August 16--Hobson, MT to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND

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Tuesday August 16 at Ackley State Park, MT. At 8:45 it was 53 degrees with blue skies in one direction and rain clouds in another. Starting mileage was 15190.

For some reason we woke up early and watched the sunrise as it came into the back windows--maybe because we left the curtains open last night. Anyway, it was a really pretty sunrise and I took pictures of it several times as the colors changed, while Valerie went back to sleep.

Lots of folks were out standing on the banks of the lake this morning fishing. We watched a Northern Harrier swoop low and quarter the fields looking for prey. Drove back to the community of Hobson and found the library with wifi didn't open until noon. So much for that plan. Valerie pulled into a parking area so we could read about the town's history and I watched a flock of small birds in some bushes while she took some pictures. I think some of the birds might be yellow-bellied flycatchers.

Heading due east, continuing on highway 200. Seeing more road kill now--large skunk—PHEW!. Also spotting more animals--2 does in a field. Pulled into the town of Lewiston about 11:00 and stopped at the local Mickey D's. Boy was it full of people, mostly seniors having coffee, reading the paper, and visiting with each other. Sent out a couple of blogs and checked e-mail. Got gas in town at $3.699 a gal. and she took 20.5 gals for a total of $75.89.

Really seeing the animals now as they stand out in the fields, especially the mowed wheat fields,--at least 6 antelope each at two different places, Valerie saw 2 deer I missed, and then we both saw 2 does and a buck, then we saw 7 more antelope or pronghorns, which we were told is the correct term---as they are not antelope. True "Antelope" are found only in the old world. I have seen them called pronghorn antelope in print so why can't they be called antelope for short. Reminds me of a discussion we had with someone on the trip, I may have mentioned this before, that the geese are NOT "Canadian" Geese as we all call them, but "Canada" Geese--which I find hard to say.

Anyway, we continued to drive along highway 200, which is basically a narrow two lane road through hills and valleys. In some ways, the road reminded me of the old desert highway before the interstate was built going between LA and El Paso. Up and then down and then up again as you drive into another swale. Now roads are built flat but the old roads like this one, just conformed to the contours of the land it was traveling across. Stopped at a new, very fancy, huge rest stop out in the middle of nowhere, for a break. Asked some truckers hanging out here about the rest stop and they said that the county had spent a whole lot of money, millions they said, to build this building because so many people driving this road had fallen asleep at the wheel and had very serious accidents. This was the county’s' attempt to get people to stop and take a break from the kind of monotonous road and scenery, especially aimed at the truckers.

Went through several small market towns before we reached the community of Circle. Here we turned south along 200S to just before the town of Glendive where we connected with interstate 94.

We crossed into North Dakota at the town of Beach and stopped to get gas. Mileage is 15525. Gas was $3.659 per gal and she took 19.558 gals for a total of $71.56. From there we drove the couple of miles into the Theodore Roosevelt National Park where we planned to stay a couple of days. We were definitely into the badlands here sculpted by the Little Missouri River and other streams, wind, snow melt, and the soft and hard strata of soil.

At the entrance to the park we showed our Senior Pass to get in free. This time the Ranger asked to see Valerie's driver's license to compare with the pass. That is the first time someone checked and it makes a lot of sense as the pass only has a signature on it. The Park is in three separate sections and we entered the southern part where Teddy originally set up his Maltese Cross cabin in 1883-4. We drove about 3 miles into the park to the Cottonwood campground that is situated along the Little Missouri River. We saw a herd of buffalo across the river from the campground as we were looking for a spot to park Rosie II. Unfortunately, the campground was really full by this time and the only spaces left weren't very good--more tent sites than RV sites. We pulled into the best of the lot and settled in for the night---turned on the propane, had dinner, and read until bedtime. While walking back from dropping our envelope to register for the campsite, Valerie saw a wild horse in a nearby meadow.

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