‘Legendary’ North Dakota road trip, Part 2

The opportunity to visit the International Peace Garden has long been on my bucket list. Our recent trip to North Dakota allowed us that opportunity. Lisa and I departed our overnight stay in Minot and headed to the US-Canada border, home to the International Peace Garden.

Before we arrived at our destination, we diverted to Lake Metigoshe State Park. First, we checked out the 11-year-old Mystical Horizon. It’s supposed to represent a modern Stonehenge. Six granite walls of varying size act as a solar calendar. It was an interesting road trip attraction to us.

The state park, which hugs the Canadian border was a beautiful drive. With trees displaying fall color, the drive was breath taking. We stopped and checked out the lake a few times. At one point, some gray clouds seem to part and let sunlight through, sort of like a higher power wanted to take a closer look.

All the driving and sightseeing had made us hungry, so we thought “What’s better at 10 a.m. than a banana split?” Nothing. So, we drove off to Bottineau and Pride Dairy, home of North Dakota’s best ice cream. We tried the Pig, a banana split featuring your choice of toppings. Marshmallow, strawberry-rhubarb, hot chocolate and chokecherry.

Pride Dairy started in 1930 as a place where farmers could bring excess cream. Since cream was difficult to ship by itself, Pride Dairy turned it into butter. Eventually, the owners expanded its use. Ice cream joined the menu in 1940. The ice cream has become popular over the years. Pride Dairy is the lone remaining small town creamery in the state.

Bottineau is also home to the world’s largest turtle riding a snowmobile. Tommy the Turtle proudly rides his snowmobile in a city park just off the main highway.

We finally made our way to the border and the home of the International Peace Garden. The place is beautiful. Perennials were the flowers we saw during our visit. The Peace Garden is split between the United States and Canada. Visitors can freely roam on the Manitoba side without a passport (at least for Americans). When we left to head down to Grand Forks, the US border patrol agent checked our drivers’ licenses. However, passports are the preferred method for identification.

The park itself offers a lot to do. We recommend parking your car and walking from the entrance down to the peace towers. Along the way. You’ll take in some great floral and plant arrangements.

A water fountain flows during the spring and summer months. They were winterizing it during our visit (late September/early October at the 49th Parallel is a bit chilly). Despite a chill in the air and gray skies above us, we weren’t alone during our visit. Several people were visiting the International Peace Garden.

After spending about three hours at the garden (you could easily spend an entire day), we were allowed back into the United States and headed on to our eventual destination of Grand Forks. But, we had a couple of stops along the way to make.

We did stop in Dunseth, which is a small town about 14 miles south of the Peace Garden. We enjoyed lunch at a small diner.

We scored when we checked out another giant turtle. We’el Turtle is the world’s largest turtle made from tire rims. Amazing! It’s good I get a kick out of these things, because when I tell friends and coworkers about them, I tend to get a blank stare back at me.

Once back on the road, we headed down Highway 5 toward Langdon. When I was in the Air Force, I worked the missile security facility near Langdon. I wondered if the old place would be there since the missile field was closed years ago as part of a weapons treaty with Russia.

Well, to my surprise (and sadness), Bravo Zero (Bravo-0) was there. It was abandoned and run down. A relic of the old Cold War. I did walk on the property a little. I was tempted to check out the inside of the building. But, we were running up against the clock to make another stop, so we headed back on the road. Cooperstown keeps the history alive with a former launch control facility serving as a museum.

We were recommended to check out the Pembina Gorge, northwest of Grand Forks, near the Canadian border. Once we arrived at the state park, we knew why it was recommended. It was an impressive area, with colorful trees reaching deep across the hills. We followed a path for a short time and found the perfect spot to take in the scenery.

We eventually made it to Grand Forks, in time for a later dinner. Off we went to Rhombus Guys pizza in downtown Forks. The place came highly recommended to us by a couple of trustworthy souls. They were spot on. The pizza was good. The appetizer of garlic bread was yummy. The downside of dinner was that we were full too quickly and couldn’t finish the pizza.

We met our third Nebraska connection at Rhombus Guys. An academic advisor for Cal Poly was enjoying dinner when he saw my Husker jacket. He worked at Nebraska in the same capacity during the Bill Callahan coaching days, 2004-07. Our other Nebraska connections included a docent at the Minot air museum and a visitor at the Scandinavian fest.

Our tummies full, we headed off to the Staybridge Inn, our host hotel for the night. Our room was nice. I liked the room’s layout. Since I had some work to finish for our trip, I used the workstation, which had a shelf above the desk. That created more space for me and my laptop, and my camera, and my phone, etc.

The next morning, we hit the ground running. We enjoyed another nice hotel breakfast, featuring eggs, sausage and oatmeal.

Grand Forks’ Sertoma Park is home to a Japanese garden. Stone lanterns are featured around the pond, which was dedicated to the city from its sister city, Awano, Japan. The park was a gorgeous walk.

Our visit to Grand Forks included a self-guided walking tour of the University of North Dakota campus. It combines the beauty and elegance of older buildings with contemporary ones. The campus has grown a lot since I last lived there (a long, long time ago). It’s even grown since my last visit two years ago.

We concluded our trip to the Forks with a walking tour of downtown. We visited a couple of unique stores – Widman’s Candy (they produce chocolate-covered potato chips among other treats) and Badman Design, who creates beautiful metalsmith works.

We walked along the Red River, which flows north into Lake Winnipeg in Canada. The river has been known for its flooding during spring. A marker notes the five major floods of the river, with three of them occurring since 1981. The last two occurred in 1996 and 1997.

One block downtown offers visitors the chance to see images and read about the last flood and the damage it did. The building behind the displays replaced the destruction of the last flood.

Our visit to grand Forks now complete, we headed south on Interstate 29. Our destination being home. As things would have it, Wahpeton, in southeast North Dakota, is home to the world’s largest catfish statue – The Wahpper. Mission accomplished.

We enjoyed another grand visit to the “Peace Garden State.” We are already excited to return and check out more attractions and food.

We highly encourage you to visit North Dakota. It has so much to offer visitors. For more information, please visit www.ndtourism.com or www.visitgrandforks.com.

Disclaimer: Thank you to North Dakota Tourism for arranging the complimentary hotel stay in Grand Forks. However, all opinions and views are ours.