On day 8 of our adventures we traveled from Jamestown, ND to Fairfield, ND where we stayed out in woody-bo-diddy at a campground called OLEO Acres. The sites were nice, we had full hookup. Litterly, there was nothing for miles from us. The closest grocery store over 20 miles away! Fortunately, we had plenty of food and supplies.

This site was supposed to have laundry facilities, but it looks like the campground is still working at setting up the “Wash House”, which will include showers and laundry.

This made a great location for us to explore the Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) which has a North Unit and South Unit. They refer to this NP as the Badlands of North Dakota. Prior to this trip, I only knew of the Badlands in South Dakota.

On Day 9, we took time to go explore the North Unit of TRNP. The Badlands of the North Unit are beautiful in person, I have photos to share, but they do nothing for the in person experience. Here we found two Tatanka’s (a.k.a. bison/buffalo) to great us as we got started. We also found Cannonball Mystery’s that become visible as the ground erodes around them. The cannonballs form within the sediment layers of the badlands. The erosion of the land slowly exposes the cannonballs.

On the evening of Day 9, we drove to Medora, ND where we watched the incredible performance of the Medora Musicle. This is a story about how TR (Teddy Roosevelt) came to Medora and his adventures in the land. The show and music were great. I think Judi was not totally thrilled ahead of time as she expected all country music. I am sure she enjoyed this show as much as I did. It got a bit cool as the night progressed because the show is performed in an outdoor amphitheater. The performers are from all over the country, we even had one from Sault Ste Marie, MI.

Day 10, drove back into Medora, ND to explore the South Unit of TRNP. This had more Badlands, where we also were able to see Prairie Dogs, Wild Horse, and more Tatanka. One of the Tatanka’s was taking a dirt bath rolling on his back, it was a fun site to watch. Sorry no videos as these surprises happen quickly and I was the driver. As we drove, we came upon a prairie dog that was hit by a car, the other prairie dog in the photo was coming to check on the momma, Judi jumped out of the car and used our shovel to move her out of the roadway. We have so many photos that i just picked out some to share with you.

Stay tuned for more to come…