The welcome center also houses the headquarters of the Norsk Hostfest which is North America's Largest Scandinavian Festival and is held each year in Minot.
This Dala Horse is the most recognized Swedish symbol in the world. Many fathers crafted small horses like these as toys for their young ones.
This is a gateway into a Swedish garden.
This is the Eternal Flame and Statue. Five aluminum skis, sybolic of the 5 Scandinavian countries, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark, support a world globe. Many contributions to the sport of skiing were made by a Norwegian, Sondre Norheim.
This pavilion also serves as a picnic shelter.
The Sigdal House is the oldest house in North Dakota. It is 230 years old and is representative of a typical house from old time Norway.
The Stabbur is a storehouse used in Scandinavian countries to provide safe, dry storage for food. Notice the grass covered roof.
This is the Gol Stave Church and it is 60 feet high by 45 feet at the base. Wood carvers from Wisconsin worked on the intricately-carved doors. This is symbolic of 700 year old Stave Churches which still stand in Norway.
The waterfall is a reminder of the many cascading falls and streams in the old country.
This is a Finnish Sauna. According to the tour guide a typical sauna would consist of a dressing room, wooden benches and a stove of hot glowing stones. Sprinkling water on the stones makes the sauna steamy. Inviting a guest for a sauna was as common as inviting them for a meal.
This is a full sized windmill which was used in the 1920's to pump water and grind wheat.
This is another example of the huge trees up here. Wouldn't this make a beautiful Christmas Tree? I wonder if they decorate it for the holidays?
This is Larry and the Welcome Center Greeter. I think his name is Sig, the Troll.
I hope you enjoyed our visit to Scandinavia, we sure did!
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