SATURDAY, 2 JUNE 2012

ONTO THE DAKOTAS

Today is the longest day of driving, across North Dakota. The people of North Dakota seem to like BIG metal and concrete sculptures. First stop, world’s largest buffalo in Jamestown, North Dakota. It is associated with Frontierland, which contains replicas of old time stores.

Next stop, the LDS temple in Bismarck.

After leaving Bismarck Jim saw a giant Holstein cow on the hillside.

The highlight of the day was the Enchanted Highway. A retired school teacher/principle from the small town of Regent decided to create large metal sculptures and place them along a 32 mile stretch of road from I-90 to Regent in hopes of luring more people through Regent who would stop and boost the town’s economy. We got there during early sunset, so the light was great for Jim’s pictures. The sculptures were very entertaining.

Geese in Flight, the largest metal sculpture

Deer Crossing

Pheasant Family

Teddy Roosevelt

Towns with motels are few and far between in the plains regions of the Dakotas. Regent had no motels, so we decided to drive 120 miles beyond to the town of Faith, South Dakota. 

As we entered South Dakota Jim noticed an empty coal train coming toward us, so we drove back to the overpass and watched him go by.

this is actually the rear of the train

Suppertime was upon us, but there were no signs of places to eat. The small town of Lemmon was a welcome relief as we found a few places to eat. We chose a steakhouse that seemed to be popular, but we were very skeptical about what quality of food we would get. Much to our surprise my fingersteaks were very tasty and tender, as was Jim’s rib steak. The motel in Faith was, well, it had a bed to rest our weary head, but the pillows were almost non existent. The Doubletree for two nights spoiled us!