Hold onto your tummy: Thrill Hill

If you grew up in Mandan, you’re likely no stranger to what the kids have affectionately termed “Thrill Hill.” I have no idea how long it’s been named such, but it already sported that moniker over twenty years ago when I first got my license. Whoa. I just realized I’ve been driving for over two decades! That must mean I’m…………….old.

Okay, I’m back. This innocent looking street holds a real “whee” at the end, so it’s no surprise that people discovered it and treat it like an amusement ride. It’ll put your heart in your throat right quick! This street is a long upward slope, but it drops off pretty good on the other side.

Photographs simply cannot do the backside of this hill justice. Believe me, I tried several angles. The crest of the hill is really nothing remarkable…if you’re not sure you’re on the real Thrill Hill, you’ll think you missed it! Just as that thought crosses your mind, the road drops out from under you. Whee.

The bottom of this photo has snow on the roadway, otherwise you’d see hundreds of scrapes as cars hit the dip at the end of the block. Whether it’s for drainage or speed control I don’t know; but apparently people are still hitting it with some gusto. Just as the road falling away will bring your heart into your stomach, piling into this dip will drop it back into place!

This post is kinda for the “insiders” who know where Thrill Hill is. You see, I’m not going to tell you…that would be encouraging you to try it, and quite frankly it’s dangerous. While it’s fun even at legal speeds, for some reason no mere mortal can resist going much faster. I like my readers, I’m certainly not going to send them to their doom! I need you folks.

Before I got my license, I was a passenger in a car that flew (quite literally) over this hill at speeds that would probably have cost the driver his license. Later on in life, my friend Tony and I explored it on our motorcycles and scared ourselves silly – there’s not much keeping motorcycles from going airborne, we discovered – and I haven’t done anything reckless on it in many, many years. I guess now I think like an adult, a dad, and a homeowner.

So if you want to find it, you’re on your own. If you’ve got your own Thrill Hill stories, I’d love to hear about them.

Blowin’ off some steam

The sun caught the exhaust from the Heskett Station power plant just right as I was driving by the other day. They were offline for quite a while last year for updates and maintenance, but they appear to be chugging away as usual nowadays!

With plants like the power station and the refinery downstream pushing warm water into the Missouri River, it’s no surprise that parts of the river don’t even freeze over. In fact, there are flocks of geese that simply don’t migrate; they just stay near the refinery and enjoy the open water year-round. I’m sure that’s why the big Tesoro sign at the entry to the refinery has a goose on it.

Power plants are really cool. I’ve seen the inside of a few, but not Heskett. Time to make some inquiries…