Yes! This is REALLY A SONG (by someone named Brennen Leigh). There are a few North Dakota songs, and frankly most of them stink. But, this one is catchy. And … most likely TRUE, ya? Have many of my readers been to North Dakota?? Anyone? Bueller??
We must begin this post with my exceedingly contrite confession, and apology. Planning these trips has been fun, and GOING ON THEM even more fun, but I completely dropped the ball this time. I could have used this book:
Or, more succinctly: Time ZONES for Dummies.
You see, my friends, for the BIG BASEBALL FAN in our group (Hint: Not Lulu, nor I) I planned Thursday as “Baseball Day” in our last stop for the day, which was Fargo, ND. We had tickets to a minor league baseball game, the Fargo-Moorehead Red Hawks vs. the Gary (IN) Railcats (FYI, part of the American Assn. of Professional Baseball League), followed by a visit to the Roger Maris Museum. The plan worked out ::SORT OF:: OK … but here’s where I was the complete dummy: The game began at 12:30 PM in the afternoon. The travel time from Miles City, MT to Fargo, ND is 6.5 hours. We _did_ get an early start …. but I neglected to realize that we were driving from Mountain Time to Central TIme, thus traveling from an earlier time zone to a later time zone. For those who need the Dummies book as much as I did, this translated to our arriving an hour LATER than planned.
Oy.
So, we left Miles City at about 6:15 AM, and I figured the BEST we’d do would be to arrive by around 1:30 PM, Fargo (Central) time — _IF_ we didn’t stop for bathroom (but, of course we did) and _IF_ we didn’t stop for gas (but, we almost ran out and HAD TO).
We also — let’s face it — had to stop for the obligatory photo of the “Welcome to North Dakota” state line sign. As we arrived at the sign, two car/van loads of about 15 folks, all clearly related and/or connected, were taking photos. They had been driving since Seattle, WA, as it turns out, and one of them offered to take our photo. Can you say, “I wasn’t ready??” LOL
You’re going to have to trust me that — aside from my slightly exceeding the 80 MPH speed limit, and our bathroom, gas & state line stops — the 465 mile drive across the entire state of North Dakota was more of the same as previous days (farmland, rocks, cattle, etc.), with one notable exception:
As Gerry slept, I saw this very odd thing across the highway (FYI, I-94), facing west. As I approached, I couldn’t begin to imagine what it was, but I was able to glance over, and was stunned and impressed by the sculpture:
Wow!
So, doing my post-trip research, turns out this was pretty darned special: It’s 110 feet tall, and 156 feet wide, and according to the Guinness Book for World Records, it’s the largest scrap metal sculpture … IN THE WORLD (!!!), and is the gateway to North Dakota’s Enchanted Highway. Sorry you missed this, DeMan … it was pretty kewl to see! (and … if my Dad were still with us, he’d want to be assured that I didn’t take this photo while driving. Nope, Dad … Google image wins again! 🙂 )
We finally dragged our sorry behinds on to the campus
… parked the car, and approached the field ….
Slogged our way around the entire exterior, and got to will call for our tickets, just in time for ::drumroll:: the _SEVENTH_ _INNING_. (FYI, baseball games have a total of nine innings, unless a tie-breaker is needed.)
Before you boo-hoo for us (remember what Tom Hanks said, “There’s NO CRYING in BASEBALL!!” lol), although we arrived when the game was 2/3 over, who should be at the entrance gate at the VERY MOMENT we arrived??
The RED HAWK!!! I doubt we’d have had this great photo op, had we arrived at the beginning of the game. 😉
As it turns out, the game went on another 2 hours! lol Unfortunately, our home team lost, with a final score of 6 – 3, but a good time was had by all.
After the game, we were off to the West Acres Mall …
(Wait … what? The MALL??? … Yes, yes … as it was the home of …)
Yes, Fargo, ND is the hometown of Roger Maris, once upon a time a player for the NY Yankees, and broke the home run record of Babe Ruth, by hitting 61 home runs in 1961. (Oh, OK, there’s some controversy, based on number of games played, etc., but he did it. And Gerry’s a big fan!)
The museum itself is exceedingly well done, and although it is mostly a set of display windows along an out-of-the-way hallway in this mall, the whole thing is impressive. It also includes small room where you can sit, and enjoy a movie about Roger’s career, which was in several parts, and was on a continuous loop. (… ummm … are you REALLY asking if we watched the whole thing? Does a bear go in the woods??? Yes, we did. 🙂 )
Once again, I shall let the photos speak for themselves:
All in all, a FINE time! (And, I had the tastiest soup (Wisconsin cheese) in the Food Court at the mall!)
It was time to check into our hotel for the night. My favorite online travel site directed me towards this Fargo gem:
Yes. It was ACTUALLY CALLED the …
Oh … COME ON. Nope! It’s true!! LOL Furthermore … it’s a hotel CHAIN! There are a few other C’Mon Inns in midwest locations. It was big and clean, and just in time for Thursday: VERY “Throw Back.” In fact, when we stepped into the room, I almost jumped back. Gerry took a moment, as he was handling the luggage, but … what the ….??????
A 2-PERSON JACUZZI IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LIVING ROOM!!! Honestly, I was dumb founded! And the answer is, NO, NO, we did NOT use the jacuzzi. I thought about it for a second … but the room temperature was around 60, and I thought I’d surely catch something. But … talk about the elephant in the room!! lol
A sweet place, however, and I would certainly recommend. Here are a few more shots taken in the quite large and “old school” lobby ….
This part of the lobby is larger … probably close to 50 yards long. And here — if you’re feeling exhibitionist — are (count ’em) FOUR hot tub / jacuzzis. Hey, kids, C’MON INN!!
And Thursday … and North Dakota … and our 48th state was IN THE BOOKS!!!
Next up: Omigosh, it’s Omaha! 🙂