Rhubarb Fest

I apologize that it’s been so long since we posted. We have been working on the us issues as we put on the miles

Road closed, bridge out, how do we get to the other side, all contributed to a very frustrating start of the day.

I wish I had photos of the samples from the rhubarb festival, but the tender, baked tartness of their delectable offerings beckoned, so I ate them before I thought to get a photo. Anticipation of the taste got the better of me.

I caved to the tasty anticipation of the delectable offerings, so I ate them.

Their tart sweetness hit the spot, and while I have no photographs, I can say I have no guilt either. I have enjoyed everything rhubarb that I have tried, but maybe I should have sampled the rhubarb ketchup, but I already exhausted my 5 choices.

With perseverance and what seemed like 50 miles of dusty, gravel roads, we succeeded in finding two old, abandoned churches, and to our surprise, we found that the first one was being deservedly restored.

While that does not usually make it the most photogenic, I find it triumphant that the Antiochia Church in Benson County, ND will survive many more years with this support.

The same can not be said for the Big Coulee Church five miles away. While still very appealing, the foundation appears to be failing. Unfortunatey we do not know what it’s future holds. With hope, it will one day get the same care as the other or moved to our next feature, the Prairie Village Museum in Rugby, ND.

Today was a unplanned adventure, but the day before we realized Rhubarb Fest was occuring, Sunday, June 18 and we felt the opportunity was too good to pass up. The buildings here have been relocated ensuring their survival. Blacksmiths and live music entertained, classic cars arriving for display and judgment as we admired the architecture and period furnishings. The former Silva School building dating from 1916 -1970 reminded me of 5th grade. Imagine the 18 mile journey to get it to this haven. In addition to the structures they have preserved many pieces of farm equiment, such as this railway express truck and McCormick-Deering thresher. With this candy finish, this ‘cuda we spotted in the parking was absent from the show.

In route to this bell tower....

...we inadvertantly found the post office, since it is right next door to this vivid pink house that you can’t help but notice.

We took the time to visit the monument to the Geographic Center of North America, whether it is or not has been up for debate. We also saw the Northern Lights Tower, which is dedicated to one of the most stunning natural phenomena of the Northern Plains.

On the return voyage, we ventured down side roads looking for the ghost town of Josephine. We first came across another country church, Immanuel Lutheran, Maddock, ND. It is no longer in use and being ravaged by time. Several miles of gravel roads later we find Josephine, two grain elevator structures are all that remain, standing as sentinels along the side the railroad tracks. On the way back to the truck, a curious wood tick hitch hiked on my leg, but once discovered, and unfortunate for him, he was no longer along for the ride.

Driving through Fort Totten we notice much disrepair. The unkempt surroundings make it seem as if the residents didn't care. It made it less desirable to stop, so we just continued through.

The final stop was Whitehorse Wildlife Preserve. We didn’t see any elk, but did manage to see a small herd of bison. A heart pounding climb of 193 stairs lead to an obervation platform, but the growth of the trees left little to see but tree tops. We both agreed the best part of the day was the jovial nature of the inhabitants of the prairie dog town. Those cute little buggers chirped and posed for every picture we took.

The winds are howling here in Michigan City. While normally we get by fine on batteries, inverters, and solar, we now chose to connect to the 30 amp electric service at their free campground. We turned on the air conditioning. 94° began to feel like a convection oven and we are grateful the relief.

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