Lightning & Enchantment

Kaboom!

That's what we woke up to.  It seemed the weather that we were skirting along the past few days had found a home above our campsite.  It was still dark outside, so the lightning that came along with boom was extremely visible.

This is where a two pole tent is extremely helpful.  We've been through this before.  Cloudbursts and putting away camp in a matter of minutes is always a fun time.  Last time we did this though we had a tube on the top of the car that held extra items.  This trip with no tube, it was a game of tetrus with clothing, bedding and tents in the back seat with the dogs and kitchen, food and dog stuff in the back.

I was a bit nervous about the lighting and the tent poles, so before anything else, I went to the car and grabbed my work gloves.  Tom thought it was overkill, but better safe than sorry.  The poor dogs had no idea what was going on.  They were just watching us run around trying to strike the campsite before the heavy rain came.

We managed to complete our duties in record time.  We totally lost our rear view due to items piled in, but we would straighten that out later, away from the rain, we hoped...

We headed into town and at that point regretted we did not take our pictures of the South Dakota Capitol Building the day before in the sun.  As we drove by the capitol plotting our next move, I snapped the picture below as a drive-by.  Funny that it is one of my favorite shots.

South Dakota State Capitol

The rain was coming and going, so we took the opportunity to visit the Sinclair Dinosaur located down the hill from the capitol building.  Long a favorite of mine, I have been looking for a baseball cap with the original dino logo on it, not the running guy they have now.  I always look and never find.  Needless to say, it was great to have one standing alongside the road.

Click Click!

David & the Sinclair Dinosaur

Tom and the Sinclair Dinosaur

Still early, too early for the capitol, we headed for some breakfast at a local restaurant & coffee shop, Pier 347.  A nice little cafe with some great coffee.  We read the paper, looked at the internet and checked our route.

Around 8, we left the coffee store and headed to the capitol building.  If you take some time, you can press the link to their web site above the first picture to view everything about it.  They did a really good job with it.  As a matter of fact, there's links throughout my posts for more in depth information about our stops.

We parked to the right of the capitol grounds, a good distance away, especially in the rain, but it was the only parking available that we could see.  The dogs were let out to do their pee and poo.  Tom was going to try to straighten the car out as I headed across the lawn in the rain to check out the innards of this majestic building.

I had my capitol collection book in my back pocket.  In the back of the book they list where you can get your book stamped.  They had a few asterisks for more information and one of those was for SD.  The stamp was unmanned but could be found contacting Marla at 605-773-3688.  I called Marla, but found out that Marla no longer worked there.  So where was the stamp?  The Governor's office.  Sweet!

The rotunda was beautiful and the statues below it truly expressed the spirit that South Dakota believes in it's history and it's peoples.  I went up to the Governor's office and was greeted by a friendly woman sitting at a large desk.  I asked her for the stamp, which she gracefully pulled out of a drawer and, after checking the date, stamped it.  A pleasant short chat ensued asking where I was from, why North Dakota and the like.  I thanked her for her time and continued to look around.

The SD Rotunda

Wisdom

Vision

Integrity

Courage

The rain had subsided as I left the building and I found Tom and the dogs at the foot of the stairs.  Tom went in to use the restroom and it was a great opportunity to take a few shots of the exterior with the dogs.  They knew what to do and posed nicely.

Capitol Dogs in South Dakota

We headed out of the city, back on the side roads again, headed North toward North Dakota.  We were straddling the time zones between Mountain & Central, hugging the Missouri River.  Entering into North Dakota, we had to cross the river again as we headed into the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, which itself straddles North and South Dakota.

Upon entering, we saw the signs for the Sitting Bull Monument and the Sacajawea Monument.

We are both fans of Lewis & Clark and their expedition from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean.  Add to that the grave and memorial of the great Chief Sitting Bull and the monolith celebrating the Shoshone woman who assisted the Corps of Discovery, it was a win win!

We got some gas at the native store on the reservation and continued on our way towards Regent, ND and the Enchanted Highway.  I heard about this 32 mile stretch of road going from Regent to Gladstone and I-94, the northernmost interstate highway in the US, from some of the brochures on North Dakota I ordered prior to our trip.

The artist responsible for this project is Gary Greff, a retired metal worker and school teacher who wanted to help Regent, a dying town in 1990.  He thought these sculptures would lure people to Regent while at the same time entertain people along the road to South Dakota.  Although we were headed North rather than South for which the sculptures were intended, they were still remarkable and truly great roadside attractions.

Upon entering Regent, we found the first attraction, a whirlygig located next to the gift shop.  There were also a number of other metal sculptures around the area.

Whirlygigs

I pushed the button, and the kids jumped on the bed, the grandmother scrubbed the young'ns in the bathtub, while Dad rocked in his chair and Mom baked some things in the oven.

We proceeded to the gift shop to check it out.  Tom has recently started collecting tin ornaments, so we picked one up showing the the Tin Family, seen below.  One last stop to the general store across the street for some ice and munchies and we were on our way.

We were not to sure what to expect, and after driving down the road a few miles, we were anxious to see the first sculpture.  Then here it was.  We saw the backs of the tin family first and learned that there would be a parking area for easy access.  They even had picnic tables with structures to protect one from rain or other harsh elements.

Tin Family

The Tin Family was the first sight erected in 1991.  Pa is 45' high and is help up by 16 telephone poles. Ma is 44' and the son is 23'.  All of the materials used have been repurposed or scrap.  The artist even leased the land from the local farmers with one of those $1 a year for 20 years with renewal options leases.

We took a lot of pictures, even looking up Ma's dress to see how the structures were made.  We all hopped back into the car and headed onto the empty road to the next sight, Teddy Rides Again, made in 1993.

Built as a tribute to Theodore Roosevelt and his importnance to North Dakota's history, it was made from used well pipe.  Teddy and his favorite horse, Mulley, is 51' tall and weighs over 9000 pounds.

Teddy Rides Again

To give you some perspective of our surroundings, here's a shot of our car in the middle of nowhere, ND.

The next structure, Pheasants on the Prairie, built in 1996.  The wire mesh Rusty Rooster stands 4 stories high and 70' long.  Along with his hen at 35' tall and 60' long and chicks standing 15' tall, it was quite an impressive sight.  They took 3 years to complete.

Pheasants on the Prairie

Chicks on the Prairie

Further down the road was the Fisherman's Dream sculpture.  This 3-dimensional structure is made out of tin and shows an underwater scene with seven fish including the 70' rainbow trout who has been caught by the tiny fisherman in the boat above the water line.

Fisherman's Dream

To the left of scene is a small boat which can be climbed onto for photo ops.

Land Ho!

To remind the passerby of the hardships farmers have overcome while making a living off the land, Grasshoppers in the Field was built in 1999.  Four stories high and 50 feet long, it was welded using old oil and well tanks.  It appeared that they lit up at night as along the whole structure there was tube lighting.  It must be an amazing sight to see all lit up.  There were a number of these structures in the field including some baby grasshoppers on large coils that one could ride.

Grasshoppers in the Field

The next shadow design, The Deer Family, was built in 2002.  Welded from old oil well tanks, it shows a buck, 75' tall, jumping over a fence with his doe, 50' tall, following behind.  The buck was so large that they had to cut off his front legs in order to fit through the streets of Regent upon installation.  They were welded back on site.

The Deer Family

Behind the Deer Family, there is, what appears to be, a human maze.  We had decided to forgo this oddity as we were anxious to see the final structure a few miles ahead.  Also, there was no treat at the end to find like a mouse has his cheese.

As we approached I-94, the final structure we were to see was Geese in Flight, built in 2001.  Standing eleven stories tall and 156' wide, it is listed in the Guiness Book of World Records as the largest scrap metal sculpture in the world.  Made of oil well  pipes and oil tanks, it stands as an enchantress to Regent, ND for drivers on the interstate.

Geese in Flight

Needless to say, if you find yourself in North Dakota, anywhere in ND, take the side trip and visit the Enchanted Highway.  It was certainly a highlight on this trip and, as a roadside attraction lover, a highlight of all I have seen.  Thank you, Gary Greff!

We hopped onto the highway, headed East towards Bismarck, the capitol city of ND.  It was roughly 90 miles away and the way they drive in ND, we would be there in about an hour.

It was getting later in the day and we would need to find a campsite.  We also were getting hungry after our travels along the road.  We searched the web for some campgrounds around Bismarck.  We located the Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park and decided it met all of our needs.  There was still some daylight so we headed into the capitol to check out the area first.

We proceeded to find the capitol building and took the opportunity to play some ball and take a few pictures of the capitol with the dogs.  Most capitol building have sprawling lawns and North Dakota was one of those.  

First a few pics...

then the ball play!

We came all this way for this?

No domes here.  This would probably be the last time we would be near ND, at least anywhere in the near future, so it was a must do on my itinerary.  After the day we had, it was somewhat anticlimactic.  We appreciated the day and after the dogs got some water after their play, we headed for a bite to eat at the Blarney Stone Pub.  Good grub and friendly staff.

We picked up the car and the dogs from the parking structure and headed to our campground for the night.  We let Siri direct us and you'll never guess where she brought us.  Let's just say that if she says one more time "Walk to your destination" she was going to be put to death.  We eventually found the busy campground and set up camp.  We were along the Missouri River again and the dogs would have preferred to head to the water rather than heading into the tent, but it was not meant to be for them.  Tonight was for relaxing and preparing for the next day.  More of Bismarck and Fargo ahead.