36 hours in Theodore Roosevelt National Park & Fort Union Trading Post National Monument
Monday we left Chateau De Wally World Super Centré and headed towards the American boarder. #merica We entered easily back into Wyoming. The boarder patrol officer was kind and made sure to make sure we knew we were a long way from home. Our first stop back in the great US of A was the small town of Plentywood. There is a little furniture store there that allows drop-shipped packages and we had two we were anxiously awaiting. The first was a ginormous camera lens Evan had been waiting on for what seemed like ages to him (he knows the details, I just know it’s giant). The second was from our sweet friend Halley, AKA Aunt Sally. She made personalized shirts for all 5 of us and they are awesome. The kids’ state their purposes for the trip being that of junior rangers and Phoenix’s has his life goal of being anywhere just for the food. Evan’s shirt has a new business logo making sure everyone knows that in this new division he thrives on flying drones and staring at waterfalls. Mine new duds mention the amount of people in the airstream and how I require coffee and prayer to survive. Basically all 5 shirts were proven genius. After fetching the mail we took our new prizes and fully thrilled selves right into Dairy Queen. Someone working that day had their baby at work with them and all the workers shared the duties required for baby keeping. One person had the baby on their hip as they delivered the food and another would pass off cooking duties to play for a bit. It seemed so quintessential in the small town life and it was a precious sight to see the community rallying around a mom that needed childcare and a job. 1,000 points rewarded to that establishment.
Our next stop was going to be a quick detour for a little learning and junior badge earning. And while it ended up being a pretty awesome spot, that we didn’t know previously existed, road construction added about an hour and 1/2 to our day. Nonetheless, we made it to the Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site on the Montana/North Dakota State line. It’s always the little unknown parks that surprise us. Fort Union was a money making fur trading post in the late 1800s. Louis and Clark first stated it would be a great place for trade because of the two rivers that meet there and 25 or so years later a fort was built and business was on. Thousands and thousands of buffalo and other hides were being sent down the rivers and across the plains each year due to this one trading post. It had high walls, a watch tower, meal rotations, and a hotel like area in its heyday. It was a thriving hub of business in the middle of absolutely nowhere and because of this, so many buffalo were killed in that period without management that the population got down to under 100 and almost went extinct. The fort and museum are super educational and fascinating. Badges were earned and we got back on the road. A few hours later we arrived at our primary destination for this round at Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Our campground at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Medora Campground, was just outside the gate and managed by the park so it’s convenience was awesome. Just through the woods was the park visitors center and the cabin in which Theodore Roosevelt lived when he was ranching in the area. The park was a drastic view change compared to the Canadian Rockies. They were the first of the “badlands” but these were green. And oh man, the wind. The wind. The wind. Did I mention the wind? There were times when we were hiking and we would lose our footing as we stepped because the wind would get under our feet. So crazy.
At sunset we drove through the park looking for wildlife like we often do and it was a jackpot night. Buffalo, elk, coyote, prairie dogs, white tail deer and pronghorn were all out surveying their territory.
Just outside the park is the actual town of Medora, North Dakota. As we walked down the street to the post office I felt a sudden need for chaps and spurs. It’s just that kind of quaint cowboy town that sweeps you up in the culture. “Howdy Partner” was on the edge of my tongue the entire time. We walked back towards the visitors center to collect those oh so important junior ranger badges in exchange for the kids hard work on their booklets and called it a day. The next day would start our adventure into the Black Hills.
