WESTWARD HO WE GO

We left the upper peninsula of Michigan and started our trek westward. As we entered upper Wisconsin...Land o' Lakes......this handsome fellow greeted us just as we entered.  He swooped in front of our car and landed in a tree across the street.  I had Mario pull over.....not an easy thing hauling the rv.....so I could take his picture.  He was amazingly close........of course Slow Draw McGraw that I am was fiddling and diddling with the zoom and he got sick and tired of waiting for me and took off.  I caught him just as he was doing THAT.       Soon after that excitement we passed the central time zone and had to move our clock back an hour.    We continued on through northern Wisconsin and all of the gorgeous lakes and wooded areas.  At times we drove on for hours and didn't pass a single soul on the roads.....not even a police car.  PLUS......WE HAD NO CELL SERVICE there either.  Huge white tailed deer darted out into the road at random times.  It was amazingly beautiful and miles and miles from nowhere.  

We only spent the night and the next morning headed further west into Minnesota where we spent a couple of days.

We are traveling through the very northern parts of both Wisconsin and Minnesota to our first big destination.....Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the western side of North Dakota.  We didn't do lots of sightseeing in either place, except enjoy the loveliness of the lands of lakes, the farmlands, and the wooded areas.  There are lakes abound and often seeing more bald eagles soaring the skies.  Expansive farm lands spread out in all directions as far as the eye can see.  Corn, corn, and more corn.  Plus the golden wheat fields stretching out all around.  

This is lumberjack land for sure.  Also interesting is the Scandinavian influence in Minnesota.  Lots of beautifully blonde people and Scandinavian names to notice.  There were many log style homes as well.  Also there were a lot of Native American reservations to pass through and counties with Native American names and tribes.  

We have now entered into North Dakota.  Again we are amazed at the flatness of the land and the stark beauty of it all.  No more the forested and lake areas to be seen.  Just an amazing "flatness".  There was a marked difference upon entering North Dakota.  We saw birds that we didn't know.....and an occasional animal we couldn't quite identify.  This is pretty unusual for us. 

 Today we stayed around Bismarck and visited General Custer's home and toured the grounds of the state park where it is located.  We visited a Mandan Native American settlement and learned about their way of life.  We also visited the North Dakota Heritage Center and saw all of the geological and fossilized things found in North Dakota.  Triceratops, T-Rex fossils etc. were found here.  Also many tributes to Sacagawea here too. 

A Mandan home in the recreated settlement

Custer's home

 

Statue of Sacagawea and her son, Jean Baptiste