Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Another windy day here, the wind probably blows here more often than not, makes me wonder how the cowboys keep their hats on.  In my years of living in the plains states I've seen a few blow off, but not very often.  They must jam them on pretty good. We explored the park today.  Tony has the golden access pass, so we get in for free, and camp in national parks for half price, being blind has a few perks.  We asked at the gate where the best place to see Bison was.  The ranger told us the bison had been in the campground all morning, so we headed there.  Saw some across the river, then drove on. A bit further, there was a  road that went to the riding stables, it looked like it went towards the river as well.  In hopes that we would see some bison, we headed there, in just a little while I saw bison chips, ( don't know why they call them chips, they are bigger than a dinner plate. Big animals equal big droppings.)  figured we were in an area where they frequent.  We came around a curve and there one was, walking along the side of the road.  Stopped and took a few pictures from the car, then drove ahead a bit so I could get a pic from the front.  I was surprised at how quickly the Bison was actually walking.  When we first saw him he looked like he was plodding along, but he was moving along pretty good.  By the time I got the car pulled over and got out, he was within 20 feet of us.  I only got to take one picture because he started snorting.  I got the hint and got back into the car. He could do some serious damage to a car, (even a Volvo) if he put his mind to it.  

Drove past beautiful rock formations and nice scenic views from a ridge.  Saw some wild horses right by the road and got a picture of them.  Stopped and ate our lunch on a bench overlooking a  prairie dog town.  They sure are cute, popping in and out of their burrows like little squeaking jack in the boxes.  The closest one to us gave the alarm for the others.  We sat quietly, and finally more came out.  We saw 2 of them grooming each other and some gathered in groups of 3 or 4.  One stretched out to soak up a little sun, the one closest to us had stopped his squeaky barking, but he still kept his eye on us.  It was a delightful way to have our lunch.  Although Tony couldn't see them, he enjoyed listening to them.

Had a ranger talk and tour of Teddy Roosevelts' cabin from his first ranch, the Maltese Cross.  It was moved from it's original location to just behind the visitors center at the park.  We were surprised at how small it was.  Found out that the Medora Campground we are staying at was once a small town called Little Missouri.  It is where Teddy Roosevelt got off the train when he came to ND for the first time.  He got off the train about 2 or 3 am, ad a hard time finding a guide to take him buffalo hunting because of how he dressed.  He had on custom made cowboy clothes, which most likely didn't look much like what the cowboys of ND wore.   It was a vey interesting talk and tour.  

Trains come through here often, some times only 10 to 30 minutes apart.  The railroad track runs right next to the road, our campground is about a half mile from the road.  We are on the edge of Medora and can walk to the town from here.  The bridge over the little Missouri river has a nice pedestrian  walk way on it.  Flooding can be quite severe here in the spring.  Spring of 2009 was pretty bad, the water was nearly over the bridge, part of the campground we are in was under water.  We saw sandbags down by the river when we went for our walk this morning.  Today is our 39th wedding anniversary, it was nice to spend it here and with each other.  Don't know how 39 years went by so quickly, but we are sure blessed to have each other and such a nice family.  God is good.

Tomorrow we head to Goodrich ND to spend time with family there.  Goodrich is about 4 or 5 hours from here, a small prairie town of about 90 people, typical of many of the small towns throughout ND.  I can't help but wonder what will become of such towns, there is nothing there to hold the young people there, jobs are usually an hour or more away.  Kind of sad to see this rural way of life dying .  Not sure if I'll be able to get a cell phone signal to connect to the net, so this may be my last blog for awhile.