The 'Peg and Rough Riders, Day 9, August 15, 2024

 Bison! And Badlands! The trip took a dramatic turn today as we headed west in North Dakota to find absolutely stunning landscape and wildlife, Here's a teaser:

It was westward-ho for us, and we were happy to see a more favourable weather forecast.

Our first stop was in Rugby, to see the self-described "Geographical Center of North America". A monument in the parking lot of a dry cleaner and carry-out.  

One of the many huge grain silo complexes we passed. 

The further west we went the more we noticed that we had moved from plains to gently rolling to eventually even more. We were also greatly surprised at the number of oil drill pumps we saw. Later we learned that it is now a huge thing in northwestern North Dakota.

Somewhere along the way we had lunch, and then we came to the Missouri River! 

And then there were lots of changes in the landscape! We were moving into the Badlands!

It was not far until our goal of the day and one of the highlights of our trip.

I was glad I had my senior Natioal Parks pass. Entrance was otherwise $30 per car (but that was good for 7 days and also covered the South Unit).

Very shortly after we entered the park, we crossed a bridge and I saw a herd of animals drinking in the shallow water. "Bison!" I exclaimed, but immediately realized they didn't really look like bison. About two minutes later we went around a curve and found some more of them -- Longhorn Cattle! Two were amongst the trees on the left side of the road, and the third was happily grazing on the right side. 

It may not be clear from those photos but those horns are HUGE. I had never seen a Longhorn in reali life before, and it was very impressive.

The park was breathtaking. Something around every corner, breathtaking views, unusual formations. 

There is only a "there and back" road in this part of the park. On our way "there" we saw one bison. 

A very nice fellow, and all that but we had really hoped for more. On the way back, we did indeed see more, but at quite a distance. A little hard to tell from the photo, but this is a very large herd.

And then.... we drove around a curve, only to stop as a heard of bison walked right at us on the road! Just what we had hoped for! 

It was wonderful, We were so happy -- it was the perfect touch on a wonderful day.

A bit of background on all the Theodore Roosevelt references. In 1883 he was a New York local politician, and visited the Badlands to hunt. He fell in love with the area and bought a ranch, now part of the park that bears his name. Tragedy struck him the next year, as his wife and mother died on the same day. He returned to the Badlands to recover, buying a larger ranch, also now part of the park He returned many times over the years. He became President of the US in 1901, continuing with "his commitment to the conservation of America’s natural resources."

Then we returned to Watford City, just north of the park, and our hotel -- what else but the Roosevclt Inn and Suites? A very nice hotel, with much appropriate decor. 

For dinner, we decided against the themed (and expensive) restaurants and went to the diner across the road, the Little Missouri Grille. 

Our first clue that it was a good choice was seeing the parking lot filled with pickup trucks with local license plates. It turned out to be home, friendly and with good home-style comfort food. I can highly recommend it!