A Full-time Life

FRIDAY FLASHBACK - FAVORITE PLACES, FAVORITE SKIES

For SKYWATCH FRIDAY; SUNDAY FAVORITES AT CHERI'S and Favorite Places at Margot's JOYFULLY RETIRED;  I am reposting this comparison of skies and birds.  We visited North Dakota last summer for the first time.  The metal sculptures of geese on the Enchanted Highway reminded us of the real thing in New Mexico, one of our favorite places ever.  You can click RIGHT HERE to see our photo album of Bosque Del Apache and the purple link in the repost below to read more about the Enchanted Highway.

 

Here is the original post written in August of last year:

Ever since we saw the sculpture of geese in flight on North Dakota's Enchanted Highway, I've been thinking about one of our best bird watching experiences ever. In 2006, we stayed near New Mexico's Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Refuge during Fall Migration.  That was our second Autum visit -- it's such a beautiful time to be there.  

I thought it would be fun to compare the North Dakota and New Mexico flights:

 

 

 

 

Maybe the Enchanted Highway sculpture was Art imitating Life -- maybe.  At the very least it was craftwork that we enjoyed both for itself and for the memories of a lovely time in New Mexico.  

 

 

 

The major difference between the two experiences, though, is this:  We're glad we went to see Enchanted Highway and the story behind it was interesting, but having seen it once, we probably won't go again.  But we'd go out of our way to go back to the beautiful Bosque  -- and we really hope we do someday.

 

 

 

Here is the original post written in August of last year:

Ever since we saw the sculpture of geese in flight on North Dakota's Enchanted Highway, I've been thinking about one of our best bird watching experiences ever. In 2006, we stayed near New Mexico's Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Refuge during Fall Migration.  That was our second Autum visit -- it's such a beautiful time to be there.  

I thought it would be fun to compare the North Dakota and New Mexico flights:

 

 

 

 

Maybe the Enchanted Highway sculpture was Art imitating Life -- maybe.  At the very least it was craftwork that we enjoyed both for itself and for the memories of a lovely time in New Mexico.  

 

 

 

The major difference between the two experiences, though, is this:  We're glad we went to see Enchanted Highway and the story behind it was interesting, but having seen it once, we probably won't go again.  But we'd go out of our way to go back to the beautiful Bosque  -- and we really hope we do someday.

 

 

 

Here is the original post written in August of last year:

Ever since we saw the sculpture of geese in flight on North Dakota's Enchanted Highway, I've been thinking about one of our best bird watching experiences ever. In 2006, we stayed near New Mexico's Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Refuge during Fall Migration.  That was our second Autum visit -- it's such a beautiful time to be there.  

I thought it would be fun to compare the North Dakota and New Mexico flights:

 

 

 

 

Maybe the Enchanted Highway sculpture was Art imitating Life -- maybe.  At the very least it was craftwork that we enjoyed both for itself and for the memories of a lovely time in New Mexico.  

 

 

 

The major difference between the two experiences, though, is this:  We're glad we went to see Enchanted Highway and the story behind it was interesting, but having seen it once, we probably won't go again.  But we'd go out of our way to go back to the beautiful Bosque  -- and we really hope we do someday.

 

 

 

FLIGHTS OF THE GEESE

Ever since we saw the sculpture of geese in flight on North Dakota's Enchanted Highway, I've been thinking about one of our best bird watching experiences ever. In 2006, we stayed near New Mexico's Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Refuge during Fall Migration.  That was our second Autum visit -- it's such a beautiful time to be there.  (Check out our Bosque photo album on top of the right-hand column.). 

I thought it would be fun to compare the North Dakota and New Mexico flights:

 

 

 

 

 

________________________

Maybe the Enchanted Highway sculpture was Art imitating Life -- maybe.  At the very least it was craftwork that we enjoyed both for itself and for the memories of a lovely time in New Mexico.  

 

 

 

 

 

___________

The major difference between the two experiences, though, is this:  We're glad we went to see Enchanted Highway and the story behind it was interesting, but having seen it once, we probably won't go again.  But we'd go out of our way to go back to the beautiful Bosque  -- and we really hope we do someday.

 

 

 

 

 

NORTH DAKOTA RECORD-HOLDERS

We enjoyed North Dakota and hope to come back someday, because we missed a lot on this short stay.  But there is an awful lot of green, flat farm country to cover between places.  Pretty to look at this time of year, up to a point, when it starts to feel "more of the same."  Here are some of the things North Dakotans have done to break up the monotony.

We stayed one night in Jamestown.  The RV Park, called Frontier Fort, was within walking distance of  (Ta-Da) THE WORLD'S LARGEST BUFFALO.  There's also a Buffalo Museum and an old-western town reproduction.  One of the buildings in it is dedicated to Louis L'Amour, the prolific writer of Westerns, who was born in Jamestown.   As a boy, he spent a lot of time in the Jamestown public library and he credited the librarians with forming his ambition to become a writer.  

Frontier Fort was a good place to stay overnight.  The RV park was fine and the attached fort and village area made for an interesting afternoon walk after we got settled in for the night.

Just down the road apiece is this statue of New Salem Sue (Ta-Da) THE WORLD'S LARGEST HOLSTEIN.  Apparently, she is anatomically correct, but we only saw her on the brink of the hill because we didn't stop at New Salem. 

  

 

Near the town of Steele, we also passed (double Ta-Da) THE WORLD'S LARGEST SANDHILL CRANE.

It is green and pretty here in North Dakota this time of the year, but creating these road-side record-breakers probably gives people something to do during the long Winters.  (There are snow fences and snow gates on the highway, snow markers in the towns; we wouldn't want to be here when they were in use!). 

Everybody seems to make fun of North Dakota (including us, evidently) but we actually really did enjoy our time here.   We didn't even have enough time to see all of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and so, for that alone, we'd like to come back someday.  And then, too, we could check on the welfare of all these large animals! 

THEODORE ROOSEVELT NATIONAL PARK

 

 

 At this point in time, our Spring road trip is winding down and we're ready to get back to places that feel like home and people we miss.  As a result, we really didn't give ourselves enough time to thoroughly explore Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  But we loved what we did see.  The entry to the South unit of the Park was about 30 miles from where we were staying in Dickenson.  When we got within a couple miles of the entry, the terrain changed from the gentle, flat farmland that is most of the State of North Dakota to beautiful rocky formations and chasms.  The Missouri River did a pretty darn good job of carving here.

We took some easy hikes and saw some beautiful scenery.  This is a view of Painted Canyon just on the Park's edge, near the town of Medora.   In the distance are the North Dakota badlands.  (The South Dakota Badlands are another National Park.)  We took a short trail hike here.

We also stopped at several other places for short hikes. This Park has the clearest air of all the National Parks.  (I wonder if this might not be true of the whole State of North Dakota as well.  Not too many people and not too much industry here.)  

 

 

 

We saw some wildlife.  There are quite a few prairie dog villages and  several herds of wild feral horses whose ancestors have roamed these lands for centuries.  (The one below is standing in the Little Missouri river bottomland.) 

We also saw quite a few bison.  (But nothing like what we saw last year at Custer State Park, in ND's neighbor to the South.)  (Click on the blue if you love bison/buffalo pictures as much as we do!)

We learned some history.

This is the cabin where Teddy Roosevelt lived during his time in North Dakota.  The cabin has been moved to the Park's main visitor center from its original location, the Elkhorn Ranch unit of the park, which is less accessible. When he lived at the Elkhorn, Teddy led a simple rancher's life.  He learned about the badlands and nature and let the beauty and quiet of the area heal him from the recent death of his wife and mother at their home in New York.   Roosevelt came to North Dakota to recover.  He said later that he would never have been President if not for the time he had spent in North Dakota.  As President, TR was instrumental in establishing National Park legislation.  He wanted all Americans to experience some of what he felt about these beautiful spaces.

 

We are always happy when we can see another one of our National Parks and we'd like to explore this one again sometime.

 

ENCHANTED HIGHWAY

The Enchanted Highway is a 32-mile scenic drive a few miles south of Dickenson, North Dakota. 

The seven folk-art metal sculptures at stops along the Highway were designed by Regent native Gary Greff, and built with the help of area farmers.  They celebrate and honor North Dakota nature and history. 

Greff hoped his creations would draw tourists and help to revive Regent, which (like many other midwest farming towns) has definitely seen better days. 

Greff has no formal art training.  All of the sculptures are built from scrap metal and old farm equipment.   The first sculpture (the Tin Family) was erected in 1991 and the seventh and last (to date) in 2001.  That one is Geese in Flight, which can be spotted from the Highway.  It is made out of used oil well pipe and oil tanks, and weighs 75 tons.  The largest goose is 19 feet long.  There are about fifty individual geese perched on each post leading up the side road to the pull-off. 

Our favorite stop was Fisherman's Dream.  (That's me standing beneath it, feeling small.)  This one is three dimensional and shows seven North Dakota fish.    The rainbow trout is 70 feet long. 

We took the highway on in to Regent.  It doesn't really look as if it is thriving, so I'm not sure if the hope of reviving the town has been realized.  But we were there on a Sunday afternoon and it was very quiet -- maybe on a Saturday in the middle of the summer it looks more lively.  Maybe.  But in any case, if you're in the area to see the National Park or for any other reason, the sculptures are definitely worth the drive.  They do get visitors from all over the world. 

We looked in the Enchanted Highway gift shop and saw drawings of future plans for the highway and the town.  We wish them luck.   We didn't take pictures at all the stops, but you can see all of the sculptures here:  http://www.enchantedhighway.net