North Dakota

One thing I have learned over and over again while working on my 30 Before 30 list is the power of setting goals and working towards them - it is amazing what happens when you put something out in the universe!

North Dakota was one of those times. I was planning to take a road trip through several mid-west states, but wasn't sure how I was going to get enough time off, and find someone who was willing and able to go with me. About that time my sister-in-law, Fanja, told me she was accepted to a Master's program to study math at the University of North Dakota. And they are right on border between North Dakota and Minnesota! (you can read more about our Minnesota adventure as well, if you want!)

Luckily I was able to go visit about a week after they arrived in North Dakota with everything they owned in tow (except the stuff they accidentally left in a neighbors garage... oops!). Going shortly after they moved allowed me to help with some of the unpacking and settling in.

After sorting some boxes, Anthony and the girls and I went for a walk around campus. One of the first things I saw was one of several covered walkways.



In addition to providing students safety as they cross some of the more major roads, I decided they area also likely to help with the intense cold that the winter will bring. Plus, they look really cool at night:



At the beginning of our walk, we found the perfect place to take a family selfie, but since the girls being in strollers made it a bit challenging, and Fanja wasn't with us, it was just Anthony and me in the picture:



The campus is beautiful! They have a lot of great statues and garden spaces, including the Soaring Eagle Prairie:



There is also a cool memorial garden honoring UND students who died while attending UND (mostly during the World Wars).



It was a peaceful place, and it had these incredible bush/tree things. They have branches that all grow up from the bottom instead of from a central trunk leaving them hollow inside. I don't think this picture does them justice, but trust me, they were super cool!



At some point on the walk, I realized that both girls were asleep in their strollers, with their heads bent at the same "that looks so incredibly uncomfortable!" angle, and I had to take a picture!



Later, we went to run a few errands and ended up at the local mall (which is very small). I got new running shoes, and Anthony got a photo with a moose - we both left happy :)



On Saturday we took a trip to Minnesota, and on the way home, we paused at the local Historical Society and museum. We got to learn about the flood of 1897 and the flood of 1997. Both were pretty devastating to the town of Grand Forks, the 1997 flood resulted in the largest evacuation of a city since the Civil War.



There were also some cool exhibits about the founding of Grand Forks. I particularly enjoyed the wheel from the last operating steamboat on Red River



And the old school camera they had on display.



There was also a cool photo where some military personnel arranged themselves in the shape of the Liberty Bell - so impressive!!

In addition to the museum about Grand Forks (and history a little more broadly) there were several additional buildings that had been moved from around the greater area to preserve them. Once of which was a garage filled with old cars and sleds. It was too dark inside to get any good photos of the vehicles, but there was a student parking pass from the 1950s on one of the Fords:

And there was also an old one room school house, that were used in that area until the 1960s in many cases. They had some awesome examples of teachers contracts, maps used at that time, lists of what should be in the school (including a dictionary, and encyclopedia, and pictures of the Presidents - which was translated into one of Washington and one of Lincoln). But the thing I found the most fascinating was the stove. I learned that kids would bring potatoes and put them in the stove to cook and eat them with lunch. Also, so families would send soup in one can to be warmed on the stove for all the kids, and have the added benefit of being carried by an older child minimizing the likelihood that the meal would be spilled or stolen.

In a house that was owned by one of the first families of Grand Forks they had some examples of toys. Including this tiny iron - which is on a tiny ironing board on a dolls dress. Yep, little girls would heat a cast iron and iron their doll clothes.

There is a pretty awesome park just past campus that we all enjoyed. Anthony may have enjoyed the park more than anyone else - if the video of Fanja on the teeter totter and Vanyah on the swings are any indication...



And there was also the butterfly we found. I'm still not sure if it was already injured, or if Alexia accidentally stepped on it tearing it's wing. But I do know that she loved looking at it!

Over the course of my time there I was able to take a few family photos at various places. While not everyone is looking every time, we had fun and captured some great memories!



One of the great memories was during couple shots:

And definitely some of the "girls only" photos:

As we walked home from the Japanese Gardens, there was a storm brewing. We got lucky and were able to make it home before it storm caught up with us, but it was getting pretty ominous:

On my last day, Anthony had an interview, so we dropped him off and went to explore before picking him up again.

The original idea was to go to The Kegs and get the state sandwich (Sloppy Joe's) and their homemade root beer. Unfortunately, it was closed until the time my flight was scheduled to take off. But it was still a cool photo op!

With time to kill, we drove around downtown Grand Forks (and accidentally over the river into East Grand Forks in MN at one point). We saw some cool statues outside the court building:

An awesome bike rack:

And their fun downtown light posts with banners and flowers:

After the interview, and when it was actually time for me to leave, we all piled into the car and drove to the GFK airport. I got beautiful smiles and hugs from Alexia as a goodbye and just the peaceful sleeping face of Vanyah as my final goodbye:

Bonus: if you made it this far, you deserve to see this awesome video!