Crossing North Dakota

 

June 13-14 2025 Fri/Sat

Friday June 13 2025

When we started this part of the trip, we only had a few places and activities planned. We did know we would enter North Dakota mainly because it is the last of the 48 lower states we have visited. We also knew we would cross the border in the Southwest corner of the state and had made reservations near Theadore Roosevelt National Park. 

High point of North Dakota

We had one disappointment shortly after we crossed the border. I wanted to hike to the high point of North Dakota, but it is located off a busy two-lane road and there was absolutely nowhere to park, not even a shoulder. Not a big loss, it's just a pile of rocks out in the middle of a field, but still. 

We drove on to Medora where the campground by Theodore Roosevelt National Park is located. We stayed in Red Trail Campground because it has utility hook ups and camping in the park is primitive with no utilities. We spent most our time in the park driving the scenic loop road looking for buffalo. We did find several groups of them; one group meandered across the road in front of us. The terrane in the park is rugged, but we've just been to the Grand Canyon. It's pretty tame compared to the Grand Canyon.

One of the pitfalls of winging it is, sometimes when you have no plans, the trip loses focus. It was at this point that we entered what I will call trip fog. We had no definitive plans for the road ahead and seemed to have lost motivation to pick a destination. I had looked at "must see" places back when I planned the general route, but now they all seemed not worth the lengthy drive to get to them.  We had noticed that I-94 which was just outside Medora had very little traffic on it. We decided to just start driving east and stop if we passed anything of interest.

This plan was doomed from the start.  Millie and I have seen so much in our travels we have become somewhat jaded when it comes to tourist attractions and even historical places. I mean, how many museums full of dark old paintings can you look at and stay interested. It all starts to look the same after a while.

 You know how this is going to go, by the end of the day we were in Fargo. The most amazing thing about the day was mile after mile the scene was exactly the same. A person could fall asleep, then wake up an hour later, look around and think they were in the same spot they were an hour ago.

Fargo North Dakota

We overnighted in an urban park in Fargo, our site was nice enough, $40 for Water/elec and a paved site, just not level. I had to disconnect the truck and raise the front of the RV seven inches. (Linwood Park Campground) Our site was directly on the Red River, well that is its name, but it was mud brown colored. It was a very nice city park though!

Saturday June 14 2025

This morning, we woke to a hailstorm and distant but almost constant Thunder. Checking weather radar, we decided to delay departure for about an hour to let the storm pass. 

Speaking of departure, we still had no destination and used the storm delay to plan something. Earlier in the trip Millie had suggested the Mall of America in Minneapolis but then changed her mind about that. I was thinking of going northwest through Minnesota and Wisconsin to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We could then go south over the Mackinac Bridge into mainland Michigan. Canada was out of the question; they don’t take kindly to gun toten conservatives from the south. 

Then I remembered that it was the height of Black Fly season in that whole upper peninsula region. If I want to give blood, I’ll find a Red Cross blood bank. So, the U-P is out, Canada is out, Mall of America, here we co me!

We departed Fargo on I-94 and stayed on it all the way to Minneapolis Minnesota. About halfway to our destination a low black cloud rapidly passed over us and soon stretched almost from horizon to horizon.  The dark as night sky was earie but we didn’t have time to dwell on it because it started raining. Raining is not an accurate word, nor is downpour, it was a deluge. We traveled through natures carwash for many miles before it moved off to the east. Luckily, common scene prevailed on the highway, all the traffic slowed way down and there were no accidents. 

We have secured a site at Lebanon Hills Regional Park Campground, a county owned campground in Apple Valley, MN. Nice place, paved site, full hookups, $50 a night. We will be here two nights. Report on Mall of America in the next post.

Waiting for lunch in Medora North Dakota