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.