We entered North Dakota and promptly turned west because of our proximity to Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
The famed president once had a ranch and a hunting lodge in the park. It is believed that Theodore became concerned about the demise of the American bison while hunting in this area and in addition to starting the national park system and started the efforts to save the American Bison from extinction.
He would be proud of the results.
While there are hiking and horse back riding opportunities in TRNP, for most folks, ourselves included, treat this as a driving park. It is about a 30 mile loop. While we were there the loop was partially closed due to a landslide.
The drive was well worth it. There was a herd of bison along side the road, so we stopped-along with everyone else-to gawk at the awesome creatures. Remembering the "Don't pet the fuzzy cows" campaign in South Dakota, we didn't exit the car.
There were lots of Prairie dog towns along side the road, we stopped to view them as well.
One of the more interesting parts of the drive was really not intended. There are sections of the road where you can see an exposed coal vein. At one section, the coal vein had actually caught fire - apparently due to a grass fire earlier in the season. The park service was letting it burn out and didn't really want to hear about it unless there were open flames visible.
At the entrance of TRNP is the tourist-trap town of Medora. This charming little town is fashioned after a movie western town, complete with saloons. The Cowboy Hall of Fame - unfortunately closed when we were there - is located in Medora. There were a lot of kid venues including pizza parlors and one of the best western-themed playgrounds ever built.
We overnighted at Boots RV park just outside of Medora. This was interesting in itself. This is on a working ranch where they have carved off a few RV sites. The whole thing was totally web driven - we booked, paid and checked in without ever talking to a human. Ginger found the plastic deer around the equipment barn to be quite fascinating.
The next morning we headed out on I-90 eastward across North Dakota. We discovered North Dakota is still pretty sparsely populated. We weren't sure if we going to boondock overnight or what, but then we broke out the Passport America book (thanks Bill!) and found an RV park in Dawson North Dakota. This RV park is noteworthy because you checked in with bar in front.
The RV park was ok with 50amp power, water and sewer so we disregarded the Trump Flags flying out front and checked into RV park behind the best (only) dive bar in Dawson ND. We decided "What the heck?" and had dinner in the bar (food was good) and Jerald had his first Hamms beer since high school. The locals were friendly and we had a great conversation with a couple of the local ranchers.
We ignored the Trump memorabilia they were selling next to the pool table.
The next day we were treated with a stop at New Salem North Dakota. This is the home of Salem Sue - The worlds largest plastic Holstein Cow
Not to be outdone by the good folks in New Salem a little ways down the road in the home town of Cowboy writer Louis Lamour, is the worlds largest concrete buffalo.
We guess there must not much to do in the evening in North Dakota.
We sadly left North Dakota, passed through Wisconsin and in the upper peninsula found a place that put them all to shame
We then spent two days in a KOA just north of the Mackinac bridge in Michigan and did a day trip to Mackinac island with the dog.
Unfortunately I forgot to take the camera and we didn't take any pictures but rest assured the island expedition was well worth the effort and Mackinaw island lived up to its reputation for both it's beauty and it willingness to separate a tourist from their dollars.
At this point in our travels, we were quite burned out and decided to spend 10 days in a Thousand Trails campground just outside of St Clare Michigan. From there we will recharge, collect our mail and figure out our next move.
