Teddy Roosevelt National Park

 The only major attraction that I could find in North Dakota is Theodore Roosevelt National Park, often.  considered one of the most underrated parks in the country.  There are three sections to the park - the north unit, the south unit, and Elkhorn Ranch.  Elkhorn Ranch is often inaccessible by regular vehicle and only the foundation stones remain of Roosevelt's cabin there, so that was never really on the radar for us.  Initially, I had planned to just do the south unit because we were in a hurry.  But, I still had my Shedd Aquarium time banked, so we decided to take the extra 100 miles to see the north unit, too.

As we turned up US Hwy 83 toward the north unit, the landscape made a drastic change.  Throughout North Dakota, we had seen mild rolling hills or flat prairies.  All of the sudden, out of nowhere, a canyon appeared.  Then another and another until we were in badlands.

These were a prelude to the breathtaking  scenery found in the north unit.

The buffalo on this side of the park were MASSIVE.  Without the frame of reference with them in comparison to the rest of the area, the pictures just can't express their size.  They were collectively the biggest buffalo I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of them!  There was, also, one scrawny one!

This park had a unique feature.  Cannonball concretions.  A concretion is a concentration of minerals or other things that are not part of the rock, which are "trapped" inside the rock.  With erosion, the rock wears away and exposes the concretion, which may fall out.  I had never heard of (or retained) this concept, so I was fascinated.  In TRNP, the minerals are iron based and were bound together with a combination of carbonate and silica.  Some of these concretions are huge.  I'm sure people sit on them, but one less person sitting on them may give them a couple of more minutes or hours of existence before other people and natural erosion wears them away.  You can easily tell where they were hiding in the rock formation.

When we left the north unit, we were convinced that TRNP is most definitely an underrated park and absolutely worth the trip even if you don't do any of the other things (though I highly recommend the Enchanted Castle for dinner, at least)!  We were looking forward to the south unit, which would start with the Painted Canyon.  The Painted Canyon is part of the south unit, but it has its own exit and visitor's center off I-94.  It's a large lookout and is very lovely.  I was expecting more colors, though, given the name.  The north unit scenery was much more impressive.  I did love the Wildlife Petting Chart just outside the visitor's center!

The entrance to the south unit is in the town of Medora.  The only village around.  They have a steakhouse that fire roasts your steak on a pitchfork.  I would have liked to try that, but they didn't open for the season for a couple more days.  There is also a dinner and show that many recommend.  We had leftover steak from dinner at the Castle, though, and weren't planning to stay that late, so I can't say whether that is worth it.  Medora is a cute little touristy western town.  Looks like a Guntown Mountain, KY, or Maggie Valley, NC, without the theme parks and rides, or a small Wall Drug, SD, without the oddities.  There were a few eateries, and the one we chose was at the end of the line of tourist buildings.  They sold elk burgers, so I tried one.  It was good.  I must apologize, though.  My brain apparently went on vacation somewhere else because I don't have a single picture of Medora, ND.

The south unit had a lot more animals visible than the north unit did.  They were normal sized, not the massive hulks we had seen north.  So many prairie dogs!  We love prairie dogs!  The other times we've come across them, they tend to be pretty individualized.  They're social animals and live in towns, but they tend to social distance with each other.  This time, we saw a couple interacting at close range.  We thought they were kissing to begin with, but then they were clearly fighting.  It wasn't mating season, so it was fighting.  I took video when they started running around and knocking each other over.  I wasn't steady enough with the camera, though, so it's not fit for watching, especially if you may be prone to seizures!

There were more buffalo, and they were closer to the road.  They weren't as massive as the ones on the north unit, but they were still some pretty huge chunks!

Most of the wild horses were farther from the road.  Two were close enough for some  good photos.  We saw the gray stallion first.  Something got his attention across the road.  We waited for him to cross and still watched him to see what it was.  Maybe it was the small herd of buffalo.  If it was, he lost interest once he got somewhat close to them.

I suppressed the background on this one to try to make him stand out more.

This roan mare was close to the stables.  When we first saw her, there was a woman with a camera with a telescopic lens waaay too close to her.  We initially thought it was a trail rider who had lost control of her horse before getting saddled up until we got close enough to see she was carrying a camera and not a halter.  She was definitely agitating the poor girl.  With that lens, she had no business trying to get so close!  The woman backed off a bit finally, and the roan settled down some.  She (the roan) reminded me of a little red roan appy (appaloosa) I had when I was growing up.

The north unit was definitely better than the south unit for landscape and size of animals.  I was highly underimpressed with the landscape in the south unit, but the quantity and quality of the animals made up for it to me.  We spent more than the time banked for skipping the Shedd Aquarium plus the time planned for the park, so we were a little behind.  We made it to Terry, Montana by bedtime.  All in all, we spent all day and made 138 miles progress!

The next morning we headed out for home.  Stopping for gas just outside Terry, the station owner came out and was talking with Bruce about where we were from and stuff.  Then he went back into the building, coming right back out with two huckleberry ice cream sandwiches!  Montanans seem to really like their huckleberry, and I'm right there with them.

We only had one more stop planned for the trip, and that was The Notorious P.I.G. BBQ in Missoula, MT.  You would think Big Sky country with the cattle ranches would have good BBQ.  I know it's not Kansas City or Memphis, but most places known for cattle have developed their own style of BBQ, and it often shines in their burnt ends! We've been searching for burnt ends in Montana since we've been making this trek between Tennessee or Mississippi and Washington.  The regular BBQ has been good, not any better than Center Point BBQ outside Nashville, TN, though, which is our favorite in the US.  We haven't been able to get burnt ends at all in Montana, though.  We found this place, and the yelp reviews rave about how good their burnt ends are.  We got there just after 2:00 in the afternoon.  Not only were they out of ends, but they said they routinely run out around 1:00!  If they know they run out, why not order more or make more!  If they don't want to burn the flat to make more burnt ends, they should be able to order extra points from the butcher!  The brisket and pulled pork were good, though.  The pork was definitely not hand pulled or the puller didn't know (or was too lazy) to pull the fat off of it.  The beans were good.  The slaw was okay, but more of a vinegar base than I like. Bruce liked the deviled egg salad, too.  The guy at the counter said the next time we come through, we can call ahead and reserve some burnt ends.  Not sure we'll be doing that, though.

After all that, we made it home safely with no more notable events, and I made it in time for my doctor appointments.  I'm doing an intensive physical therapy program with the VA in preparation for the next trip.  Plans range from Alaska to Antarctica for the end of 2022 and start of 2023!