Theodore Roosevelt National Park

We arrived around 1:00, and drove four miles into the park to the Cottonwood campground. The temperature was around 95, and while the campground was in a pretty valley next to the Little Missouri River, we decided it would be better to stay in a commercial campground with electricity for air conditioning. We ate lunch in the picnic area, and then drove back down to the Medora Campground just outside the park.

After getting settled and checking email, we headed to the visitor center in the park. A ranger was just getting ready to do a tour of the original Roosevelt cabin, so we spent half an hour listening to the history of the region and Theodore Roosevelt's role in it. The pictures is of his original cabin. It was built using flat ponderosa pine that was being shipped down the river for railroad ties. You can see Roosevelt's brand, the Maltese cross, stamped on one of the logs on the front of the cabin. It still has an old shell casing, which is what they used to stamp the wood, stuck in the top of the brand from 150 years ago.

From the visitor center we made the loop around the park. It was late afternoon and we were fortunate to see a variety of wildlife -- prairie dogs, rabbits, turkeys, grouse, deer, buffalo, wild horses, turkey vultures, chipmunks, elk -- and our favorite, the badger (see the picture below).
There was very little traffic in the park at that time of day, which seemed unusual (although a pleasant surprise).

We arrived back at the trailer a little after 7:00. I walked Rocky while Teressa made dinner and fed the kids. After dinner Brian drove us up to the Medora Musical, billed "The Best Show in the West", just as the sun was going down. The musical, celebrating its 50th year, is housed in an incredible outdoor amphitheater. With temperatures still in the 80s, it was the perfect evening for sitting outdoors and watching a show. If you look closely at the picture of the kids below, you will notice a bull elk on the skyline behind the kids. We thought it was going to be part of the show, but they ended up moving him off the hillside so he wouldn't spook the horses in the show. The musical was excellent -- western singing and dancing, with an Irish comedian thrown in for good measure. We ended up getting back to the trailer around 11.