Day 3, July 25 - Monticello, Minnesota to Forsythe, Montana

Stopped to get gas at Fergus Falls and found the Northern Continental Divide monument. A continental divide is a drainage divide where the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side feeds into a different ocean or sea. There are five divides in North America. The Northern Divide separates the watershed of the Atlantic Ocean from that of Hudson Bay.

Well, we are on our way across Minnesota and North Dakota and had a learning experience from a Metro police officer in Moorehead, ND!! Who really thinks that Moorehead, ND is metro … we sure didn’t. Anyway, Bill was tooling along about 65-70 and heard the music of the cop car. When he pulled over, the officer asked if we didn’t know we were in a metro area (they must count all the mosquitoes!!). You can tell you’re in a Metro area when there are buildings alongside the highway and are always 55 MPH. It was NOT the time to tell him that we didn’t think Moorhead was Metro. So Bill used his most convincing voice to tell the officer that he was sorry. Officer only gave us a warning and a handout to let us know just how much the fine would have been.

In the middle of nowhere, we saw this flying geese sculpture. Geese in Flight sculpture was begun in 1998 and completed in 2002. The artist chose to sculpt geese because the birds are significant to North Dakota. They fly through the state every spring and fall, migrating north or south. The geese are enjoyed by bird watchers and hunters alike.

The ride was becoming pretty boring and then we came to the Painted Canyon, part of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Known as the northern Badlands, the color was beautiful. The Badlands are located in the southwest portion of the state. The area is dry today, but in the past, rivers carved out stunning rock features that stand today.

Made it into Forsythe, Montana, a historic town about an hour and a half past the border. It's a quaint little town of about 2,000 people and the county seat for Rosebud County. Forsythe was established in 1876 as the first settlement on the Yellowstone River. The  Sundowner motel has wireless!! I'm in heaven.

We have about 9 hours til we reach Hungry Horse, Montana. We're hoping we get an early start. Talk to you tomorrow.