Joe & Wilma's Excellent Adventures

 June 7, 2024

Arriving Medora, ND

Although this was a really nice campground, we did not take advantage of it. We pulled in, parked, and pulled out the next morning. We didn’t drive around any, although we’re right on the river.  As we left, we took pictures of the fish hatchery and the dam and the beautiful Lake Sakakawe which is huge.  It is fed by the Missouri River.  

 Here is the dam.

We passed the fish hatchery on the way out.  We should have explored that, but we didn't.

 I sat outside at the picnic table for a little bit this morning. The sun was shining when I sat down, but then it clouded over -- it was in the 50s. I got to see one prairie dog running. There were two guys spraying the grass, I assume for bugs, but all they were doing was stirring them up, and they were bad when we were hooking up.  This campground is right off the highway we were traveling, and it was it well signed.  This COA is at Fort Pick, and I would highly recommend it.

The campground filled up a lot overnight.  

No wind today, a welcome change from yesterday. It’s a little bit overcast. Two pronghorn antelope just crossed the highway in front of us. That was nice to see. Saw some fields of potatoes planted today. 

Potatoes.

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And we saw a small herd of buffalo. We don't know if they were free range or on private property, but who cares. Buffalo are buffalo! I talked to Theo this morning. I asked him if he saw some of his cousins. He's looking forward to the next stop.

We saw an open pit coal mine with an enormous drag line working it.  In the photo is a big, yellow dump truck that looks like a matchbox truck next to the drag line. (Remember, you can enlarge the photo by touching it.)

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And 2 deer.

This part of North Dakota must be rich with oil. The first jacks we saw, there were 2 side by side, and Joe said they were the biggest he had ever seen. Then we saw a triple, and then 4.

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We also saw two antelope along the road.  

We stopped for lunch in Bellfield which is about 15 miles from the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, our destination for the next few days.  This restaurant was called "Trapper  Kettle" and had lots of stuffed animals on display.  This one was really nice, a bear (I can never resist) and a caribou.  I thought it was an elk but Joe read the sign.

As we approached Medora, the landscape changes from grasslands to canyons, similar to the Grand Canyon.  It was really a shock the first time we came here, in 2021.  But it's beautiful. 

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In town, we met the horse and buggy with its tourists.  Joe said we should do this, since we are not walking very good.

About 4:45 (time change here), we headed into the Park.  Our first encounter was with Theo's relatives, the prairie dogs.  Joe thinks what I saw yesterday were chipmunks instead of prairie dogs because they seemed smaller than these, but I'm not sure of that.  This drive is 26 miles, and has a few side roads.  We took a couple but will save the rest for later.  But we had a very successful ride.  In addition to hundreds of prairie dogs, we saw:  a wild horse in the river (too far away for a picture), 

we found the buffalo herd, this guy was playing King of the Mountain.

Lots of babies in the herd.  We guessed the herd size was about 100.  We saw a few scattered around further along on the drive as well.

I think we saw a total of 4 deer.

We think these must be coyotes.  We saw one earlier chasing a big black bird, and I thought (hoped) they were all wolves, but we read later that there are no wolves or bear (predators of the buffalo) in the park, so we will settle on coyotes.

And a big pronghorn.  

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We talked to a lady out looking for wildlife and she said there were about 50 wild horses at this one place  last night where she was "parked."  We only saw the one in the river, but will try another time.  We have our big Musical Saturday night, so maybe Sunday night we will go out a little later and see if we can find them.  We were very lucky to have run across the herd of buffalo.  They were off a side road, which we just happened to choose.  Love seeing the buffs!!!

While we were eating dinner back in town, a train went by and I think it was pulling all oil tankers.  Confirming our assumption that this area is oil-rich.  

We are happy to be back here, We love this national park.  It has 3 sections which we toured all three last time.  Not sure if we will make them all, since we are only here for 3 days, but we will keep our eyes peeled.  And we are really looking forward to the Musical.