In Bismarck, we stayed with two friends of Roger’s, Shawn and Marlys. Roger and Shawn grew up together in North Dakota. They were really nice to me and I really liked them. One morning, Roger and I went for a long walk in a park near the zoo. We couldn’t see as many animals through the zoo fence as I hoped so I was kind of bummed about that.
Along the Missouri River in Bismarck.
We did find a trail out into the sand dunes along the Missouri River though and I got to run around off-leash in the sand and grass. It seemed like there is almost as much sand here as on the beaches near the ocean at home.
Roger then went out to visit with some other friends of his family while he was growing up and I had to stay in the bedroom at Shawn and Marlys’ house. I hate not getting to go along but I am always a good dog when I have to stay by myself for a bit.
Riverdale, ND
On Thursday, we drove north to Garrison Dam and Lake Sakakawea on the Missouri River and camped in the woods below the dam. Roger and his family had camped there when he was a kid (which was a long time ago…even before I was a puppy). It was a really great campground with lots of trees and there was a new type of squirrel that I had never seen before. It was smaller than the squirrels I am used to and had 13 stripes on it’s back. Roger said it was a 13-striped ground squirrel and they are also called gophers. We didn’t get a picture of one because they always ran away too fast.
I love all the off-leash walks!!!
On Friday morning we took a long walk through the woods. I got to go off-leash again (I think I love it here…) and it was great fun. There were lots of nasty ticks though and we had to stop a lot so Roger could get them off me. I hate ticks!!! I did get to go swimming in a big pond below the dam and you know I love that.
In the afternoon, we drove around a bit and then visited with two of Roger’s friends, Jeff and Connie, who have a farm nearby. There is a lot of outdoors on the farm and I sure liked that. Other people came over to visit too and I got lots of attention, which is great. We had lots of fun there and I hope I can visit with Jeff and Connie again sometime.
We went to Lake Sakakawea State Park on Saturday morning and hiked around some more. I also got to play in the lake, which had lots of rocks to dig at. As you can see though, the doggie towel in the van will really need to be washed soon. Mud is fun and I love fun!!! The other picture below is the Garrison Dam Powerplant, where Roger’s Dad worked when he was a kid. He said that he got to visit his dad there while he worked sometimes and that they used to fish in the river here and caught lots of walleye. Roger says walleye is his favorite kind of fish and I have to agree that it is delicious as I got to eat a little when we were at Shawn and Marlys’ house in Bismarck.
Playing in Lake Sakakawea mud!
Garrison Powerplant
Snoozing in Camp.
After visiting the state park, we went back to the campsite for the rest of the afternoon. I was tired and had a snooze!
We had to leave on Sunday morning and I was disappointed about that because it was such great fun here. But I knew that we would see Grandma soon so that made me happy. So we headed east through central North Dakota towards Fargo.
Minuteman II Missile Launch Site
One place we stopped at along the way was the launch facility for a Minuteman II nuclear missile. Here I am sitting near the door that the missile would be under. Roger said the door weighed 107 tons which is a lot more than I weigh. I was kind of scared when Roger told me about the missile but he said it wasn’t there anymore so it was OK. I was glad about that.
We finally arrived at Grandma’s house a little after 3pm. I was very excited to see Grandma again. Aunt Patti, who I have never met, was also there, and I like her a lot too! We are going to stay here awhile and I think I will have fun visiting here. Will tell you all about it a little later.
Simon