Flowers

International Peace Garden

/ bigdiff / 2 Comments

What a beautiful place! A Canadian horticulturalist, Dr Henry Moore, deserves credit for the idea creating a peace garden—built during the Great Depression—on the Manitoba / North Dakota border. America has far more war memorials than parks devoted to peace. Chamizal on the Mexican border is dedicated to diplomacy, and Perry’s is both a war and peace memorial. As we begin a new year, we should not take peace and diplomacy for granted, given all we sacrificed in wars.

This affiliated park is a neutral zone with the entrance between each country’s border security. You will need proper id either to continue on or to return to your home country after your visit here. The park is not far from the small town of Rugby North Dakota, which is the geographic center of North America. It’s a bit of a trek from the nearest US supercharger in Grand Forks, but there are a couple car dealers on the way that offer CCS charging if you have the adapter. Also, the park itself has a free electric 1772 car charger at the drop off entrance to the Conservatory, which has a massive collection of succulents donated by local enthusiasts.

Technically I missed the peak season, but as you can see above, there were plenty of flowers still in bloom at the end of September. There’s a long winding drive through the woods with lakeside picnic grounds below, a campground and a few cabins and more around the central border gardens. And if you walk the length of the formal garden above, the building at the end is the Peace Chapel, which is the perfect place to find inspiration and hope for peace in the quotes from famous leaders and philosophers carved inside its walls.

Blue Ridge Parkway

/ bigdiff / 6 Comments

A couple of elk were crossing the parkway, and I managed to take a quick photo. As I slowly started to pass, trying not to scare them, the complete idiot behind me decided that would be a good time to pass me on the right, inches from the elk, practically pushing them away into the woods. Who hates mega fauna that much? So I decided to demonstrate what instant acceleration looks like in a Tesla, and I never saw him again.

The parkway isn’t the fastest way to get anywhere. My navigation kept telling me to get off and take a straighter road, so I turned it off. Anybody who is in too much of a hurry should take another route. It winds along the ridge line from Great Smoky through North Carolina and Virginia to Shenandoah, and it is delightful. I saw some kind of light pink rhododendrons blooming along the wet ridge rocks above 5000 feet. I think Catawba, named after a local Native American tribe, or maybe Vaseyi, named after the famous botanist who discovered them 150 years ago. The former would be early, but it’s unseasonably warm now, due to the climate crisis.

The parkway is best enjoyed at leisure or in segments, and people who don’t care about nature should avoid it.