It's About the (RV) Journey....: Theodore Roosevelt National Park............

Heading east from Glacier National Park, we hit some rainy and cold weather. I'm not complaining...especially when the rest of the country is sweltering right now. We only had the one cool day though, in Butte, Montana...after that, we too ~~endured~~ enjoyed the heat of summer too!

there's our campground! right off the highway!

a dose of internet

perfect day for nice hot tea

Eastern Montana is very different than western Montana...just look! And it really is "Big Sky" country! The next day we headed to Billings, Montana, to spend the night at the Billings KOA. We arrived around 2pm, so we had the whole afternoon ahead of us to walk, and relax. The site was lovely, and the weather was one of those perfectly warm days...with a bit of a breeze. We enjoyed the outdoor patio of the campsite! Some of the KOA's have a restaurant of some sort, which we never visit since we are traveling with our kitchen. This day though, we took advantage of the BBQ pit, and had ourselves a delicious barbecue dinner that we didn't have to cook or clean up after and what a treat that was!! We may even had a bit of Moose Tracks ice cream too, as we watched NCIS on the outdoor TV, swinging on the swing that was on our campsite patio. Tom had the brilliant idea of turning the swing so it faced the TV perfectly. Can you say "heavenly"! It is the simple things...really!

Big Sky Montana

driving for miles and miles (we just hit 10,000!)

more eastern Montana

we live in a beautiful country!

our deluxe campsite in Billings! Wow!

computing

later we are turning this swing around to face the outdoor tv (no need to break out our chairs on a traveling day!)

just knitting a few more rows

The next day, it was onward to North Dakota! Our destination was Medora, ND. The Theodore Roosevelt National Park is located right in the center of town, and the campground was 5 minutes away. Yippee! The town itself had lots of restaurants, gift shops and a few motels, but not too much of anything else. We were in need of a grocery store, so we could stock up for our ride back east. The area was beautiful...badlands and green grass and cottonwood trees! The environment was quite diverse. We especially love the rocks....with those gorgeous colors and stripes!

the landscape changed again as we hit North Dakota

the name of the town is "Home on the Range"...you can't make this stuff up!

heading into Medora, North Dakota

a very small cute touristy town of about 5 blocks

After setting up camp, we went to the Visitor Center at the South Unit so we could talk to the rangers and plan our next day. We watched the movie while we were there, and it was very inspiring. Theodore Roosevelt, as a young man, would come to North Dakota from New York so he could hunt. He loved it so much, he built a cabin here in Medora. When his wife died in childbirth, and his mother died of typhus ON THE SAME DAY, he came to Medora to grieve and heal. He realized what a natural beauty the wild west was, and was way ahead of his time with thoughts of conservation and the idea of setting aside land for all to enjoy. Thanks to his forward thinking, we have National Parks! A replica of his cabin is on site at the Visitor Center.

the Theodore Roosevelt National Park Visitor Center-South Unit

T.R.'s cabin

The next morning, we traveled the "scenic loop" road in the South Unit, which is about 35 miles. There are numerous scenic overlooks and very short "hikes" to viewpoints. It was very hot, so we only did short hikes...no 10-milers for us here! No way! The land is beautiful, and of course we are always on the lookout for wildlife in the wild! There are many prairie dog towns throughout the park, and the ranger advised us to look for some of the bigger mammals there as well, since it is an indication of available food. (No...bison and wild horses don't eat prairie dogs....I asked that silly question)!

Historic Medora -can you see the train too?

Prairie Dog Town

they were pretty busy

a flock of magpies flying nearby them too

the scenery is really nice here

There were signs of bison everywhere we looked. They must roam freely all over the park, because though we only saw a few herds, there was a ton of buffalo poop everywhere. And horse poop too, I might add! The wild horses seem to get along with the bison, because we saw them together on a couple of occasions.

what?? Buffalo poop up here? Watch your step!!

a bison relaxing in the sun

part of the "trail" - we are only doing short ones because of the heat/sun

this dorky hat has really saved me!!

We admired the geology of the land, and though the spring flowers were gone, we enjoyed the sunny summer flowers that were around the park. We have also noticed that there are hoodoos forming slowly too....as the sandstone is washed away and the stronger rock remains.

love the sunny bright flowers!

the rocks are gorgeous

hoodoos forming

such cool formations

The Little Missouri River runs through the park and is the lifeblood for the cottonwood trees. You can see exactly where the river flows by the location of the trees.

the national park campground is in there too...we could see tents under the trees

a sentry

another little cutie guarding his home

Not too long after beginning the loop drive, we came upon a herd of bison, and some wild horses. We watched with some other park visitors as a couple of male bison came from another direction toward the herd, and another male in the herd didn't like it at all. They were getting ready for a confrontation (it looked like it, anyway). They stared each other down while the rest of the herd made their exit into another area. They all just got up and left. The horses stayed, and didn't seem to notice anything weird going on. So...that was the excitement of the day. We had fun watching the wildlife from a distance. We also had fun listening to the running commentary from a busload of tourists that were also enjoying watching the wildlife in action. HAahah.

we spotted some bison

a herd of bison...and...wild horses too!

uh oh...a bull bison moving in on the herd

the herd is leaving..and do you see the bull towards the left? He must be the one in charge...ready for a standoff

moving in

ready for the face off

the herd is leaving and the horses remain...unfazed

bison? what bison?

close up of the wild horses

Around the bend, Tom spotted pronghorns relaxing in the meadow. That was the only spot we saw them. There were several lookouts and a short trail we took advantage of. The views were expansive and seemed to go on forever.

pronghorns

resting for a bit

love the formations and the colors

these are badlands too

another "hike" at a scenic overlook

gorgeous rolling green hills too

At some points where the park ends, we could see the oil rigging equipment, which was a little sad. There was an article in the Park Visitor newspaper regarding the Bakken formation that lies beneath western North Dakota, rich with oil deposits, and thanks to the wonders of "fracking", the oil is being extracted. Tens of thousands of jobs from the oil boom has brought with it traffic, noise, high prices in the past decade (though honestly we didn't notice anything like that...but then again, we are from NJ!). This, as well as spilled fracking fluids, can do harm to the environment and the natural habitat for the native animals and plants (and us).

Oil!!

enjoying the views from the trails and overlooks

cool looking formations

the Little Missouri River runs through the park-its pretty muddy!

walking out to the overlooks

I spy hoof-prints!

a herd of bison in the distance

oh look, wild horse too

they all get along nicely, it seems

close up of the herd

this guy was a little too hot and needed to cool off

that would be me...hahahaha

heading up the trail to an overlook

the river behind us...

cool rocks along the side of the trail

looks like a pumpkin face or an owl?

the scenery goes on forever

beautiful

another little "trail" that goes out for a view

cool

sweet

goes on forever, right?

cool landscape

no bears on these trails

you can see why Teddy Roosevelt thought of conservation...the land is pristine

another bison herd

so cool

love the colors

looks like a golf course - with a couple of wild horse too

close up

along the trail

As it got to be noon-ish, it really started getting hot. Buck Hill is just that..a big hill. I showed my true wimpy colors and waited in the air-conditioned car while Tom went up that hill like a 10-year-old! He is my idol!! He just does hills effortlessly! Anyway, while he was gone I took out our picnic and was just going to take one bite of my sandwich...honest. I don't know what happened, but I just kept munching and as he came down the hill, I finished the last of it. That will be the last time he lets me sit in the air-conditioned car with our lunch...ahahhahah!

stand "here"????

cool views from the top of Buck Hill (Tom took my camera and shot a few pics from up top!)

whose the loser sitting in the air-conditioned car?

hurry up....I'm almost done with my sandwich!

After we both finished lunch, ahem, we continued on with the rest of the loop road admiring the views of the badlands, and stopping at some of the prairie dog towns to observe just for another minute. They are so cute!

like a painting

more scenic drive

hoodoos forming

great views of the badlands-gorgeous geology

isn't this amazing?

the blue/gray stripes are bentonite...they are one of my favorites...oh, and the pink, green, yellow.....

stripes!

in the distance

so cool-looking

more views

lots of red rock here!

another prairie dog town

We drove back through town and continued on I-94 to get to Walmart, about 30 miles away. We wanted to be totally prepared to be self sufficient for the next 7 days as we make our way back east to Virginia. We will be staying at campgrounds with long pull-through sites so we can leave our car hitched up to the camper. That means we won't be able to drive to a grocery store or anywhere else for that matter, unless we unhitch the car. Its not a big deal, but we want to keep it simple and make good time, yet have time to stretch our legs and relax after the drive of the day.

never made it to this cute store in Medora...time just gets away from us

we thought at first that was a drone...but no

oil rigs all along I-94

a classic picture, isn't it?

fields and fields of sunflowers!

Walmart...a camper's best friend-it has everything..ahahahah

After procuring a ton of fruit and veggies that are non-perishable, as well as a few other items we needed for the week of traveling, we stopped at the Painted Canyon section of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This is mainly a beautiful overlook on I-94, and is also a traveler's rest stop. There is a nature hike there as well, but we declined because of the heat! Woah that sun is brutal! The view was gorgeous and we admired the view from a few different vantage points on the walkway.