Dear Lenny & Susan: My 4 reasons you should road trip North Dakota

[My old Fort Collins friends have said politely, in the comments of this Bismarck blog, that they might come for a visit...someday. Lenny is a folk music DJ, trolley driver, and bird watcher. Susan is a hiker and lookout tower historian/preservation activist. I know nobody ever vacations here, but okay, here's my best shot at luring friends to Bismarck and all of North Dakota. If you write and say YOU might come here, I'll find four reasons for you to visit too.]

Dear Lenny and Susan,

Here are my 4 reasons you should road trip North Dakota:

1. A lookout Susan has not yet visited. It’s just feet away from the geographical center of North America. That is, the farthest you can be from the ocean. Susan, can you even resist clicking through to see this full size?

2. The potholes. Thousands of vernal pools and sloughs all along the central flyway. Surely you will add a duck to your life list.

3. The view from atop the State Capitol. See Bismarck the way the local turkey vultures do.

4. The Metisfest at the International Peace Garden August 26-29. I just got back from hanging out at the Peace Garden with a bunch of Canadian and Chippewa fiddlers, and I can vouch. They are the coolest people in the world.

There is also a trolley near Bismarck. The Missouri River. And as an added bonus: If you are here on a Sunday, I know a place where they will speak English at church:

What do you say?

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