After about a six hour drive we arrived in Medora North Dakota. Home of the Medora Musical where our friend Marybeth performed. It is hard to imagine spending an entire summer this far away from everything! We camped at the Medora campground, right outside the national park. We took the scenic drive (about 34 miles) with many short hiking stops. We were amazed at how many Bison were close to the road!

We also saw a number of wild horses. I liked this one of a small group standing on a butte in the distance.

It was interesting to learn the history of this area. Teddy Roosevelt came here as a young man after losing his wife and mother on the same day. He bought a ranch (Yes he came from a very wealthy family) and then another ranch in the area. After a couple of very bad winters where he lost most of his herd he ended up going back to New York to get involved in politics again. After his death it was a long process to create the national park. He is the only president (so far - 😉) to have a national park named after him.

The views and the hikes were great. Here are a few of my favorites.

Back at the camp, I pulled out the Traeger Ranger to make some pork chops only to find out that at some point in the last two years mice had built a little nest in the firebox! If a new oak tree grows in Medora I guess I’ll have to take responsibility. I got it cleaned out and heated it up nice and high to make sure it was safe! It was also a good spot to experiment with the StarLink, which worked great and provided much faster internet than the campground WiFi! It was a beautiful night, the temps were in the high 50’s and we were able to sleep with the windows open.