Wow! Maddie & I are already into month #6 of our amazing journey! This has been the fastest 5 months of my life!The most challenging thing so far has definitely been the lack of reception & internet access.I expected it to be intermittent, but I’ve had much longer stretches than I ever anticipated.I didn’t realize how much I depend on the internet, until it becomes unavailable!Text messages get through better than anything else & several people have reached out to me, concerned because the blog has gone silent. Thank you for checking in with me! 💕
Today, we’re sitting in the middle of nowhere, at a prairie dog village in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota & I have decent reception! 🤔 Weird…
I’ve decided to reboot the blog from here & catch up again in the future! I was trying to post updates after we moved on to a new location, but it hasn’t been working. I’m hoping this will work.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m rarely at a loss for words. 🤓 Theodore Roosevelt National Park leaves me speechless. It’s absolutely, positively, breathtakingly beautiful! The colors & lighting change continously & are often so vivid that I have to edit & soften the glow in my photos. The air feels fresh & clear. Today’s temperature is 75°, with very low humidity. Perfection❣ We’ve been here since Sunday. The high temperatures have been in the low 90’s, which is near record breaking for this time of year, but it’s been quite chilly some nights. One night it dropped to 35°. ☃️ We slept in the car last night & we’ll probably do that until we leave here in a few days. The daytime temperatures are dropping closer to normal & the nighttime lows are following along. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow night. North Dakota definitely needs the rain. I’m just praying it doesn’t snow! 🤞🏼
I’m going to post a lot of photos here, so I hope you enjoy them!
The Painted Canyon https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/north-dakota/painted-canyon-overlook-ndBuffalo Gap Campground at dusk & after dark It’s part of Dakota Prairie National Grasslands & is maintained by the National Forest Service. We only stayed there one night because it felt too desolate to me. I was thrilled to get a campsite here at TRNP, just a few miles away.Our first night’s sunset, here & below at Cottonwood Campground in Theodore Roosevelt National Park 💕 https://www.nps.gov/thro/planyourvisit/conditions.htmBeautiful colors 🦬My first siting of wild bison! 🦬I’d chosen this beautiful picnic area in the campground to enjoy our lunch. As I was moving the car to park in the shade, I heard a crash nearby. When I turned to look, Mr. Bison had jumped awkwardly over the picnic table 25 feet from ours! Apparently, he & his family had chosen that site for lunch. Nevermind us… We gladly moved! 😁This is the campsite across from us. The view is like something out of National Geographic! The river runs through just before the mountain. I was originally very envious of that camper, until I realized that they were in the broiling hot sun all day. There’s no shade at all! I guess they didn’t care because they were out hiking all day.The camper left on Tuesday morning. Within 30 minutes, Mr. Bison & his enlarged family unit wandered in! They were now in dangerous proximity to us, so it made me nervous. Mr. Bison is at the red arrow & my car is at the black arrow, less than 100 feet away. Our tent is less than 100 feet behind the car. After a few hours, they wandered off.There’s an extremely serious drought here. No campfires are allowed. All smokers are supposed to smoke inside their closed vehicles! I have the FEMA weather alert on my phone & it’s been sending out alerts, day & night, all week, to be prepared for a fire emergency, The Little Missouri River is desperately low here. If it wasn’t so muddy, you could easily walk across it. 🥺Medora is the town at the gateway to this national park. The town’s population was 134, as of 2019. It’s full of quaint little shops, straight out of a western movie! Unfortunately, most of them have already closed for the season. I’m grateful that the Cowboy Cafe is open. I’ve had a takeout breakfast from there twice. It was greasy & good! 😋 These mule deer almost made me late for breakfast! 😆This business was closed for the season, but the view was worth the drive up. There’s a combination restaurant & musical performance on this property, with a spectacular view of Medora below. https://medora.com/do/entertainment/medora-musical/I’d still like to visit this museum before we leave. It was too hot to leave Maddie in the car when I went by the first time, but I’m going to try again, now that the weather has cooled down. https://www.northdakotacowboy.comBronze statues outside the Hall of FameAs a Teddy Bear lover, I was sad this business was closed for the season, but I probably saved myself some money…
The story of Theodore Roosevelt & Teddy Bears https://www.nps.gov/thrb/learn/historyculture/storyofteddybear.htmThe day after we arrived, another woman traveling solo chose the campsite beside ours. Her tent is identical to mine, except it’s one size larger! She bought it recently & asked for my help with a few questions. She’s from Florida, but just quit a job of 4 months, working at Yellowstone National Park. She left because she said it’s too crazy there. 🥺 The park is very short-staffed & a lot of the visitors were extremely rude because of the traffic, long lines & mask regulations. I loved it when the wild, “pretty, little ponies” of Assateague Island in Maryland got this close to the car. When the bison get this close, it’s scary! Even Maddie knew enough to duck down when this one got so close!Praire Dogs https://www.nps.gov/thro/learn/nature/prairie-dogs.htm Don’t let their sweet, little faces fool you! Prairie dogs are dangerous! 😉 They’re everywhere & they dig their tunnels everywhere! I don’t know what the statistics are for tourist sprained & broken ankles & legs, caused by stepping in a hole, but it’s probably significant! But, as you can see, they are being careful to practice social distancing. 😁 On a side note, while visiting these little critters, I decided to use the restroom there. The park has quite a few pit toilets aka outhouses. They’re always very clean & well-stocked with toilet paper & hand sanitizer! I have to admit it felt strange using it in the middle of a wide open prairie, but…Of course I can’t miss an opportunity to brag about Maddie❣She continues to amaze me every day. Whenever I stop to do an errand on a hot day, I leave the car running with the A/C on. It runs for about 20 minutes, so I set my alarm every 10 minutes, as a reminder to restart the car, as needed. After almost 9000 miles & multiple stops at Dollar Generals, Maddie was invited to shop with me! The manager noticed me & invited her in! She loved it! She rode around in the cart, greeting everyone like she’s royalty. I love this dog. 💝
I’m going to close this post for now. We’re here for another few days, but this will be a good test for me to try out my new approach. I’ll also learn how to edit & add on, I hope!
On May 2, 2021, I departed from Massachusetts in my 2017 Ford Edge (Breezy Blue) with my 13.5 year young pup, Maddie, to fulfill a lifelong dream of a road trip across America. Our departure was delayed by a month, but we're making up for lost time now! My goal is to be out and about for a year.
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4 thoughts on “October 7, 2021 Day #158❣”
So glad to see you posting again! I was beginning to wonder where in the world you were! Glad that things are still going well on your magical mystery tour. Keep on truckin’! XOXO Cathie
Hi Cathie❣ Thanks for checking in with me! I’m hoping to post more often, by changing my approach to it. I still love writing it, but it’s time consuming & very frustrating when I lose a lot of the content to a lost connection. 🥺 By posting sooner & more frequently, I think it will run more smoothly for me. 🤞🏼
🤗💝🤗
Maddie was definitely smiling! 😊 She’d never been in a shopping cart before, so she was a little nervous about it. I lifted all 55+ pounds of her in & out of it & had her sitting on towels. After a few minutes, she was loving it! 💕
Where's Wendy? Livin' in the Edge! 
So glad to see you posting again! I was beginning to wonder where in the world you were! Glad that things are still going well on your magical mystery tour. Keep on truckin’! XOXO Cathie
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Hi Cathie❣ Thanks for checking in with me! I’m hoping to post more often, by changing my approach to it. I still love writing it, but it’s time consuming & very frustrating when I lose a lot of the content to a lost connection. 🥺 By posting sooner & more frequently, I think it will run more smoothly for me. 🤞🏼
🤗💝🤗
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Maddie is smiling in the photo of her in the Dollar General Store💕🐾
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Maddie was definitely smiling! 😊 She’d never been in a shopping cart before, so she was a little nervous about it. I lifted all 55+ pounds of her in & out of it & had her sitting on towels. After a few minutes, she was loving it! 💕
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