6/22/08 - 6/23/08
Monday, June 23, 2008
Medora, ND
We said our goodbyes to Larry and Geri. What great hosts they are. We wish them lots of success with their Broken Arrow Horse Camp. We would return there in a heartbeat.
After about a six hour drive, we finally made it to Medora, North Dakota. The reason for going there was to see the Theodore Roosevelt National Park (South Unit) and to score another state on our US map (truth be told). We stayed at the Red Trail Campground as there weren't too many choices for the size of our rig. The campground was nice enough but it was located very close to railroad tracks, was in a grove of cottonwood trees that were blowing cotton everywhere, and bugs! A train went through town about once an hour blowing its horn multiple times! Getting uninterrupted sleep was not possible.
Medora was founded in April 1883 by a 24 year-old French nobleman, the Marquis de Mores. He named the town for his bride. The Marquis had many different financial endeavors that all failed and the family returned to France. The town is very cute with some very old buildings. Some pictures taken in the town follow:
Theodore Roosevelt was drawn to this area to hunt buffalo in 1883. He fell in love with the land and became partners in two cattle ranches. Theodore Roosevelt called his years in the Badlands "the romance of my life" and often credited his Dakota experiences with enabling him to become president. The Theodore Roosevelt National Park was established on April 25, 1947 and encompasses some 110 squares miles in its North and South Units. We took the 36 mile scenic drive through the South Unit where we saw bison, deer, prairie dogs, and wild horses.
The Badlands of North Dakota are similar to the Badlands of South Dakota yet they are different in that a river (Little Missouri) runs through them, they have trees and bushes as well as grasslands. We are glad that we took the opportunity to visit this national park.
We fueled up in the town of Belfield, ND and had lunch at the Trapper's Inn & Kettle. What an experience. They had all sorts of mounted game throughout the restaurant and gift store. John and I took our time to look at each one. They had elk, deer, pronghorn antelope, black bear, grizzly bear, wolf, mountain lion, bobcat, wolverine, moose, and on and on. It was well worth stopping just to look at all the mounts. The waitress said that the mounts had been there for at least 40 years since the opening of the restaurant.
On our way back to Medora, we stopped at the Painted Canyon which is also a part of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. They had a nice visitor center and book store.
We are looking forward to getting out of Medora as we can't stand all the bugs. Plus, I am allergic to cotton from cottonwood trees so I have been on allergy medication since we got here. Nice place to visit for a day but I sure wouldn't want to stay here any longer.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment