North Dakota

If it's all starting to look the same to you, don't worry. It's all starting to look the same to me, too.

North Dakota has rolled past my windows over the past three days, looking much like Montana and eastern Washington before it. The landscape is greener and more lush than I somehow expected, though the straight, flat roads and vistas are still hypnotic. I'm very glad I brought along some books on tape for my iPod!

About the only highlight in North Dakota has been passing through Rugby, the "Geographical Center of North America." I did my best to figure out the legitimacy of the claim, including finding out where they were measuring from, looking at maps, etc.

Basically, I've concluded that it's pretty much arbitrary, mostly just something to plunk down in the middle of nowhere and call it something. The funny thing is that legitimate or not, I was happy to have something to stop at and have a look-see.

The lack of sensory stimulus may account for why I found this moment at my Grand Forks, campground so funny. Only time will tell if it actually is funny, or if it's just something in the middle of nowhere that I'm calling something.