Devils Lake - A Real Discovery

Well the service guys can't get to us until about noon, so we went exploring. After a stop at the visitor center we found out a lot about the area. North Dakota was ranked the friendliest state in the U.S. just recently and Devils Lake is proof. It is a friendly city and an inexpensive vacation destination. Devils lake is the largest natural body of water in North Dakota (who knew North Dakota had lakes) and is prime for all types of sports.

We took a ride down Rte 19 that goes around the lake. It is very different - almost like driving on a causeway and then you have fields on both side of the road and then back along the lakeshore. The lake is strange as it has groves of dead trees sticking out of the water (very erie), then there are marshy areas and then open water again. It was really unique and beautiful in it's own way. We continued down the road and found the Graham Island State Park. We didn't go in the park, but may come back if we have to stay longer. We continued around the lake and onto Rte 281 S. We saw signs for Fort Totten and decided to go take a tour.

Fort Totten is a great place. It was constructed as a military post, became an Indian boarding school, Indian health care facility, and a reservation school. The fort served American Indian policy from 1867-1959. Initially, the fort policed the surrounding reservation. The soldiers enforced the peace, guarded overland transportation routes. It was decommissioned in December 1890. In 1891 the former post became an Indian boarding school and operated until 1959. In 1960 it became a historic site. Today the fort includes seventeen historic buildings which date from 1868-1871. One of the buildings has been adapted as the Totten Trail Inn bed and breakfast. This is a beautiful place with several nice rooms and would be a great place to stay.

We met a group of RVers from North Dakota who invited us to join their tour group. They gave us a lot of information on things to see and do in this state. They suggested we alter our route to go further south and follow the Lewis and Clark Trails. We are going to look into it further.

We left Ft Totten and onto Rte 57 heading back to the coach. We passed a wildlife preserve and casino. We will go to the preserve after dinner when it cools off. It's very humid, in the high 80's and still windy. We will have more chance to see animals at dusk.

We got back and Ken checked with the service guys. They couldn't find a problem when they test drove the coach so Ken went out with Neil. He showed them the problem and they agreed to order a new Master Cylinder after talking with the service manager. However, they have to find one and have it shipped in. It could be Friday or possibly Monday or Tuesday. Looks like we may be living in the parking lot for the weekend. We have decided we won't leave until we are comfortable with the brakes. It's not too bad, the flood lights a little bright, but it's all part of the adventure....

Dinner tonight was a place called the Pizza Ranch (a pizza buffet - eh). Never seen one of these before. Probably won't do another one.....

The Sully Hill National Game Preserve was established in 1904 when Teddy Roosevelt expanded the nation's park system. It is one of only two big game preserves in the United States. Over 60,000 visitors come to visit each year to see it's bison, elk, deer, and black tailed prairie dogs. We followed the driving route through the park with various overlooks. We saw seven whitetail deer as we drove through the meadow areas but no elk or bison. We stopped at the Praire Dog Town and watched the Black Tailed Praire Dogs. They are really funny to watch. We continued down the road and came into a marsh area and saw several deer, we sat quietly and turned off the car. Eventually we saw 4 large elk come out of the trees across the marsh. They were feeding along the edge and moved slowly toward us. Then a group of mule deer across the road to our left with one buck with small antlers passed by us. It was getting dusk and the sun was pretty much set. All of a sudden in front of us to the right from behind a fallen tree comes the largest male elk I've ever seen with a huge rack (10 points). He was awesome! We took pictures but it was pretty dark. All of the elk eventually crossed the road to a pond at the entrance of the park. It's dark now and hard to see, so we left the park. It was a great night and a real treat to see these beautiful animals in their natural habitat.

It was a good day and Devils Lake has become a pleasant surprise.