North Dakota - Day 4 (International Peace Garden, Bottineau, Minot, Williston)

Day 4 - We headed north to the International Peace Gardens, making a few quick stops along the way.

Our first stop was in Rugby to see the Geographical Center of North America. We stopped here with the kids in 2018. 

With the quiet of the morning, we decided to stop and take a few pictures of the monument before continuing north. I'll spare you the selfies...we were looking directly into the sun, so the pictures aren't the best, ha! While we were in Rugby, we also noticed this little park near the Chamber of Commerce. The park included a Pioneer Village and the Northern Lights Tower.

Leaving town, Rugby's main road was closed for construction. During our detour, we came across this bell tower. We pulled in to take a picture. Loved the sign "Ask Before Ringing"! Ironically, we took pictures of the tower but didn't get a picture of the sign and the pull cords. Seriously, how can they put pull cords on the bells and then tell us to not ring them! Cruel! ha  This picture is from GoogleMaps.

We later read about the Niewoehner Bell Tower (next to the Niewoehner Funeral Home). Evidently, the only way that the bells get rung is when a $5 book (about the bells) is purchased. 

We stopped in Dunseith to see the W'eel Turtle. Over 2000 wheel rims make up this turtle! He's huge! We climbed to the top and snapped some pictures. 

We left Dunseith and drove to the US/Canadian border to visit the International Peace Gardens. 

This area (2400 acres) was the vision of a horticulturalist in 1928, He "and his colleagues from Canada and the United States imagined a shared space on the border - one that would symbolize the enduring friendship between the two nations" While visiting, you can roam freely between Canada & the US. These gardens were beautiful and the idea of shared lands was a neat idea. We arrived a few minutes before the buildings were opened for the day (the grounds open a few hours before the buildings). We walked through the sunken/formal gardens, visited the gift shop and restrooms then walked to see the Bell Tower & 911 Memorial. It was still fairly early so the gardens weren't busy (we were the only ones walking around!) 

With no one else there, we went to take our selfie above the gardens. It was very sunny (looking directly into the sun and not able to see the phone screen) and windy...(not complaining, the weather was wonderful! Just hard to take a selfie, lol). Also, we were so thankful that the air quality, smoke was very minimal that morning.

The sunken gardens were getting busy when we walked through on our way back to the car. We decided to try one last selfie since the sun was higher in the sky...no luck. Still breezy, still sunny, we take what we get!

While planning for the trip, I didn't have a clue that there was more there than the gardens...we ended up driving the North and South loops to find a couple letterboxes and see the rest of the area. It was beyond what either of us expected - picnic spots, playgrounds, museums, camping, hiking & ski trails and lots of lakes. 

While Matt went in search of a letterbox, I played on the playground!

We also stopped at the Border Marker, where we stood in both countries at the same time. Fun Times!

Because the Gardens are shared between US & Canada (the entrance is located between the two border crossings), we didn't have to go through Canadian customs. Once we left the gardens, we DID have to go through US customs. We were thankful for the quick re-entry (aside from the agent pointing out that I hadn't signed my passport yet, oops!). 

Our next stop was Mystical Horizons, a Century 21 Stonehenge. We saw this stop on Roadside America AND it was along a scenic drive (Hwy 43). We also made a few more stops - all quick photo ops - as well as lunch (all of this was in Bottineau).

Tommy the Turtle (on his snowmobile). So cute! So large!!

4 Chaplain Memorial - a moving piece of history. 

Our last stop for the day (aside from dinner & hotel), was the Scandinavian Heritage Park in Minot. Such a nice park and it was free! While the buildings are only open during business hours, the park itself is open into the night hours. We really enjoyed our time here, walking through the park, museum and replica buildings (Log Cabin, Stave Church). 

It's Saturday...we thought we had til 5:00. Sadness, especially since Matt wanted to grab the letterbox that was in the gift shop. 

We were able to walk through a few of the buildings before they were closed up for the night (volunteers stayed until 4). We were so thankful that we got to see inside the church and learn about the construction of the Stave churches.

They had multiple statues throughout the park as well - here is Leif Erikson. 

The Stave Church was definitely the crown jewel of the park!

We filled up with gas in Minot and then hit the road for our final destination for the day, Williston (approx 2 hours drive). Love the open road - 4 lane highway!

Once in Williston, we checked into our hotel and headed to find dinner. We saw these statues on the way to dinner (at Doc Holliday's Roadhouse) and made a mental note to stop to take pictures on the way back to our hotel. The Old West scene ran for an entire block - Lots of buffalo, horses, cowboys, Indians, a stagecoach, guns, bow & arrows. Nicely done!! To give an overall idea of the scene, I took these pictures from Google Maps.

These are pictures that Matt & I took...

Day 4 comes to a close. We continue to be amazed by the beauty of North Dakota. We drove almost 6 hours today and find ourselves on the western end of the state. 

Day 4 Favorites:

Matt: Scandinavian Heritage Park (but bummed to miss out on the indoor letterbox)

Becki: International Peace Gardens