This is my FIRST trip to Camp Metigoshe... FIRST, I went from FIRST, Minot to... |
...to FIRST Lutheran in... |
...Bottineau, ND. Now I can tell people, "Yeah, you've been to Bolivia but I've been to Bottineau!" |
Heading north from Bottineau.... crossing FIVE sets of railroad tracks... impressive! This is no One-Track-Town here! |
I heard about the Turtle Mountains... the verticle climb sounds intimidating. |
A mile and a half later, I climbed a full 100 feet in elevation already! |
I can see the mountain pass looming ahead. |
Another mile and 100 feet in elevation... my ears are popping and the car is struggling. |
I made it another mile and another 100 feet... I had to pull off the road since my car keeps overheating! My dog is distressed! |
OH NO!! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO? ARE WE GOING TO MAKE IT??!! |
All right, you've had your fun... get back in the car now... |
...and close the hood. |
Time for a shot back upon the plains we left behind. |
The journey upward continues over the miles... another 100 feet elevation. |
Another mountain peak looms on the right. |
Wow!! It took all the efforts of the United States military to establish security in this mountainous area. |
I looked back... What a vista from on high!! Whew... it's dizzying. (Oh, come on... I'm having fun with my captions.) |
Back to the road... heading for the first summit. |
Hey... some nice decorations on these signs. It adds to the drama of the driving. |
Whew!! I reach the first summit... no more overheating. |
Driving over the crest of the first Turtle Mountains pass. |
A veiw of neighboring mountains. |
Whoa.... another summit looming up on the distant horizon... another hundred feet elevation coming up! |
At last... 8 miles later... on top of the mountain. Feeling a little dizzy, but my body will adjust to the mountain altitudes. |
More mountain driving coming up... hundreds of feet... well, ALMOST 200 more feet elevation. |
Enough of my silliness. I arrive at the Christian Center and take a left off the highway. |
Off the highway is a road less travelled. It seems like a peaceful, quiet place. |
Time to turn into the driveway. |
The main retreat building. |
What a beautiful retreat center! |
Nice worship space... and a fireplace to relax... hey, does it get COLD around here in winter? |
A camp always needs a bell. |
A place for evening song... and lilacs... they dried up six weeks ago in Kansas; nice to see them again! |
And, of course, the water. |
A place to worship for Lutherans and Catholics, it seems. |
The youth camp on Pelican Lake... NOTICE the pelican (center and right)... aptly named lake! |
Found it... yes, I missed it but traveled some interesting gravel roads before arriving. |
A space for worship... a central force of church camping. |
A cabin... and yes... I should have rolled down my car window. Oops. |
Not just your average canoe, here! |
The customary cross on the water camp shot... I must say... sure does look beautiful today! |
Back from the water to the dining hall and pavillion. |
Now THIS is a deck to make anyone proud. Impressive. |
Staff is training... and having a "drive-in" supper after the "Cruise on Main" with cars playing loud music. Sound fun! |
A good sized dining hall... a primary requirement for lots of hungry campers. |
A camp co-director... yes, I forgot her name. But, I forget most EVERYBODY's name... I like to treat people equally. |
On my way out... and WHAT IS THIS?? Counsellors preparing to meet some campers?? |
Katie suggested I take the windy scenic route back... Let's see what I see... |
Why, there's a scene right there to my left... but... what am I seeing... need a closer look. |
Ah... the ol' boot on the fence post decoration... quite popular in Minneapolis when I was growing up. |
And another boot, to boot. |
And even MORE boots... I'm getting a kick out of this. |
Hey... this must be one of those new wind generation farms I've been hearing about. Cool. |
The road back has it's mountain peaks as well, I see. |
And, it provides some more curves. |
Up and down... and up and down... Whew... when do I get back to something more gentle on my equillibrium? |
I must admit... North Dakota does have some unique beauty. I can see why people love it. |
The Bottineau international airport, the white concourse. |
Taking a look back on the Turtle Mountain Range. |
Time to finish the trip to Minot... wait... I think I see it only 75 more miles away! |
First Lutheran Church in Minot, North Dakota |