Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Outdoor Outfitters Retail Stores

There are so many outdoor outfitters available to us that it can be difficult to make up our minds where to go to find all our hunting needs. Specialty outfitters and local farm /hardware stores all vie for our consumer dollar; whether it be in person, catalog ,or catalog online. The opportunity to travel a few weeks ago gave me a chance to "kick the tires"of the different retail outlets, figuratively speaking. A lot depends on where you live and what is close by. Then again, planning a special trip isn't a bad idea to checkout that gun, bow, fishing pole or canoe that is on the "want list". Leaving Jamestown, N.D. on Tuesday, September 25th, we headed east on I-94. The next major city we stopped at was Fargo. We discovered in January that the Scheels chain had built a 196,000 square foot(4 acre) site. Absolutely the biggest free standing establishment of this chain store I have seen. It opened this summer on July 1st, so we stopped to check inside.Fargo Scheels I found it very bright and inviting inside. Spacing between clothes racks, very nice and the racks not so packed the clothes might fall off if you brush by to closely. It is a fact I like "Bright and Neat". Back to S 45th Street, heading south over the I-94 bridge, we found another outfitter - GanderMTN. I was not enticed to stay and browse very long by my surroundings, not to say it isn't a good supplier...I just like atmospheres that are brighter.Gander MTN Traveling on down the road passing other outfitters we made our way to Owatonna, MN. I had another stop to make;) May be you already know where I'm headed. Ah YES!Cabela's...One of the closest stores to home associated with this company.Cabela's Sign at OwatonnaCabela's Owatonna,Mn.Cabela's In door Mountain It was very exhilarating. Running from the clothes,shoes ,guns, archery and binoculars etc...just like a child in a toy store. Time went by to quickly before the need to be back on the road arrived. Reading some fellow bloggers - such as Dana over at "The Wild Woodswoman" she referred to the Cabela's Master catalog Fall 2007 on August 11th,2007 ( I am among the group to have one too ;) ) Was able to follow along. Preach IT Dana! Jody posted on September 20th ,over at "thehunterswife.net" that they are looking forward to the opening of a new Cabela's store over at Hammond,Indiana in a few weeks, October 19th. All of us know where she will be shopping for some important Christmas gifts. There are many others who have posted as well on their shopping preferences. Bet you can literally feel a connection to what they are sharing. I know I can... POST UPDATE : You may have caught the comment by Kristine...She said that over at "skinnymoose.com/tailsandtrails", Rick ,was able to get a media tour. He got to wander around the East Hartford, Connecticut Cabela's that will be opening on October 19th. I think you would enjoy seeing all his pictures. Click the link over in the side bar so you can get over there!

Monday, October 1, 2007

The Mandan at Ft. Abraham Lincoln

On Monday ,September 24th ,we found ourselves back tracking westward on I-94 ,over miles we had seen the day before. There is a good reason the decision was made to do so. We traveled 7 miles south of the town of Mandan on highway 1806 to reach our destination. Three years ago we,my grandson Nick, daughter Kyli , her husband Justin and I, got to visit the North Dakota Heritage Center in Bismarck. It was a wonderful experience that started in the prehistorical periods. We saw some artifacts of the prehistoric native americans which sparked an interest in the settlement discovered by chance at Ft. Abraham Lincoln. Our guide for the On-a- Slant village was of the Sioux tribe from the Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota. He mentioned that they had one person on staff of Mandan descent that does conduct tours. He told us the site they are working on rehabilitating was inhabited from 1575 - 1700's. Due to the exhaustion of natural resources they left the area and returned years later when the resources were once again able to sustain a community. History of the Mandan NationMandan General Meeting HutMandan Village DioramaDescription of Mandan BeliefsPictoral History of the MandanDescription of Mandan by John McDonnellSheheke - Born at On-a Slant Village This year we included the sight seeing of the adjoined area as well in our one day side trip with our daughter. She hadn't had a chance to see it yet since moving north. Each of us purchased an "Interpretive Pass" and the cavalier had to pay to enter, even had her own sticker to say she could take us where we wanted to go since everything was pretty spread out. History of Ft. Abraham LincolnLookOut at Ft. Abraham LincolnMissouri River Valley at Ft. Abraham Lincoln George Armstrong Custer had been apart of the history at Ft. Abraham Lincoln. In the next few days I will be sharing more about about what we saw and heard during our visit. It was a cold, rainy day ,but enjoyed none the less...