TOPS IN BLUE

 Minot has an air force base, so on Friday evening the area was treated to the Top in Blue 60th anniversary show. They are on a 7 month tour that encompasses more than 86 shows in 75 locations around the world. The performance was free and open to the public, so Linda,Deane, Larry and I went.

 Very talented musicians, singers and dancers.

 All types of music.

 Of course I loved the country songs.

 Songs and characters the children knew and loved.

 YMCA

 girls joined in

 and the military.

It was a great evening of song and dance. We were very fortunate to see Tops in Blue performance.

EXPLORATION

 On Saturday we headed south on  Hwy 83 toward Bismark. We were surprised to see a wind farm for about 15  miles.The turbines were much farther apart and over many more acres then we had seen in California. It is windy here so it makes sense that there would be wind farms. We found out that North Dakota ranks 6th in the country for percentage of electricity provided by wind power.

 We drove about 75 miles to Washburn, ND to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.

 It had very informative displays.

 I am dressed and ready to go on this expedition!

 Larry wore a buffalo robe. It was almost too heavy for me to pick up.

 Besides the Lewis and Clark exhibit there were exhibits on homesteading and life on the rivers. We heard a presentation on agricultural in North Dakota. They credit the Native Americans for starting farming and  many of the seeds come from them.  There are many century farms, thus they have been in a family for over 100 years.

 The Missouri river behind the center.

 Fort Mandan was the name of the encampment which Lewis and Clark built for wintering over in 1804-1805.

 The camp was believed to be located about  12 miles from this site but now to be under the water of the river. This is the replica and from the detailed journals that were kept of the expedition it is believed to be pretty accurate.

 There was a very informed guide who explained each of the rooms.This encampment housed about 51 men and all the supplies they carried with them.

MIDSUMMER NIGHT FESTIVAL

 There is a lot of Scandinavian Heritage here in North Dakota. This park is in Minot. We stopped by the visitor center on Friday and found out about this festival.

 We had a nice picnic meal. It was well attended with lots of tables and benches to sit and enjoy the events.

 There was a flag raising ceremony for each of the Nordic countries - Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. the countries National anthem was played by the Minot Community Band.

This Stave Church is a full size replica of the original Gol Stavekirke in Gol, Norway. A Stave Church was the earliest of the Christian Churches that were built in Norway, about 1200 AD. There are only about 25 left as they looked originally.

 There are 12 support pillars that represent the twelve Apostles. The church is put together without any nails.

 During the festival you could sit in the hot sauna. I sat in it before they lit the stove.

 The Dala Horse is the national symbol of Sweden. It is 27 feet tall and 24 feet long.

 The log house from Vatnas in the Sigdal area of Norway was built about 1771 and lived in until the late 1930's.  It was near a farm where Eric Ramstad was raised. He is considered the father of Minot.  It was taken apart and shipped to Boston and then trucked to Minot in 1991. Three Norwegian carpenters came to Minot and reconstructed the house. It was open for us to go into during the festival.

 The Stabbur or storage house, was built in Telemark, Norway disassembled and rebuilt in Minot in 1990.

 This lady is making Swedish krumkaga, sort of like an Italian pizzelle wrapped around a cone.

 A sweet waffle served with fruit. We enjoyed them both.
 It was fun learning about the Scandinavian culture and seeing how they are trying to keep their heritage alive.

MANY GLACIER

 Many glacier entrance was only 8 miles from the campground and then 12 miles of rough roads.

  Sherburne Lake was so still there was a great reflection of the mountains  in it. It was a beautiful clear morning.

 Always beautiful views, the pictures don't do them justice.

 We took a 2 mile uphill hike to Redrock Falls. The 2 miles back went much faster.

 A strange looking tree.

Looking at the falls from Redrock Lake.

 We ate our lunch by the falls.

 We were told to go to Many Glacier to see big horn sheep, grizzly bear with cubs, and moose. We drove the 12 mile road back and forth five times, at all time of the day and night. The first evening we saw this moose and after that we never saw another animal. Although I did see a moose and her baby running near our campground one evening on the way home.

This picture was taken with the moon in it as we were leaving the park one evening. It stayed light until after 10 each night.

TWO MEDICINE

 On Sunday afternoon we took a twisty, scenic drive down 89 to 49. We thought 89 was curvy until we drove on 49. In the middle of the picture is the road we just came around.

 A motorcyclist didn't make this curve. We waited for about 15 minutes while they put him in the ambulance. The policeman said he was doing OK. But I wouldn't have wanted to ride a motorcycle on this road.

 After many miles of turns we arrived at Two Medicine entrance to Glacier NP.

 We took a mile hike to Running Eagle Falls.

 The road ended at Two Medicine Lake. We could have gone boating but decided against it and headed home.

 The only animals we saw were these horses on the side of the road on the way home.

That little one sure looked like her mother.