recently, we had been telling locals and other travelers
that we were headed for Medora.
ah! they replied are you going to the Musical?
most of them seemed a little surprised
when we said 'nope.'
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| back to the grasslands |
once we got to Medora, we realized that the North Dakota Badlands (and Roosevelt National Park) are probably not why most folks come to Medora. i kind of had a hint when i called to reserve our motel room and discovered
all reservations in the entire town of Medora are handled at the same call center. this is their Gatlinburg (or fill in the blank for your area of the country/world). a little putt-putt, a little fudge, a little dress up in costumes & get your photo taken in sepia....and, of course, attend the
Medora Musical.
what we should have done: eaten sandwiches & let the boys swim in the pool before driving the scenic route through Roosevelt Forest.
what we did: ate mediocre, overpriced food at the crowded Cowboy Cafe (which took
forever) before driving the scenic route through Roosevelt Forest.
sigh.
Medora
is an historic town. Teddy Roosevelt spent part of his youth here and enjoyed returning as a young man. it was a bit of a happening place, having been founded by a French nobleman who wanted to ship refrigerated meat back to Chicago via the Northern Pacific railway. now, it is a very tidy tourist town.
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| the nobleman's little summer cabin |
with evening falling (the Cowboy Cafe took
that long), we decided to just drive the scenic loop in Roosevelt National Park. we saw a LOT of prairie dogs and didn't see any other animals until we were almost leaving the park.
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| striking a classic prairie dog pose |
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| we took a short (but steep) loop ridge trail that was quite nice (& windy). |
beautiful sunset that was impossible to capture with my camera.
there are wild horses in this park, and we finally saw one,
silhouetted at the top of a ridge. just perfect.
(but no photograph - sorry.)
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| moon over Medora |
it was quite dark when we finally left the park, and we saw several lone bison on our way out. & a light-colored fox crossed in front of our headlights, which was pretty neat.
