We left Duluth early and found US 2 West to be in better shape in Minnesota and North Dakota than it was in Michigan and Wisconsin. Much of it was a smooth divided four-lane with a speed limit of 70.
Acres of the trees along the highway were in swampy areas and reminded us of the dwarf trees we had seen growing on the permafrost in Alaska.
We knew that mining was an important part of the Minnesota economy, but we were still amazed to see this line of empty open-top rail cars that was well over a mile long waiting to be filled with ore.
We are not saying that Northern Minnesota is backward in any way, but we were surprised to see this phone above in a roadside rest area that was still functional!
We crossed the Red River near Grand Forks around noon to enter North Dakota.
So many of the farming fields in Northwest Minnesota and North Dakota had rich black dirt and were miles in length and width.
In less than an hour into North Dakota Bill thought he was having a Deja Vu when he saw this sign above. He turned the car around to find out that it is a small town in north North Dakota along Us 2. And besides, everyone knows that the real Michigan was established in 1837!
A bit farther up the road was the town of Rugby, ND that has the distinction of being the geographical center of North America! It put up this monument to help prove it.
We saw one huge grain elevator after another along the highway, so it came as no surprise when we saw another mile long string of rail cars - this group waiting to be filled with grain.
Western North Dakota is the land of the oil well boom and bust. We had never seen six wells being pumped next to each other, and we saw many groups like that. We drove into Williston, ND to spend the night and the desk clerk told us that the town had 72,000 residents when it was booming but now is down to around 40,000!
Tomorrow we head into Montana.
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Safe travels!
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