Birds of North Dakota/Minnosota
December 6, 2012
There wasn’t really enough time to bird this trip, however, I was able to catch a glimpse of a few birds we have back home in Arkansas.
Category: travel
Fargo: Wrap Up.
December 6, 2012
My aunt and I spent less than 24 hours in Fargo, N.D. (with the slight detour into Minnesota). It was my aunt’s 49th state to travel to and we spent the last day she was 49-years-old in the state. We had just enough time to accomplish all we wanted to.
Fargo is a great town and I actually have family who live there. It was fabulous to be able to have lunch with my grandpa’s sister and her daughter. I was even able to catch part of a holiday concert with Majorie Schlossman and Margie Bailey at the Plains Art Museum before walking to downtown to dine at Toscana, which has fabulous Tiramasu and tortellini pasta.
It was only during lunch that we remembered that Fargo was home to Federal District Judge Ronald Davies, who presided over the 1957 integration of Central High School in Little Rock. He was assigned after Arkansas’ judge asked to be relieved. My aunt now works as an interpreter for the school, which is now a national historic site. It was during a discussion of Central High that we learned that Fargo has recently named their newly built high school after Judge Davies. We had to go see it.
The other main item(s) of interest involved the Celebrity Walk of Fame where we also found the above painted buffalo. Pretty cute! It was neat to see who all the city had sign — it included government officials, children’s performers, athletes, actors, authors, sports announcers, musicians and sports legends. Here’s some of the ones I found interesting:
The Celebrity Walk of Fame is at the Fargo-Moorhead Convention and Visitors Bureau so we were also able to catch a glimpse (OK and a picture with) the famous wood chipper from the movie “Fargo.” They even had a copy of the movie for purchase since we have never watched it.
In a nutshell, Fargo, population 105,549, is a great city. However, I will always think of the Fargo as the 98ish-member community in between Stuttgart and my hometown of Wynne.
Photo essay: Achieving dreams
December 6, 2012
“So it will go, the dream will move from dream to reality to memories.”
– Robert Asp
Our first stop Wednesday was to see how one man’s dream translated into a reality and inspiration for others.
We traveled to Moorhead, Minn., to the Hjemkomst Historical Heritage Center to view Robert Asp’s ship, Hjemkomst (Norwegian for Homecoming).
Asp, a Fargo teacher, dreamed of building a Viking ship and sailing it back to the home of his Norwegian forefathers. It became a reality in 1972 when he began building the ship in a former potato warehouse in Hawley, Minn.
However, Asp was soon diagnosed with leukemia and was unable to complete his dream. He died in December 1980 just months after sailing his completed ship on Lake Superior for its first sail.
His dream still moved forward with family and friends sailed the 16-ton ship 6,100 miles from Duluth, Minn., to Bergen, Norway. The 12-man crew arrived on July 19, 1982. 
The Hjemkomst is now housed inside the center, while nearby is the Moorhead Stave Church — the dream of a South Dakota man who donated the church to the Hjemkomst Center and the City of Moorhead.
Guy Paulson built the church as a replica of the Hopperstad stave church in Vik, Norway, which was across the fjord from the farmstead where his father was born and his ancestors lived.
The Hopperstad stave church is believed to be the second oldest remaining stave church, built around 1140 at the end of the Viking age.
The church served the Vik community until 1877. It was eventually sold to the Society for the Preservation of Norwegian Ancient Monuments. There are now only 28 remaining stave churches.
For Paulson, construction began in January 1997. It took Paulson a year and a half to raise the structure, although the finishing touches would take another three years.
A walkway of stones curve up to the church since it was believed that evil spirits could only walk in a straight path. The curved stone pathway knocked the evil spirits off course.
It also has 25,000 rectangular shingles and a window for leprosy victims. According to the center, it uses the Urness Style of using complex patterns of intertwined dragons, plants and other animals. Since the Hopperstad stave church was used for centuries, Paulson also had to recreate patterns from three different periods.
The medieval wooden church did get few modern details — nails were used during construction and it has a reinforced concrete foundation covered with a stone veneer to match the appearance of a Vik, Norway, structure. It also is handicap access, electric lighting, a sprinkler system, thermometers and motion sensors. Here are some more pictures from the church:
Fargo
December 5, 2012
The good luck continued. Our flights were 20 minutes early arriving and my distant cousin, Laura, picked us up at the airport.
We dined at a delicious Mexican Village restaurant before heading out to shop.
Sadly, our quest to buy the movie Fargo failed. We’re now back at the hotel.
Up next? A Viking ship that a Moorhead, Minnesota, man built in 1982 to sail to Norway.
And we’re off …
December 5, 2012
It’s finally time: We are now at the airport to head to Fargo, N.D. All is going well.
Should I be leery that our trip has gotten off to a really smooth start?
It’s never happened before. We checked in online and was able to go straight to security since we are only bringing carry-on luggage.
There was absolutely no line at security and we breezed through. The only real trouble was when I dropped my drivers license on the escalator and nearly lost it in the darn thing. Plus our gate changed, although that’s not a problem when you are a hour early.
Either way, I’m on the plane and have already ran into a former high school classmate. Pretty interesting!
It’s a girl!
November 30, 2012
Rose-Tu has finally given birth to a 300-pound calf at the Oregon Zoo! It’s great news, but you must be asking “why am I, an Arkansas girl, so excited about this?”
It’s easy: I’ll be heading to Portland in less than a week and I really want to see the baby Asian elephant. This is the second birth for 18-year-old Rose-Tu.
She first gave first four years ago and, despite difficulty adjusting, that baby was introduced to the public within a week. I’m hoping for a similar, if not quicker, time-frame for the new baby.
It’s actually a pretty fascinating event. The birth came after more than 30 hours of labor and 22 months of pregnancy. Yikes!
The new addition is the 28th baby elephant born at the Oregon Zoo, which is recognized for its successful breeding program for Asian elephants. According to the zoo, Asian elephants are considered highly endangered in their range countries due to habitat loss and conflict with humans. It’s estimated that fewer than 40,000 elephants remain from India to Borneo.
Travelling to the Bald Knob refuge
November 16, 2012
A few months ago, I found myself heading west of Wynne towards the Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge. I will gladly admit that the highlight of that trip was stopping at Jack Ryan’s Country Store just about a mile outside of Fair Oaks. The Hwy. 64 store has the absolute best sandwiches.
Here’s some more pictures from my trip:
Photo of day: Cooper’s Hawk
November 14, 2012
William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park
October 26, 2012
I ended a recent visit to Little Rock with a stop at the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park. The park is a later addition to the center, which opened in 2004. It was my first time to walk the park and I was pretty impressed.
The center and park are located next to the Arkansas River and includes a bridge that spans the river. Clinton Presidential Park Bridge, formerly known as the Rock Island Railroad Bridge, is a ramped pedestrian walkway and bicycle path that was completed in September 2011 and now closes the loop on the 15-mile Arkansas River Trail. The trail runs along the river’s banks on the both the north and south side. I was just a little too tired to walk the bridge on this visit, however, I hope to correct this soon.
The neat thing about the park is that includes the Bill Clark Wetlands project, a restored 13-acres wetland habitat that will eventually allow urban fishing. According to the center’s website, it’s designed to showcase wildlife and river life and is named for Clark because he was an “avid outdoorsman and strong business, civic, charitable and political leader in Arkansas for over three decades.” Here’s some pictures from my trip.
Photo essay: Last day of fall
October 21, 2012
We took full advantage of one of the final days of fall weather with a kayak trip on Lake Ouachita. We paddled to one of the many small islands and set up camp. We swam, ate lunch and generally enjoyed the good weather. In the spring or summer, I wouldn’t mind going back and spending the night. They even have a grill on the island for us to use. Not bad.
Memos for Me 