Helena to Grand Forks, ND

 

Thursday March 25, 2021 – We really enjoy visiting antique stores and are finding the antiques vary by the area of the country we are in.  When we began traveling and going to every store,  we could spend all day at any one place.   As with any learning experience we have been able to limit our time in a store because we know what we are interested in and are able to spot those items pretty fast.  So today when we walked into a 10,000 sq. ft. store we were there for a couple of hours.  We found one piece of furniture that both of us liked but do not have a place for it at home.

We wanted to reach Glasgow by evening.  It is 400 miles NE of Helena and that makes a long day.  So, we headed for Great Falls, MT 90 miles northeast.

Great Falls is a land locked city except for the Missouri River.  The Missouri brought Lewis and Clark to the area more than 200 years ago and is still a mystery as to how they accomplished their voyage. 

What supports the large population of people varies from health care and social services to mining, quarrying, gas, and oil.  Of course, the highest paying jobs are in the mining, gas, and oil.

From Great Falls north, the land is rolling hills but mostly flat.  Some of the parcels look like they are farmed, and others look like they are left with natural grasses. At this time of the year, it is all various shades of brown. 

One of the beauties of traveling on the road is to see all the different types of terrain in a short distance.  From Helena we traveled through rolling wheat fields natural grassy fields, high plains with sandstone hills and rugged rocky mountains. The colors range in hue from reds, greens, and blues to tan, beige and black.  The sandstone hills have been shaped by the wind and rain and offer homes to animals and birds of the area.

The weather patterns also varied with a low of 30 degrees to a high of about 45.  Most of the time it snowed but did not stick to the ground.  When the snow stopped, the temperature dropped, and the wind blew.  I would not be surprised to know the wind chill was about 20.

Those that know me real well know that I like American history particularly having to do with the American Indians and western lore.  The landscape in this area and others lead my imagination to seeing teepees camped on the plains or people sitting on their horses looking over a canyon or the bison grazing the huge fields of grass. 

Other things that we see are old homes, barns and trailers have been abandoned along the way.  Some were burned, some people have just moved on.  Their stories would be interesting to listen to.

We were caught in some road construction and had to sit for about one-half hour for one way traffic.  That delayed our arrival to Glasgow about the same amount of time.

Traveling across many of the states you begin to realize the large number of trucks and trains that traverse the U. S. going north and south, east, and west.  They carry coal, oil, grain, vehicles, lumber, food products, containers, animals, huge pieces of equipment and the list can go on and on.  I do not think we see as much of that in Washington because of our proximity to the seaport.

Glasgow is a small community supported by farming, tourism, and some construction.  Driving by a farm implement dealership you will see not a half dozen new pieces of farm equipment but dozens of huge pieces of equipment.  Not only that there are multiple dealerships on both sides of the road with different brands of equipment.

Tomorrow is Friday, March 26.  We will continue east toward Williston, ND. 

Had a great night’s sleep.  The night before was short because we went to bed too late, and the day was long due to the number of miles we covered.  I think we were asleep by 10 and even John was still in bed at 8:00 am.  The bed was amazingly comfortable.

Fort Peck is known for its massive lake created by the dam on the Missouri River.  It offers fishing in both the winter and summer with over 50 varieties of fish.  The dam was started in 1932 and employed over 10,000 people.  It was one of many of the Great Depression projects to put people back to work, supply electricity, irrigation and flood control.  The lake is 134 miles long and has 1520 miles of shoreline.  It appears to be an earthen dam but to keep the water from seeping through there is cement and piling poured hundreds of feet below.

Driving east toward ND is the same rolling hills of wheat land.  There is a railroad line that runs parallel to the highway with several tracks.  So far this morning we have seen at least 4 different trains.  Some are carrying containers and others are hauling grain. Sometimes we forget where our food comes from.  The hundreds of thousands of acres that are farmed and the thousands of people that are instrumental in growing the crops and getting the crops to the mills and processing plants.

The Missouri River is on our right. As it flows through the land, I try to imagine what it must have been like for Lewis and Clark.  This country is bitterly cold in the winter.  They left the state of Missouri August 31, 1803.  I am not sure how long it took them to get to North Dakota or Montana, but they were probably there during the winter months. Survival would have been difficult. They are truly heroes of our country.

Starting to see a few oil wells pop up.  We are about 30 miles west of Williston.  The old, abandoned barns and houses are so interesting.  Would love to bring some wood home from them.

Just entered ND.  The land changes so gradually it is easy to forget that you have just crossed the state line. 

Williston ND was not as I had imagined.  I expected a town full of construction because of the large increase in population the last few years.  The economy of the area, while historically agricultural, is increasingly being driven by the oil industry. Williston lends its name to the Williston Basin, a huge subterranean geologic feature known for its rich deposits of petroleum, coal, and potash.

Williston appears to be a clean city, expanding to the north with new housing and industry.  We visited an antique store and had a nice visit with the 80-year-old owner.

Next stop is Minot, ND.  I remember a few years back when a friend, Pat Reynolds, went to Minot with the Red Cross to help with a flood.  This year they have not had the snow or rain as in past years/  In fact ND is in the middle of a drought and really need the rain. There are lakes all over the landscape.  Due to the cold temperatures, the lakes are all partially frozen or have large chunks of ice floating in the lake.  On one of the lakes, we saw someone walking across the ice. Today the high temperature was 41 with wind so you can see why it takes so long for this part of the country to thaw.

Stayed in Minot.  Did not sleep well but there are antique stores to explore so we were up and going by 9:30. The third one we visited was small with more ordinary items at fair prices.  The first store had a lot of fancy furniture and dishes and was extremely high in price.  The second one was a junk store. 

Met a fellow and his wife that purchase items in the 3^rd store to repurpose.  Happens that he trained at the Yakima Training Center many years ago.  At least he knows where Selah is.

Left Minot about 2:00 pm for Grand Forks, ND.  The landscape is not too much different than the previous 200 miles, flat land growing different grains and/or hay.  After arriving in Grand Forks and getting settled for the night, we planned our trip for the next 2-3 days.  Some people ask why we have come to ND and MN.  My answer is because it is here, and I want to see it.  Tomorrow after visiting antique stores we will head to International Falls, MN which on the Canadian border.