North Dakota

North Dakota was a favorite family destination. Grandma Lizzie Surdahl, Mother's mother, lived in Bottineau. She was a dear lady and so very precious to Mother. She had a beautiful garden with gorgeous blue spruce! Danny, Mother's half brother who was close to Darrell's age, was great fun for us. We especially enjoyed playing with his toy steam engine.

Sometimes during the trip from South Dakota to North Dakota. we would visit both capitals. The capitol in Pierre used to be such a huge building. Oscar reports that it has shrunk considerably now that he's grown up. The Turtle Mountains in ND were pretty.

This was a favorite Peace Garden pose
for Mother and Grandma Surdahl

Visits to ND often included a trip to the International Peace Garden. We were always intrigued by going through customs at the Canadian border. The simple boundary marker in the picture above is a cairn built of stones gathered from both sides. It bears a plaque with the inscription:

TO GOD IN HIS GLORY,
we two nations
dedicate this garden
and pledge ourselves
that as long as men
shall live, we will
not take up arms
against one another.

During a 2003 family reunion
we staged the same pose.

Chicago

Please write about the visit to Chicago and the communist cousin.

Wisconsin

Please write about your WI visits.

SD State Fair in Huron

Please write about this.

Fort Randall Dam

The Fort Randall Dam is an earth embankment dam on the Missouri River in sight of Fort Randall on Hwy 46 west of Wagner, South Dakota.

The dam was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1944. The Corps of Engineers began construction of Fort Randall Dam in 1946. Dad enjoyed traveling to the construction site to monitor progress on the dam. President Dwight D. Eisenhower threw the switch that started the first power generating unit in 1954. The project was completed in 1956.

Black Hills Vacations

1946 trip: Mom and the boys pose
by the Missouri River

Summer trips to the Black Hills were a treasured family tradition. The excitement started early in the morning. Mother packed sandwiches made with Old Home bread, baloney, and sandwich spread. Dad rigged up a bag of water on the side view mirror. It would provide enough cool water to get us to the ice water at Wall Drug. The sandwiches never lasted that long. The family climbed in the car for the long trip across the state. There wasn't much to attract attention but the Wall Drug and Burma Shave signs and a few favorite stops including the Chamberlain River and the Badlands.

The first stop in the Hills was always to check in at Carly's Cabins. Dad's good friend rented us a cabin at a bargain of $4.50 to $5.

Favorite destination included the Badlands, the zoo at Hill City, Spearfish Canyon, Mt. Rushmore, and the Stratosphere Bowl. Evan's Plunge was a delightful indoor pool. Thomas learned a healthy respect for the water there when he came very close to drowning at age 5. Dad always took us to visit the Mikelson girls. A favorite memory for the boys is rock climbing in the Needles. That was not Mother's favorite part of the trip! In 1949, we enjoyed the Days of '76 Parade.

Dinosaur Park was a
favorite destination.