Today started slowly and quietly. I was on the road a little after 7 AM, it was 60 degrees, and the sun was shining. Before too long the clouds rolled in and the temperature began to drop. It was still quite pleasant driving. Long and straight on I94. Just me and the truckers.
In the northeast, the roads are crowded and the drivers are in a rush. There is little space between towns so everything is compressed and the commuters are stressed and under pressure. The opposite is true here in the upper west. There’s a lot of wide open spaces that are occasionally interrupted by a small town. The highways are mostly populated with long distance truckers with just a small amout of local traffic. I drove along through dairy farm country and then the landscape opened up and I found myself in the plains. There were miles and miles of corn and other crops. Big swaths of yellow fields. Peaceful and serene.

Occasionally I’d see another car….

I stopped for gas ($2.49 /gallon) in the town of Fergus Falls, MN and this little vignette was across the road.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It started to rain in the afternoon and turned chilly…45 degrees!

But I hummed right along and was cheered by this billboard:

Just makes you happy right?!!

I left Minnesota behind and crossed into North Dakota, through Fargo, and on to Bismark. I was about 45 miles from the hotel when something caught my eye across the highway and I just had to turn around and go back to photograph this…The World’s Largest Sand Hill Crane named Sandy!

” ‘Sandy’, the world’s largest Sandhill Crane was built in 1998-99 by James Miller of Arena, ND in his farm shop. James was a self-taught ironworker and farmer and used his talents to build many farm signs with themes like fishing, hunting, and farm animals. 

When contacted about building this tall statue, James said he was ‘up’ for the task. He proceeded with drawings, which were then transferred to a steel inner framework. Rolled sheet metal was welded into place and finally, the crane was painted. The body was built in one section, the neck, and head in another, and the legs were made of pipe. It was fully assembled at his shop then transported to the site location on a lo-boy. “

But wait…what is that peeking out of the grass off to my left? Whoa… I do believe I came face to face with a bobcat!

 

She stared at me for about 5 seconds then bounded off. That cat could really move! What an exciting end to a rather quiet day!!

I’m more than halfway to my destination.

Miles Driven Today:  416

Total Trip Miles:  1935

Miles to destination: 1298!