To Glacier National Park

As the Willie Nelson song says, “we’re on the road again”. This summers travels take us to Glacier and the Canadian rockies. We hope to make it as far north as Jasper.

Our journey starts with the long a tedious traverse across the North Dakota Plains. Don’t get me wrong, as a young girl I learned to enjoy the beauty, tranquility of the flowing grass lands that stretch as far as the eye can see. But much of the beauty lies close at foot with the gentle praerie flowers hugging the ground for protection from the relentless winds that blow forever to the blue tinted sage that pops up in the raveans and crevices where water cuts a path of moist ground. This is best enjoyed on horseback or on foot, not in a vehicle traveling down I94.

The terrain changes at Bismarck to a gentle rolling grassland with buttes and outcroppings of layered sandstone. Our night in the Badlands of North Dakota is always special. Theodore Roosevelt National Park is one of our favorites and we plan to stop here again and spend more time. The sites we favor are 23 for the views and 35 for the long size and isolation. At $10 you have fresh water, a clean bathroom (no showers) and more trails that you can accomplish in a summer a summer vacation. With it’s location it is a resting place for many travelers that camp but not a destination. This is sad as the park is truly a gem, with vistas that hold your memory, wild horses that met us at the park entrance, praerie dogs baking in the sun, barking warnings at passers by and the occasional Bison near the roadside or grazing off on a distant butte. The park entrance is in the little cow town of Medora which sprang up when Teddy took the oath of office. He went to Montana as a 98 pond “dandy” with asthma and returned to the east coast 30 ponds heavier with a power of voice to be heard. He commented on the effects the rugged country had on him and had a deep respect for the people that worked the land. They also learned to love the man that did so much to conserve the land. If you are traveling to Yellowstone or Glacier, this is a must do place!

I’m always taken back by the sensory experience when I’m in a new place. Even though I’ve been through the grasslands many times, the hot dry wind tickles my nose and smell of prairie clover hits me like an open bottle of honey. Its hard to believe that you forget these things as time passes.

Our next overnight stop was at a corp of engineers campground along the Fort Peck Dam and Lake. We witnessed for only the 5th time in it’s history the release of water over the spillway and that is a site to see! With our National Parks pass the campground was only $5 (no power) and live up to our experiences at previous other Corp. parks. It has over 80 sites, the nicest site are along a the Milk River next to a paved walking path, it has all our needs covered.