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Bismarck ND to Fargo ND - 13,387 kms

Aug 05, 2014

 

Thumbnail is a shot of a Church we took as we went for a stroll after our dinner in Bismarck last night. We were amazed at the acres and acres of empty car parking spaces around University Hospitals and all sorts of Medical suites. After sleeping in this morning they were all full. We also spotted an Oil Refinery on the outskirts of town coming in last night so we know where a lot of the oil is going, and lots of oil tanker trains today.

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After the glut on mountains we have had we expected flat featureless plains today but enjoyed the rolling plains we experienced with lush agriculture and land disappearing in patches to low ranges in the distance. Clearly the access to water varied as did the crops and it made for an interesting view as we passed. Again, the development is fast and furious. We were on an Interstate Highway all day but most of the towns / localities which now have access on and off the Interstate are new and many of the access roads lead to dirt tracks so a promise of access and development to come I guess. Early in our trip this is a shot of a Veterans Memorial Garden behind the Kidder County Courthouse in Steele ND.

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And I took a shot as we headed into Medina to give an idea of the rolling terrain but in a 2 dimensional view it looks ridiculous so instead this is a shot of the very cute Water Tower with Silos on the rail line behind.

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We lunched in Jamestown, the largest town since we left Bismarck and this is St James Church.

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And a shot of a house to give you a taste of the quality of the town. The towns / villages / localities up until here have been pretty much all transportable buildings or close to it.

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Not far out of Jamestown we saw this massive Silo Complex again on the rail line across paddocks. We saw many of these both smaller and larger today.

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Next stop was Valley City, the self proclaimed 'City of Bridges' and this is one from the town area across to the Valley City State University (VCSU) a Teacher's University.

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And a shot from the other side toward the University which was nicely laid out.

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And a streetscape in Fargo.

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And a shot in a residential street just one behind the commercial stuff and yes she asked me what I was doing but was happy I was just clicking away on holidays.

Bits and Bobs:

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This is a shot of two long legged birds, one the 'World's Largest Sandhill Crane' in Steele ND and one little old me.....not surprised this is the largest known sandhill crane.

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And as we negotiated the detour and unmade road in all the confusion as we made our way back to I-94 this is a shot Norm got of a very 'Oversize Load'. They were trucks with a tank each we got stuck behind in the rain yesterday which had pulled onto the road from a muddy yard and in the course of their travel washed the underside of their vehicles clean from all the downpour we had which was sheeting across the road. When I got off my bike for our first stop once we passed them I had a collection of mud and gravel on the seat between my legs. Cannot believe local municipalities allow this and every road coming in had mud stripes coming in .... mind you, it looks like the development in this area (related to oil) is barely keeping up to demand.

A shot of the 

Last Night's Accommodation:

Radisson Hotel Bismarck, 605 East Broadway Avenue, Bismarck ND 58501

Comfortable hotel but room appears unnecessarily small with 2 beds and a large armchair jammed in the space. Tiny but practical bathroom. Generous amenities but no refrigerator. Restaurant on site which was good for dinner and just as well as we walked for blocks afterwards and all we found were hospital and related medical buildings, car parks and some residential buildings. Nice furnishings but the laundry service they are using is letting them down. Table linen in the restaurant is just washed and folded and looks awful and the bed linen is not any better, a bit surprising overall given our experience with the brand in other times and this and other countries.

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