North Dakota - Where the Jobs Are

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You want a job? Go to North Dakota. Their unemployment rate is only 3%. It’s the lowest in the nation, partially because they have plenty of wind and oil jobs, but as one North Dakotan explained to us, “We put you to work here.”

Not only do they have the lowest unemployment rate in North Dakota, but they’re patriotic as well. We spent several days in Medora. You cannot leave that town, especially the musical, without feeling patriotic and proud of America. Not being from around North Dakota, we didn’t realize Medora is a vacation destination. Now, we see and understand. Read on to find out why.

Here are some highlights from North Dakota:

Worst Closure:  Nothing. Tourist season has its advantages!

Biggest Surprise:  The reporter wanted to ride in the van with us! We had two television interviews in Bismarck, CBS and NBC, and they both did a fantastic job of covering our quest to promote organ donation. One reporter wanted us to drive around the parking lot so she could film our van, which we’ve done before, but then she asked if she could get in and ride with us. Now, that was something new!

Biggest Disappointment:  That we’re not able to play more disc golf. We played our first round on the trip in Bismarck. We used to play frequently in Illinois and had hoped to play in every state, but we’re just too busy. It was fun, though, and I wish we could play more often for the exercise, the enjoyment, and the scenery.

Most Beautiful Spot:  The Medora Musical. I purchased the tickets, and Mike about fell over when he heard how much we were spending on a musical. Neither Mike, nor Levi, nor Chloe wanted to see a musical, but some things just have to be done, and I sure hoped this was worth it! It turned out that it was.

The musical is held in an outdoor amphitheatre with a nice view of the countryside. We took in the first half of the musical which included a Gospel sing. We were pleasantly surprised by their boldness in proclaiming God. After the intermission the feature act, a comedian, performed. He had us rolling, and we wished he could have continued longer. Then the musical finished with the historical Teddy Roosevelt portion and finale: it was so patriotic and inspiring! We left feeling proud to be Americans and impressed with North Dakotans.

Best Tourist Spot:  Everything Medora!  Medora (the town and everything in it) is run by a non-profit foundation whose mission is to preserve the history and values of Theodore Roosevelt through the whole Medora experience, and boy do they ever!

“Bully the Play” is a one man act, performed with passion and gusto, about Theodore Roosevelt. The actor portraying Teddy began by calling all the kids up on stage. Chloe was so excited because she had just been talking about how thrilling it would be to be on stage. It was a fun way to get the kids interested from the onset. The play was entertaining and educational for all of us, and I think Chloe, who is not a history fan, even enjoyed it and learned something!

Worst Tourist Spot:  Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Mandan. It was not worth the 40 minute drive from Bismarck. Fortunately, we happened to visit on a free day, so we weren’t out any money. The center contained almost all reading exhibits with only 2 or 3 interactive ones. Chloe, our hands-on learner, was bored stiff. We high-tailed it out of there to visit Fort Mandan, which I do recommend if you’re in the area.

Best Meal:  Pizza Ranch Buffet. I’m not normally a fan of buffets, especially pizza ones, but this was very clean and had a nice selection of not only pizzas but soup, salad, and dessert.

Worst Meal:  A quick buffalo dinner. There really wasn’t much of a choice for dinner in Medora on a limited budget. When we asked around, everyone said that all the restaurants were good. It was a little strange, as if the workers were robots programmed to say all the restaurants were good and not able to say what they really felt about the different dining establishments. We settled at Maltese Burger because we could eat outside, and they had buffalo burgers. Mike tried a buffalo hot dog which he thought was okay, ditto with my buffalo burger. Basically, it was your typical fast food which has been sitting around far too long. We also ordered a bottle of Sarsparilla to share. It was like sweet root beer, too sweet for me, but Chloe really liked it.

Grossest Memory:  I had a pretty good horse on our trail ride through the Badlands. His only problem was following too closely to Chloe’s horse. One of the instructions we were given was to maintain a good distance from the horse in front of you; however, my horse kept riding on Chloe’s horse’s butt…literally. At one point my horse even got pooped on – on his nose - because he was tailgating too closely! If only our van could do that to the cars who follow too closely behind us on the interstate…

Worst Memory:  Barely being able to walk after getting off the horse. It was nice to see the Badlands from horseback, but I realized how old I am when I got off the horse and could hardly walk. My knees were actually in pain walking down stairs afterwards.

Best Memory:  Waterslides with the kids. After the lackluster day at the interpretative center, I figured we had to do something fun. The weather was going to be 90, so a water park was just the ticket. Raging Rivers Water Park is definitely showing its age, but we still had fun going down the slides and in the lazy river.

My ND Hike:  How can you hike after getting off a horse? Seriously!

Biggest Twinge of Homesickness:  Nothing.  I guess we're getting this travel thing down...another year anyone?!?  

Biggest Revelation:  So that’s what you do during a tornado warning at a hotel! Thanks to his supersonic hearing, Mike awoke to the sound of the siren going off at 1:30 am. Shortly thereafter, the front desk called everyone informing them about the tornado warning, so we and the other guests waited in the lobby until the rotation passed through Fargo. Thankfully, there was no tornado.

What We Did Miss:  A tornado, the northern lights in Rugby, International Peace Garden, Devil’s Lake, and others all recommended to us.

In Summary:  North Dakota, we love your family values and patriotism. If we could handle the cold, we’d move there…and be put to work right away!

-The Mom