Thursday, June 21, 2018

The Wesley Bell Ringer 2018 Summer Bell Tour - Day 13 - OFF DAY! Fargo ND to Montana

The Wesley Bell Ringers enjoyed their second DAY OFF leaving North Dakota headed to Montana.  The second largest bus day of this tour, the choir thought they were settling in for a long nap across North Dakota, but in keeping up with tour culture, some unique, only seen on tour stops were quickly planned to break up the travel.

First stop - The Fargo visitors center as we left town.  The kids had the opportunity to see "the wood chipper" from the movie Fargo as well as other film photos & items.  Probably unseen by most of the choir, but maybe now will be.

Second Stop - National Buffalo Museum in Jamestown North Dakota, home of the largest buffalo in THE WORLD.  Need I say more?

Third stop - lunch in Bismark North Dakota & a very special guest bell ringer.  Many times along tour we are lucky to have alumni ringers at our concerts, but it is not frequent that a alumni ringer drops everything to meet up with the bus just to say hello.  Jody rang at a Wesley Bell Ringer back in the 1990's during her time in college at Westminster & later assisted Ed as assistant director.  Not unlike past & current ringers, Jody shared her story, her love for bells, and how being a Wesley helped shape her life, this is always inspiring to hear.  Unique to Jody's story was how she came about joining the choir.  While in high school The Wesley Bell Ringers came through her home town in North Dakota & Jody fell in love with the choir & wanted to be part of this group.  Unfortunately playing in The Wesley Bell Ringers while living in North Dakota wasn't a possibility while going to school. When it came time to think about college, Jody came up with a solution - go to college at Westminster in SLC & play in the choir!  She contacted Ed, he said "yes" you can join & Jody took a leap of faith & moved to Utah.  Needless to say, there wasn't a dry eye on the bus as Jody said goodbye to the group.

Fourth stop - Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  Our quickest national park visit yet.  Small enough to see a taste of the Bad Lands, use the restroom, and do the usual WBR shop-a-thon in the gift shop, the choir enjoyed the stop &l earned  some great trivia along the way.

Final stop of the day - Miles City Montana for a much loved hotel night.  The group was given boundaries & set free to explore what they could in the small radius around the hotel & enjoyed some much needed rest from the bells.
The famous Fargo wood chipper.  

The National Buffalo Museum hosts - Katie & Anna

The Wesley Bell Ringers are getting really good at posing by signs as they know the chaperones will be requesting a photo. 

Is there any question about the WORLD'S larges buffalo statement?  


Ride 'em bell ringers. 

Hello!

Catching up on old times.

Another great group shot.

"wait.  People actually used these phones attached to walls & needed coins to do so?"  Holden was perplexed.

Winner !  Winner!  Chicken dinner!  CP had the answer to the North Dakota trivia hour question. 

Way to go Molly!  Another winner.

Connor Steve, smarter than the rest for this question.  

Holden earning back the dollar he owed to the fine jar. 

Last but not least, Jack gets the final question right.  

Catching up on the recipes shared along the way - Lemon bars! Crock pot Breakfast Casserole!  




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