North Dakota Spring Time. "The tired feeling wears off completely and the wind and sun feel good now, making it real. It’s happening, just from the warming of the sun, the road and green prairie farmland and buffeting wind coming together. And soon it is nothing but beautiful warmth and wind and speed and sun down the empty road. The last chills of the morning are thawed by the warm air. Wind and more sun and more smooth road. .. So green this summer and so fresh. .. There are white and gold daisies among the grass in front of an old wire fence, a meadow with some cows and far in the distance a low rising of the land with something golden on it. Hard to know what it is. No need to know." West of Oakes, ND. Need photos for this area, especially showing above ZMM passage. ************************************ (Photo = 103-0336c ...... ZMM Page = 042 ...... Wept = 042i 1456ft. Photo at 038`|w|' 1413ft) ~6 East of Ellendale, ND.

Perfectly Flat Eastern North Dakota Prairie Is Changing To the High Plains. " Where there is a slight rise in the road the drone of the motor becomes heavier. We top the rise, see a new spread of land before us, the road descends and the drone of the engine falls away again. Prairie. Tranquil and detached." … Ellendale, ND. Need better photos for Highway West of here. ZMM Narrator is consistently accurate to the landscape. Need photos for what the Narrator says here, and throughout ZMM. This “undulation” may be discerned in the next five photos, where you will note hills and various aspects of not-flat terrain. Concerning this exact realism, Pirsig said in letters to his editor at Morrow Publishers my book "needs all the help it can get". Exact quote will be found in appendix to Harper-Collins 25th year anniversary edition of ZMM.
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(Photo = ...... 103-0363c ...... ZMM Page = 042 …... WayPt = 042i2 1456ft. Photo at 048`|w|' 1972ft) Photo is actually at 20 Mi West of Ellendale, ND.

House on the Prairie, Empty, Quiet, Lonely.
"Later, when we stop, Sylvia has tears in her eyes from the wind, and she stretches out her arms and says, "It’s so beautiful. It’s so empty." .. I show Chris how to spread his jacket on the ground and use an extra shirt for a pillow. He is not at all sleepy but I tell him to lie down anyway, he’ll need the rest. I open up my own jacket to soak up more heat.“
12Mi West of Ellendale, ND. is where I stopped to photograph a "Windmill & Farmhouse Scene" that may be a prototype of the “house and windmill illuminated by lightning bolt” on ZMM page 026. A photograph true to the “house and windmill with water tower and drainage ditch” is still needed. Also needed are photos to show the "water tower + drainage ditch cross road" that were supposedly after the house. The lightning bolt was on the Narrators way to Oakes, ND.
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(Photo = 103-0350 ...... ZMM Page = 042 ...... WayPt = 045`|w|' 1542ft)

House On The Prairie, Empty, Quiet, Lonely. A Good Place to "Shoot a Panorama".
…. "John gets his camera out. .. After a while he says, "This is the hardest stuff in the world to photograph. You need a three-hundred-and-sixty degree lens, or something. You see it, and then you look down in the ground glass and it’s just nothing. As soon as you put a border on it, it’s gone.".. I say, "That’s what you don’t see in a car, I suppose."
.... Sylvia says, "Once when I was about ten we stopped like this by the road and I used half a roll of film taking pictures. And when the pictures came back I cried. There wasn’t anything there. “

~12Mi West of Ellendale, ND. Having stopped to photograph this Farm House, because it had a Windmill, I Remember John’s statement above, and proceed to capture this scene with an eight shot "360 deg Panorama". John Sutherland has since become a professional photographer, and is very much interested in the Photographic Arts.
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Steps To See Above Mentioned Panorama.
…. Right Click, Select New Tab. THEN AFTER this Gallery Albums Page Comes Up, :Scroll Down To & Read Description Of => “Album 360 Degree Panoramas for Book "Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" THEN Click On The Small Photo, and AFTER this Small Photos Page Comes Up => Click on the Third narrow strip photo. AFTER this Panorama Comes Up, you will have to use the “Click&Drag” sliders at Bottom & Right to see the parts of photo off screen.
…. (Alternate: If you have already viewed a panorama in a second (new browser window), simply switch to it and choose the third Gallery Picture)

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(Photo = 103-0351 ...... ZMM Page = 042 ...... WayPt = 045`|x|' 1542ft)

Looking West => What Original Roads Looked Like In Pioneer Days; Just Dirt Ruts In The Deep Grass.

…."All right, tonight we’ll camp out." We had talked about it before. .. So we move down the empty road. I don’t want to own these prairies, or photograph them, or change them, or even stop or even keep going. We are just moving down the empty road. “ [End ZMM Chapter 4.]

12 Mi East of Hague, ND. The /\ Above /\ Photo shows what first original roads must have looked like in pioneer days. Click photo to get largest view and look closely to see the "dirt rut in the grass" leading to the horizon.
….On account of a fairly large “Pothole Lake” Rt-11 => Doesn't here as we might expect, continue straight (West ) ahead,,, AND (as shown /\ Above /\ Photo), go over the crest seen. In distance.
… Rt-11 could here continue straight ahead,. West to Hague, ND, AND could simply enough, curve around the edge of the Pothole. This would give least distance to pave, and far easier, safer driving!
…. .For some strange reason => Instead Rt-11 (as shown /\ Above /\ Photo), here curves 90 deg to the left, and goes an even mile to the next "Section Line", and then follows that Section Line, West for even full four miles, to the next "Section Line", only there to jog an even mile back to the North, and there-upon turn West, where the road should have already been.
…. Crazy! ….These four 90 deg turns, add four dangerous sharp curves, and a lot more road to build and maintain! LOW Quality!
…. If you don't believe me, look at your map just North of Zeeland, ND. Alternatively you could use the Satellite View, Blue Link given on 14th Photo Previous, back at Oakes, ND.

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(Photo = 103-0360c ...... ZMM Page = 043 ...... WayPt = 046`|w|' 2132ft)

Looking East, Back Towards Ellendale, ND. =>
….What Original Roads Looked Like In Pioneer Days (Continued)

…. “There’s nothing up ahead that’s any better than it is right here."
8 Mi East of Hague, ND. The /\ Above /\ Photo shows the-other-end-of the pioneer trail, over the crest shown in the previous photo.
….Click photo to get largest view and look closely to see the "dirt rut in the grass" coming this way from the horizon.
….Here is where Rt-11 would have 1) traveled (this way), over the hill straight (West) becoming 2) part of the gravel intersection foreground, and 3) straight line connect with Rt11, and then continuing straight West to Hague ND.
….Here is where I arrived after "jogging" 1mile South and after driving West 4 miles, then "jogged" 1 mile back up North.
….Crazy! These “jogs”, created are four dangerous 90 deg curves, in what could have been a wonderful straight safe road! (The 4th such curve, now paved is to the right of this photo.)
…. At this “dirt rut in the deep grass”, I chose not to follow "the track over the hill" shown in the /\ Above /\ Photo (and Previous) Photo): However, as shown in a Forthcoming Photo, I DID did successfully (and enjoyably) "go straight" on somewhat more promising dirt roads, several places further West, where I saw similar "jogs to the south" on my map.

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(Photo = 103-0362c ...... ZMM Page = 043...... WayPt = 047w)

Rock Piles And Deep Undulation of the Earth
…. “Thee flatness of the prairie disappears and a deep undulation of the earth begins. Fences are rarer, and the greenness has become paler—all signs that we approach the High Plains."

2 Mi East of Hague ND The /\ Above /\ Photo reveals rock piles and endless high planes. This was one of the many huge rock piles that dot this landscape. They evidently were left all over this land after the last Glacier Age and the North America Glaciers melted back to Canada.
….Similar glacial granite boulder fields were all over my family’s farm, and all over Northern Ohio, where I grew up.
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Professor Robert Nelson Helps Us Understand =>
….How Robert Pirsig’s Writing Of The ZMM Book, Is Guided By Weather & Landscape. => Click Here &AFTER this page comes up scroll down to Article => “Weather & Landscape Serve To Telegraph Ones Inner Thinking.” Professor Robert Nelson says "I was especially intrigued by Pirsig's use of climate and geography as controlling metaphors … [&} by how conveniently changes in weather and landscape serve to telegraph or accompany changes in the drift and direction of the nameless narrator's own thinking.” (Continued next caption)

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(Photo = 103-0364 ...... ZMM Page = 043...... WayPt = 049m)

The ZMM Narrator’s “Deep Undulations Of The Earth.
….The Town, In the Distant Grove of Trees, Is a Place for Rest and Retreat from the Rigors of Traveling.

["The flatness of the prairie disappears and a deep undulation of the earth begins. Fences are rarer, and the greenness has become paler—all signs that we approach the High Plains. “ ]
...." We stop for gas at Hague. “

Hague, ND. The town is in the distance. This is where the "deep undulation of the earth begins." The passage above illustrates how the ZMM Narrator consistently reports facts.
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Continuing from the previous caption, Prof. Robert Nelson observes that ZMM is =>
…. "… fundamentally realistic, at least in the sense that the structure and motion of its plot remain consistently responsible to the topography of the physical landscape through which the protagonist moves." .
Professor Nelson P & V Conclusion, Has Been Continued From Previous Caption. Please Click Blue Link To Read More of Prof. Nelson’s Quote. => ”
…. Click Here &AFTER this page comes up scroll down to Article => “Weather & Landscape Serve To Telegraph Ones Inner Thinking.”

The Church Spire In /\ Above /\ Photo, Is A Huge Catholic Church just one block South of the gas station and restaurant. It is definitely worth a visit.
….An adjacent city park will provide a place for rest and retreat from the rigors of traveling.

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(Photo = Summer2006 0245 ...... ZMM Page = 042 ...... WayPt = 048`|f|' 1972ft)

Café’ & Business District.
"We stop for gas at Hague and ask if there is any way to get across the Missouri between Bismarck and Mobridge. The attendant doesn’t know of any. It is hot now, and John and Sylvia go somewhere to get their long underwear off. The motorcycle gets a change of oil and chain lubrication. Chris watches everything I do but with some impatience. Not a good sign. … All of us go in a shop for coffee and rolls. Everything is different except one another, so we look around rather than talk, catching fragments of conversation among people who seem to know each other and are glancing at us because we’re new. Afterward, down the street, I find a thermometer for storage in the saddlebags and some plastic goggles for Chris.“
Hague, ND. There are no longer any gas stations here when I was here Summer 02. Note Quonset Hut and evidence of grain handling ability. Does this mean wheat is grown here?
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(Photo = 103-0368c ...... ZMM Page = 043 ...... WayPt = 050`|u|' 1870ft)

Roller-Coaster Hills, North Dakota-South Dakota Border Area.
"The road south is awful. Choppy, narrow, bumpy concrete with a bad head wind, going into the sun and big semis going the other way. These roller-coaster hills speed them up on the down side and slow them up on the up side and prevent our seeing very far ahead, making passing nerve-wracking. The first one gave me a scare because I wasn’t ready for it. Now I hold tight and brace for them. No danger. Just a shock wave that hits you. It is hotter and dryer. .. At Herreid John disappears for a drink while Sylvia and Chris and I find some shade in a park and try to rest. It isn’t restful.“
Herreid, SD. We have crossed ND-SD border just before arriving here. Note roller- coaster hills and bus that can cause “shock wave” blast.
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(Photo = 103-0371c ...... ZMM Page = 044 ...... WayPt = 052`|f|' 1370ft)

We Are in a Western Town.
"A change has taken place and I don’t know quite what it is. The streets of this town are broad, much broader than they need be, and there is a pallor of dust in the air. Empty lots here and there between the buildings have weeds growing in them. The sheet metal equipment sheds and water tower are like those of previous towns but more spread out. Everything is more run-down and mechanical-looking, and sort of randomly located. Gradually I see what it is. Nobody is concerned anymore about tidily conserving space. The land isn’t valuable anymore. We are in a Western town.“
Cattle Yard Herreid, SD. Big trucks in parking lot await their turn to create “shock wave” blast on the next poor unsuspecting motorcycle rider!
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(Photo = 103-0370c ...... ZMM Page = 044 ...... WayPt = 052`|k|' 1370ft)

Would Don Quixote fight these Towering Giants?
"The hardware man [back in Hague] didn't know any short route across the Missouri either. John and I study the map. I had hoped we might find an unofficial ferryboat crossing or footbridge or something in the ninety-mile stretch, but evidently there isn’t any because there’s not much to get to on the other side. It’s all Indian reservation. We decide to head south to Mobridge and cross there.“
Mobridge & Missouri River, SD. are 15Mi Ahead On Rt12 going West. These High Voltage Power Line Towers, like Don Quixote’s Giants, have shoulders, arms, and legs! The electrical power industry is one of the metaphorical Giants of out time! Who in our own time is prepared to fight them? This photo is for USCA English Professor Donald Blount, who claims Cervantes's book Don Quixote is, with with the works of Shakespeare, vastly superior to ZMM. (Note: Back at Hague, ND, most sloughs and small lakes were full of dead trees. This was from an apparent & recent severe drought. Trees out here can’t even survive in well-watered places!)
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(Photo = 103-0372c ...... ZMM Page = 044 ...... WayPt = 053`|w|' 1795ft)

All That Water, Yet the Grass Is Color of Dry Straw. Missouri River Valley, SD.. [No applicable ZMM passage.]
Missouri River 3Mi East of Mobridge, SD. The River as seen from the high ground along Rt12. Opposite the Missouri River, in this Southwest view, is the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. And to the Northwest, again opposite the Missouri River, is the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. According to my Rand-McNally Map, Mobridge is the largest town for hundreds of miles in any direction! Last chance for any repairs and supplies! The lack of “civilization”, is the cause of the narrator’s expressed worries (several pages later) about how they will manage in the event of serious mechanical breakdowns of their cycles. Any person following the ZMM Route, should exercise similar precautions.

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(Photo = 103-0377s ...... ZMM Page = 044 ...... WayPt = 055`|f|' 1900ft)

Down a Long river Valley Slope to the Missouri River.
"We have lunch of hamburgers and malteds at an A & W place in Mobridge … “
Mobridge, SD., is where we go down this slope into Missouri River Valley. The buildings of Mobridge appear and a Rodeo Arena is ahead on right. It is so hot on this road that newly melted tar is oozing up from the (old) repaired cracks of the pavement. As I take this photo, shiny black tar sticks to my shoes and gets all over the rug in the car! It’s 6:00 pm. I’m tired, hot, thirsty, hungry and really ready ready for the cool of the ZMM A & W place described in passage above. Just 3 miles and I’ll have a good, cool Root Beer in my hands – Right? I intensively search for the A & W, in Mobridge, all the way to the bridge, which is an additional 6 miles. No “A & W place” is to be found! I ask directions. Younger people don’t seem to recognize what I’m asking about.
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(Photo = 103-0380c ...... ZMM Page = 044 ...... WayPt = 056`|f|' 1770ft)

>The Old A & W Root Beer Place in Mobridge Is Now the Yellow Sub.
[We] "“… cruise down a heavily trafficked main street. ...“
The Yellow Sub Restaurant, Mobridge, SD. is found after an hour of questioning every (very helpful) Mobridge citizens as to the where-about of the “Mobridge A & W. An older man, owner of an auto repair shop (North side of Rt12 near the river), directs me all the way back to the East side of Mobridge with the instructions “Look for the "Yellow Sub”. I’m totally puzzled what I am to look for??.I do what I am told and after traveling “down a heavily trafficked main street”, there it is! -- The old "Car-Hop-Canopy” and a bit of the West wall concrete block wall is all that’s left of the original 1968 Mobridge A & W place! As I understand it, the A & W place in Mobridge was created by Mrs. Carrie Overseth in 1963. Only the car-hop-canopy and wall were spared in a complete renovation and expansion, which created the “Harley (Overseth) Drive In” in 1985. Some years after that, Mr. Tim Rick, converted it to the present building for his Yellow Sub.
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(Photo = 103-0385c ...... ZMM Page = 044 ...... WayPt = 058`|u|' 1658ft)

The Car-Hop-Canopy and West Wall Is All That’s Left of the 1963 A & W.
[[ In the isolated lonely Reservation beyond the Missouri River ahead, the Narrator’s thoughts turn to the possibility of mechanical problems. A message for those that can hear.]] “He [John] didn’t really see what was going on and was not interested enough to find out. He isn’t so interested in what things mean as in what they are. That’s quite important, that he sees things this way. It took me a long time to see this difference and it’s important for the Chautauqua that I make this difference clear. .. I was so baffled by his refusal even to think about any mechanical subject I kept searching for ways to clue him to the whole thing but didn’t know where to start."
The Yellow Sub Restaurant Mobridge, SD. is where this courteous rider took the time to pose at my request. The sun angle in late PM, is as it was in ZMM. I DID HAVE a great meal & a good, COOL Root Beer at the Yellow Sub, where Mr. Tim Rick (owner) and staff were quite helpful in my A & W history quest.
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(Photo = 103-0383c ...... ZMM Page = 045 ...... WayPt = 058`|u|' 1658ft)

Low ground views Missouri River Valley & Railroad.
[We] “ … and then there it is, at the bottom of the hill, the Missouri. All that moving water is strange, banked by grass hills that hardly get any water at all. I turn around and glance at Chris but he doesn’t seem to be particularly interested in it."
After passing through West Edge of Mobridge, SD., both Rt12 and Railroad seen here, run North along the river some 2 miles beyond Mobridge town limit. Then Rt12 and the RR approach their respective bridges and cross the Missouri as shown in the next photo. As may be seen from a highway map, the towns in the Indian Reservations are mostly along the major through-highways. For this reason, as the ZMM travelers continue through the next 14 towns on Rt12, they can often see the continuation of these RR tracks. Most of these towns have a grain elevator, the evident connecting points for the RR.
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(Photo = 103-0381c ...... ZMM Page = 044 ...... WayPt = 057`|w|' 1660ft)

TWO Parallel Bridges, Cross the Mighty Missouri. =>
….One for U S 12 And The Other For The Railroad

…. "We coast down the hill, clunk onto the bridge and across we go, watching the river through the girders moving by rhythmically, … "

2 Mi North of Mobridge, SD. The black vertical object was a big sign post, used to prevent the low western summer sun from blinding both the camera and the photographer (me).
…. As I strain to take these three photos (for the /\ Above /\ Three Photo Stitch), the sun is bright and hot. The river is perfectly silent. There is very little traffic, so all is quiet except for the birds, which I also attempt to photograph.
….Later, as I crossed the bridge, I was mindful of the above ZMM Passage, and I tried to get the “rhyme of the girders”. But it was hard to do. Is this easier in a motorcycle?
….Perhaps, instead, I should have taken a “drivers view” photo while on the bridge. Can anyone help with photos here?
….The RR bridge is on the right, in this three-image-composite photo. To see it better, mouse click on the photo several times till you get the largest view. Then use theto adjust the image up-down for best viewing, and then with ClickDrag Bars, scroll the image to see the RR bridge on the far right

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(Photo = 103-0386s ...... ZMM Page = 044 ...... WayPt = 059`|w|' 1720ft)