Catching up Part Two

Riverdale,  ND

Ah - the weather here in ND is great.  Really cool at night but warms up during the day.   What I find interesting is that it is still light at 9:30 pm and not REALLY dark until close to 11.  Then by 4:30 am it is getting light again.

One thing - everything is SO far apart.   We found the nearest Methodist church to attend tomorrow morning and it is 28 miles away.   Then we needed groceries.  Okay - ride 55 miles.    We did notice a laundromat about 3 miles away that we will be visiting tomorrow after church.

On Monday we will meet up with Carol and Kevin from the Moving On blog.  They are working  at a campground about 50 or so miles from here.  And much to our delight a NOMADS couple we have worked with in Tucson live about 40 miles south.  We will also be meeting up with them either early Monday or sometime Tuesday.   We head out on Wednesday.

Now back to our drive along the Sheyenne River Valley national scenic byway which I started to describe yesterday.

Along the drive are several "points of interest" with good signage.   This is Pyramid Hill

On top is a statute of a Viking.  This area was settled by Norwegians.   There is a lot of local debate on the hill.  Some say it is a natural pyramid.  Others argue the top 1/3 is man-made as many burial mounds have been found in the area.

A little further up the road and we saw this pretty girl running alongside us and knew she was going to cross in front.   Len slowed to permit her to cross.

It is interesting as all the following buildings sit along the road (some roads were gravel) with no other buildings in sight, sometimes for miles.

The Slattum Cabin built in 1879.   Theodore Slattum was a Norwegian immigrant.   He left Minnesota by ox-wagon with $40, settled here and raised 9 children in this house.

The original Preston Lutheran Church was built in 1898.   It burned in 1953.  Immediately the congregation started rebuilding.   The church was completed in 1956.

The Waldheim Church was organized in 1886 by a Norwegian Pastor.  The church was built in 1900.

Norwegian immigrant brothers built this "Men's Meeting House" in 1878.

There were about 100 one room school houses in Barnes County, ND.   The last one to close this one, King School, which shut the doors in 1967.   The law had provided that all children 8 to 14 had to attend at least 12 weeks of school a year.  The rest of the time many were needed to work on the family farms, etc.

Children were assigned grades according to what they knew, not their age.  Sometimes a pupil was older than the teacher.  Potential teachers had to pass exams.   An exam dated Jan. 7, 1890 had the following problems, among others.

1.   Prove that in an obtuse angled triangle the greatest side lies opposite the greatest angle.

2.  What parts of the U.S. have the greatest and least rainfall.  Why?

3.  Raise a-b to the fifth power by the binomial theorem.  Give the rule for the coefficients of the terms.

4.  Names the leading exports of Russia, Cuba, Calcutta, Melbourne and California.


How'd you do????

We are settled in beautiful Downstream COE park on Garrison Dam at Lake Sakakawea.   What a treat.  The sites are huge.   50 amp (no water or sewer) at only $8.00 a night with our Federal Pass.

We are about 300 feet from the Missouri river.    Hard to beat!