We’ve just checked into the Days Inn, Bismarck ND. We left the public library at Dickinson and headed for Bismarck, and then North. We hoped to find a spot and settle in for watching the cloud development. We found a line of nicely developing clouds near Wilton. Visual observation – a line of cumulus clouds, flat based, and joined with rising crowns, no towers. We found a nice church and turned into the parking lot to watch the cloud development.
Forecast predicted storm development in the early evening. From visual observation nothing was going to develop while there was good visibility. So we decided to call it a "bust" and do some exploring.
We followed the Missouri river north, crossed it at Washburn and then explored the western bank. We found the most gorgeous wildlife refuge managed by the Nature Conservancy, called the Cross Ranch Nature Preserve. Picture it: rolling green hills, with sleepy bison and nervous white tailed deer. The light in the late afternoon turned it all golden. Superb.
The back road we took spilled us out onto the I-94 at Mendan.
This is what I love about roadtrips: the unexpected things one discovers off the beaten path.
Photo’s will follow on our return home.
Tomorrow we will be doing more exploring on our return. Total mileage done so far has been around 800 miles.
