I grew up in a small town in the northwest corner of North Dakota. The population was 1,200 when I lived there. It was a little bit bigger than the communities shown here. A little more activity and a few more businesses but not much more. I still live in North Dakota in one of the most populated areas. The largest communities in ND are by no means a big city. Small town ND was a great place to grow up. There wasn't a lot to do, but we found enough things to keep us busy. It was a safe place, virtually no crime or traffic. Most kids walked to school. In the summertime we roamed the town unsupervised on foot or on our bicycles.We skate boarded and rollerblades down the middle of the streets. We were outdoors from the time we woke up to the time we went to sleep unless we were at home eating lunch or dinner. The outdoor swimming pool and the outdoor basketball court at the grade school were the hot spots for us. Parents and children never feared being hit by car, abducted, robbed, beaten or killed. You pretty much knew every body who lived there and there was a strong sense of community.
I was born in Lamoure and grew up on a farm about 15 miles north of there .You went passed Lawrence Welks hometown of Strassburg and Angie Dickenson's hometown of Kulm. I like the video. I've driven from ND to TX 3 times without touching the interstate. It's the only way to see America.
Of all the things I like about your daily stories, I love that you own and use an "old fashion" road atlas. Thanks for taking so many of us along on adventures we may never be able to take on our own. Safe, and interesting, journies!
Tech can always fail. I carry an atlas in my car all the time. I use tech but im 53 its kinda forced upon us and you just sort of learn how to use it but the old fashioned way for anything can sometimes be the best.
You have a Rand McNally Trucker's Atlas Woo. I got stuck with one of those recently on a trip to MO at a Pilot. It's all they had. $20. You want a regular Rand McNally version of that without the highlighted truck routes. $15. I cannot do trips with just a GPS. You can't really get a good picture of where you are.
I only use a paper/atlas road maps. I only bring up the Google map if I can't find a certain place/location. When I hike/camp in the woods, I always have a paper map of the area. Mainly a Topographic Map. I know how to read a compass and details of maps.
ALWAYYYSSSSSS have an atlas and road map!!! GPS is nice til it leads you to the middle of no where or the bad side of town and you are completely lost😳. I think it’s smart to have gps and a map and atlas- and if you are traveling somewhere you are not familiar with: Of course Google maps it Then look at your real map (keep one for your state esp) Then enter it in gps or phone, etc. Compare, notice discrepancies, And then go! Oh. And always keep a compass. Somewhere. Phones and cars die. 🤷♀️ just my 2 cents:)
I've not stopped for longer than a restroom break in North or South Dakota. Wow, that really needs to change next time i go through. Thanks Adam, great video.
Seeing that old main street in Bowman fills me with so much American exceptionalism nostalgia. You'll never convince me things are better today than they were back then.
Fantastic! No sarcasm intended. I love traversing highways like this and visiting small towns. Thank you for taking the time to take the road less travelled.
Another great series Adam! Alot of these places are the best America can offer. I bet a lot of these towns were bustling when Americans knew how important the farms and ranches were. You might not see a lot of people in town because they're in the fields and such working hard to feed America. Something we don't appreciate anymore! Well done sir! 🤠🧑🦰🌲🌲🎶
In the 1950s the typical farm in North Dakota was 320 or 640 acres. Now the average farm is over 1,500 acres. There just aren’t as many farmers as there used to be.
New definition of backroads! This is so great to see the forgotten or unknown by most of us parts of this country. I am loving this ultimate video road trip. So great; thank you for doing this!
The Enchanted Highway Hotel looked interesting. The sculptures of the knight & dragon was amazing as well as the other huge sculptures you showed along the way. That Rexall drugstore and old bldgs very nostalgic as well. Thanks for taking us with you. ❤️🙏🏻
LOVE the lesser-known SCENIC BYWAYS you share with us! So NICE 👍 to see some love for North Dakota. Great imagery in Regent (Enchanted Castle), sculptures and the American 🇺🇸 Roadside! Cheers and Be Well. Thanks! SHELLEE G.
I bask myself in the authenticity that exists in the outskirts of our country. Here is where things are real. You get a glimpse of the simple life that is out of reach in our modern electronic world. Adam thinks the same thoughts as I do when discovering history, abandoned but still standing.
i'm a military brat and grew up on an Air Force base here in ND. My parents loved ND so much that my dad got out of the Air Force and we stayed. i just bought a really nice little house in a small town with a population of about 900 people and a small Main street just like all these in the video. Thanks for stopping, come back anytime!
I am orginally from ND and moved about an hour away from Minot.. (my husbands home town) coming here was weird especially coming from a town of a million to a town of 500 people. It was weird.
A well done job of covering small towns in southern North Dakota! I was once in Wishek for a wedding in 2008. Wishek is home to an annual Sauerkraut Day on the second Saturday in October. The Germans from Russia resettled in this area of the United States. Many of their foods that have descended through the generations such as homemade sausage are still sold in local grocery stores, and meat lockers.
Yay! It’s Adam!🧔🏻♂️🥳 Congratulations on visiting all 48 contiguous United States! 🥰 I am so impressed and inspired! 🫡🇺🇸 You are a true explorer! Next stop, Alaska and Hawaii! We are here for it! 😉
Lisbon is my hometown, btw it’s pronounced liz-ben. The scenic theatre is the oldest continually operating theatre in the country been going over 100 years strong, almost shut down but the community came together and raised a lot of money to update and modernize it somewhat. Very strong community in Lisbon and good place to raise children And I can’t wait to show my kids this video they will love it, You could do a whole video on Lisbon honestly Good video! Thanks!
I love the sculptures on the Enchanted Highway. Especially the Knight and Dragon. Those are cool. Yeah you need to go back one day and stay in the castle. Looks too cool to pass up.- Looks like Big da foot was wanting to get out of the vehicle too and stretch his legs by the foot print next to your bags. Lol. He wants to spend the night in the hotel instead of in your car again. 😂
Glad to see you made it to ND. Would love to have you come up north to see more of the state and even meet you next time you visit ND. When I saw a previous video where you were in Deadwood, SD; It made me wonder if you would be coming further north. The Enchanted Highway would be an awesome adventure for you to explore to see all of the larger than life sculptures. You would probably enjoy going to Medora and taking in the Medora Musical and feasting at the Pitchfork Fondue. Head up north to see the International Peace Gardens; Tommy the Turtle in Bottineau; W'eel Turtle in Dunseith; Mystical Horizons near Lake Metigoshe. There is also Salem Sue in New Salem and the world's largest buffalo in Jamestown. Spend a few days in North Dakota to vlog about the things that make our state worth visiting. Thanks again for visiting the Dakotas on your journeys. Love watching your content and learning about history from your eyes, and Big the Foot.
I went to highschool in one of those towns after growing up somewhere far more populated on the west coast. There was an adjustment period but I ended up really liking it. We always joked that it was as if the whole state was a few decades behind. Very retro and charming in a lot of ways. A lot of these little towns still haven't changed. Oil booms and pipeline protests have changed things though. And meth is everywhere.
I hope your drive was safe. Welcome to North Dakota. What a wonderful surprise. There are many abandoned towns in our state. I have driven those roads many, many times. I hope our state was good to you.
Thank you for showing off North Dakota, Adam! I love it! I'm from a very small prairie town myself in a different state. I'd rather be stuck behind a tractor on the highway than in rush hour someplace any day. We don't have large amounts of traffic here, we have amounts of large traffic!
I just looked back at the first video of this road trip series which you posted on April 26. In your intro you said that you’d be gone for at least 8 weeks. That was Tuesday of this current week…how epic this series is!!! Keep on rolling!
Hello friend thank you for sharing, that brought back memories of that beautiful town of Bowman.ND, i was there 4 work and stayed there 4 about 2 months, nice and great friendly people, a. Big hello to the people of BOWMAN, thanks again have a nice day!!!🌅🌅🌅
I'm pretty sure the smile didn't leave my face throughout the entire video. What you do is on a grander scale than what I do, but just heading out on the back roads between Minnesota and Wisconsin is my favorite past time. There is so much to see! Thank you for your very relaxing and interesting videos!
Nice! ... I grew up just across the street from your opening scene in Bowman, NoDak. The old building sporting CAFE was once the pride of southwest North Dakota. Then known as the Clara Lincoln Hotel. If memory serves me right, inside was a restaurant, barbershop, flower shop and railroad station. It was a grand building. At times I would get to go there with my father and through the eyes of a rural child I envisioned this is what it's like in the big city. All different types of folks coming and going east and west via train. Great memories, thanks for sharing your travels!
This was great, Adam! I love seeing parts of the country that get very little exposure! I would absolutely love to live in one of those sleepy little towns. Some people might say it's boring. But that's ok with me, I like boring. Sure beats the hell out of living in a noisy big city and putting up with the rampant crime!
I currently live in Fargo. These days, Fargo is a multicultural metropolis compared to these little bitty tiny North Dakota towns shown on the video. Although, with about 250,000 people in the Fargo metro area, it is still a 'small city' by many standards.
I'm from Minneapolis and was a sales reo covering the entire state looping out one highway and back on the next every day forming a "daisy" sales route.I didn't drive through theses small towns, but called on customers, gas stations, in each. Hoses, nozzles, leak detectors and such. Too much steering wheel time to think my wife said.
I use to travel across the country 60 years ago as my brother was on the PGA Golf Tour. This was before the interstate highway system and my dad had to drive through countless small towns across America. They didn't look like this. Every where you go it is so depressing about what has happened to rural America. They are all dying a slow death. Great work capturing these town before they are gone with the wind and blown away. Maybe these small town which served say 100 families in the surrounding areas are no longer serving hardly anyone as the farms have been sold off to giant corporations who have a mechanized system to grow and transport the crops to market.
Actually what you are looking at are family farms. North Dakota does not allow corporate farming. And these towns are not "dead". Farmers are at work in the fields. Everyone does stop to have dinner at 12 noon and incidentally the sirens you saw ring out at noon to call people for dinner. And if it was a Sunday most businesses are closed.
What a great journey on the back roads. Reminiscent of William Least Heat Moons book Blue Highways where he circumnavigated the lower 48 states entirely on back roads≥ including going through North Dakota.
Adam,what you're doing is now my favorite past time.I spend my evenings watching your videos,and feeling such calmness in them,please keep them coming .
I bet the Enchanted Castle Hotel has seen a few weddings and proms throughout the years. Looks like a cool and unique place. Also, apparently, that is a restored Minuteman Missile in LaMoure. A reminder of the Cold War era, when the Midwest and plains housed a network of defense silos. Another great vlog, my man 👍 Love it when you chronicle these small towns.
I believe that the guy who created the Enchanted Castle out of the old school is he same guy who created all of the huge metal sculptures along the Enchanted Highway. He works hard to bring visitors to Regent! I believe he has plans to host a renaissance Fair there this summer.
@@lollylight3670 Mott used to have a sign: Mott's The Spot to Live and Shop. Too much has closed since then, but ... there are quite a few interesting shops there. I am glad I was there for Mott Days.
Hebron ND here. I LOVE ALL the small towns..Grew up in Phx.. moved here in the late 90s. Best choice ever..We are behind in the times and that suits me just fine…
Growing up in a small town like these small places, there is a lot of community you don't see just passing through. When I graduated from the local school (all grades in the same building, and still that way today) I moved on to the big city for work and excitement a young man wants. Now much older, I can see how life in a small town is better in many ways than the big city. Going back home (as I call it) is different as I hardly know anyone and what was a busy main street, now is but a ghost of its former self. A Dollar General provides most of the retail, and the movie theater is a antique shop....As people just slow down going through the town without even stopping. (except for gas and chips at the convenience/gas stop.
White Rock, SD was a booming town. It had hotels, bars, stores and restaurants. River boats and trains went through the Town. My Grandpa was born there in 1908. It now has maybe 3 people and zero businesses
Lisbon is my hometown, it has the oldest continually operating scenic theatre in the nation, over 100 years and still going.. Lisbon is a great town good community good for raising kids
Newton Iowa has a nice little museum on Maytag. You will also love the small towns surrounding it. Tiny little Kellogg and Grinnell. If you go north you can get an original maid-rite from Marshalltown. We used to go through all of them regularly to see my grandparents when I was younger
I’m so happy when you do these back road trips! Nothing like the old times stuff I love it. My grandparents lived In N Dakota for a short time back in the day! Thank you Adam for your hard work
I love that you showed these small towns. This is the very reason I moved out here. I lived in Flint Michigan until I moved here in Oct. of 2018. I love it here. I live in tiny town of Nome where we have maybe 70 people. Here too n town we only have a post office and a little gift shop. However across hwy32 is the old Nome schoolhouse that was bought just over a year ago that has been turned into a bed and breakfast with lots of activities for visitors.
I miss places like this..,but then I remember the snow and the tornado's and the thunder storms,.....yup love ur channel I am able to watch the cool stuff,. Thank u love this
Phew, what a day you had! I'm from the Valley City area, lived in Napoleon for 3 years. Now I'm in Central Coast California by way of a lot of years in Albuquerque. My 92 y/o Mom still owns her family's farmstead in ND, & up until 2 years ago, we went back every summer.
Enjoyed the trip. My father grew up on a farm outside if New Leipzig and my mother was raised on a farm near Mott. Grandparents on father's side spent their last years in Elgin. Have fond memories of visiting in both Elgin & Mott. Mott had the Blue Moon Cafe which I believe is still in business. Good lunches and the motion picture theatre was just a few doors from there. Bought my first car in Mott. Almost got to uncle's farm before it failed. Many, many very good memories.
Thank you so much for showing these little towns- they aren’t dead and love how you showed the architecture (REXALL DRUG in Mott-- behind it you can see the old “Playhouse Theater” Marquee - I hope you were able to see it:) (Note: New Leipzig … is pronounced more like “New Lipe-szeg” It’s those German/Russians I tell ya lol😉) Gained a new subscriber and man I just really loved the whole video. I am sharing with my husband also! Thank you for sharing with us:)
Hi Adam, love watching these vlogs on small towns. In my head John Mellencamp is playing Small Town and I picture Marty Mcfly walking the dirt road till he reaches Hill Valley and Lou's Cafe. Living in crowded L.A. I would kind of like to experience something like that. Thanks for taking me along. 🙂🙂🙂
I love these old towns with just the tops of the building showing as the rest of the building is underground. Once the rains came all the old world was flooded but we are at least left with the tops! They separate them with walls and put facades on them but we know it's one huge structure ;)
This brings back memories! I've lived in Iowa my whole life but all my grandparents were in ND. Lots of summer vacations in Elgin, and I got a speeding ticket in LaMoure once. It was $15. Actually flew to the Elgin airport once. (It was a pretty small plane...)
Thanks Adam; great documentation of small towns. Enjoy your style, approach, and appreciation of this part of the country. Looking forward to again "riding shotgun" next time. The vehicle shot out the side including the mirror was great!
Well, this was interesting. A friend of mine wanted me to watch this. I am originally from Bowman, ND. I had to pause quite a few times to message him back. :-P Uttech's Bootery. :-P It is pronounced more like you-techs. I had a neighbor that worked there, or at least knew the guy that ran it. It has been out of business since the 80s. The 2nd branch of the Dakota Western Bank, that 1908 building, used to have some more interesting brick work. It had to be redone a while back, the 90s or so. The CAFE building, I think is the one we used to call the Sear's building. I think it is the tallest building in town. :-P Back next to Uttech's, the Crystal Bar, has a bar inside made out of those glass bricks. It used to have a free pool table. I have not been in there in quite a few years. I got free pizza at Next Door pizza in Scranton. Yep, that is what you get for running 13 miles!? You missed the water tower north of town. I remember my driver's ed. teacher saying something about it being in an architectural journal/magazine/something. The old tower was in the middle of north main street. I don't know Regent that well. I might have to swing through there again soon, to check out the Knight & Dragon, the gift shop, and the castle. :-) You missed Mott Days by about a week. :-( The house with the two towers of bells used to have 200 to 300 John Deere tractors over to the west. The Pedal Tractor Museum is pretty cool, too bad you missed out on a day when it was open. In between there, and where the hotel used to be, there was a car show about a week before you went through. New Leipzig. That is a German name, lipe-tzwig (?). The original Leipzig was somewhere north of Elgin. They picked up and moved the whole town when the railroad ended up further south. I used to go into that grocery store "back in the day", when I stayed with my uncle in the summer. Elgin... heh... I have to wonder if you did some video editing at this point. My aunt owns that gas station you were south of in the first shot. I am not sure who is normally working, my cousin or my uncle. I might have to re-check if Grant County News is still published. I have been in that library once our thrice. Note how the water tower is different. The original was taken out back in 1978 (?), by a tornado. Carson. More relatives. I don't know the Miss Rodeo, or the story behind the giant cowboy statue. Round bales. Yep, I think you went through wright around hay bailing season. Flasher must have been a blip. I KNEW YOU HAD TO CHEAT TO GET TO THE OTHER SIDE! :-P I saw that coming when you first pointed out the map. East side, I know less about. I think I have been through Hazelton, Wishek, and Lamore, but quite some time ago. That was definitely a lot of hay bails. The wind turbine farm looks bigger as well.
The siren was an old Civil Defense air raid siren. It was commonly used at many rural, volunteer fire departments. The department in our community had one for nearly 40 years until it was disassembled. With upgraded, digitalized communication and public alert systems they're really no longer needed although some are still in use. I think they sound cool as @#$%! and they were loud.
Mott’s siren was by the water tower and would sound off everyday at 12pm and 6pm…. As far as I remember to the early 2000’s - I don’t know about now. All family has passed on. I still miss the siren. Except when I lived there I got used to it -- which was fine cause if it went off at a weird time you knew to get in the basement tornados coming!!! Lol Now I live in Louisiana- a few years back I was shopping at Target or somewhere in town-( 50,000 ppl in town). And there was… I swear I heard a tornado siren!!! But I did not hear or see tornado… the sky didn’t look like tornado sky greenish yellow, nothing on my phone….. Once I got back home I found out a tornado siren did indeed go off - and a tornado did indeed touch down (no one hurt with that one). I had absolutely no idea there was a tornado siren in the area and still have no clue where it is located but it sure sounded off and did get my my attention! Once I knew everyone was relatively fine and minimal damage I smiled knowing they still use them. Phones, radios, TV, etc devices- I’d take a siren anyway over it for initial warning bc half the time my phone is dead or doesn’t go off or I’m at work so everything is turned off, etc. I do love radar though and how easily accessible it is (usually).
Welll……. Maybe the siren that went off here …. Is at a fire station 🤔 lol I suppose when I’m out and about I will have to search put and look at all the fire stations to see if I can find it!!! I only knew of the one that I grew up hearing- by our water tower in mott) Thank you for the information about fire stations:)
I live in Bismarck ND - there are numerous small towns like this all over ND. The main populated towns are Bismarck (the capital), Fargo (most populated), Minot (Air force base), Grand Forks (University of ND), and Williston (sprung up from 2013/14 mining rush). ND is peaceful and family centered. The men are hard workers, and the women are great cooks as well as socializers. It's a safe place to start life/start a family!
My favorite snack on the road. Love seeing the farmers out on their tractors and all the cows. Feeding American. Such beautiful country. Thanks for the ride. 🥰
If it wasn't for the farmers of America, we wouldn't have what we have today. City folks just go the market and buy, many times not thinking of where the food comes from. Like electricity comes from the wall outlet and water comes from the faucet thinking.
Thank you so much for this video. I love it. I feel like I was right there with you. I don’t get to travel to these small towns much or anywhere, so this is like I can enjoy it vicariously.
@@SticksAandstonesBozo not sure if you have friends or relatives elsewhere but if you’re able to relocate you should give it a try. It’s tough to take the plunge into the unknown but so many of us with nothing to stay for have moved and loved it. Good luck with whatever you decide.
Great video I remember traveling in 1980 with my girlfriend and her sister to Buffalo north Dakota on a Greyhound bus. We were just teens in the day. Thanks for bringing back memories for me Adam. 👍👍🤙🤙😎😎
ND looks like a heavy farm state. Imagine sun set over that field with all the round bails. Beautiful. We pay €99 (Euros) per round bail here in Germany. Dare to think how much worths was on that field. Safe travels x
Last year there was a drought and 1 ton round bales were selling for over $200. Now plenty of rain this summer so maybe they will be around $85 per bale probably.
The peacefulness and beauty video of small town North Dakota was excellent. These Americans here were hard at work during the day, and at night mostly with their families. I hope these towns and their businesses can survive.
hello adam , yet another cool interesting relaxing video , 11.59 i love how the real windows are part of the painting lol , really well done and thank you :)
