We only had 138 miles to travel from Miles City, MT to Medora, ND, and could not check in to the Red Trails RV Park until noon, so we hung around the Meadows RV Park for the morning. Besides, we had a pretty good Internet connection which made it possible for me to update my posts for Thursday (Chief Joseph & Beartooth scenic drive) and Friday (Grand Teton N. P.), both of which included lots of photos.
I have already had a minor issue with spam comments on our blog. I mentioned this to Cherie yesterday and she suggested that I install a WordPress plug-in named Akismet. I discovered that it was already installed but not activated, so I got the API key and activated it. I hope it helps with the spam problem without interfering with legitimate comments.
If YOU are reading this and think you have posted a legitimate comment that did not get approved or appear on the blog, please send an e-mail to us@omnibus-mi.us
Around 9:00 AM it started raining. This was the first sustained rain we have experienced since we were in Gillette, Wyoming over a month ago. It was over by 10:00 AM. I finished working on the blog just before 11:00 AM. We finally pulled out around of the Meadows RV Park around 11:10 AM MDT and were through Miles City and back on I-94 eastbound by 11:15.
The weather was partly cloudy and cool, with high temperatures in the region of 78 degrees F. The terrain was hilly, but not extreme. I set the cruise control at 63 MPH, 3 MPH faster than normal, and the coach ran very strong all day while maintaining normal engine temperatures. On balance it was a pleasant and stress free drive which we both enjoyed.
Goodbye Montana, Hello North Dakota.
Linda had never been to Montana until this past week, and I don’t think I had ever been in eastern Montana. For sure neither of us had ever been to North Dakota before, so we did not know what to expect. I associate this area with the “northern great plains”, meaning endless, treeless fields of waving grain. Not so Kemosabe.
A taste of things to come.
I-94 going northeast out of Billings tends to follow the Yellowstone River. This part of Eastern Montana and on into western North Dakota is a minor “badlands” with river valleys and small canyons. The terrain does roll up and down long hills, and much of it lacks trees. There are fields and cattle, here and there, but much more of the landscape is rock and sagebrush. It is a beautiful part of the country; reminiscent of other paces we have been, but uniquely its own.
We arrived in Medora, North Dakota around 1:30 PM (still MDT) and were checked into the Red Trail Campground and parked in our site by 2:00 PM. This was the first campground we have stayed in with trees and shade since we left our home in S. E. Michigan on June 9th.
Linda with “Teddy Roosevelt” Joe Wiegand.
Medora is a charming but modern reconstruction of a western town; small enough to be easily walkable, but with plenty of choices for shopping, lodging, dining, and drinking. (Hey, it’s still the west.) Even the campground is part of the town, albeit on the edge and on the other side of the tracks (literally), only a couple of short blocks to the main area. There are several attractions in town that other RVers had told us about, especially the “cowboy musical.” Our interest, however, was in Joe Wiegand’s personification of Theodore Roosevelt. Joe’s performance was outstanding and well worth the $10 adult admission. He delivered a one hour monologue without missing a beat and took questions, as TR, and answered them without hesitation. Joe not only resembles TR (at a certain point in his life) he has clearly made a deep and serious study of Roosevelt’s life and internalized it. The last time we saw something this good was Hal Holbrook’s personification of Mark Twain.
Local coffee with a western feel.
After the performance we stopped at a local coffee shop and sat on their porch enjoying their brew and the view.
The real attraction for us, and our main reason for booking two nights in Medora, was a chance to visit the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I-94 is the southern boundary of the South Unit of the Park, and the entrance is right in downtown Medora. Roosevelt spent time in this area following the death of his mother and first wife on the same day and eventually owned two cattle ranches near Medora.
On the advice of a local bookstore owner we made a last minute decision to drive the 36 mile loop road in the South Unit this evening. By the time we walked back to the campground and were ready to go it was after 6:00 PM, but our timing was good. The weather was clear and cool, while there was a possibility of rain for tomorrow, and we had the drama of the early evening sun dropping into the western sky and a better chance of seeing wildlife. We were not disappointed. The Park is worth the time to visit, and while we did not see a lot of wildlife, the wildlife we saw was special, and a first for us…wild horses, up close.
A prairie dog town in TRNP.
The campground by the river.
Our first time ever to see wild horses.
They watched us as much as we watched them.
Wild horses in a wild setting.
TRNP In the fading light of evening.
Tomorrow we plan to get an early start and visit the North Unit of TRNP.
