Today we pulled out of Medora and headed east on I94 towards Bismark, ND. We are planning on making a detour down a side road that is known as the Enchanted Highway. It runs 32 miles south of I94. You then have to head east and north again to get back. At the end of the 32 miles is the city of Regent. A retired schoolteacher, Gary Greff, built 7 40-foot tall sculptures so that people would be inspired to leave the Interstate and visit his home town. I don't think it worked as well as he hoped as the town looked pretty dead. Anyway, we did stop and see the works of art and here they are.
Geese In Flight. It is 110 feet high, 154 feet wide and weighs 157,661 pounds. It has over 5 miles of welds on it and the sunburst backdrop is made of over 300 lengths of well pipe,
Next in line is Deer Crossing. The buck is 70 feet tall and 60 feet long. The doe is 50 feet tall and 50 feet long.
12 miles further down the road you will find Grasshoppers' Delight. The world's largest grasshopper is 40 feet tall and 50 feet long. It sits in a wheat field with two medium-sized and three small grasshoppers.
Drive another 3 miles and there sits the Fisherman's Dream. The surface of the water is about 40 feet in the air. Among the seaweed swims 6 fish - northern, walleye, salmon, trout, bluegill and catfish. A 70-foot bass leaps above the water.
Pheasants on the Prairie is another 5 miles further down the road. The rooster is 40 feet tall and 70 feet long. The hen is 35 feet tall and 60 feet long, and the three chicks are 15 foot high and 20 feet long.
Driving 3 more miles brings you to Teddy Rides Again. It is of Theodore Roosevelt who was briefly a resident of North Dakota. It is made of 1 3/4 inch well pipe, is 51 fet tall and weighs over 9,000 pounds. There is also a stagecoach for kids to play on. The horses with the stagecoach used to have tails and manes of rope but those have worn off.
The last giant figures are the Tin Family. The Tin Man stands 45 feet tall. His wife is 44 feet tall and held up by 12 telephone poles. Her hair is barbed waire and her earrings are grain augers. Their 23 foot tall propeller-headed son licks a gigantic lollipop.
Now you will be close to the town of Regent. There are a couple of little stores and the trees in town have whirligigs in the trees. We didn't see any of those but hey, the giant junk art sculptures were enough.
We headed back towards I94 and on our way to Bismark. We stayed at a campground on the east of Bismark in Menoken at the Prairie Breeze RV Park. I forgot to take pictures but it was basically a place to spend the night. The site were long pull-throughs with hookups. For 30 amps it is $20 a night. There is a wash house/laundry/bathroom building and that is about all. But for what it is, it is fine.
We originally planned on traveling about 135 miles today but with the detour we went 197 miles. It was fun and we had a good time doing it. If you are ever in the area check out the Enchanted Highway.
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