Category Archives: On the Road

Answering His Call

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While on the road last weekend I spotted this truck in front of Walmart in Minot. I didn’t have time to hang around and wait for the driver, but I sure would have liked to. In this photo you can kinda see the airbrushing of the Lord Jesus Christ on the beams of the cross.

This truck is adorned with a singular message: Repent and Believe. I am counted among those who came to the saving knowledge that Jesus died to save sinners (of whom I am chief, I might add, in accordance with I Timothy 1:15). It’s encouraging to see this guy taking it to all 50 states.

Fifty states, one true story. The “Repent & Believe” at the bottom of the Virginia license plate caught my eye. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could get plates like that here? Instead we have Fargo-area liberals trying to fight personalized plates with religious themes.

You can check out this truck’s travels at hiscall888.com if you’d like. There’s a blog mentioning North Dakota stops as well as a statement of faith, something I’ve been meaning to put on this site for quite some time. Check it out!

Appropriate use of space

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I had to chuckle the other day when I spotted this gem, since it thumbs its nose at an intrusive federal and state government. Apparently this space is off limits for advertising, so the owner decided to make it serve a good purpose. Declaring a Constitutionally protected right ranks right up there in my book!

Here’s a closeup of the sign along with an explanation of why the declaration is being made. Overspray issues aside, I think this is a fantastic landmark and that there should be more of this sort of thing all over North Dakota. How ’bout that Bill of Rights, eh? I think people need to be reacquainted with it and our other founding documents. You’d be surprised how many rights the state and citizens have and how few the federal government does…

Streaking at Fort Lincoln

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The stars you see streaking in a cloudy stream above this blockhouse at Fort Lincoln are a part of the Milky Way Galaxy, as are we. Last night’s crisp air made for some very clear skies and brilliant stars, so some friends and I ventured off to take advantage of them in the wee hours of the morning. For them, it was the end of their day. For me, it was the end of a long photography journey which began Friday.

As you can see here, I clocked a LOT of miles collecting photos from all over eastern North Dakota. I’ve got too many to even allude to here, but you can bet they’re going to trickle out from time to time in a constant stream. Hint: the friend who accompanied me called this a Cold War Vacation. I’ll let your imagination take over from there.

Good talk, Rusty

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Just think…at one time this fella probably sat in a showroom or on a lot with a shiny coat of paint, just waiting to get out in the field and dig in (pun intented). Now it’s more of an ornament, but a testament to labor done. I’m not sure about the green hub on the axle, though.

Fallen Farm Friday

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Half barn, half house? The very distinctive shape (shapes?) of this house had me jamming on the breaks and whipping around for a quick photo. The part of the house on the left looks like a barn, yet the front makes it look like it collided with a house at some point. The peaks of the roof are like an architectural cherry on top.

This building sits stoically along the road to Fort Ransom, boarded up and tucked into the trees. Spotting such a Fallen Farm building was like stumbling on a hidden photographic treasure!

Ransom County Road

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This was the scene Saturday, as I was in such dire pain I would rate it at a 7. I felt okay when I ventured out with my friend Ken in the wee hours of Saturday morning, road tripping to the Sheyenne River Valley Scenic Byway for some photos. There was a lot going on in Fort Ransom too, with a big arts and crafts show underway, and we were determined to check it out.

We were a little bummed that the fall colors hadn’t fully arrived, and many of the trees whose leaves had turned were already barren. We did our best to have fun and hunted around for whatever we could find. One weird thing about this Byway is that it’s quite lovely…but I didn’t really find a whole lot of interesting photo opportunities! We found a few, but they were far between.

I ended up with some weird sort of infection Friday night that started in my lower sinuses and the roof of my mouth. By mid-day Saturday I was in such pain that I couldn’t swallow, even though my throat was fine. It was bizarre. We cut the trip short and I headed off to the clinic. I was prescribed some antibiotics and other nasty drugs and crawled back home for a couple day’s bed rest. Yuck.

From our “just when you thought you’d seen it all” department…

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One of the last things I thought I’d find in the middle of a field in central North Dakota is a big pyramid of bowling balls. Some look like they’ve been painted black with what looks like stove paint (regular flat black turns gray) but maybe they’re just aged. Some are left with their original color(s). This stack of bowling balls was next to a brush pile in a field well east of Bismarck.

I’d love to hear the story behind this one.

Sunday morning steeple

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I don’t expect anyone to guess the church beneath this steeple, since it’s not in Bismarck-Mandan. I took my little boy up to Lake Sakakawea this weekend. I had three objectives: check out our place and see how tall the grass was (and if my new key works), see how 18-month old PJ does with spending the night in a tent, and run around the area to let my boy see the lake, the dam, the fish, the birds, and any other sights we could find.

Not only did I succeed on all counts, but PJ loved the tent and my new key works in the lock. We also have a lot more water up there than we did the last time I ventured north. I’m told that the big lake has been coming up at a fantastic pace recently.

I also had the chance to do some photography in the area, so this is the steeple of the little lutheran church southwest of Pick City. When I took it, PJ was in the passenger seat of my truck saying “Happy!” over and over. I think he likes camping.

Fields of gold, and going nowhere fast

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I took the opportunity to leather up and stretch the big Suzuki’s legs Sunday afternoon, of course with twenty-some pounds of camera gear strapped to my back. I’m a daddy of two now, so I have to learn to consolidate my hobbies if I want to get time to do them. If I could just find a way to train karate while I SCUBA dive with a controller for a nitro-burning RC truck in each hand, while riding one of my fleet of motorcycles and taking a picture, all while pulling a giant wheelie on my mountain bike at the tennis court. That would just about cover it, I think I could hold my favorite frisbee in my teeth. Instead of attempting the impossible, I have instead resorted to times like this to steal away for a little chunk of time, and pick and choose which hobbies get my attention for now. Sooner than I can imagine, my boys will be old enough to do many of those things with me.

This was another one of those days where I catch my self saying, “I love my polarizer!” On a nice sunny day, it gets rid of all that pesky scattered light and brings out the best in nature’s colors…especially the blue of the skies. It also helped that the fields were full of what I’m told is golden clover, as seen behind this threshing machine north of Bismarck! Note the wind farm on the horizon.

After reading about the abandoned town of Arena, North Dakota, I decided to head up there and see what I could see. I saw what was left of an old elevator, the lone house in town, and the church next door. All were boarded up. It was a beautiful day, even in leather racing apparel, and I made some other photo stops along the way. The fields and the sky collaborated to give me lots of color Sunday, and I was able to enjoy the photography and the ride.

I suppose you could technically say I went “nowhere” since the town of Arena doesn’t officially exist anymore, at least not as it once did. According to my GPS, I went “nowhere” fast…reaching 245 mph maximum speed! I’d like to take this occasion to say I WISH. I couldn’t do 245 mph if I wanted to. I’m not saying how close I got, however. I’ll keep that between me and the bugs splattered all over the visor of my helmet. As far as the other numbers on the display, well…they’re worthless too. I forgot to stop logging the trip when I got home, so it sat logging all day. I don’t know how long I was riding, how long I was stopped taking pictures, or even my top speed (244? hm…). Great day for photos and motorcycling, bad day for data acquisition. I guess I’ll have to go do it again. Darn.

Rusty shovel

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Poking around southwest of my beloved Mandan, I came across this behemoth. It’s actually not that big by today’s standards, but it’s still a formidable hunk of metal. Driven by a small two-cylinder engine, with two spark plugs per cylinder, this machine probably hasn’t moved in years. I suspect it will soon, however.

Check it out: chain drive on the bucket arm! Pretty cool. I took a lot of pictures of this piece of hardware, but don’t have time to post them here just yet. Somehow I resisted the urge to climb all over the thing. It’s a lot bigger than the ones I used to play with in my sandbox as a kid! I guess the little boy in me is still mesmerized by heavy equipment such as this.