We first heard about the Enchanted Highway from the trip materials: "32 miles of soaring, metal sculptures that qualify as some of the largest in the world. As unusual as they are enjoyable, these monstrosities are unquestionably must-see Americana Road Art."
Seriously?!
It was, in fact, enchanting to see -- and the story is even better!
Gary Greff grew up in the little town of Regent, ND. He was not voted "most likely to succeed," but he did go to college and had a good career as an educator. Eventually he came home with a desire to keep the little town from drying up and blowing away. Where he got the idea to start building gi-normous metal sculptures along the highway, I don't know. He taught himself to weld and scrounged materials from the local farmers. He learned enough engineering to put the sculptures up and keep them up in the incessant ND winds.
Now one might think that the inhabitants of the little town would get on board and support Gary's project, but beyond donating materials ... not so much. They view themselves as farmers, not as a tourist destination.
But first...
We had been amused that in spite of all the warnings about prairie dogs and plague and staying away from them....
Our hotel in Bismarck had a prairie dog town in its front yard.
We walked past it at least twice a day while staying there to get on our bus.
The initial sculpture, which is visible from I94 is "Geese in Flight."
It holds the Guinness World record for the largest scrap-metal sculpture.
We bought a small version of this to decorate our back patio. (The small version actually looks better.)
There were any number of small goose sculptures lining the access road to the large one. I found myself wondering if they were included in the "largeness" of it all.
Our next stop was the installation called "Deer Crossing."
Each of the sculptures has a nice parking lot attached. Some have picnic shelters. This one has a maze made of scrap metal.
We heard that one of the sculptures had blown over. I don't know if it was this one or not, but now it has stays and all kinds of lines securing it. I don't think it's going anywhere soon.
We played tag with a couple of cars as we progressed from installation to installation. One was a group of teenagers who enjoyed climbing on everything that could be climbed on. Or chasing one another through "the enchanted maze" next to the deer.
Here and there throughout our travels we saw beehives.
Besides being the nation's number one producer of wheat and barley and beans, etc., North Dakota is also the nation's number one producer of honey.
When we met the artist at the end of the highway, he told us that this was his most controversial installation.
Farmers detest grasshoppers.
But Gary said that he turned to the local nature for all of his inspirations, and grasshoppers are definitely local fauna.
This one was actually my favorite.
There was even a few child-sized grasshopper spring bouncers for the kiddos. Some of the wheat stalks had fallen down. I wondered if that was accidental or a nod to the insects' destructive powers.
The bus gives an indication of the sculpture's size.
Fisherman's Dream shows many large fishes with only a small boat riding the waves next to the big pike snapping up a dragonfly.
Off to the side was a "sunk" boat that begged to be clambered onto and into.
The fish may be going after the dragonfly but is oblivious to the pigeons that have taken up residence in its mouth.
I think it would give a thoughtful pigeon nightmares.
Gary told us that he originally gave the cock pheasant in this installation a lovely wavy tail. Then someone told him that pheasants have straight tails.
Bummer!
It was back to the welding shed to craft a proper tail.
South Dakota is also the #1 producer of rapeseed and canola. We saw many of the bright yellow fields.
In the distance is an installation of wind turbines. Our guide said that the farmers who have agreed to let their land be used for the turbines have had mixed emotions about the results. My opinion is that it depends on how good their lawyers were at writing in protections against fly-by-night (so to speak) operators. Some of the turbines we passed didn't look well-maintained and others weren't working in spite of the constant wind.
"Teddy Roosevelt Rides Again" was probably my least favorite of the installations, but plenty of folks had fun climbing in the stagecoach for a Kodak moment.
The first of the installations to be completed, The Tin Family honors both the agricultural heritage of the area and the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz.
Unfortunately Gary wasn't sufficiently aware of football rivalries when he painted Junior with a green and yellow jersey. He just had green and yellow paint on hand. Local sentiment, however, is with the Vikings against the Packers.
Oh well.
While we prowled around the Tin Family the air was saturated with birdsong. I sought out the loudest singer and found this Western Meadowlark in full cry. I don't often get super-duper-telephoto-lens envy, but I did this time.
At the end of the Enchanted Highway is the tiny town of Regent, population 166 as of 2023.
I was amused by the ballot box next to the city hall door. There's so much hand-wringing in some circles about vote tampering and fraudulent ballots, but I guess the folks in Regent aren't too exercised about it.
The multitude of horns on the tower by the volunteer fire department looks like they would raise the dead! Jim remembers these from his days as a junior fireman.
As we drove through town on the bus, a cute little International Style house caught my eye. I have a fondness for that style of architecture and determined to walk back and take a picture.
I didn't count on the fact that there would be two large, unleashed, and VERY protective dogs at that property. I never set foot off the sidewalk, but they came yelping and leaping. Hoping that they couldn't hear my heart pounding, I stopped in my tracks and gave them the eye along with "NO" and "BAD DOG!" admonitions until they calmed down a bit. Then I walked slowly away. One followed me for about a block, but after a number of "GO HOME"s he finally gave up. Whew!
I found my picture on Zillow. There's more ways than one to skin a cat.
When he's not welding or tending to his hotel, Gary and his wife run a small ice cream and souvenir shop. He gave us a talk about his dreams for the town and frustrations on account of lack of support.
I have to admire anyone with a vision and the determination to pursue it. Amazing.
And the ice cream was good.
I already mentioned buying a sculpture for the patio. It came last week wrapped in cardboard and half-a-roll of duct tape. When it stops raining (not that I'm complaining after a hot dry spell), we'll install it.
What a delightful excursion (except the dogs).
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