It was after 7 yesterday and shadows were already softening the North Dakota badlands when I finally entered this state. I’ve wanted to come here for years, had missed it on other cross-country vacations. And no wonder. It’s up here. And out there. It feels both otherworldly and strangely familiar.

The familiar part comes from the 10-gallon hats and the moose heads on the wall. The cowboy culture I’d just seen in Montana. And after driving much of the width of that state yesterday, I would be hard pressed to pick pictures of North Dakota out of a lineup if a bunch of Montana shots were thrown in.

Still, there is a difference here, a roof-of-the-country feeling. And a quaintness, too.

And then there is this: North Dakota is my 49th state. I’ve visited every other but Hawaii. All I can say is, it was worth the wait.