Teddy

Our first National Park of the trip was in the badlands of South Dakota. It made sense that the last park that we visited would be situated within the badlands of North Dakota. We pulled into the north unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park around mid-day. It was a bright sunny day but the humidity in the air made it apparent that storms were on the way.



After a stop at the visitor center to see the exhibits and film we left on the scenic drive. The ranger warned us to stick close to the car because of impending thunderstorms. Lisa was saddened because the prairie dog towns were a few miles off of the road. We followed the Little Missouri River, stopping to see a herd of longhorn cattle, before we reserved a campsite at the Juniper Campground.



Following the road further, we stopped at an overlook to admire the gray sections of bentonite clay running through the badlands formation. The bentonite is the result of volcanic ash which blew in from the west.



Our last stop on the drive overlooked the river valley. In this spot, we could see the area to which Theodore Roosevelt pursued thieves that stole his boat. We could see bison grazing in the distance, but no boat...



We drove slowly back to our campsite, where we had a leisurely evening followed by a sleepless night due to many thunderstorms rolling in. Getting up early we had a marathon driving day through North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The highlight was our stop at the geographic center of North America in Rugby, North Dakota where we took our picture while an armored car accelerated into a stop sign behind us. It was a boring day.