By: MJ + PJ
We arrived in North Dakota with a yearning for fireworks since it was the 4th of July. We had purchased some simple poppers/crackers in Montana and had a discussion with a store employee about what if any differences there were with firework regulations between Montana and North Dakota. The answer: “You know, it’s probably the same, you’ll be ok.”
On this good advice we subsequently pulled off the road at a random middle-of-nowhere exit at dusk and popped a box full of them with due celebration and about 200 mosquito friends. The show was not over though. An hour or so later, and minutes after AJ had inconveniently fallen asleep, we crested the road into Bismarck, ND, and pulled off at a very well placed rest stop with a phenomenal view. There we found some locals also parked watching the city light up like a short circuited fallen Christmas tree.
The smell of gunpowder hung in the air, reminding us of the Long Beach, CA battlefield-esque scene we had ridden bicycles through about 11 years earlier. After deeming Bismark safe enough to drive through, we headed to Steele, where we figured we should really stop driving for the day. We did so, checking into a hotel at about 11pm, having covered 1250km since starting pre-dawn.
The next day we took some time to get up and going on the road. That’s what happens when you drive that kind of distance and have a busy day as well. Two hours of driving had us exiting North Dakota into Minnesota.
While we had spent about 18 hours in North Dakota, we had only seen the highway (facing east and barely turning the steering wheel), evening fireworks, the world’s largest Sandhill Crane sculpture, and a hotel room. This was not a fair trial of the state as a tourist, but there was some time pressure to get to Ohio, and we wanted to spend some time with friends in Minnesota. Regardless, it was Legendary.
