North Dakota, Here We Are

First stop this morning was to see a house in Minnesota that was built by Diane's grandmother's half brother. It's now on the National Register of Historic Places!

Believe it or not, I think we made more stops than we did yesterday, although many of them were short.

Minnesota is in love with large animal statues. Along the NCT you can find the world's largest loon, prairie chicken, and turkey. I have pictures of those. Now I've added an otter to the collection. But this one is metal.

It's holding down a fish with one paw.

Next stop was to do a short hike at Maplewood State Park so Diane could get some Minnesota NCT miles.

Then we needed lunch, which was topped off with pie. Pie is picture worthy.

Then we stopped in Pelican Rapids to see, well, the world's largest pelican!

Then it was off for the North Dakota border and Fort Abercrombie. They have recreated the blockhouses of the fort.

We made a couple of short stops to collect scavenger hunt game answers that is part of the Hike Fest. Then it was on to Dead Colt Creek Campground. There are several other people here who are attending Hike Fest.

This day is DONE! Tomorrow starts early enough with a hike, and I think we maxed out this day. We are beat, but happy. View from our campsite.

Hiked 1 mile of NCT in Maplewood State Park, Minnesota.

Miles hiked in 2025: 330.2
Miles hiked on NCT in 2025: 191.2

See People and Places

Chicken, Not Little

 
This house was not on the trail, but we saw it on the way home. Beautiful brick building with fancy trim. We saw many in this style and I have to assume they are of a similar era- post Civil War.





This one had yet another reason to stand out even more than expected. How many houses have you passed with an eight-foot concrete chicken in the front yard?



And a tiny rhino peeking around the corner of the garage?



I've been really busy, and yesterday was a particularly bad Saturday. Hoping to get more on track this coming week.

	See Junkyard Dog
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Junkyard Dog

 
I had to take things to the recycle place this morning, and I just want you to know they have a good junkyard dog.


It makes me chuckle every time I drive past there.

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