- - - Valley City - - -

***Drive the National Scenic Byway, visit the Barnes Co Museum (by far the nicest 'small town' museum around) where they have travelling exhibits (from Smithsonian & other places) as well as the usual stuff

***Check our the neat & unusual shops...antiques, 2nd-hand, photo studios, pottery, etc

***Don't miss 'The Quilted Ceiling' (fabrics, kitchenwares, gifts, misc) where each of the 2' x 4' ceiling tiles is painted in a different quilt block pattern!

***Eat at Another Time - a small cafe in a 1920's house, Dutton's Parlor-an ice cream shop & coffee Bar, the Viking Room (Good soups!), or The Chinese Palace (best oriental food around...better than anything in Fargo or Bismarck!)

***Stop at the Rosebud Visitor's Center to see the 'Rosebud', a 1880's railroad superintendant's private car with it's original wood furniture, fold up bunk beds and heavy brass light fixtures, kitchen, dining room, and bathrooms (like the private rail cars on the 'Wild, Wild West' TV show & Movies!) There are also displays telling about our area and about the Sheyenn Valley National Scenic Byway. This is also where to go to ask questions about the town or to puck up maps & brochures pertaining to the area.

***In summer, walk or drive the bridge tour - we have 14 bridges in town and several are unusual or one-of-a kind bridges, and a couple are on the National Historic Register.

***The Winter Show, Ralley in the Valley, Soapbox Derby, Christmas in the Valley, Community Days, Sheyenne Shuffle Half Marathon, Artists Crawl, High School & College Homecoming parades, Rodeos & Horse shows nearly every weekend in summer, Craft Shows, Farmers Market 3 times a week, etc, etc, etc.

***Hike the North Country Trail, hunt, snow mobile, fish, waterski (Lake Ashtabula is 15 minutes away), downhill ski (at Fort Ransom 40 miles away)

***Go Geo-Caching - there's dozens of caches within 50 miles!

***Camp in town or at one of the campgrounds up at the Lake

***Stay at one of the unique lodging choices - The Presedent's House Guest Inn, Three Oaks Guest Inn, Lakeside Bed & Breakfast, or Sheyenne Riverbend Farm, and have a nice supper at City Lights Supper Club or at Sabir's.

I know there's more, but that's what I can think of off the top of my head.

I remember asking a question and no one responded, but I visited North Dakota anyway.

-I went to Medora and Theodore Roosevelt Park was scenic and uncrowded.

-The Enchanted Highway was different and interesting.

-Stopped at Mandan and saw Ft. Abe Lincoln.

-Scenery was nice with rolling hills of gold, brown, and green.

We didn't stay in the state long, but enjoyed what we did. It was too cold for the Musical when we were there. I stayed at Custer's Cottages, which was reasonable and very homey. There were some cute shops in Medora. I wasn't too impressed with the food though.

If one can't find things to do there is always shoveling snow in the winter which much of us have had to do this winter, more snow than I can remember.

Sorry just had to add that to the forum.

Fembird

The east side of the state has more curling going on.

"Our forum is dead guys."

With a little bit of work, Iowa can be overtaken. Today it's 1071 to 642 posts.

Some places have panning for gold as an activity, so why not drilling for oil?

In Jamestown you can visit the Frontier Village/World's Largest Buffalo/National Buffalo Museum site, where you can see three sacred white buffalo. Our Arts Center always has an exhibit running and admission is always free.

We also have a few lovely scenic drives in the area. The Birding Drives Dakota (www.birdingdrives.com) routes take you through the prairie pothole region where you can see many indigenous birds as well as other wildlife and rolling plains. The Chan SanSan Scenic Backway runs south from Jamestown and takes travelers through a valley carved out over 12,000 years ago by glacial melt water.

The North Dakota State Fair! Quintessentially country and midwest. Will always come back to ND to visit Minot in July for it. Great for families, great for everyone.

I am looking forward to a mini-vacation to the International Peace Gardens (north of Dunseith, ND) this summer.

Along the way we plan to stop in Rugby, ND to visit the Geographical Center of North America monument and possibly the Dakota Hills Winery and Vineyard in Knox, ND.

I just went up to Lake Ashtabula/Baldhill Dam yesterday and thought I would mention here the recreational activites available there. I think the person from Valley City may have mentioned it too. If you are an outdoorsy person wanting to spend time in North Dakota, the North Country trail follows the west side of Lake Ashtabula and from my short hike yesterday was a very nice trail! I hope to go back for a day hike this weekend. You could also make it a several day trip as there are 30+ miles of certified trail along the Lake. If you like wildlife, I was only on the trail for 20 minutes and saw pelican, warblers, mallards, and deer. Also, below the dam are several places for canoe access along the Sheyenne River. A day floating down the river would be a great way to see natural North Dakota!