I should be under water

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…or treading it, at least. This picture was taken while I was standing in what used to be Lake Sakakawea. I actually walked over and touched those dry spillway gates…I remember water lapping over the top of them in the not-so-distant past. If memory serves me correctly, that’s over a forty foot difference.

Note the absence of Conrad, Dorgan, or Pomeroy. Note also the absence of any results of their hard fought battle (I mean, they ARE fighting for us…aren’t they?) for equity in Missouri River management between the northern states, who rely on its lakes for tourism, and the southern states, who rely on it for floating casinos and barges.

Yes, I know there’s a lot of talk about the barge industry…but that barge industry doesn’t account for a fraction of the combined financial interest of the northern states’ tourism and hospitality industries. But the riverboat casinos? They’ve got a little more dollars attached. I have a friend who, while he worked in the gaming industry, clued me in to that little tidbit when this debate first started raging a few years ago. I haven’t seen one mention of it in the newspapers.

The next time our congressional delegation start tooting their collective or individual horns about what they’ve done for the state, please invite them to come to Riverdale and play in the state’s largest sandbox.

The path I’ve chosen

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Well, at least the one I chose Sunday night…it’s the bike path above Pioneer Park, which had its heyday in the mid 1990s. That’s when it was developed and expanded to serve as the course for the Prairie Rose State Games mountain bike race. It’s one of three really nice mountain bike trails in Bismarck-Mandan, and I’ll highlight the other two down the road. This is where I tend to join the trail, just off the paved path above River Road. You can see this big pointed hill if you look down from the lookout point accessed from Burnt Boat Road.

This trail isn’t all grassland; it dips down into the trees numerous times. There are some nice drops and climbs in there, some old car bodies, and some welcome shade on a hundred degree day. There are a number of different possibilities on this path, winding all over the place.

Once you pop back up out of the trees there are a couple of loops along the hill, over by the Interstate, and then even back up the BSC side and around that area. I didn’t choose to do that part Sunday night due to time constraints. This trail overlooks some of Bismarck’s best river scenery. On much of the trail I was able to hear the live music from Merriwether’s.

There are some fun parts like this…don’t end up falling on your head and tumbling down to River Road! You have to look out in some places, because the city has closed certain parts of the trail to protect against erosion. Points like this can clearly be seen from River Road, although they don’t look nearly as serious from the bottom.

If you’re looking for a workout and have moderate mountain biking skills, hop on the trail above River Road…it’s a challenge! If you think it isn’t, do three laps sometime. That will change your mind.

Tower City

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No, not the town west of Fargo…the cluster of broadcast towers south of Mandan, just north of Huff Hills. Chasing the meteor shower and a few deer took me out there last night.

These towers include the local Cumulus FMs, KNDX (Fox), KBMY (ABC), KBME (PBS), KXMB (CBS), KFYR (NBC), and KYYY (Y-93). Most of them are on Tokach land, except for the KBMY tower. They can be clearly seen from Bismarck and much of Mandan, unless you live below some sort of hill.

Local viewers who don’t have cable are actually quite fortunate to have the tower situation set up in such a way. Guys like me who have satellite TV and use an off-air antenna to pick up the local stations can aim that antenna once and forget about it. You see, TV antennas are quite directional in nature…and if the towers for different stations were located all over the place, you’d have to rotate your antenna to optimize your signal from one station to the next. As it stands, I just bought a rooftop antenna for $20 at Menards and mounted it inside the attic of my house, facing towards “tower city,” and forgot about it.

Those flashing lights that cast such a nice glow up the tower sections are very specifically regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration. There are obstruction lights in groups of three and flashing beacons in regular intervals. In addition to transmitter operation telemetry and other things such as building security alarms, the tower lights are monitored remotely from the control point. Should the beacons of a tower go out, the FAA must be notified; flying into a tower without lights on it would really ruin someone’s day. But if you fly into a tower or guy-wire out here, you’re asking to; they’re all grouped together.

While out here, I saw something I don’t recall ever seeing before: a meteor streaking down out of the sky so slowly, so close to the ground, that I could actually see the wisps of flame coming off it before it disintegrated in a flash. It was amazing! There were lots of shooting stars last night, so I’ll probably be out chasing more tonight.

Midnight

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When one’s wife unexpectedly says, “Let’s hop in the truck and just drive,” one had better jump on the opportunity. I did tonight, and one of the meandering routes we took had us playing around on the soggy county roads south of Mandan.

At one point the clouds broke, the stars poked out, and I made one stop to point the camera back at Bismarck. The city lights bounce off the clouds so nicely, and can be seen from many miles away. By playing with the white balance on my camera I was able to get a pretty unusual color bounce.

Thank God it’s Raining (TGIR)

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We caught this double rainbow tonight thanks to my friend Erica, whose pounding on the front door awoke me from a nap that had gotten out of hand. This rain has been GREAT – a few days of constant soaking would be such a blessing right now, but we’ll take what we can get. This may be too late for many small-grain crops, but we’ll see. Even those of us with lots of outdoor hobbies are willing to set them aside for a while if we could just get some extended rain!

Wednesday night sunset

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This was the sunset from east of Bismarck…it’s how a tractor views the sun setting. It’s not every day a person gets a tractor’s point of view…or has an experience like the photo brought.

I parked on an approach east of Bismarck and walked to the fence line to get this photo. I’m a big proponent of property owners’ rights, so I don’t go anyplace I’m not invited…that’s why most of my “Fallen Farm” photos are taken from a distance or at an angle. After I got this photo and some others with an old threshing machine in the background, I ran back to the truck…literally. Despite the mostly clear sky, it was sprinkling on me and my camera!

At that point there was southbound traffic stuck at the train crossing on 66th Street, waiting for a train to pass. I backed out of the approach onto 66th, drove up the road a ways, then stopped on the shoulder to get an even wider shot featuring the silhouettes of some Bismarck landmarks in the distance. I got back in the truck to continue to my destination: a friend’s house, where I was doing one of those “will fix computers for Mountain Dew” calls. I saw a couple of cars following me, but didn’t think much of it.

I was well into the computer when the sheriff’s deputies knocked on the door, asking who owned the truck in the driveway. They explained to me that someone had seen me off-roading on their property. I told them what really happened, and they explained that a dog belonging to someone on 66th Street had just been shot, and they thought I might be responsible! I showed them what I had been up to, and it was all cleared up right away…we figured that they’d been stuck on the other side of the train and didn’t see that I was only parked on the side of the road. All’s well that ends well, I guess.

About that new Scheels…

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As you may have heard, the new Scheels store in Fargo opened its doors on July 1st. I was down there for a freelance telecast just two days prior to the opening, but didn’t get a chance to get down to the store until last week. It’s quite impressive! Here’s a quick tour:

This store has just about everything…lots of different beverages are on sale right when you walk in, and there’s a little food/drink area in the back of the store on the main level.

There are various displays of different US Presidents all over the store, and you’ll notice the aircraft hanging in the background (minus its engine…that’s fake). There are also numerous benches located around the store, some next to the Presidential displays, where you can have a seat and just have a look around.

Before you can get on the escalators going upstairs, you will pass the ferris wheel in the center of the store. You can have your picture taken on the wheel and put on a t-shirt for a fee.

Upstairs there’s a shooting gallery you can play for fifty cents, and other shooting games etc. near the gun department. I also saw a couple of AR-15 rifles there I’d have loved to bring home, but those may have to wait a while. There were also a ton of LCD flat screens playing DVDs in many departments.

This Scheels is the corporate headquarters now, which explains the size of it. In addition to having more selection than before, they have gone the whole outfitter route like Cabella’s has, in addition to having even a souvenir / home decor section. For things like bikes and that sort of thing, they don’t have a selection that’s any more impressive than any other Scheels store I’ve visited. That’s not to say that they’re lacking, though. And the gun section, to which our crew made a beeline, is pretty large.

Now it’ll be interesting to see what they do with the Bismarck Scheels, once they move into the current Target store location.

There be dragons about

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This beastie has made my yard his home this year, and has chased down and eaten a lot of bugs in return. I found him perched on my clothesline pole yesterday. Oh, okay..it’s more of a motorcycle parts line than a clothesline, but you get the picture.

There have been a lot of enormous dragonflies buzzing about lately. This is also a good time for damselflies…if you can find any wetland areas in this drought, poke around in the weeds and you’ll find thousands of little dragonflies and damselflies in an assortment of colors!

New “Strip Mall of America” stretching over 1/6 of North Dakota

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Those wacky satirists at The Onion have put North Dakota in their sights again. I was perusing tonight and came across this article about a “Strip Mall of America.” It looks like whoever wrote it either knows how to read an ND map, did their research, or both. Sure, anyone can fill in the correct town names…but when they start mentioning things like the Ben Franklin and Jo-Ann Fabrics, I start to think they know this state pretty well.

I like The Onion. I first found out about it years ago from my friend Stacy (no, not the one I married) in Milwaukee, where this paper is based. It’s a local paper, actually, but is so darn funny that it gets widespread circulation on paper and online. Sure, some of it is politically opposite of my beliefs, and I wish there wasn’t a single swear word in it, but most of The Onion’s fake news is palatable.

These guys are the ones who brought us such gems as “North Dakota Found to be Harboring Nuclear Missiles” back when we were pursuing action against Saddam’s Iraq, “South Dakota Asked to Water North Dakota’s Crops Over the Weekend,” “North Dakota Leads Nation in Parking Availability,” “North Dakota Not Heard From in 48 Hours,” and others.

So if you love satire, fake news, and can tune out an occasional profanity, check out the above articles featuring North Dakota from the witty chaps over at The Onion.

Mike Kalvoda: actor, writer, graphic novelist…game show contestant?

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Mike Kalvoda is a Mandan native, a friend of mine from high school. I’m sure he’s had many claims to fame, but one of the most locally well known would be his stint on the Family Feud with his mom Lila, and his cousins Ken, Mark, and Rick.

As I recall, the way Mike told it was that he was really bored with one of his drama classes and decided to write a notebook full of “I want to be on Family Feud” and send it in. He did so with over 10,000 lines, if I remember correctly. It worked, and he and the gang were on five episodes of Family Feud, one of the series’ favorite families ever!

That’s not the only game show Mike earned a spot on: he’s also been on The Price is Right, where he won A NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEW CAR! in “Lucky Seven”, three episodes of “100%” with Casey Kasem; and “To Tell the Truth” where he impersonated his way to four incorrect votes as a human calculator. Thanks to IMDB for that one…they sure are a wealth of information!

You can check out Mike’s website for more accomplishments, such as a Pepto Bismol commercial and a “Will & Grace” episode. But I think the one he’s hoping for the most interest in is his treatment of the hit movie “Final Destination” as a graphic novel, published by Zenescope Entertainment. He’s done two issues, and I think he’s going after Grimm’s Fairy Tales next.

I haven’t seen Mike in quite a while, since he’s part of the Hollywood crowd and I live…well, here. Last year his mom paid me a visit at the Medora Musical during the intermission, thanks to my friend “Gentleman Wade Westin” announcing that the newlywed Clint and Stacy were seated front row center. I might have to come up with some little-known information about Wade next…I owe him one! Too bad he’s not hosting the Musical this year.

Anyway, props to Mike. I miss ya, buddy. I know your last trip back was for a family emergency, but please don’t forget to look up this blogger the next time you pass through!