July 13th Thursday day 17 Williston to Minot North Dakota

We were going to take a day off in Williston, but I decided around noon that I was getting bored and it was a nice day so I decided to head out for Stanley around 1:00.

I met Rod south of Stanley and it was an easy ride down numerous gravel county roads, so I pressed on to an area south of Berthold.  I got there around 5:30 and still had a bit of energy left, so I left there and ended at Highway 83 south of Minot around 7:00.  We are DEFINITELY taking Friday off as we wait for another friend to show up from Moline.  

The most interesting thing I learned today involved directions.  I discovered if you want to give or receive directions in North Dakota you need to know your history, your crops and your farm machinery.  At one intersection I happened to meet an older gentlemen named Karl.  I told Karl where I wanted to end up at for the day and the conversation went something very close to this.  “South of Minot you say, well geeze let me think about that---and you say you only want to go on gravel roads!”  “Well the easiest way would be to go down this road over here for quite a little ways until you get to the old Swenson place”.  Now right away I’m concerned at the expression “quite a little ways”

See, in North Dakota, a little ways means about 5 to 10 miles, quite a ways means about 10 to 15 miles and quite a little ways can mean 15 miles to 30 miles.  So now Karl has my attention.  Should I be writing this down Karl?  “ No it’s pretty straight forward, you go down to the old Swenson place and turn left there and head north past a couple of miles of wheat fields, then there is a bean field on the left and more wheat on the right.  Then you get to the 5th or 6th wheat field you will see about 200 acres of oats and when you get passed that you want to turn right.  

Follow that road for a bit and you will go by a 1952 New Holland Thrasher, but don’t turn there.  Keep going for a few more miles until you see the 1954 New Holland Thrasher up on the hill there.  That’s where you want to turn south and that’l take you right on in.  

So Karl, is the Swenson house the first place I’ll come to up the road quite a little way I ask?  “Oh no, you’ll pass the Swanson farm first.”  So Karl how will I recognize the old Swenson place, will there be a mail box with his name on it. “No old man Swenson, he died about 10 years ago and some new folks moved in then, but I haven’t gotten around to find out what there name is yet, but the Swanson’s, they have their name on their mailbox!.  

So Karl was right.  It was pretty straight forward, I turned at the old Swenson place,  turned again at what seemed to be an oat field to me and then turned again at the 1954 New Holland Thrasher(I thought it looked more like at 1955 model, but I could be wrong).  And that road took me right on in…. The roads are straight and smooth in North Dakota and life is good.
 
 
 

Click Here Photos from Today!!!