Our first stop was Mount Rushmore. This was my first time there and it is quite impressive. All the state in the union are represented. We spent about 2 hours learning about this amazing sculpture. Kirk even talked to one of the surviving men who worked on it.
Later that day we got to the exact middle of North America, which is in Rugby, ND. We took Flat Stanley with us on many of our adventures.
Our final destination is Cando, ND. Kirk's grandparents on both sides settled here long ago. It is a farming community and his cousins still have the Odegaard family farm. Of 13 children, 7 are still living and able to attend the family gathering. We did alot of visiting. I felt like I belonged right away, which is so nice. There was a birthday party for all the siblings, some turning 80 this year. After the party we were able to spend the evening in the former home of Kirk's grandparents, lots of good family memories were shared. There were about 60 family members present.
The next day we got to go out and see the family farm and we had a great time. We were treated to rides on some of the farm equipment like the sprayer below. These are all GPS guided and quite comfortable, I should have been a farmers wife because I was out on the farm and in the fields, not in the house with all the other women. LOL.
The crops that they are growing are wheat, corn and sunflowers. It is so amazing to see miles and miles of sunflowers, some will with their petals.....so beautiful. Flat Stanley had to have his picture taken with the big tractor and in the sunflowers.
Just look at all of the
sunflowers. I got to
bring a couple home for
fall decoration.
We also went on a tour of Devils Lake. This town is in danger of flooding. Back in the olden days people settled around this huge inland lake, as the water receded during dry years people followed the water line, building and farming on the now dry land. The problem with that is, the lake is rising and now alot of these farms and fields are under 15 feet of water, the town of Devils Lake has now installed dikes to hold back the water which is today 10 feet higher then the homes in the lower parts of town, which is over half of town. The lake has not reached it peak of an addition 10 feet at which point any excess can then drain away. It is amazing to me how people can ignore this fact, but they do. There is enough water in the lake to flood many miles of land. I guess Fargo is experiencing similar problems with the river that runs through it.
All in all a very enjoyable trip and a good time with family.
4 comments:
terrific pics--thanks for sharing!
Carole
Mt. Rushmore ~ my old stomping ground. :) I grew up near there... Sounds like a fun trip. - k
OH I would have loved to see not only Mt. Rushmore but the farms! Beautiful pics. A nice break from all the building you have been doing.
I believe there is a plan to allow drainage of Devil's Lake into the Red River, but the Manitobans don't feel like getting a bunch of polluted water into that part of the watershed. Worries about fish habitat etc. Interesting blog, constructing a home from scratch is pretty daunting!
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