Medora

When you think of North Dakota, you might envision the plains; flat fertile farmland. That might be true for much of the state. But, in the Western part of the state are the Badlands. This is the area that helped build Theodore Roosevelt into a strong man ready to be our nation's 26th president. As we have visited many national parks on this trip, it is hard not to be thankful for Roosevelt's vision and action in creating parks, forests, and wildlife areas. His actions earned him a spot on Mount Rushmore along with Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln.

The town of Medora is the gateway to the badlands. It is a neat small town. We explored the shops including a taffy store where we saw taffy being made. There is a wild west themed playground which the kids enjoyed. The post office shows that even everyday buildings don't have to be boring.

One evening, we attended the Medora Musical. For 45 years, this has been one of the top tourist attactions in the area. It is a fun, western themed show. At one point, we looked up and saw the Milky Way up in the clear night sky.

We stayed at the Red Trail Campground. We were going to be in Roosevelt National Park. However, with temperatures in the 90's, we decided that maybe we needed to plug in so the air conditioner could work. While Red Trail isn't fancy, it surprised us with the fastest internet connection so far. Great to catch up on the blog.

We spent one day exploring Theodore Roosevelt National Park. One of our guide books describes it as 'one of the most interesting but least visited national parks'. Of course we saw great views of the badlands. There were herds of wild horses. We encountered a herd of buffalo. While hiking on the Coal Vein Trail, an enormous buffalo walked within just a few yards of us. Exciting but it also makes you a bit nervous, too. We saw a type of rock called Scoria which is formed when coal starts to burn heading the rocks around it forming a brick like rock. One big surprise was that we found prickly pear cactus growing in the park - who knew that cactus could grow in North Dakota.

Well, it is time to make some fast miles East. Looking forward to stops at the Mall of America, Wisconsin State Fair, and the Beach. Thanks for following along.

More pictures.

Erling