Tuesday, July 9, 2024: … The ZMM Narrator’s “Deep Undulations Of The Earth”, Are Seen Along North Dakota Rt 11, On The Way To Hague, ND.

On Rt-11, Getting Near Hague, ND.

File = DSC_0107 Resize1504x1000 ~154KB.jpg

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.
..****************..
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.

*************************
(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?
************************************
(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.
************************************
(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!
************************************
(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!)
************************************
(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.

************************************
(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.
************************************
(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.
************************************
(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.
************************************
(Photo = 103-0383c ...... ZMM Page = 045 ...... WayPt = 058`|u|' 1658ft)

Tuesday, July 9, 2024: … In Mobridge SD: Although The Building For The ZMM Narrator’s “A&W Root Beer Place” Has Been Completely Replaced, ZMM Travelers May STILL Want To Have A Soda At The Same Geographical Location Along The US-12 ZMM Route.

… La Cabaña Mexican Grill, at 519 E Grand Crossing, Mobridge SD, 57601, may still be worth a try, if, like the ZMM Narrator, you come into the East side of Mobridge, SD. You will find the La Cabaña Mexican Grill, , along the South Side of US-12, soon after you enter town.

On Rt-12, Mobridge, SD.

File = DSC 0112 hotoSetOfHGUploadAug9.2025 PanoUS-12MobridgeSD LocationOfZMMA&Wrz8975

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.
************************************
(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

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

Tuesday, July 9, 2024: … TWO Parallel Bridges, Cross the Mighty Missouri. =>
….One For U S 12 And The Other For The Railroad.

he ZMM Narrator Says =>
…. "We have lunch of hamburgers and malteds at an A & W place in Mobridge, cruise down a heavily trafficked main street 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.
…We coast down the hill, clunk onto the bridge and across we go, watching the river through the girders moving by rhythmically, and then we are on the other side.…

2 Mi North of Mobridge, SD.
….As David Matos drove along the bridge, I Henry Gur,r 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?
….The RR bridge is out of view, on the right. You Can See More Photos Of Mobridge & The Above-Mentioned RR Bridge => In Henry Gurr’s 2002 ZMM Research Album. Click Here.

Rt-12, Mobridge, SD.

File = 20240709 162056 OnMissouriRiverBridge Resize1000x1333

Tribal Land, The Standing Rock Indian Reservation.
"… and then we are on the other side. .. We climb a long, long hill into another kind of country. .. The fences are really all gone now. No brush, no trees. The sweep of the hills is so great John’s motorcycle looks like an ant up ahead moving through the green slopes. Above the slopes outcroppings of rocks stand out overhead at the tops of the bluffs.“
5 MiW of Mobridge, ND. shows the view just over the first hill from the river, as the ZMM Route continues Northwest on Rt12. (Please turn off room lights to view this darker image.) I restrained myself from photographing a huge gambling casino just to my rear left.
....This monument to the human vice that imports itself into this empty pristine territory was to me obscene. Especially obscene In view of Narrator’s description (next photo) of this Tribal Land untouched by human activity. I did not find any “over hanging bluffs”. Perhaps they have been removed by highway widening?
************************************
(Photo = 103-0390c ...... ZMM Page = 045 ...... WayPt = 060`|w|' 1725ft)

A White Blossoming Plant By US-12.

…Beyond the Highway, No Evidence of Human Activity.

…"It all has a natural tidiness. If it were abandoned land there would be a chewed-up, scruffy look, with chunks of old foundation concrete, scraps of painted sheet metal and wire, weeds that had gotten in where the sod was broken up for whatever little enterprise was attempted. None of that here. Not kept up, just never messed up in the first place. It’s just the way it always must have been. Reservation land. .. There’s no friendly motorcycle mechanic on the other side of those rocks and I’m wondering if we’re ready for this. If anything goes wrong now we’re in real trouble. .. I check the engine temperature with my hand. It’s reassuringly cool. I put in the clutch and let it coast for a second in order to hear it idling. Something sounds funny and I do it again. It takes a while to figure out that it’s not the engine at all. There’s an echo from the bluff ahead that lingers after the throttle is closed. Funny. I do this two or three times. Chris wonders what’s wrong.”

18Mi Southeast of McLaughlin, SD. Starting at the Missouri River, I searched for “bluffs” that could create an echo, but found none along Rt12.
*************************

(Photo = 103-0391c ZMM Page = 045 ...... WayPt = 061`|w|' 1825ft)

Elevators & Water Tower, Announce McLaughlin, SD.

….[The ZMM Narrator keeps puzzling over WHY John did not want a “shim” inserted under the his Cycle’s Handlebar Clamps, so as to tighten, and fix the loose Handlebars on John’s cycle. See page 046. In this case the Narrator was going to use a small piece of aluminum from a beer can, that was really the ideal metal, but John couldn’t …see … believe … want to believe or understand just how a => Throw-away trash, common, cheap (in the worst sense), cruddy, beer can … could fix his expensive fancy super valuable cycle!] [Out of this] " grew that old feeling I’ve talked about before, a feeling that there’s something bigger involved than is apparent on the surface. You follow these little discrepancies long enough and they sometimes open up into huge revelations. There was just a feeling on my part that this was something a little bigger than I wanted to take on without thinking about it, and I turned instead to my usual habit of trying to extract causes and effects to see what was involved that could possibly lead to such an impasse between John’s view of that lovely shim and my own. This comes up all the time in mechanical work. A hang-up. You just sit and stare and think, and search randomly for new information, and go away and come back again, and after a while the unseen factors start to emerge." In

McLaughlin, SD. Here I (Henry Gurr), also see a wooden clapboard church, painted white with bell tower, that looks just like the small town & rural churches all over my home state of Ohio! I should have taken a photo.

*************************
(Photo = 103-0392c ...... ZMM Page = 47 ...... WayPt = 062`|f|' 2010ft)

Is This What the Grocery Store Looked Like, Along The "The Long Dessolated Road"

"At one stretch in the long desolated road we see an isolated grocery store. "

After Crossing The Missouri River, somewhere along US-12 , the /\above/\ photo was the best Henry Gurr could find..

…However, Mark Richardson, in his book, “Zen And Now”, said as he followed the ZMM Route, he thinks he found this isolated grocery store location. It was in Watauga, SD, a town that was half way between Macintosh and McLaughlin.

************************

(Photo = Summer2006 0306 ...... ZMM Page = 050 ...... WayPt = 062k ~2000ft)