Day 18

And what a night it was; stars, stars, and more stars. This was the most brilliant sky I've ever seen! It was so clear, there seemed to be more points of light than darkness, especially when you looked into the Milky Way with binoculars. Sure hope Jody Foster is listening.

The weather was good enough to sleep under the stars. This was my first time and I learned a few things. First, bugs get active when the moon rises, which in our case was about 3:00 am. Second, so do cows. I'd already heard coyotes baying at the moon last night, but some ol' bossy in the field next to our campsite decided to join in. Guess that's normal for farm country. Can't say that too many other people would be bothered by it. Although we've been through some pretty sparsely populated regions on this trip, this corner of ND seems virtually deserted. According to the population figures given on the map, Divide County has just over 2,000 residents, yet the jurisdiction is huge. (Farther south, Slope County shows only 2 towns, none of which is a county seat. Better not run out of gas there.)

We proceeded on (just had to use that L&C phrase!) to Cross Ranch, where we'll spend the day doing a few more touristy things before returning to the road tomorrow. We spent a few minutes looking at what's left of the nearby settlement of Sanger. For years, the town served as the shipping point for the Levis family's cattle opration. Sanger also boasted a grain elevator for other nearby farmers, a hardware store, and even a dance hall. The town has been empty since 1971, and the houses and other buildings are slowly giving way to the elements. When the residents moved, they left for good, stripping everything they could, including the electrical panels. I wonder if Fortuna is too far behind.

Though the actual town may have died, however, a little bit of Sanger does live on. The State Park has "adopted" Sanger's zip code as their own. Given how many small towns were so proud to receive such a designation years ago (I recall seeing them painted on water towers), perhaps this is an appropriate way to keep Sanger's memory alive.

After visiting the Lewis & Clark Intepretive Center near the site of Ft. Mandan, we had dinner at the aptly named Lewis & Clark Cafe in Washburn. A nice place to eat and work, though there will be a job opening soon. In the next week or so, our waitress will take off with her husband and spend the fall and winter trucking around the country. They love the opportunity to see new sights and don't seem to mind the havoc that winter weather can cause while on the road. She said her favorite place to visit was Nashville; their most frightening: Hoover Dam, because of the narrow roads.