While visiting Pompeys Pillar last year, I caught an interesting sight along the Yellowstone River: the Bundy Bridge. See it back there? It has a form similar to the historic Northern Pacific railroad bridge here in Bismarck-Mandan, the one a local group of activists wants to preserve. I ventured over to this bridge and discovered a useful object lesson relative to the bridge back home – and the efforts to preserve it.
When you’ve got kids, you’re treated to a unique perspective on a daily basis. Take, for instance, this tree near Exit 161 in northeast Bismarck. One off the pines got kinda mowed down long ago, and while it valiantly struggles to survive it has taken on a form familiar to young boys: a dinosaur.
It might be a little more apparent in this photo, even with my typical nasty and intentionally ugly watermark. It looks like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, especially during certain times of day – and if you’re a kid.
Sadly, the effect is lost on us when we are coming into town. It just doesn’t look the same from the off-ramp on the north as it does from the on-ramp on the south. It’s obvious from this side that the tree is losing its battle for survival, too.
So, like its namesake, Tree Rex is likely to soon become extinct. I’ve been meaning to snap a photo of this forever, but I’m not a fan of stopping for a photo in any place in which doing so might present a safety hazard. I was finally able to grab the shot during a time when traffic was pretty well nonexistent, even though the lighting wasn’t what I wanted. Thankfully I was able to sneak it in while Tree Rex is still there.
This is how deep the snow was at the Fort Lincoln visitors’ center on New Year’s Eve day. I went out to get in my final hike for the 12 Months-12 Hikes Challenge hosted by North Dakota Parks & Recreation, and I picked a fantastic day for it. Not only did I get to make some sort of statement by doing my final hike on the last possible day (one of procrastination, no doubt), but I also got to enjoy the last beautiful winter day of 2022.
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Morton County is one of the best places in North Dakota for a photographer. It has so much variety of terrain – Badlands-like formations in its southeast regions, scoria roads in the west, buttes and wetlands dotting the landscape within its borders, and plenty of the “old farm stuff” I like so much. Then there are places like this one.
This is perhaps my favorite shot of this spot. It may be familiar to you…it was the cover photo for a calendar produced by one of my clients. I love the sky in this one too. Guess what – I had to Photoshop the sky in the first one. Those darn cloudless skies again…but this one is 100% legit.
I like the first one because it gives Morton County some props. It will always be one of my favorite places to roam!
I saw this tree along a Morton County highway and immediately thought of a litany of references from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. First was the easiest: “Your arm’s off! No it isn’t!” See where I’m going here?
“It’s only a flesh wound!” and “I’ve had worse!” also come to mind. I couldn’t help but stop, snap a couple of photos, and post them to share.
While the leaders in our neighboring state to the east are prosecuting their officers and defunding police departments, it’s nice to still see these billboards around town! They appeared while our community was under siege by protesters, and its fantastic that they’ve remained a fixture around Bismarck-Mandan.
I love to tinker. This is a rig I devised to work on a little project I’ve got in mind, should I ever get time to do little projects again. This is a DJI Osmo Pocket on a DJI Extension Rod, with an iPod Touch controller, a 360 GoPro MAX on a Smallrig hanging off the cold shoe mount, with a TASCAM audio recorder. Two cameras, three lenses, nine microphones, and two different methods of stabilization. I figured it would be fun to put the physical gimbal of the DJI up against the HyperSmooth of the GoPro in HERO mode. More on that later.
Continue readingI know it’s now called Auto Value auto parts store, but it’ll always be Hedahl’s to me. When I go there for things like the absolute best floor squeegee ever, or paint supplies and gaffer’s tape, I always end up in the paint section.
When you go to the paint section of the store, you go through this doorway. What is cool about it, and I noticed this a long time ago but don’t remember blogging about it, is the sign hanging at the top of the doorway.
I suppose you have to be a King of the Hill fan to get this, but if you do…it’s hilarious. I got quite a chuckle out of it, but my kids had no idea what I found so funny. Inside jokes are the best jokes.
Naturally, you’d wonder what the sign will say on the way back out of the paint section. Well, you wouldn’t be disappointed.
Who doesn’t appreciate a good Christopher Walken reference? Now I’m going to have visions of him dancing in the video for Weapon of Choice, or perhaps even the hilarious Talkin’ Walkin podcast done by Kevin Pollack, I presume as an homage.
It’s great to see that folks around town have a sense of humor and a penchant for inside jokes!
I made it to Mandan briefly this weekend for a family affair, and accomplished something I’ve wanted to do for a long, long time: take a photo of the Brady’s Used Auto Parts building. It’s still shocking to see it in this state, as Brady’s has been a landmark for so many decades. Gee, I feel old.
The land is posted, so I had to take these photos through the fence. Thankfully I had some nice conditions to work with, and my hands fit through the rectangles in the fence just enough to work my phone camera!
One last pano to fit it all in. End of an era…
My fondest memory of Brady’s was when I pancaked the two driver’s-side rims on the $25 car I was driving at the time (long story) and he helped me pick out two replacements for ten bucks a piece. That seems like a lifetime ago, too. Man, I gotta knock off this reminiscing!
If you’re like me, you’ve been wondering when the plastic would be removed from the new sign at the south end of the capitol mall. Well, that day was yesterday. It looks pretty grand.
I got permission to go within the fence surrounding the area (there’s still some landscaping and cleanup to do) and get a close look at it. It should be pretty cool when everything is finished! Of course, weather has been – and is – a factor.
When the weather gets nice and it’s able to get a nice rinse, we’ll be in business. Now I understand what’s been going on underneath that plastic all this time!
The state seal of Best Dakota. You can’t tell in these photos, but it was awfully windy when I took them. For this one, the monument (it feels like a more appropriate word than “sign”) was a welcome windbreak. Brrrrr!
Homage to the old one: This is my favorite photo of the previous sign. But I didn’t take it. My wife did, with her cell phone. Remember what I’ve said about being in the right place at the right time? Thankfully, since we’re married, this photo is considered “community property.”
If you’re in the area, you can check out the new sign for yourself (but don’t go inside the fence!) as long as you practice social distancing!
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