Prairie riding

We are visiting Goodrich ND, where my Dad and 2 sisters  and nieces and nephews live.  This blog is posted quite a few days after we left the area.

Woke up this morning, our 3rd day here,  to find that the rain and wind had finally abated.  Looked like we could get out and ride today.  It was wonderful to see the sun, and not be fighting the wind  and rain as we walked the dog this morning.

 

North Dakota has many sloughs.  (pronounced "slews.")   A slough is a "prairie pothole," a depression in the ground, that fills with water.  These depressions were caused by glaciers.  There is over 300,000 square miles of prairies in the north central part of the United Sates and Canada.  The sloughs on the prairies are a wonderful habitat for water birds in the area, as well as for migratory birds,  producing about 50 % of the duck population here in the US.   ND contains 63 wildlife refuges,  encompassing more than 290,000 acres, more than any other state.  The sloughs also furnish a source of water for other wildlife, although some  sloughs can be too alkaline to provide  suitable drinking water.  Others are so big that they look like lakes.  I was surprised the first time I saw pelicans in a ND slough, both brown and white pelicans  are a common sight. We saw only white ones on our ride, the brown ones haven't arrived yet.

 My Dad has a large slough right behind his house, and my sister also has a view of one.  

On our drive to Goodrich we had to detour about 50 miles due to closed roads, caused by water on the roads.  So we decided to ride our trike  to Hurdsfield to see if the road was still closed.  Found that Hwy 200,  from Carrington to Hurdsfield was open, meaning we could avoid the detour when we went onto MN on Thursday. 

The area has many rolling hills, none steep enough to require us to use our mountain drive, but enough to make us work.  The temps were in the mid 70's with the prairie winds light.  Rode by a herd of black Angus cattle, 3  of them stopped and stared at us.  Probably wondering what we were.  They stared, until we were out of sight. 

Rode past grain bins, or at least I think that's what they were.  Also went  past some farmhouses and barns. 

Button was happy to go along today, only whining for the first half of the ride.  He was glad to have his head out so he could look around.  I think he is finally adjusting to being part of the riding trio.  

 The area around Goodrich is open rolling prairie, with few trees.  We joked that we were riding  in ND, where the state tree is the telephone pole.  Joking aside, there is a certain beauty and peace in seeing the prairie stretch before us, knowing that an area like this is where my Dad and his siblings spent many days.  They lived near McHenry ND, where my grandparents farmed for a few years.  There were 5 kids, but only 4 of them were old  enough to "wander the prairie" for the day.  They had a pony, (don't know it's name.,)  In the mornings, their Mom would pack the 4 older ones a lunch, tell them to all stay together, take care of each other, and be back by dark.  Off they would go, looking for fun and adventure, taking turns riding on the pony when they got tired.  Hearing this story from my Aunt a few years ago, gave me a better understanding of the love my Dad  and his siblings have for this part of the country.  Even as we were driving along and she was telling the story, my Aunt got misty eyed.  She too has a love for these lands. 

It was a nice peaceful ride, except when the semi's that frequent Hwy 200 would go zooming past us.  Also saw some interesting farm equipment going down the road, but I have no clue as to what it was or what it did, but it had very large tires.

It was such a pleasure to see the country up close, really liked  hearing the frogs and birds, seeing the ducks, grebes, pelicans, geese and other wildlife around the sloughs. We rode 31 miles today.