We had no idea what North Dakota would bring us but we were excited to see a state that neither one of us had seen or even knew that much about. We found a Harvest Host at a farm outside of Grand Forks in Northwood, ND. The drive was easy and more highway then we had seen in several days. We prefer the smaller roads but sometimes just getting in the travel time is worth it. Eastern ND is a bit of a snooze fest. Farms of corn, soybeans, hay and sunflowers as far as the eye can see and incredibly flat.
We learned later on that many of the farms have been laser leveled in order to grow more crops but that it has led to a lot more flooding. You have to wonder at what point it makes sense to screw with mother nature. While not visually interesting, I give Eastern North Dakota all the kudos for giving us the food we eat. The farm was a family run enterprise and our host was very nice and super accommodating. He even let us plug our camper in.
The Mud Incident
The only issue was the MUD (read back to the laser leveling). The mud was so bad that we decided to leave the camper hooked up. Jonathan bravely waded out to cook us dinner. We tried to take a walk to look at the farm but the mud was too much for us. So we spent the evening in our camper enjoying the quiet of the remoteness, reading and talking. It was actually kind of nice.
Further Travel
We pulled out early the next morning and headed to West Central North Dakota to another Harvest Host location at an equestrian farm called Lightening Arrow Ranch. It had gotten great reviews and the pictures looked beautiful. It was 2.5 hours outside of the national park we were headed to so it seemed ideal. It did not disappoint.
The Scenic Drive
In short the divide breaks up the water flow to the Pacific and Atlantic but it is more complicated than that and, apparently, contentious. We are learning something new every day.
When we arrived, one of our hosts, Janette, was there to greet us. The ranch came out of central casting with a red barn almost bigger than the house and horse corrals in the expansive yard. Janette had the option for some electrical hookups but since they had water we could fill our tank with we opted for the more secluded and idyllic location out by the back fields. The ranch was everything you wanted it to be.
The Friendly Hosts
Our hosts, Janette and Mike, were incredibly nice, super welcoming and very interesting to talk to. They had entrepreneurial spirits with Janette making her own jewelry out of mammoth bones (her company is called Paleo Art-Iculations). They are also getting into agro-tourism by rehabbing a small house on their property to become an Airbnb in the near future as well as getting a covered wagon which they are going to transform into a camping wagon. Far from just being a transient harvest host spot this farm will definitely become a destination location.
The Insect Battle
I do have to tell you – while all this rural living is great we have been fighting a battle with the ants and the flies. Raid and a fly swatter, which we purchased along the way, have been our sword and shield. We have learned that when we set up we need to spray Raid along the outside and wheel wells or we will be overrun with ants and the fly death toll is reaching epic levels. My little table top mosquito lights have also been employed in a effort to keep the bug count to acceptable levels. There is a hope that as we travel north the bugs will become less.
After coffee in the fields we headed out once again looking forward to seeing the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and more of the badlands we had gotten just a taste of. The drive took us through more farms but the drier the landscape became the more livestock and oil pumps we saw along the way.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park is a hidden gem in West North Dakota. We stayed in the North Unit (there is also a South Unit) and we are very glad we did. The rugged landscape was breath taking and our first come, first served campground had great wooded spot (and bonus! They had potable water for our reservoir).
Psychology Shift
On a different note – there has been a definite shift psychologically at this point. We are moving from “being on vacation” mode to this is a life change mode. It has not always been a smooth transition with some disagreements, being cranky and some small slides into homesickness but we are starting to get on the other side of it I think. The move from the fast paced work pace to a new existence of slower pace and having it be more about us is good but is definitely a transition.
We are now back on the road and headed, finally, into Canada and hopefully cooler climes! Let the adventure continue!
Heading into ND and Lightning Arrow Ranch
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
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Episode 7: O Canada! →
