Up early again. Watched the sun rise. Hampton Inns have pretty good coffee. Showers, more coffee, then on the road.

Heading north then west of Fargo for a big surprise… Irena was dubious but we pushed on. As soon as we got just north of Fargo city limits the traffic disappeared. Not that there is a lot of traffic anyway but a nice drive on the interstate for a bit.  Got off about 50 miles north of town, blasted down some county road and there it was..

No, not the WKRP tower but WTVR.  The tallest structure on the North American continent.  2065 feet.   As with all pics, the perspective is lost.  Looking up from the base is…

Lots of these around.  This one was about 1/4 of a mile from the base.

Found a route across North Dakota using county roads.  First we needed gas.  These little burgs are not exactly bastions of commerce. Not overly concerned but dropping below a quarter of a tank.  Several towns we tried had nothing.  Came across a nice little town with a couple of gas pumps.  Mayville, ND.  On the Goose River.D

Cruising across ND was actually great.  Wide open 2 lane roads with a 65mph speed limit.  Very little traffic.  Lots of farm trucks bringing in the harvest to the silos.  They all were doing 70+.  Every once in a while you had to pull way over on the shoulder to let some monster piece of farm equipment by.  There is some big equipment out there.  Still harvesting.

At any rate, as we were meandering west, I passed this sign and had to turn around to be sure if it is what I thought it was.

Oh yeah.  I mean you know they are out there but they usually don’t have roadside signs. So we pulled over in the next town, Cooperstown, a few miles down the road.  We did the Google thing and found this..

Not sure here.  Irena is guessing a conehead burial mound..

I don’t know here either. Septic cover maybe.

Facility gate keepers office.  Security was amazing.  This place was decommissioned in 1997.  This was one of the launch facilities.  There were dozens of these.  The actually silos number in the hundreds.

Security officers bunks

Heading down to launch controlsLooking up to ground levelNot sure what this is.  Irena suggested the original flux capacitor.Two rooms down below.  This is generator, hydraulics etc.Heading into the launch control tube

Anyway…  Nice local lady gave us the tour.  She offered to show us a film as well but we had to get moving.  On the way out of town notice this person’s opinion filling up his living room window.  He/she put some time into this display.

Then we came across another must stop.  Irena bought a bag to keep as road food.  But we really did have to get moving.  It was 1 or 2 in the afternoon.  We were shooting for Williston on the west side of the state.  So we headed west at speed.  Still very nice country.  Nice farms, small towns.  Had to stop for  something to drink and stretch legs.  When was the last time you saw one of these?

Pushed on.  Ran into Missouri River country.  The Lewis and Clark scenic byway.  Also oil  and gas country.  Lots and Lots of wells, gas burn offs etc. Traffic picked up big time.  Lots of activity re the energy industry.

In time we pulled into Williston.  Found a great little mom and pop motel – Winterton Suites.  They recommended a local restaurant – Lonny’s.  Worked perfect.  Ended the evening with chairs and drinks out front.

Heard from the contractor with pics..  Looking good there.

We are close to the state line with Montana.  Heading there tomorrow.  Not sure where we will end up.  But rest assured.  We will end up somewhere.

Life is good.