The hills above this bridge are riddled with mountain bike trails, one of which was my vantage point for this photo. Parts of those trails, mainly the area above Pioneer Park, were developed by Dakota Cyclery (with the help of some creative grant writing) into a race course later used for the Prairie Rose State Games.
Those trails are quite muddy now, but this spring they’ll provide an ample workout for those looking to get back in shape. See ya there.
For those of you who remember this building, or even better – were able to spend time here as kids, you’ll know what I’m talking about. It was fun to play on the steps before going in or after coming out, with the slanted concrete along the steps. There was a narrow spiral staircase leading to the children’s section downstairs, tucked into such a narrow nook that it looked like Bruce Wayne built it for secret crime fighting purposes. Then there’s just the old familiarity of the place and the ladies that staffed it. So there’s the old sentimentality kicking in.
I don’t know how the building is being used now, but it sure looks dilapidated inside, with stuff strewn all over the place. I’d hate to see it torn down, which I guess has been on someone’s agenda for a while. There’s a shortage of truly historic buildings in the Bismarck-Mandan area; only Mandan seems to have an interest in keeping them around. I’d prefer to see the old Mandan Library become a museum or something of sorts…then I could show my little boy some of the features that I loved about the place when I was a boy.
As I stood in someone’s snowmobile tracks, I was able to get quite a few of these boots in the frame. There are plenty more behind me as well as over the hill and around the corner. It’s pretty cool, not the only fenceposts I’ve seen, but certainly the biggest contiguous bunch of them.
If you want to see this display, merely point your car/truck/whatever northward on Highway 1804. I don’t know how far north it is, because I usually am just holding the accelerator to the floor and watching for deer. You can’t miss it, though…it’s along a quick left-right pair of corners in the road marked 40mph. If you find yourself in Washburn, you went too far!
Hopefully Bismarck’s record will appear on the Guinness site. Maybe you folks can help make it happen by contacting them by email!
Oh, and one more thing…sorry if I freaked you out with the headline. I just couldn’t resist!
There’s a little bit more information at Double Ditch on the Square Buttes, and I was going to share it with you but I decided not to. Instead, I encourage you to head north to the Double Ditch historic site and check it out for yourself! You’ll be pleasantly surprised at this very neat scenic opportunity.
The best part of this for me was hanging over the ledge on the top of the capitol; I never liked shooting from the observation deck because of the reflections in the windows, but this time I got to go on the actual roof and get some pics in all directions. Once the snow angels were done, I also took some pics facing all around Bismarck.
One of the TV guys taping next to me said that they were five minutes early, according to his cellular phone. I’d agree with that; I thought I had plenty of time as I rode up the elevator. As I climbed the ladder to the roof and came around the corner, though, things got to an immediate start. It was nice for them to wait for me, at least!
I talked to a lady later who said that she never heard a cue to start, people just started making their angels. I guess that must be how things got going, but in any case the record would appear to be North Dakota’s…again.
By the way, if anybody would be interested in a high resolution version of this, click on the “Contact Me” link in the upper right column of my blog screen. If you’re reading this on an RSS feed or one of the media websites that syndicates my blog, come pay me a visit at www.bismarckmandanblog.com like you ought to!
This particular fella and his friends were hanging out within 50 feet of the van as I loaded my video gear near Underwood yesterday. They didn’t seem too put out by the fact that some strange looking dude was working his way toward them with his camera, at least until I got pretty close. Then they simply sauntered off to the thick brush to hide out for a while.
Upon close observation, I think that the pheasant is quite possibly the stupidest of all feathered creatures, often nonchalantly walking toward speeding vehicles bearing down on them. At least they seem to be strong in number this winter, a fact I’m sure the hunters will be pleased about the next time hunting season comes around. Until then, people like me will hunt them with our telephoto lenses instead.
You see, the cowardly Representative Pomeroy has always been clear on where he stands on this issue. As I pointed out in a post a while back, he voted against House Resolution 861 less than 24 hours before showing up at the funeral of a fallen Bismarck soldier, where he proudly looked all patriotic. This two-faced, cowardly liar had the nerve to wave and greet North Dakota soldiers and those of us there to support them less than a day after voting against a resolution supporting victory in the War on Terrorism.
The troop surge makes sense: let the rest of the soldiers in place in Iraq continue their operations as usual, while bringing in a force designed and deployed to root out the insurgency. But if we do that, then we don’t enable the Democrat party mouthpieces to cry “Civil War! Civil War!” But the fact of the matter is, they’re merely using this war as a means to attack Republicans here at home. That’s so cowardly, apparently Earl needed to be deployed back to Washington from ND to carry the mantle for the Democrats. He’s doing a bang-up job.
I’ve covered the text of the House Resolution in other posts so I won’t get into it again. Let it suffice to say that I’m not surprised to see cowardly Earl taking his five minutes to bravely stand the Democrat party line, trying to insure that our fighting men and women are not given the resources they require, hoping eagerly for a defeat to hang around the neck of a Republican president while paying for it with the blood of American soldiers. Way to go, Earl…you make me sick.
It’s nice living in a place where wildlife still roams within the city. We’ve got bunnies in our yard, which are pleasant to watch when they’re not eating my wife’s flowers. I remember the night we got a call at Mandan PD about a deer charging down Collins Avenue! The furry critters of nature…they make life in Bismarck-Mandan interesting.