Chasing our Dreams: JUNE 18, 2012

We left Duluth, Mn this morning heading for North Dakota. We drove through a town named Akeley, Mn. which is the birthplace of Paul Bunyan. Stopped to take a picture of him in front of the Paul Bunyan Museum.

JUNE 19, 2012

This was a driving day. We ended up in Fargo, ND and spent the night in a Sams Club. The next morning we drove until we reached the Knife River Indian Villages in Stanton, ND. This is a National Historic Site and I got another stamp for my Passport to National Parks book. At the Indian Village was an Earth Lodge where the Indians lived. In this lodge lived a mother and father and their family and all extended family. The extended family would be their daughters and their husbands and children. A son would live with his wife's family. It was nice and cool in there. The ranger told us that the house was always comfortable whether it was freezing or hot outside. In the middle of the lodge was a campfire. Above the fire was an opening in the top of the lodge to let out smoke. When it rained they would put an old bull boat over the top that would stop the rain from entering but would still let the smoke out.

Earth Lodge

Interior of Earth Lodge

Hole in roof to let out smoke from fire below

Bull Boat (this is a boat made from tree branches and buffalo hides that they used to float their supplies down the river) When they were no longer able to use them to float they used them to cover the tops of the lodge when it rained or snowed.

This was a former site of Indian villages and they estimated there could have been up to 400 of the earth lodges here. From an aerial photo you can still see the mounds where the lodges were.

Aerial Photo of where the lodges stood

Until you go to a place like this you cannot begin to imagine how these people lived.

After touring the village, we went a few miles down the road to Hazen, ND where we would spend the night in the Lewis & Clark RV Park. The campground host told Jesse about an open strip coal mine in the area. He use to work there and said they give tours, so Jesse called and we got on a tour for the next day.

JUNE 20, 2012

Arrived at the Coteau Mines in Beulah, ND. We were met by our tour guide (an engineer) who has worked at the coal mine for over 30 years. We had a private tour. This was a strip mining operation where they remove the soil to get down to the coal, remove the coal and restore the land back to its original shape and use. If it was farmland before, it becomes farmland afterwards. They are under strict regulation to prove that the ground will produce the same amount and quality of crops afterwards as it did before they mined it. They have to go through 10 yrs of studies to prove that it is the same afterwards.

He took us out and showed us how the land looks before they begin digging, then took us to where we could see how they removed the soil and stored it, then onto an area where they were ready to remove the coal. Then we went to an area showing them putting the soil back in and building the land back up to exactly the way it was before they began. It was amazing to see the equipment they use and the size of it. A tire can cost $30,000.00 and they may get 2 yrs use out of it. The statistics on the material that these machines excavate and carry was unbelievable.