Day 8

Wednesday, September 17

One week into the trip.   9 states.

Fairly uneventful day.   Drove from Kennebec through Pierre, SD, up to Bismarck, ND, on US Highway 83.    Lot of it was veeeery flat.   Some just rolling prairie.   Many acres of sunflowers, corn, and hay.   Some areas had more horses than people.   

Bismarck is now a boomtown.    Apartments and houses going up everywhere.   Help wanted signs everywhere.   Why?   Oil, my friends, oil.     Lots of Texas license plates.

Stella is happy because she had a nice walk, a nice game of tennis ball, and some real bacon with dinner.   Life is good...

I broke my glasses just before departure so was trying to get by with an old pair that had a 5 year old prescription.   Just could not focus well while driving and was getting headaches.   Was able to get a new pair made by a specialty shop in Bismarck, with help from Cousin Tom's office in Asheville.  Vision now good.

Linda adds:  Tomorrow off to the home of the Mandans, where Lewis and Clark met Sacajawea for the first time.  The Dakotas are an interesting place with miles of prairie.  One thinks of the song, "Home on the Range", of "Little House on the Prairie.  The capital of South Dakota, Pierre, pronounced like the word "peer" is small with just over 13,000 people while Bismark is larger with over 60,000.  Other towns we passed through consisted of a house or two and maybe a gas station.  You can see for miles....cattle look like small dots on the horizon as do horses scattered here and there. Saw many abandoned old farm houses.  Went by too quickly for a photo but in the middle of nowhere stood a red barn door...nothing else...perhaps someone's way of saying "Welcome but don't let the door hit you as you leave."