No Reservations Part 2

After a restful night in Bemidji (the hometown of Jane Russell) we headed west for the destination that we've been aiming for since we left home, Rugby, North Dakota. Turns out I discovered Rugby one day while looking at an atlas and found that it is the geographic center of North America. Who could resist not going there to check it out? What we found was a small monument with a plaque designating this important spot.

What we also found is that Rugby is the home of the world renowned breakfast topping...Toe Jam! Unfortunately the store was closed. Guess we'll have to make our own!

Somewhat disappointed we sped out of town. Destination, Bismarck, ND the state capitol on the banks of the Missouri River. It was a fun drive across the plains with not much traffic thus enabling yours' truly to snap this picture. Notice the concentration of the driver.

The other morning in Duluth we got a tip from some people about a place called Medora, ND. Seems that back in 1883 a French aristocrat the Marquis de Mores came to the Dakotas to find his fortune in the cattle industry. He built a packing plant and slaughtered range cattle to ship back east. The town sprung up and flourished for three years before the market for range cattle diminished because it was too tough. Left in his wake was the town named for his wife and a house overlooking the empire which was called the Chateau de Mores by the locals. Today the town has been restored and is North Dakotas #1 tourist attraction.

Nearby is the south entrance to Theodore Roosevelt National Park which contains the Badlands of North Dakota. Rugged terrain for the early settlers to cross but beautiful to look at before getting back in your car.

We entered Montana enjoying the wide open spaces on either side of I-94 before turning south towards the community of Hardin. Agriculture abounds in the valley surrounding Hardin with much of it being irrigated by large sprinklers like the one pictured.

Since we started this trip we have either gotten the last room at the inn or no room at all by employing our "no reservations" policy so we decided to call ahead and book a room in advance. Our pick was the America Inn. On our first attempt at calling we found that the name had changed to a Rodeway Inn and then we ran out of cell service. 40 miles later we tried again and completed the booking, or so we thought. Upon check in the desk clerk informed me that the computer had not recorded our reservation and that they were sold out of the rooms at the price I was quoted. They did however have the "Honeymoon Suite" available and could give it to us for the same price. Done deal! When describing the room the clerk used the word cheesy a couple of times. She was right although it didn't have shag carpeting on the walls. It did however have a heart shaped jacuzzi tub! Sorry. No pictures of the tub in use!