Days 19 & 20-June 17 & 18

The flooding of the Little Missouri River has caused most of the campsites in the park to be closed.  We may have been able to squeeze in but I wanted to have access to the Internet so we opted for a private park in Medora, ND.  The town has been designed totally as a tourist attraction with its saloons, ice cream parlors and museums.  The Cowboy Hall of Fame is located here.  There is also a nightly performance of a quite elaborate Broadway style musical that draws a substantial crowd. We passed on both.  Obviously there is plenty here to keep the average tourist entertained.  We, on the other hand, were here to visit the park.
We were set up and ready to go by 11:00 a.m., so we decided to make the hour drive up to the North section of the park that afternoon and save the South section for in the morning before we left.   The weather was not exactly the best for an outdoor excursion but we can be tough when we have to be.  It had been raining off and on all morning but that was not the worst of it.  The temperature hovered around 55 with a frigid wind gusting to at least 30 mph. Thank goodness we have the jackets that Melinda sent with us for them to use when they meet us in Yellowstone. ( I honestly don't know what Dave is going to wear to stay warm.)  The North section of Theodore Roosevelt National Park resembles the Badlands of South Dakota with one major difference.  The Badlands are very desolate with very limited water and vegetation.  They are majestic in their own way, but it is not a place that you would want to set up residence.  The badlands of North Dakota have a large water supply as they surround the Little Missouri River.  There are trees and green valleys that provide the perfect habitat for an abundance of wild life such as; buffalo, big horn sheep, prairie dogs and wild horses.  Both sections of the park are absolutely beautiful and well worth the 'out of our way' trip we made to see them.  After our morning ride around the loop in the South section of the park we are packed up and under way again.  Next stop is Devils Tower, WY.
To avoid backtracking down Hwy 85 we opted to get there by way of Montana on I-94 and then south on Hwy 59.  Definitely not the shortest route but it was a nice drive.  We finally found an RV park in Pine Haven to stop for the night.



Our beautiful scenery in Medora.

A cold wind was strong enough to take your breath away.

Canon ball rock formations.

He was visiting the Welcome Center with the rest of the tourists.

The Painted Canyon.

There are wild horses on the ledge below the highest peak.

Even buffalo chips can be pretty.