encountered throughout the prairies in particular. Honey production is of course a byproduct; pollination being the primary purpose of their presence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollination_management   and we’ve seen hives in large numbers transported by semi’s.

By the time we’ve reached the northern extremes of the Dakotas, where the name of a place on the map doesn’t necessarily mean there would be a gas pump or a food store, we began to question our wisdom for  going there. But then, at an intersection with two tiny business activities -- the one related to hardware and building materials, the other suggestive of a high price convenience store with a gas pump -- there was a wall of poster boards singing the virtues of Metigoshe, other lakes around, marinas, lodges, etc. Shortly after, we found the turnoff and winding our way past wooded lakes,  upscale vacation homes and resort areas (!), we arrived at Metigoshe Lake State Park  http://maps.google.com/maps?client=firefox-a&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=48.983625,-100.333371&spn=0.010379,0.019312&t=h&z=16 . We did the self-registration thing and set out to find a campsite with water and electricity hookups in one of the virtually deserted campgrounds. We picked a spot easy to back into, three sites away from another 5^th wheel and were soon settled in a really beautiful site. By week’s end much of the place was going to close for the winter, following the previous Labor Day weekend, when it was abuzz with campers from all over. We needed three nights which meant two full days to unwind and would be out of there before services were terminated. Our close neighbors were Carl and Lynn Schaap from Minnesota.  Carl spent a year or two as a boy with his mother and brother  from the Netherlands in Nelspruit, South Africa and had fond memories about the experience. He was hoping to interest his brother in returning there for a visit and Fickie provided him with contact information.

Phone connections were surprisingly good but Wi-Fi via our hotspot less so, although at times we could get a wobbly internet connection. This meant limited Skyping and other luxuries, such as finding links to use on the blog. A good bit of time went into offline blog work, correspondence and setting up appointments by phone on the East Coast for when we get there in another month. Shortly after finding out that a Walmart existed 15 miles away in Bottineau, ND, the ladies discovered that some supplies, including our frozen bar-b-q ‘ed meat from Bakers Hole, MT were about depleted, which necessitated a sightseeing excursion the next day. Much of the same scenery on the round trip, marinating for some hours back in camp and getting the job done before dark.  We were set for another 3 weeks in that respect.

 Meanwhile we’ve learned about a peace garden between Canada and the US at one of the border crossings   http://www.peacegarden.com/    , so this was the one we picked on routes 281 US/ 10 CA and were there at about 11:00 am on Friday http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Peace_Garden  , https://www.google.ca/search?q=Peace+Garden&client=firefox-a&hs=1Bh&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=np&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=9d0ZVOTQKLHbsAT-iYD4BQ&ved=0CEMQsAQ&biw=1348&bih=614   . This proved to be a noble private Canadian/American endeavor – a garden straddling the border at the customs point.  Although beyond its prime for the season, the evidence of having been spectacular abounded and it was impressive to note the ongoing education and other youth camps conducted throughout the summer. One plaque in particular attracted attention, stating: To God in His Glory, we two nations dedicate this garden, and pledge ourselves that as long as men shall live, we will not take up arms against one another. One can wonder if something like this exists between other nations.