THEODORE ROOSEVELT PARK



The Bison Statue

We leave Bismarck at about 8 am. It is still dark and chilly and begins to rain heavily. As it turned out it rained off and on the entire day. The drivers here didn't seem to mind and continued to drive over the limit.
The scenery, when we can see, is endless. Endless sky,endless plains. It is so very easy to imagine looking out over the area and seeing huge herds of bison where now there are cattle and crops, sunflowers, corn and other things I know not what.
We change time zones again at Hebron so now we are again where we began this morning - time wise.
All along we have been looking for signs of FRACKING. Here we are in Dickenson, ND and see the first indication of fracking. Building housing units, RV, motels galore. Flames from new wells, pumps dot the landscape with the accompanying tanks and machinery. All the while farms stretched to the horizon.

A highlight is Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Pete is anxious to see what we can see even with the rain. Fortunately, the rain turned to a drizzle as we pulled in and Pete said, "Look at the statue of the bison." I looked up and the statue moved! Yes, there were several very, very large bison grazing at the information stop. Photos, yes, without getting chased.

The view of the badlands from there is more than a camera can record. Amazing, and it brings to mind a memory of that first trip across country in 1959 when I was 21 and first married and came upon the badlands in Wyoming. That was when I was positive that I was being taken to the end of the known world. The Craters of the Moon and Yellowstone did nothing to dissuade me of this impression.

Here the leaves have pretty much changed and are gorgeous. Now for the first time since Utah or so we see tall mountains in the distance. Now the clouds are close to the ground laden with water again ready to dump over the landscape.

Yikes, snow on a mountain near the entrance to Yellowstone. Sun going down now dark to the left of us, shinning sun on the buttes and mountains to the right. Time to find a place for the night.

Livingston, Montana is where we are.

BADLANDS IN THEODORE ROOSEVELT PARK