To Valley City, ND

When I reached Grand Forks, North Dakota the previous day I was impressed with the number of creative, old signs they had about. I was also impressed with the price of gas. It was a new low for my trip, $2.18 per gallon. I determined I would fill up my tank while I was in town, but I was distracted the previous night by a stock car race. I was sitting in Grandma Butterwicks restaurant contemplating my pancakes when an old boy's cell phone rang. I think he was hard of hearing because he talked really loud... Then again, that's what you are supposed to wo when using a cell phone in public, eh? A leaning barn in North Dakota

"Oh hi, Joe.
Yah. Yah.
Oh I'm sittin' having my coffee at the restaurant here.
Oh yah, I'm done with my eggs, yah.
Scrambled.
Fillin' your tank are ya now? What're you payin there?
Oh, is that so?
Yah, well it's two-twelve here.
Oh yah, well it went down over night, you know. I'm lookin' right at the station across the street.
Yah, yesterday it was two-eighteen.
Oh yah? You're goin' to the lake now? Fishing, huh?
Oh yah, well, no not today. I have other things I have to do.
Yah, yah, well you go then. Hope you catch your limit.
All right then, bye now." A weathered church in Emerado North Dakota

I looked out of the window and saw that my diner neighbor was correct, the price of gas had gone down 6 cents over night. I guess the distraction of the race was a blessing, I saved a whole ninety cents on the 15 gallons I put into my tank... that's like getting a free pancake on your stack! The day was starting out well but the day was starting out busy. Email and some business matters kept me in Grand Forks until almost 1:00.

There are Sunflower fields in North Dakota. I have seen sunflowers growing wild along the road sides in Kansas, it was earlier in the season and they were a smaller variety. I have grown a few of them when I was in Missouri, the birds loved them. I have a friend in New Orleans who grew some in his yard in the Marigny Triangle, "They grow rats!" was his assessment. "I noticed something was eating them. One morning I came out and there was this giant rat eating my sunflowers. I'll never plant them again, they grow rats!"

Sunflower fields, at the late stage I was driving by, change color as you pass. If you are approaching with their faces toward you the field is dark colored. As you pass the field, your perspective changes from the dark face to the yellow-green back of the flowers. It sounds static in print, but when you are passing it is a fascinating experience. Late in the season the flower heads are heavy with seed and are bowed down with their bounty. When you look at a field of sunflowers from the back at this stage there is a resemblance to a crowd of repentant schoolchildren, heads hung down in guilt. corrigated tin grain elevators of emeraldo north dakota

North Dakota is an interesting place. It is the place ot the worlds tallest man-made structure. Yes indeed, way out there on the plains in the middle of nowhere is the KVLY-TV tower. It towers over the Eiffel Tower, It surpasses the Sear's building. It's a whopping 2,063 feet tall bean-pole who's purpose it to bring a little bit of joy into the staid lives of Midwesterners by broadcasting network television signals into their living rooms. Nowadays, with Ca ble and Satellite TV it is a bit of an anachronism. Perhaps they can convert it into a launch platform for bungie jumpers. Now wouldn't that be something, a 2,000-foot bungie jump. Who wants to go first? this was the tallest man-made structure in the world

I figured this was a pretty bona-fide "World's Greatest" object. I have driven by numerous places that purported to make the "World's Greatest" hamburger, shake, pies, ad nauseum... so many, in fact, that if I chose to eat only the "World's Greatest" food on my travels I would be 75 pounds over weight and still would not have eaten a good meal. But a TV tower that is 2,063 feet tall is a different matter. It hints of geek, and even though I am not a radiohead, I could not pass it up. Heck, the way I drive, it doesn't have to be "out of the way" just a different route to take.

There were two towers off to the south of me. Geepers, they stood out in the distance. One of them was the tallest man-made structure. I drove. It was fascinating to drive and drive and see the tower off in the distance not seeming to get any closer. Finally it began to grow. I had to zig and zag a bit to get to it, but finally I was by the base. It was in the middle of a corn field, sections of red and white stacking up into the sky. I found a position by some cable anchors and then waited for the clouds to open up and shed some light on the tower. I seem to spend a lot of time waiting for light to be in the right spot. There was a weather front moving in with a solid cloud cover. But the leading edge was broken so in a matter of time an opening moved over the tower and I was able to shoot it in full light. It was pretty neat.

After the shoot I continued on my way. The sky darkened, rain was certain in a little while. As I drove, I looked out to the West. There was the other tower. I might as well look at it, just for the heck of it. This tower became enormous in a way the previous tower hadn't . This was the tallest structure. The base was two or three times the size of the first tower. There was a stair way twisting up around the base. This was the tallest object. The scale was huge. It was dark grey against a slate sky I took a picture anyhow. This last tower wasn't just any big tower! It's the biggest.

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      A Drive About (series)
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      West Highway 162
      A Jaunt to Nevada
      Coffee and Pie (series)
          Branson to Fayetteville
          Fayetteville to Lake Ouachita
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          Ouachita to Stuttgart
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          Fooling About in Arkansas
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          To Sikeston, MO
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          To Kirksville, MO
          To Iowa City
          To Rock Falls, Illinois
          To Niles, MI
          To Newaygo, MI
          To Standish, MI
          to Onaway, MI
          To Wawa, Ontario
          In Wawa, ON
          To Schreiber ON
          To Ignace, ON
          At the Lone Pine Motel
          North!
          Sioux Lookout, Dryden
          To Kenora, ON
          Border Crossing
          To Grand Forks, ND
          To Valley City, ND
          To Aberdeen, SD
          To Pierre, SD
          South Dakota Badlands
          To Wall, SD
          To Rapid City, South Dakota
          Mt Rushmore to Bell Fourche, SD
          Belle Forche, SD to Devil's Towe
          Broadus, MT to Cohagen, MT
          Hell Creek, MT
          Glasgow, Montana
Misc

Coffee and Pie
Border Crossing
Sep 15, 2006
Kenora, Ontario is situated against Lake Of The Woods and the drive out along the lake is a nice morning drive.
To Grand Forks, ND
Sep 16, 2006
Grand Forks, North Dakota is an interesting town. It has some nice, old signage.  I am discovering many Midwestern towns have nice signage
  To Valley City, ND
To Aberdeen, SD
Sep 18, 2006
Right by the Tallest Tower in the World, a farmer installed a row of old pickup trucks by the side of the road.
To Pierre, SD
Sep 20, 2006
My intention was to spend a second night in Aberdeen. But I didn't reserve my room or inform the proprietor I wanted two nights.
To Wall, SD
Sep 22, 2006
How much fun you can have on the drive from Pierre to Wall!
South Dakota Badlands
Sep 22, 2006
If you have just spent the night in Wall, SD you are probably headed into Badlands National Park the next day.
To Rapid City, South Dakota
Sep 23, 2006
Rapid City, South Dakota is an interesting town. While they advertise themselves as the Gateway to the Black hills and Mount Rushmore, they strive to have enough attiactions in the town itself to keep you lingering there for a few days.
Mt Rushmore to Bell Fourche, SD
Sep 24, 2006
You know this picture. It has been taken millions of times through millions of cameras.
Belle Forche, SD to Devil's Tower, MT to Broadus, MT
Sep 25, 2006
If you spend the night in Belle Fourche South Dakota and you are headed West, it's a pretty good bet that you are on your way to the Devil's Tower National Monument If you're not, you should be.
Broadus, MT to Cohagen, MT
Sep 26, 2006
When you wake up early and get moving, you get to see some ineresting mornings. This day was no exception.
Hell Creek, MT
Sep 27, 2006
Nice little town, Cohagen. I took the day to go out into the Hell Creek area to get caught up on some writing.
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Keywords in This Article

North Dakota
Valley City
Gas Prices
Tallest Tower

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