Sunday, April 3, 2011

North Dakota

I took a road trip to North Dakota this weekend.  Not to see anything in particular.  Just to take a roadtrip and spent a night away from home.  Now, recently, North Dakota has been on Yahoo! or MSN or Google (I forget which one -- maybe all three) as a good state to live in.  I decided to check this out.

I did enjoy my drive through the Westernmost part of the state.  The rolling hills were nice.  I was able to drive on the freeway through part of the National Grasslands (a new designation to protect people from drilling in place that it would be a stretch to name the area as a monument or park??).  I did not go and see Theodore Roosevelt National Park or the Painted Canyon.  I'll have to put those on my list for my next visit.

Yes, on my ride I did have the opportunity of seeing New Salem Sue standing atop a hill.  Click on the link to see this picture of the World's Largest Holstein.

Also, at around mile post 120 on I-94 there was some interesting signage.  It just seemed out of place or something.  There are a few signs on the road that say things like Exit 120 - 3/4 mile.  Maybe it's not weird, but it seemed weird to me.  It didn't label any town or anything.  Just a sign saying these particular exits were a mile ahead or 3/4 mile ahead.  I didn't get it.  Maybe someone else can explain. 

While in North Dakota I had a chance to go to the supermarket right next door to my hotel.  I don't know if I chose the wrong supermarket to go to or not, but the prices there were so high!  I did not buy anything in the end.  Also, the hotel was in a strange place, in my opinion.  It was surrounded by businesses - gorocery stores, restaurants.  And the heater in the room was so loud (okay, maybe not indicative of all of North Dakota, but I guess maybe I prefer the other Marriott's I've stayed at more than this one).  I do like Marriott Hotels.

All-in-all, my opinion of North Dakota is mixed.  I really wasn't a fan of the portion of Bismarck that I saw (too many businesses crammed in too little of a space), but the countryside wasn't bad.  

Okay - so this isn't about North Dakota - but I did enjoy my trip through the Black Hills of South Dakota a few weeks ago, and Mt. Rushmore was nice, but smaller than I excepted.  Maybe eventually I'll post the pictures I took during that trip.



2 comments:

Marissa said...

I thought New Salem Sue was a real Holstein until I clicked on the link. Not quite what I expected. . .

browneyedgirl said...

where are the pics of mt rushmore?? now take a road trip and come visit me!!!!!!!