20090617 – International Peace Garden and Rugby

20090617 – International Peace Garden and Rugby

We broke camp in Bottineau and headed downtown in search of a postcard of Tommy the Turtle for Tim to send to Grandson Andrew. A great conversation with the 3 clerks in the drug store ensued. They were all fired up for Bottineau Days (a civic anniversary) that was scheduled to start later that day. Unfortunately we could not stay. We also took the opportunity to pick up a latte (Tim) and Americano (Fred) and four cookies for later in the day.

We continued North from Bottineau, then East on ND43 to the International Peace Garden. This international effort had a very good ambiance, including the mandatory gift shop, some formal gardens, just now being refreshed with plantings for the year, a nature trail where we did our morning birding, and structures on each end of a long mall where you could straddle the international border and look along the border which was a little more obvious than that 'imaginary line' we learned about in grade school. It was a line that had been cleared of trees and vanishing into the distance, somewhat in the fashion of a powerline right of way. It was visible for many miles to the West because of the elevation of the Peace Garden site and the topography of the rolling hills in that direction. The site also included a non-denominational chapel that was ringed inside by a number of inspirational quotations about peace and the commonalities of people throughout the world. These were excerpted from statements by Gandhi, Frost, Nixon, Jefferson and a many others. We were able to exit this site and return to the greater US after scrutiny by an unsmiling border official despite the fact that Tim had not brought a passport along.

The one thing that we were both grateful for not seeing at the peace garden was any evidence of the 20 miles of fencing erected to protect this border (nevermind the other ~2000 mile unprotected part) erected by our? Federal government a few years ago.

From there we headed South on US281 for a few miles before throwing the tread from our right rear tire. Despite leaving a long strip of rubber on the road, the tire did not blowout and we achieved a safe stop. While Tim headed back to get the strip off the road (to prevent another vehicle from encountering this unexpectedly, since it was just over the rise of a hill) I noticed a billboard announcing Dale's Truck Stop, just 1.5 miles down the road. We eased into Dunseith and although the Truck Stop was not apparent, there was a gas station where a County Sheriff connected us with a customer who had a tire and repair service located another 1.5 miles away. Half an hour and $25 later we had the spare mounted and were on the road again, thankful for our good fortune, to Rugby.

Within the Rugby, North Dakota, city limits there is a ~30 foot high obelisk of field stone and concrete topped by a golden ball. This marks the geographic center of North America. It is a relatively unremarkable structure with a couple of lights for night visibility powered by solar panels and surrounded by benches where you can sit to obtain a centered feeling. We did.

Heartened by the day's experiences, we headed East on US2 to a few miles beyond Penn, ND. A blue RV Camper sign pointed us North along an unnamed road to Dry Lake Campground (we had called there for directions). Some of the ~ 2 mile approach is through standing high water on each side of the road. We enjoyed great looks at Great Egrets hunting there and roosting in a tree a few hundred yards distant. The campground is a very nice site overlooking Dry Lake (which is not at all dry now, averaging 6' depth we were told) across a large mowed field. Other customers at the site are typically fishermen and the place may be quite busy on weekends. Tonight the only other customers were a group of 8 Mung fishermen who slept under a tarp and were seeking White Bass—which according to our host are not highly prized in our culture.

Tim and I both spent some time on Tim's cell phone, since mine did not have coverage, conversing with family. I did some research in the vehicle documentation, and got some advice from Patt and Tim about the required tire replacement. We then went to bed, enjoying heat lightning and distant thunder. We realized that we are approaching Summer Solstice. Here, relatively far North and on the Western edge of the Central Time Zone, it was 10:00PM and not fully dark yet.

No Internet today in the outback.

Birds: American white Pelican, american Redstart, Red-necked Grebe, Lesser Scaup, Brown-headed Cowbird, Common Loon, Eastern Kingbird, Yellow Warbler, Double-crested Cormorant, Warbling Vireo, Red-winged Blackbird, American Robin, Black-billed Cuckoo, Mallard, Veery, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Song Sparrow, Hairy woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, Black-crowned Night Heron, Great Egret, American Coot, Northern Shoveler, Mallard.