odometer 90324
Fargo is a ghost town today as everyone is away for the Independence Day long weekend. We didn't even see any big rigs on the Interstate. Got a great tailwind up the I-29 to Grand Forks, but then was driving against the wind most of the way to Manitoba. North Dakota is very beautiful, but flat flat flat! The only trees you see are around the homesteads and property lines. We were surprised by the number of wetlands and enjoyed seeing different birds like coots, terns, and yellow-headed blackbirds. Swallows and swifts were everywhere, but moving too fast to identify. I even got to drive today as DH wanted to do some birdwatching.
Did a bit of a detour towards Turtle Mountain, on the ND-MB border to visit the International Peace Gardens, as per our friends' recommendation. Saw a giant turtle made out of wheel rims along the way. The gardens are divided along the 49th parallel, so half of the gardens are in Canada and the other half are in the US. The gardens had a lot of potential but were poorly maintained. They had a couple of nice floral displays (the Canadian and US flags) and a working floral clock, but overall it was mostly weeds and sad looking flowers. There were signs about restoring the sunken gardens, so that may explain it. Nonetheless, everybody enjoyed walking around the gardens and getting some exercise after a long drive. We had a BBQ (love our portable grill) on the grounds of the garden while the girls played in the playpark. In fact, for them, this trip is pretty much all about play parks – everywhere we go we try to find one!
Pulled into Spruce Woods Provincial Park around 8 pm and were pretty tired. The rear left signal light on the trailer isn't working and the trailer brakes were seizing trying to back the trailer into the site. Poor DH, everyday it seems there is something with the trailer. Isn't that always the way – the first few months with a new vehicle is nothing but little problems?
Hey guys, back in from holidays and catching up on your posts. Too bad about the park. We went there over 10 years ago now, so the state of the park may have changed :(
ReplyDeleteOur holiday was great! The road to Tofino is quite brutal -very windy, Devin threw up on the way there! Make sure you check out Chesterman beach at low tide. You can walk out to Frank's island and check the rocks right by the water for starfish, purple and orange if you are lucky. You can pull them right of the rocks to touch. It was our favorite spot for adventuring. Hopefully will do some blogging in the next few days, but you can checkout my facebook for some pics. Cathedral grove (with the huge trees) is right on your way to Tofino.
Laura