Some travel days just work out. Like, everything goes right and it’s full of pleasant surprises and you feel no stress. Today was a perfect travel day.
I was going to do another long haul from Bismark to Minneapolis but after two long hauls in a row, I decided to break it up. There are basically zero RV camp spots available right now in campgrounds because…pandemic summer travel but I have lots of workarounds. My favorite is Harvest Host. Basically, I pay an annual membership and then get to stay for free for a night at vineyards, breweries, farms, and other unique and weird locations. The understanding is that you then support the small business by buying things. I have zero problem buying wine in exchange for a spot to camp! Win/win.
So I left an absolutely delightful RV park in Bismark, ND this morning…
and headed to Fargo which is merely a few hours down 94. I’m really enjoying driving through North Dakota. It’s flat and picturesque. The highway is lined with black eyed susans. There are cows and calves everywhere. It’s hypnotic. There are, however, a lot of insects which means I’m regularly gagging as the big ones splat on my window.
Halfway between Bizmark and Fargo is a tiny town called Jamestown. (Ok as I was typing this a prairie dog just ran by my open RV door and I squealed so loud because all I wanted was to see a prairie dog in North Dakota and OMG you guys I JUST DID and it was like you were here to witness it!!!)
Back to Jamestown. I planned to stop there because I was told there was a herd of bison you could go see. Then I learned that it also home to the WORLD’S largest buffalo statue! Was I in for a surprise because Jamestown had oh so much more. But first, the bison and the statue…
herd of bison and many calves (eeeeeeeeeeee!)
“Dakota Thunder” …you catch that? LOL
Turns out, all of this is built around two things: The National Buffalo Museum and Frontier Village.
I was sort of giddy from seeing bison and this massive buffalo so I thought…let me go into the museum and see what’s what. At first I was like…oh man I just spent $8 to look at some stuffed bison carcasses and lots lots of words on walls
BUT THEN I turned the corner and came upon an amazing FIBER ART exhibit featuring the work of artist Patty Swygert. Sometimes fate really puts me in the right places. Her work was really engaging with hints of whimsey and lots of powerful messages embedded into it.
Worth every penny to get to explore her art.
Then it was time to explore the frontier town! Thing is…I was the ONLY ONE there (it was early). Thereby making it a ghost town. #LifeGoals
Naturally, I started in the church
and since you can go in, and no one was there…I gave a big gay sermon from the pulpit!
Next, I visited the print shop lured in by the smell of letterpress
then, the dentist!
da fuck is going on here? I quickly moved on to the schoolhouse…
What fun!!! And probably only because I had the town to myself.
I brought Maggie out to meet the bison since she loves meeting new types of animals. I told her to pose for the picture. She looked at me, looked at the bison and then marked her territory just as I snapped. You’re welcome…
We got back in the rig and headed to our winery which is FABULOUS. I’ll tell you all about that tomorrow.
I fucking love a perfect travel day.
Shannon