Happy Monday to you all! As I write this, it's in the mid
30s outside, and the sun will soon make its showing, turning my
across-the-street neighbor's house into a warm pink. Our high today in the Washington
desert will be 68 or so. (I so love the desert, I'm often tempted to put two
'ss' in it, and call it dessert;-)
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| Flat Grandkids |
I thought I'd take you on a virtual road trip with my friend
Judith, and me. I drove and she navigated and pointed out sights. And we each
took our favorite Flat People. Remember Flat Stanley? Judith took her Flat
Grandkids, and I took Flat Kay (my usual travel companion) so you'll see the
Flat Folk every so often ;-)
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| Flat Kay |
The object of the trip was to drive as much as possible, or
at least as close as possible, the trail that Marie and Co. walked, so we
hustled back to Bismarck ND for our 2d night on the road. Almost didn't get a
hotel room, as there was a humongous Indian Pow Wow in town, but we found a
room, and gratefully collapsed. The next morning, we crossed the Missouri
again, to Mandan, and made our way down the Missouri as close as the road would
let us, to the bridge from Mobridge and highway 12. (Mobridge, SD is where they
built the bridge across the Missouri, hence the name MObridge).
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| Fort Rice |
Along the way, we stopped at Fort Rice. Fort Rice was not
there when Marie made her trek, and they didn't get quite that far north, but
it was still an interesting stop. The buildings are gone, unless you count the
Prairie Dog apartments buildings, but the corners of the buildings are marked,
and there is a good map showing where everything was. It was quite impressive. It
was also very cloudy and gray. But at least it had stopped raining.
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| Prairie Dog Apartment (hundreds of these ankle busters) |
The Missouri, like most of our great rivers, is dammed
(damned?), and Fort Rice now sits on the edge of a lake, really. What did the
Muddy look like 200 years ago? Beats me!
Just above Mobridge is where the Grand River joints the
Muddy, as the Missouri was often called. There were three Arikara villages on
the north shore of the Grand, and it was here that Wilson Price Hunt decided to
lead his Astorians overland instead of following the route of Lewis and Clark.
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| The Mighty Missouri from Fort Rice |
My neighbor's house now has a nice golden pink glow about
it. The sun is up. This is not my neighbor's house, but a marker at Fort Rice.
Next week we'll head across country, into then uncharted and unknown country, and start by following the Grand River. Well, as closely as possible.
Pleasant Journeys,
Lenora
Pleasant Journeys,
Lenora
