Welcome to the least adored of all states, at least in the view of tourists. You can blame this squarely on its far-flung location and bi-polar weather conditions. This state must have repeatedly drawn a short straw, because not only does it get scorching triple-digit heat, but it gets bitter sub-zero chill, too. We can attest to the former. During our stay, it was hotter than a stolen tamale. Many of the North Dakota settlers found the clime to be too much and threw in the towel. In fact, there are forty-thousand fewer residents today than there were seventy years ago. As unforgiving as the temperatures are though, know that this is a fine-looking state with endless golden fields and beautiful, well-worn prairie churches.

Well before his presidency, Teddy Roosevelt fell in love with North Dakota. In fact, it was his fondness for this wildly beautiful area that caused him to play such a vital role in the formation of our National Park System. Yay, Teddy! There’s now the Teddy Roosevelt National Park here in honor of him. Just outside the gates of this park is a “pitchfork fondue” operation. Now you may not believe this, but the way it works is they spike several fistfuls of rib-eye steak onto a pitchfork and then plunge them into a cauldron of hot oil. Five or ten minutes later, they yank ‘em out and slide them onto plates. Pretty original, huh? The fondue part of it refers to the method of cooking with “skewers” and hot oil. There’s no melted gruyere with bread cubes going on here.