Road trip.

[Jacka]

Hello all.Planning a road trip back to Pennsylvania.Flying into Kalispell in early September. Goin up to Eureka MT I believe to vist my daughter and driving a pickup back that I am buying from her.I want to drive back and see the west.My wife and daughter have us coming back Rt. 2 I believe mainly and then hitting the interstate and booking it home.I was wonder what sites to see ,I want to see farming and some of the places my daughter works at.I also wouldn't mind looking at tractor junk yards or private people that have parts.I need mainly sheet metal,grill and other odds and ends for my 1026.If anyone knows of interesting things to see do or places to get tractor parts.I would appreciate it.

[lotsaIHCs]

Where do you plan on getting on the interstate (I-94?) Sights to see depend on the road you take. If you are taking highway 200 across ND and so on there are people on this forum who know that area better than I do. I drove that road often between Minot and Williston when I was going to college. The International Peace Garden would be north of Rugby ND on highway 281 which meets highway 2.

[Mudfly]

If you take Hwy 2 all the way across Minnesota, I'd recommend spending a day or two in the Duluth area and up the Northshore of Lake Superior.  Or the Southshore in Wisconsin.  The big lake is something to behold and where else can you see 1000 foot ships 1000 miles from an ocean. 

Not the fastest route, but some excellent areas to get lost in for a day or two if you have time.  This route also avoids Minneapolis/St Paul and Chicago which would be a huge bonus to me, but might not be a selling feature to others.

Depending on the time of year you come thru, the sugar beet harvest up in the Red River Valley of ND/MN is interesting to witness also.  That would be a late Sept/early Oct thing.

[Jacka]

I want to to see Big Bud 747 in person if I can too.Its in Haver maybe if I spelled that right and do the Williams family own it?Do they allow us eastern dirt farmers to stop?

[dale560]

I would take hwy 2 or Duluth like mentioned. But the Teddy Roosevelt national park is something to see also and that would get you onto I  94 in North Dakota. You won’t be disappointed on 2 through Montana. I have only been to wolf point mt but there are many old cars, pickups , tractors tucked in every farmyard it seems. The hwy is 4 lane through ND and pretty smooth a lot of traffic in the west but very drive able. The peace gardens are 45 minors north of my hometown. In rugby nd. In sept the wheat harvest will be wrapping up through the state but on eastern side sugar beet pre pile will be beginning. Have a fun trip. 

[lotsaIHCs]

If you were to drop from hwy 2 to I 94 in western ND as mentioned by dale560 there is also the new Teddy Roosevelt presidential library/museum, the Badlands of ND and the tourist town of Medora. There is a lot to see either way you go. As a family we spent a week just driving around western ND/SD and didn't see everything there is to see. We drove from the Bismarck area to Rapid City to see the sights around Mt. Rushmore for 2 or 3 days, then to Medora and TR national park to Williston, east to the Peace Garden and back south to home. We mostly just drove to see the sights and took a lot of the scenic byways. The landscape changes a lot between the Black Hills of SD to the Badlands of western nd and northeast to the Turtle Mountain area near the Peace Garden and back south to the central Prairie of ND, then east to the Red River Valley.

[mike newman]

Montana .......simply the best....

Everything from @MT Matt's   ''treasure shed''   to the incomparable Glacier Park......

...that @Jacka is my totally unbiased opinion...

Mike

[Jacka]

4 hours ago, lotsaIHCs said:

Where do you plan on getting on the interstate (I-94?) Sights to see depend on the road you take. If you are taking highway 200 across ND and so on there are people on this forum who know that area better than I do. I drove that road often between Minot and Williston when I was going to college. The International Peace Garden would be north of Rugby ND on highway 281 which meets highway 2.

My wife just said 13 to 200 south to 94. Unless there is something northern we should see.This is all tentative subject to change by the wife,she is the navigatior .She also just said eventually we will cut down to 94.

[Jacka]

1 hour ago, mike newman said:

Montana .......simply the best....

Everything from @MT Matt's   ''treasure shed''   to the incomparable Glacier Park......

...that @Jacka is my totally unbiased opinion...

Mike

Yes.I agree.First and only time I was in Montana when my son got married in Glacier. My wife and drove up to PoleBridge I think the town was .It was only a few miles from Canada. We drove and drove wondering where all this scenery was in the fog.All of a sudden it cleared up and the most majestic mountains appeared. Truly proves to me there is a GOD because man could not create such beauty ony try to copy it.We followed the road to the end and ended up at a Border Control Ranger station which was empty other than a helicopter sitting there.It was cool.

[brahamfireman]

I'm 90 minutes from Duluth,  I wouldn't waste my time taking HWY 2 across MN and then 35 south to the cities.  It's going too be 6 hours of woods and rocks. The only thing cool about Duluth is the big lake, the scenery leading up to it sucks. 

Take 94 east from Fargo, Biewers tractor salvage is in Barnesville, call ahead they might have what you need. 

Climbing the hill on 94 east out of the Red River valley from Barnesville to Rothsay MN is pretty cool.

Jump on 71 South at Sauk Centre and head for southern MN, then take 90 east. 

That will get you through the greatest farmland in MN. Lots of small rural towns and no city crap.

As far as ND, I prefer hwy 2 on the north side vs 94 on the south side. I'd take 2 from minot to Grand Forks. That'll take you by sprawling devils lake which is a sight to see. Then it's 90 miles from Grand Forks to Fargo, laser flat and WIDE OPEN. I miss it daily.

[mader656]

5 millionth in fort benton.

[Takn4aFool]

i live just south of eau claire wi and the wife and went north on US 53 to duluth then took US 2 west all the way to Idaho last summer, once you get to western MN set the cruise at 85 and just goooooooooooooooo....can't remember seeing any cops the whole 5000 miles we drove while out west.

[naedlaen]

I thoroughly enjoyed the Museum of the Plains Indians in Browning.  I see that there is also a Black Feet Heritage Center there also.  Ft Peck Dam tour was interesting as well, but that may have been because I was designing flood reduction and grade stabilizations ponds at the time.  Ft Peck was more electric generation and irrigation.  As a minimum, the TR National Park Scenic Loop (22 miles) in Medora.  I also pulled into the Painted Canyon Overlook at Exit 32 east of Medora.  Feral horses were there at the time and I went down the hill to get a closer look, and the rock layers were even more impressive as you looked up at them.

Other items are Charlie Russel's Museum in Great Falls and the State (?) Museum in Helena.  Other than Glacier and Banff that pretty much covers the trip I made in 1984.  I did not allow enough time to do justice to the museums.

Neal

[1586 Jeff]

10 hours ago, mader656 said:

5 millionth in fort benton.

 

[Jacka]

Hello  all.Just a follow up on my trip back from Eureka Mt.What a wonderful state and beautiful state.We started back from Eureka dropped down and went through Glacier on the Going to the Sun Road. Beautiful just beautiful. We exited on the east side and entered the start of the prairie. I loved it.Went through Browning and the Black Feet Res.Stopped the Museum of the Plains Indians.What a place. The Navtive American are and were awesome people. The art work,handiwork,colors of their clothing was and is exceptional. What they did hundreds,thousands of years ago is amazing. Stayed on Rt 2 about the whole way through Mt until we dropped down on 24.Stayed in Chester one night and Malta the next.The prairie is so beautiful.You can see forever. Got a picture of a little Big Bud in the town of Chester. I also had a in with getting to see 747 BiG Bud.My daughter got me connected with Robert Williams daughter Mandy and we went the whole way to Big Sandy to their farm and I got to see it up close and sit in the cab.They told me I could start it but I felt funny because they weren't around.Just awesome.Next stop was in Haver Big Bud Equipment and I got to meet and talk to Ron Harmon who built Big Bud.I also got to go see them making new Big Buds.Just fabulous. We went Rocky Boy Reservation and got to see some of the Buffalo that my daughter helped them get started. We went to Bear Paw Battlefield and walked that.What a truly solemn place.Its hallowed ground for sure.Nothing but the sound of the wind.We went through Fort Peck and seen Snake Spring Butte.We traveled though 24 I guess and went to Fort Peck Dam.The topography was amazing all through Mt.Went into North Dakota and went to the Teddy Roosevelt Badlands National Park.The Badlands are beautiful but I sure see why you wouldn't want to get lost in there.I loved all the small towns we drove through. We now are planning a trip of taking the Rt 2 across the entire state

I have so much more to say but it was wonderful trip.

[lotsaIHCs]

5 hours ago, Jacka said:

Hello  all.Just a follow up on my trip back from Eureka Mt.What a wonderful state and beautiful state.We started back from Eureka dropped down and went through Glacier on the Going to the Sun Road. Beautiful just beautiful. We exited on the east side and entered the start of the prairie. I loved it.Went through Browning and the Black Feet Res.Stopped the Museum of the Plains Indians.What a place. The Navtive American are and were awesome people. The art work,handiwork,colors of their clothing was and is exceptional. What they did hundreds,thousands of years ago is amazing. Stayed on Rt 2 about the whole way through Mt until we dropped down on 24.Stayed in Chester one night and Malta the next.The prairie is so beautiful.You can see forever. Got a picture of a little Big Bud in the town of Chester. I also had a in with getting to see 747 BiG Bud.My daughter got me connected with Robert Williams daughter Mandy and we went the whole way to Big Sandy to their farm and I got to see it up close and sit in the cab.They told me I could start it but I felt funny because they weren't around.Just awesome.Next stop was in Haver Big Bud Equipment and I got to meet and talk to Ron Harmon who built Big Bud.I also got to go see them making new Big Buds.Just fabulous. We went Rocky Boy Reservation and got to see some of the Buffalo that my daughter helped them get started. We went to Bear Paw Battlefield and walked that.What a truly solemn place.Its hallowed ground for sure.Nothing but the sound of the wind.We went through Fort Peck and seen Snake Spring Butte.We traveled though 24 I guess and went to Fort Peck Dam.The topography was amazing all through Mt.Went into North Dakota and went to the Teddy Roosevelt Badlands National Park.The Badlands are beautiful but I sure see why you wouldn't want to get lost in there.I loved all the small towns we drove through. We now are planning a trip of taking the Rt 2 across the entire state

I have so much more to say but it was wonderful trip.

Glad you enjoyed the trip and also glad you found your time in ND to be a good experience. We don't have the scenery like Montana but we who live here find it to be beautiful in its own way. There is a huge difference in landscape between the Badlands, Turtle Mountains, plains and the Red River Valley. We own some land near the Missouri River north of Bismarck with buttes and coulies. They aren't mountains but still pretty scenery. 

[Jacka]

1 hour ago, lotsaIHCs said:

Glad you enjoyed the trip and also glad you found your time in ND to be a good experience. We don't have the scenery like Montana but we who live here find it to be beautiful in its own way. There is a huge difference in landscape between the Badlands, Turtle Mountains, plains and the Red River Valley. We own some land near the Missouri River north of Bismarck with buttes and coulies. They aren't mountains but still pretty scenery. 

Yes those coulies and that topography was something else.We were heading east on from Ft Peck Dam and the little hills, ridges or mountains with different layers of sediment or stone or whatever it was I never seen anything like it.I liked North Dakota I want to see more of that state.Following the high line across was cool.