Hannah, North Dakota

Hi from North Dakota!

Yesterday is a day we would prefer to forget.  More truck problems.  It started stalling again and this time would not reset.  Ralph was able to (hopefully) fix it by disconnecting the battery which forced a hard reset.  We backtracked an hour to International Falls, MN to talk to a Ford Dealer (seem to be visiting too many of them on this trip).  To make a long story short, we are back on the road and hope to make it home with no further troubles.  We spent the night at Icelandic State Park in North Dakota near the Canadian border.  

Today we visited the town of Hannah, ND just 1 1/2 miles from the Canadian Border where Ralph spent his first two years before his family moved to Buellton.  We knew that the town had shrunk significantly since he was a baby and didn't really know what to expect.  Pictures below of the town today.  After visiting Hannah, we crossed the border into Canada one more time to see Crystal City, Manitoba where Ralph was born (it had the best hospital nearby).   It was a very remote border crossing and instead of staying in the car as we did for most crossings, we got out.  We spent about 20 minutes chatting with the two border agents who were really nice and probably a little bit bored.  They said they average less than one vehicle crossing the checkpoint per day.  After today we don't have to fill out ArriveCAN to get into Canada.  Of course...today was our last border crossing.

Tonight we are staying at Cross Ranch State Park near Bismarck, a beautiful park along the Missouri River.  We had originally planned on being at Theodore Roosevelt National Park tonight but because of our delay due to truck problems yesterday, we decided not to push it and stop one night along the way.  Glad we did.  Weather has been great the last two days, in the 70's.

Hannah downtown.  The paved roads ended about 1/2 mile from Hannah.  Wikipedia said that Hannah has a population of 8.  But we saw about six houses that looked lived in so that number is low.  Add to that one barking Schnauzer dog.  On the left is the old Post Office and on the right is the old pool hall.  We must have looked quite odd driving our trailer with California plates through this tiny, almost deserted town.

The first picture is of the old grain silo in town.  The industry in town was the silo where people brought their grain.  Industrial farming caused the decline of the town.  The second photo is Ralph peering in the window of the old pool hall.  He remembers going back to his grandparents' home for a visit when he was 12 and playing pool there.  Last photo (with my long shadow) is of main street today.  Ralph's parents ran a grocery store on Main St. which has since been torn down.  He also tried to find his grandparents' home but thought it was gone.  No photos of Crystal City but it is a much larger "city" at 300 population.  Crystal City was a very nice little town.  

Various photos we took along the way.  Top photo is of sunflower fields (sunflowers are past peak).  There were lots and lots of sunflower fields.  Photo #2 is Ralph being creative out his window of the sun rising (we got an early start this morning).  Last two photos are of grain silos.  Silos are all over the state and it is clear that grain is the major crop.

We were surprised to discover that our drive took us right by the geographical center of North America.  How cool is that!

This is the Missouri River at tonight's campground.  We really had an enjoyable day today topped off by this beautiful campground.