Category Archives: North Dakota

North Dakota Badlands — July 23-24, 2014

On July 23 we joined Chuck’s niece Cathy, her husband Jon and their children Cole & Katie on an expedition to the western Dakotas.  Some rode with Jon in his truck that pulled their new massive fifth wheel camper and the rest rode with Cathy in her automobile.  We camped for one night at the Medora campground. After securing the camper the Dockters took Mom, Zona, Barb and me up to the site of the Medora Musical where we enjoyed a steak fondue supper.  Then Barb & I took advantage of tickets that Cathy had previously won and attended the musical.   Great fun.

Next day, Cathy, Barb and the kids headed out to do some horseback riding in the Theodore Roosevelt Nat’l Park only to discover that Katie was about an inch too short to be allowed on the horses.  We all spent the morning exploring the park before heading south to the Black Hills of South Dakota. See our next blog entry for our coverage of that visit.

Carrington, ND — July 17-20, 2014

We had gone to Carrington for Barb’s high school reunion, but that was not our only experience in the neighborhood.

Barb’s sister Audrey flew in to Bismarck from Colorado and joined us for the Carrington visit.  We stayed with Barb’s brother Tim, who lives just a few miles north of Carrington.  And we enjoyed seeing Tim’s three sons:  Preston, Tyler and Austen.  Barb’s uncles Joe and John were also briefly back to their old stomping grounds.  Barb’s brother Hugh stopped in briefly on his way to Minneapolis from the oil fields of western North Dakota, accompanied by his girl friend.  Barb’s friend Monica, occasional guest on Tusen Takk II and another graduate of Carrington, drove over from New Rockford, where she has been helping her mother recover from a stroke.

When the reunion was finished, we joined Tim on an expedition to his cabin east of Carrington at Lake Juanita.  On the way back we stopped for lunch in the wee town of Grace City, a town so small that it lost in 1991 its consolidated school to a neighboring village.  The halls contain large pictures of the most recent graduating classes; in 1990 there were four and in 1991 there were five.  We were inside the school because the building has been made available and the old school cafeteria has been converted to a cafe gratefully patronized by the small community.  (The food was good.)

We also went on an expedition to see the farm and the large house where Barb and so many of her siblings were raised.  And we visited the Carrington cemetery where for genealogical purposes Barb had me photograph many tombstones for Carr, Hoffman and Lange.   And of course we visited several times the renowned Chieftan, the iconic restaurant in Carrington.

On our drive back to Bismarck I got some pictures of abandoned farms and of ducks and pelicans and swallows.

After returning to Bismarck, we also visited other areas in the Dakotas, but that will be covered in our next post.  Stay tuned!

Barb’s High School Reunion — Carrington, North Dakota, July 17-19, 2014

We left (in Trinidad) our beloved Tusen Takk II earlier than usual this year — on July 15 —  so that Barb could attend a high school reunion in Carrington, North Dakota.  We flew in to Bismarck, North Dakota, where sister Zona & mother Evelyn live.  Barb’s sister Audrey soon joined us from Colorado, and the three of us all drove to Carrington (population 2,097) on July 17, where we descended upon Tim (Barb’s brother) and his three sons: Tyler, Preston and Austin.  The reunion was an “all school” affair, so there was a mix of relatively new and definitely old graduates.  Barb’s class (combined with two others) had some events separately, and there were a number of events in common, including three street dances on successive nights that closed off Main Street in the bustling metropolis of Carrington.

 

Barb and Audrey had a marvelous time visiting with former classmates and some of their many relatives who either live in the area or who came to Carrington for the reunion. Barb was especially pleased that her good friends Monica and Lynne were there.  The three of them went to the same college (Minot State) after high school, lost touch for a few years, and then found each other again some years ago.

I had an especially interesting conversation with one of Barb’s former classmates; he wanted to know what I found so interesting about living on a boat and cruising the Caribbean.  He had been on one Caribbean cruise and said that had been enough; he expressed surprise that I hadn’t long ago gotten bored with the whole scene.  How to explain the appeal of visiting so many different cultures in the Lesser Antilles.  How to explain the pleasure of wearing a T-shirt and shorts (or less) in the middle of January.  How to explain the wonder of a hike through a rain forest or a scuba dive in gin clear waters.  How to explain the camaraderie among cruisers or the beauty of the sea.

And yet, we have been awed by the beauty of the plains with its sweeping vistas, so filled with wildlife and bursting with golden and green flora.  North Dakota is a place we will continue to enjoy returning to.

Chuck (and later, Barb) in North Dakota — Sept. 12-24, Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2013

When we left the Savannah area on Sept. 12, Barb flew to Las Vegas to see her father, and I flew to Bismarck, ND, to spend some time with Mom and sister Zona.

The first part of my visit was rather low-key; I spent a lot of time putting together a slide show to be subsequently presented at Krogen’s Open House in Annapolis — the theme of our presentation was “Cruising the Caribbean”.

When Barb joined us in Bismarck on Sept. 19, the activity level picked up considerably.  We visited a new bar in the top floor of a building in downtown Bismarck.  Joining Barb and I were Cathy, Erik, Cindy, Zona and Mom.   The latter’s beverage was soda, called “pop” in that part of the world, while Barb and I indulged our new passion for Guinness on tap.  The musical entertainment was provided by a sole performer playing German polkas on an accordion, the output of which was sent through some kind of synthesizer so that on some songs the bass was rendered as if it were a tuba, and on others the keyboard as if it were a clarinet.

We went to see Cathy’s son Cole play soccer.   We took Mom out for lunch to a restaurant in a strip mall where Barb ordered a cheese button filled with cabbage, and the waitress was a native American.

We played many games of progressive rummy, during which Mom won more than her fair share but complained bitterly 🙂 when she didn’t.

Zona’s brother-in-law Floyd and his wife Sheila came for dinner one night, bringing with them gigantic shrimp and a luscious salad, and we provided the beef tenderloin steaks.  On another night we grilled pork tenderloins.  We joined Dawn and Jerry for burgers one lunch.  And we joined Jon and Cathy and their rug rats Cole and Katie for dinner, followed by a delicious fruit dessert prepared by Katie.  (Barb and I are subsequently on a diet, attempting to reverse the consequences of so much eating.)

One day the media was filled with news that a moose was wandering through the northern section of Bismarck; the authorities urged folks to leave it alone, saying that it would probably soon find its way back out of town.

On Sept. 24, Zona left to go on a cruise on the Danube.  (You will have to read her blog to learn more about that trip.  🙂  )  On the same day, Barb and I drove to Rochester so that I could see Dr. Matteson, head of rheumotology at Mayo.  The results were good; my drugs are working and there are no signs of adverse side effects.  He recommended that I continue the quarterly blood work. As long as my symptoms remain stable and I send in my lab work, I won’t need to visit him.  As we passed through Hastings, MN going to and returning from Mayo, we stopped so that Barb could further her genealogical research.   We visited Tom and June Alcorn on Sept. 24 and Muriel Arms, who treated us to a Norwegian dinner, late the next day.

On Sept. 26 we drove up to McFarland Lake, in the extreme NE corner of Minnesota, in order to visit Jon and Cathie Ringen.   But that is the subject of another post, found here.

At the conclusion of our visit to the Ringen’s we returned on Sept. 30 to Bismarck, where we did some more socializing and card playing.   And one of Barb’s best friends, Monica, stopped by briefly on her way to Carrington, ND to see her mother.

And thanks to Zona, Barb had surgery to remove a spot on her abdomen.  Barb and I had both visited a dermatologist in Savannah, where Barb had a small spot removed.  But just before our trip to Mayo, she received a phone call that suggested more needed to be removed.  Remarkably, Zona was able to talk her dermatologist into taking care of Barb when we returned.

So when we left for Annapolis on Oct. 3, via Washington, DC, Barb had a bandage on her stomach and orders not to lift more than 10 pounds for two weeks.  Guess who played the role of luggage mule….

Minot, ND: Sept. 26, 2012 – Norsk Høstfest

On Sept. 26, the first day of Høstfest, we drove up to Minot to attend the Scandinavian celebration.  We stopped first at the permanent Scandinavian Village in downtown Minot, where there is a reconstruction of a Norwegian Stave church, a Norwegian Stabur, a Swedish Dala horse, a Danish sauna, and other displays.

The general admission ticket included free admission to the second-tier entertainers.   We attended performances by the Oak Ridge Boys, the New Christy Minstrels, Paulette Carlson, Williams and Ree (AKA Indian and White Guy), and Norwegian country singer Bjøro Håland.   The number of attendees to the fest was impressive; the crowds were huge.   The average age was also notable; lots of bald heads and blue or grey hair.

Bismarck, ND: Sept. 17 – Oct. 12, 2012

I flew out of Las Vegas on Sept. 17 and Barb joined me in Bismarck on Sept. 21, having elected to spend some post-reunion time with her father.   On Sept. 22 we attended a “Living Paintings” exhibition; the title is perhaps self-explanatory:  costumed actors posing in front of backdrops that reproduce famous paintings.

The next day we drove 50 miles to the east to visit sister Zona’s cabin on the shore of Lake Isabel.   There we harvested apples and Zona’s son-in-law Jon pulled the dock out of the water for winter storage.

Next day Barb and I helped Zona put oil on the new deck at the rear of her Bismarck home.   Later we were joined by Marvin and Violet for dinner.

And then the next day we attacked her storage building; sorting , cleaning and photographing the extra furniture with the intention of  placing some ads on the web.   Fortuitously, we found a charity that agreed to come and take all of the items, so we were spared the trouble of dealing with the sale of individual items.

On the next day –- are you keeping track of the date? – we drove up to Minot to attend the annual Norsk Høstfest event.  It will be covered in a later post.

In the middle of our visit we drove to Minneapolis to visit members of Zona’s family and to stage for a  trip to Mayo Clinic, after which we drove to northern Minnesota to vsit college friend Jon and his wife Cathie.   On the way back to Bismarck we stopped in Detroit Lakes to see the dude ranch which Barb’s folks ran with the help of their kids in the early 70’s.

So it has been a busy time here in the Midwest, and the time has flown.   As usual, we are impressed and grateful for the hospitality we have been shown by everyone, especially Zona.