On July 9th, we arrived in North Dakota – the 40th state we have been in on our three and a half year journey around the country.
Icelandic State Park was a perfect introduction to this new state for us. We tried to visit the RSL #3 Missile Site but it wasn’t open so we explored the Pioneer Heritage buildings in the campground and learned of the Gunlogson family who staked their claim on this property. We toured their homestead and sat for a while in the Stave Church. We took a mile hike through the Gunlogson Nature Trail through the riparian forest – oaks, birches, lush undergrowth of ferns and flowering plants.
Our next stop was Grahams Island State Park on Devil’s Lake. On Saturday, July 13th we drove two hours to see the International Peace Gardens. We took our time in the conservatory seeing hundreds of varieties of cacti and succulents. The formal and sunken gardens were in perfect bloom. We had some quiet time in the Peace Chapel reading the inspirational quotes etched on the stone walls. The 9/11 tribute had massive metal girders from the fallen World Trade Center – in beautiful gardenscapes. The Carillon was not singing that day but the bright sun and light breeze scented with roses made the day a perfect interlude of peace. On the way out we re-entered the US and I used my passport for the first time. It really is a peaceful border – going into the Peace Gardens was simply a pleasant greeting to welcome us and directions for touring the gardens. We were in Manitoba, Canada – it was just that simple to cross a completely undefended border. Entering the US coming home was just some pleasant conversation with the Border Patrol Officers. The only small issue was a question about the feather the hangs from our rear-view mirror. We had to pretend it was not a real hawk feather – must be some prohibition about that. Such a great place to visit!
On the way to the Peace Gardens, we stopped for a few minutes in Rugby – the geographical center of North America. In South Dakota we stopped in Belle Fourche – the geographical center of the United States. In Rugby we also saw the Indian Talking Rock – a small rock on the corner of the little strip mall – but a stunning example of ancient petroglyphs.
We took the next day to do our favorite thing – beach-sitting. The small rocky beach on Devil’s Lake on Grahams Island was a pretty lakeside view of children playing in the lapping waves and boats cruising across the lake. It may be a while until we can sit on sunny sand again.
Then we stayed in Bismarck just two nights but we made sure to visit the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and Fort Mandan. This was a large museum with excellent art and exhibits. We’ve been to many Lewis and Clark sites but this one was certainly one of the best. The tour through the reconstructed Fort Mandan was great. We always learn new things about the Corps of Discovery. In this museum we learned more about Sacagawea. We have heard every possible pronunciation of her name, which is understandable since it is a phonetic transliteration of a Shoshone name that was never written down before the Corps entered it into their journals. But this time we saw it spelled and pronounced differently. It seems that the State of North Dakota spells it “Sakakawea” and says it that way – “sa ka’ ka way a”. The fort was furnished with accurate reproductions of all the items used in the camp – cots with bear skins, metal dishes, barrels, clothing, etc. – all available for us to pick up and examine. We gained lots more information for us to add to our interesting travels along the Lewis and Clark Trail.
This might be a good time to describe the drive through North Dakota. This state is different from the Northern Woods of Wisconsin and Minnesota. It is a prairie – enormous expanses of waving grasses. There are some trees – riparian forests near lakes, streams, rivers and bogs. Visiting here in July means you get to see almost everything in bloom. Our nature walks were filled with colorful flowers – some we recognized like irises and daisies and many that were new to us.
The prairie is mostly flat. Sometimes there are mound-like hills. The large mountains here are the Turtle Mountains. So we also saw lots of turtle images. My favorite was the Giant Turtle made of tire wheels, called Weel’ Turtle. It is a huge agricultural area – farms everywhere. We have seen one kind of crop before and didn’t know what it was. It is a short plant with a fluorescent yellow flower – so bright it doesn’t look natural. We asked a ranger about it and found that it is rapeseed which when harvested is used to make canola oil. Once you see this plant covering acres of land in the strangely bright yellow you don’t forget it.
The roads are straight and, considering the extreme winters, in great shape. Winter is always looming here. Even in the heat of these 90 degree days in July you hear mention of winter. It seems to always be lurking around the corner, probably because it lasts for so many months. We are happy to be here in the summer and have no intention of discovering just how bad winter can be.
We left Bismarck and traveled to Medora. The roads are easy to travel on but the scenery is mostly flat green prairie with huge farms. On I-94 we did see Salem Sue, claimed by the city of Salem to be the world’s largest Holstein. There it was just hanging out – a huge plaster sculpture – in the middle of nowhere – on a hill. As we approached Medora, we stopped at the Painted Canyon Rest Stop to get an overview of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and to gape at our first breathtaking view of the canyon’s rocky and colorful hills. This would be our final stay in North Dakota and it turned out to be our favorite.
We camped at the Medora Campground – a beautiful park on the edge of the town of Medora with a view of the Painted Canyon escarpment. The town itself is great – western and charming. It is very small with a population of 132. The motto is “Medora. Explore it. Adore it.” And it is adorable.
We ate a delicious breakfast at the Rough Rider Inn in Theodore’s Room. Doug had a huge plate of Ranchos Huevos and I had melt-in-your-mouth Lemon-Ricotta pancakes. Then we spent time wandering around the streets and shops of Medora. We do a lot of wandering down main streets in old, small towns so we have developed a rating system. A town with public art, benches, no charge for parking, some charm – well, that town rates high. Medora, in addition to all that, also has stunning views of the Painted Canyon cliffs.
The South entrance to our destination of Theodore Roosevelt National Park is right in Medora so we decided to get our introduction at the visitor center where we watched a movie and read the displays. One of the rangers gave us information on one of my favorite animals – the pronghorn.
That night we went to the Medora Musical – an outdoor performance that was Wild West, Las Vegas and Broadway all combined. Going down the long escalator to our seats in the amphitheatre, we saw two bull elks on the nearby hillcrest. They were eating and posing. Magnificent! The songs and stories told about Teddy Roosevelt’s love and exploration of this part of the country. And there were stories about Medora’s founder and the current community leaders – all told with horses, colorful costumes, a great band, singers, dancers, a magician, and even fireworks. The production was excellent – in quality, content and emotion.
We followed that great day with a full day exploring the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP). As we traveled the scenic loop road (some of it closed due to rain damage) we stopped often to admire the well-organized habitat of the prairie dog towns, to glimpse the wild horses on the hills, to see the majesty of the bison walking along the road or further away in large herds. We stopped to hike some of the short trails through the blooming prairie and into the Painted Canyon among the colorful rock walls. We ended the day with a ranger-led geology talk that gave us some explanation of the processes that formed these beautiful Badlands.
Seeing the huge healthy bison is always an incredible sight. In 2016, President Obama signed a bill declaring bison the national mammal. It’s nice to know they got some recognition.
On Saturday, July 20th, we drove 60 miles through the flat prairies and farmlands to the North Unit of TRNP. We noticed subtle differences between the two areas. The north was greener with more water. But we also saw the same colors and shapes that make this place a photographer’s dream. On the north side we saw the Little Missouri River which carved the canyons and the Cannonball Concretions that decorate them and then we hiked right into the coulees. We stopped for a long look at Oxbow Overlook, examining the Little Missouri River’s sharp oxbow bend at that point.
Such a beautiful park! We are grateful for its preservation and very happy that our journey brought us here.
We said good-bye to Medora and TRNP on July 21st and re-entered one of our favorite states – Montana!