NORTH TO ALASKA 2025 -DAY 89 - THEODORE ROOSEVELT NATIONAL PARK

Fort Peck Corps of Engineers Park, in Western Montana, was a lovely place to spend the night.  For it's very generous acceptance of our America the Beautiful Senior Access Pass, our $25 site was only $12.50. Not too bad for electric hookup, water spigots within the campground at spaces where you can fill, clean showers and a dump station. 

Although there's no waterfront-type sites right at the campground itself, there is a very beautiful reservoir on the other side of the dam to go and visit. If we had had our e-bikes along we might have pedaled over that way.

But the weather forecast was showing high heat expected as well as humidity on its way. We really wanted to get a jump on things and get ahead of it. Even though we're over in the westernish side of Montana, we wanted to hit the road early and maybe make it into North Dakota by the end of the day.

So we got up early, made up some coffee, and left the campsite by 8 am. If the weather wasn't looking so hot and uncomfortable, I would have liked to stay here for a couple more days. It was a beautiful campsite with shady trees and lots of space with a big beautiful open back "yard" for Nick to run on his long leash. 

But Steve cracked the whip and said let's get a move on!

The skies were clear and blue, it was going to be a great driving day!  We rolled along by the top of the dam and worked our way across onto Highway 24. This route would take us south and east to intersect with Highway 200.  The scenery unfolded ahead of us, reminiscent of a beautiful backdrop in a western movie.

The landscape went on for miles and miles. To the north we could see a slight amount of wildfire smoke. It was predicted to swoop down and follow us as we headed east. Hopefully we could stay ahead of it.

That was our problem when we were in this area last year. The wildfire smoke came down and it was so thick and choking that we couldn't even see things down the road.

A lot of this beautiful scenery that we are seeing today was hidden by wildfire smoke last year. We were very fortunate to have such clear skies this time as we headed out.

As we came over a crested rise, we saw this little character on the side of the road. She evidently had either rolled under or jumped over a fence somewhere. She looked a little lost. 

We pulled up and I rolled down the window. I gave her a little lecture, and Nick was furiously barking from the love seat in the back. He could just see the cow out the window, but that was enough. He was going to give her a good talking to!  We told her that she was being a sassy cow and she needed to go home.

She listened to us. She trotted off in the other direction and looked for a spot in the fence to get back with her buddies.

I sure hope she finds her way back to them and doesn't become a casualty on the highway. Coming over a crest suddenly seeing a big cow in the middle of the road is not a good thing.

As we drove further east, the lands flattened out and we were doing some really good time on the perfectly paved roads.  Not that we really needed to be any where at any specific time, but we were hoping to reach Teddy Roosevelt National Park by midday.

At the intersection of Highway 24 and 200, we knew of this really nice rest area. We stopped here in the parking lot and cooked up some breakfast. We were also able to top off our water tank, which we didn't do at Fort Peck Campground. We didn't want to drive deeper into the campground that early in the morning to use the potable water faucet. So we opted to drive with an almost empty fresh tank. 

We usually fill it up before we leave anywhere, not knowing if we are boondocking the next night or not. I know it's added weight while we are traveling, but it's something that we choose to do so we have enough water when we reach somewhere for the night.

This wayside had potable water as well as a nice little fenced in doggy yard for Nick to run around for a little while while Steve filled the tank.

Now it was time to continue further east. Everything was pretty flat flat flat. Most of the route travels alongside of railroad tracks. The tracks lead into each little sleepy Montana town. They are lined with railroad cars waiting for grain. They have to split the waiting cars apart in sections where farmers need to access their fields or if there's a gravel road leading somewhere. So every now and then there's a break in these many miles-long stretches of railroad cars on a siding track.

Some towns still have operational granaries that fill the cars. Other sleepy little dusty towns have decaying old granaries that are falling apart and no longer being used. Modern silver grain bins instead line the railroad tracks in some of the larger towns. 

We really don't know how people can prosper or even make a living out here. It is so far from anywhere to travel for simple things like groceries, medical care, heck even to get a full tank of fuel for your car or truck. There aren't many houses, but the few that are there must really have to have good planning to exist out in such a barren landscape.  The wind blows constantly. So it's either hot sun or rain or snow I guess. All combined with the wind. 

Soon we reached Interstate 94. As much as we do not like driving on the interstates, this really was the major route heading east to get towards Theodore Roosevelt National Park. 

We noticed the landscape changing, and the beautiful levels and layers of the rock and sandstone that were exposed to the many many years of wind.

We wound along eastward and crossed into North Dakota. Now we were able to enter the Theodore Roosevelt National Park:

https://www.nps.gov/thro/index.htm

We were entering in the Southern Unit, and this park is absolutely huge!  We opted to drive in and work our way through the park in a northern direction. The ranger at the gate warned us to not go any further than Buck Hill Road. He said our motorhome was not able to pass through any further than that. So we could only go up so far turn around and come back.

The road was great as it wound in through the textured landscape. It was absolutely amazing and looked like a movie unfolding in front of us on a big TV screen.

We drove along past the visitor center and in through the park and wound our way northward. We decided to not stay in the park because the campsites which were available were all non-electric in the entire park. 

So again, we picked up our phone and called ahead to the town of Dickinson. We know the county campground at Patterson Lake had campsites with electric hookups. We had stayed there last year also on our retreat back to Wisconsin due to the wildfire smoke. Sure enough, they had campsites available, actually the exact same one we stayed in last year. So for the second time on our entire trip of 90 days, we made a reservation. 

Now that we knew we had somewhere to stay for the night, we could deal with the heat while we were still driving. We actually fired up the generator and had the roof air conditioner in the camping portion of the motorhome functioning for extra cool air.  That's a good way to help beat the heat when you are driving in an RV in the open sun with a very dark roof.

The landscape was absolutely beautiful and the sky was almost completely blue with only a little wisp of clouds here or there. 

This may look like a little ridge line or a hill off in the distance, but it was huge----

After the first few miles into the park, we came upon what is known as "Prairie Dog Town". Of course, we had to immediately pull over and watch these little characters and their silly antics.

These energetic little guys were hopping up and down from hole to hole and chomping away on the fresh green grass and the pretty little white flowers dotting the prairie.

Just look at that adorable little face! If you watch the YouTube link video below, you can hear the sounds that they make. This guy stood way up in the air, stretched his paws way up over his head and made the silliest little screechy whistling sound. 

Don't know what he said to all the others, but many of them in the area instantly dashed underground. Then bit by bit, they stuck their heads back up and came out to eat some more.

I'm so glad my new camera can zoom in and catch good details and close-ups of the wildlife.

We watched them for quite a while. There was even an old grandpa one that had silvery hair that wandered along at a slower pace. The young ones jumped around and pounced up and down quickly. The elderly one took his time and seemed to choose carefully of what delicious little thing he was going to nibble on. 

Soon it was time to say goodbye, and work our way further north into the park. 

Bye-bye, little critters!

We drove through some narrow canyons. This is looking straight up out of the passenger side window!

Winding along around each hill, we were watching for wildlife. We saw a lot of worn down game trails either from the mule deer, the mountain goats, or even possibly the wild horses. 

We read in the brochure that there are over 200 wild horses that are protected within the park. They are descendants from domesticated horses that got away many many years ago. They are truly wild and are protected and kept safe within the park boundaries. We were hoping to see some?

Our eyes scanned the top of the ridges for any evidence of mountain goats looking down on us. Maybe it was too hot in the day and they were curled up underneath shrubbery in the shade.

We came around one corner and managed to see a big tan object moving slowly along through the shrubs. Here was a big beautiful bison all by himself. He was just wandering along, chomping on stuff, and making his way back through the bushes.  What a massive animal. You can just see the strength of his muscles in the bulk of his body.

He didn't even give us a second look, and kept going on his way. Soon he just disappeared among the bushes and was gone.

We marveled at the differences in the textures of the terrain. The sandstone and the clay. The layers of dirt versus rock. The wind swept areas that eroded away the soft sands and left behind the hard surfaces. All playing a part of making this a beautiful panorama of this unique country.

We are so glad that someone had the foresight way back then to protect this land. To not let it be developed or bought up or changed into something it wasn't meant to be. Thank you, Teddy! It is great that it is preserved for future generations to see the "wild west" as it was, when the first explorers found it in this natural state. 

We rounded another corner, and what was that? Off in the middle of the field, a flash of white coat with a grey mane and tail. It was a wild horse!

I was so excited and I snapped about 10 zillion pictures of it. I am serious.

But then we went around the next curve and look what we saw????

It was a whole herd of wild horses! My hands were shaking as I was clicking the camera over and over as quick as I could. 

Some of the pictures are a bit blurry, but in my mind, they showed the beauty of the landscape behind, as well as the horses in the foreground. I tried as close as I could to zoom in on them.

Then I took the time to take a deep breath, brace my elbows on a pillow on the edge of the window, and I could finally get some good shots. Look at these beautiful healthy animals!!!

Yep, my bucket list was complete for Teddy Roosevelt National Park. 

I saw the wild horses...

We went as far as the road signs directed us at Buck Hill. Now it was time to turn around and drive back through the same route that we came.

The temperature now had crept up into the '90s. We weren't even barely past 2:00 p.m. So we knew it was going to continue to get hotter throughout the entire afternoon. So it's probably best to work our way back through the park with our roof-top air conditioning going full blast and enjoy the scenery on the way out. 

It was just as pretty as on the way in. We didn't see any other wildlife, but it was really interesting to have seen the things from another direction than we did on the way in. 

We left the park and headed further east towards the town of Dickinson. 

I had looked ahead on the Google Maps to see what was in the small town of Dickinson. I was quite pleased to see that there was another GODFATHER'S PIZZA! 

If you remember, on our way heading out at the beginning of our trip the end of April, we found a Godfather's Pizza at a small gas station in Minnesota, right before we crossed the border into Canada. We splurged that time for my absolute favorite "classic combo" pizza with deep dish crust.

So we worked our way into the small town of Dickinson and ordered up another "classic combo" for dinner tonight. No cooking for us...

Silly Steve grabbed my video camera and made a funny skit of me bringing the pizza out of the gas station. You will have to go to the YouTube link on the next video to see it. I don't have it yet edited for the one posted below.

By the time we reached the campground, we were hot and tired and ready to eat our pizza. 

That was enough traveling for us today...

Here is the YouTube that goes along with today's blog: 

279 miles traveled today 

8,644 miles traveled so far