Our Summer Vacation

A few months ago Jason and I decided we weren’t going to take any spectacular vacations this summer due to the price of gas and the months it took to pay off last year’s Vegas outing. However, after visiting my old stomping grounds over Memorial Day, we decided perhaps we should explore North Dakota. We’ve already undertaken much of the western part of the state during our honeymoon and 1st wedding anniversary, so we choose to trek through the southeastern part over the long holiday weekend. To help make it budget friendly, Jason and I choose to camp for our excursion. We love to camp, but we just don’t ever plan it into our trips.

So Thursday we packed up the Jeep and headed out for the weekend. Our first stop was the Maple River Winery in Casselton. We’re lifetime “members” of the winery and decided this would be a good place to stock up for a few beverages. We tasted about five wines, bought a few bottles and headed south to the Sheyenne River Valley national scenic byway that starts in Lisbon, ND. Of course we made the mistake in both assuming that a byway would be paved. Well folks, only in North Dakota would it be solid gravel… though this was much to the liking of our Jeep. It really hasn’t been “off-roading” and got broken in over this trip. After several photo op stops, Jason and I arrived in Fort Ransom and checked in to our campsite at Fort Ransom State Park. We set up camp and went into Fort Ransom to check out some of the attractions, all of which took about a half hour of our time. We then dined at a local color restaurant that due to the holiday weekend, had a menu of five items. Little did we know it would be one of our better meals of the trip. Really though, the food was good and the atmosphere certainly pleasing. We finished the day by hiking a bit on a trail in the park and then roasting marshmallows over a campfire… that had taken us nearly an hour to get lit. Note to self, lighter fluid is a must pack for camping trips.

That first night on our air mattress was like being on the Titanic went it sunk, but we survived and arose the next morning to continue on our journey. The Jeep got to do some serious off roading to see the Standing Rock State Historic Site, basically a site marker in the middle of nowhere, and after many more miles of gravel, we arrived in Valley City. After driving around for hours looking for a campsite (who would have thought in North Dakota that the sites would be booked solid), we finally set up camp outside of Valley City. Lunchtime had arrived, and I was in serious need of coffee. We easily found The Broken Spoke, a cozy little diner in downtown and enjoyed a pleasant meal. The company wasn’t as pleasant as two little old ladies next to us complained about the price of their meals and how much food one got while the other didn’t. We were somewhat glad to leave. After hunting down some lighter fluid, Jason and I started in on the sites of Valley City. While we thought a busy day was ahead of us, we completed the tour of VC attractions in just several hours, including a 6.5 mile bridge tour on foot (really, it wasn’t 6.5 miles as the brochure touted). Still, we had worked up an appetite and since the campsite we ended up with didn’t have any place for a campfire, we figured we better grab a bite. Luckily along the way we had come across a brochure, Eats and Sleeps in Valley City. After driving around town to the seven different restaurants listed, we arrived back at The Broken Spoke. While the company had improved this visit, the food certainly had not. Well, mine was decent but Jason opted to try the sirloin steak. He could have dined on an old piece of shoe leather and not have noticed much difference. The day’s events ended with a drive out to Baldhill Dam and Dairy Queen, a much needed stop for Jason’s stomach. After several stops around town for ice, including a liquor store, it was determined this city has a shortage of ice on the 4th of July. All in all, the city came up short in many areas.

A good night’s rest changed our outlook though, and we were off to Jamestown. This town had ice, a huge improvement already. Our first stop was the National Buffalo Museum. We were lucky enough to see both White Cloud and her little one Dakota Miracle. A little ways up the path is the Frontier Village and many gift shops. Lunchtime had arrived so we were off to Grizzlies. While the restaurant didn’t appear busy at all, there was a 15 minute wait upon our arrival. We were seated right away and decided to wait using the time to cool down and relax a bit. Over an hour later, it was myself who ended up with the bad lunch and left a bit on the hungry side. We continued on to Wal-Mart as we have been in search for a Wii Fit since it came out last month. They didn’t have one, so our next stop was K-Mart. You just never know where one might be. We didn’t end up with a Wii Fit, but we found a clearance bin in which a few Wii games were $10 each (marked as $20, but only $10 when we checked out!). From here, we decided to head out to the Jamestown Reservoir and set up camp. Jamestown was celebrating their 125th year and we figured the rest of the day would be filled with events. How disappointed we were. Our first stop was the Ft. Seward Interpretive Center. Jason is convinced though that we missed something here as this stop was again pretty non-existent. But, we didn’t want to miss out on the events downtown and choose to go there instead of trying to find exactly where this interpretive center was. So, it was off to the Street Fair. We arrived around three to one block that they considered a street fair. Some of the vendors had even left already or started to tear down their spots! The fair was to last until 7, but it didn’t appear as if it was even going to make it until 5. To not waste the trip completely, I had to make a coffee stop at Babb’s Coffee Shop.

Luckily, our campsite for the night had much to occupy us. We changed into our swimming gear, but then found out we’re both a little wimpy as the water wasn’t exactly warm. Or clear for that matter. They had paddle boats for rent, so we hooked ourselves up with one for an hour. While we ended up bailing out water thanks to an overzealous boater, the outing was a lot of fun. We headed back to camp to start a fire and have supper, this time the fire only taking about 15 minutes to light, not with any help from the lighter fluid either. We dined over hot dogs, one of the finer meals of the trip, enjoyed our fire and then another night on the Titanic.

Sunday morning brought us more excitement in the world of dining as we stopped at Perkin’s to enjoy breakfast before our drive around the countryside that day. The table across from us was quite entertaining as the gentleman was convinced his water had salt in it and a lady at the table was complaining about the size of the plate her breakfast was served upon. Needless to say, they weren’t pleased by the price of a cup of coffee either. It certainly was good humor for our day.

We continued on to another byway of North Dakota, this one appropriately named a backway as once again, we drove on gravel much of the way. We drove through the ghost town of Merricoat, which made for a lot of great photos as well as our own personal tour guide, the one resident of the town that stopped and gave us a tour. We were then to Whitestone Hill Battlefield. During our route home, we planned a stop at Rutland, home of the World’s Largest Hamburger. Much to Jason’s dismay, the hamburger is no longer there. All that remains is the framework of what used to hold the sign announcing this achievement of the town. I had to hear about it the rest of the way home… well, only until about Hankinson. It was then I dozed off after a 556 mile jaunt around the south central part of the great state of North Dakota.