10/13/10 Day 10

     We were up, packed and at the café by 6:30am.  We ordered coffee and food then spend the next 3 hours writing blogs, journal entries, and postcards.  By 10am we were on our way out of Rugby. 

     Our next destination was gonna be a winery that we thought was in Minot (along our way), but upon further research, we discovered it was actually a number of miles behind us, so it was on to Bismark to go to the North Dakota Heritage Center and get some history. 

     The museum was free to the public and had tons of “INPUT!”  We spent about 3 hours there learning about Dinosaur fossils that have been discovered in North Dakota.  One of the only mummified dinosaur fossils was found in North Dakota!  Apparently the state was covered in a huge ocean during the time of the dinosaurs.   Because of this, many of the fossils were that of marine dinosaurs.  There was a full sized Mastadon skeleton on display, I am not sure if it was a replica or not, but it was pretty sweet!  There were other exhibits on native birds, the Great Depression and how it affected ND, early inhabitants, Indians of ND, the wars between the settlers and the Indians.  The museum covered a large span of time, from early prehistoric times to the mid 20^th century.  We definitely got our fill of history.  Our brains were pretty much melting by the time we left. 

     We happened to be there on the day that a new Sakakawea (that’s how they spell and pronounce Sacajawea in this area) exhibit opened.  It was mostly about the creation and placement of the statue that now sits at the top of the steps to the Heritage Center.

Eric is supposed to be the baby on her back.   WEIRD!

     We were so busy filling our brains that we forgot about lunch!  We got back to the car and snacked hard!  When we finally found a campground south of the city, our only thoughts were spaghetti and rest for our poor tired brains.

- Virginia