Medora, ND

Thursday, September 5

This morning, Andi and I woke up at 4:00am to Tory crawling into bed with us. We sleep in some pretty close quarters in the RV, and there’s definitely not enough room for three people to lay in one bed. I guess you could say we’re all still adjusting to sleeping in a new place.

Fortunately, everyone fell back asleep for a few more hours. I got up at 6:30am to workout outside in the campground. It’s not the most enjoyable place to exercise, but I always feel better when I have a few minutes of “me time” to start my day. As I walked over to the picnic table carrying a armful of dumbbells, I locked eyes with a couple sitting in their SUV drinking coffee. #campgroundlife

Meanwhile, Andi readied the RV by filling up our water supply and dumping the sewer. I fed the kids breakfast after my workout and we started in on our schooling. Aden and I discussed the date and practiced writing the number 5. “It’s going to be a five-ly day!” he said. He is really excited about starting kindergarten.

After reading and writing practice, we packed up the RV and drove to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora. First things first — we stopped by the South Unit Visitor’s Center to pick up Junior Ranger packets for Tory and Aden to complete. We seriously love this program! It’s a great way for our whole family to learn about the national park we’re visiting.

We arrived just in time to catch a ranger-led tour of Teddy Roosevelt’s Maltese Cross Cabin. The Maltese Cross Cabin is a one-and-a-half story cabin Roosevelt had built for himself and his ranch hands. He split his time between New York and North Dakota in the late 1800’s before becoming the 26th president of the United States in 1901. Roosevelt once said, "I would not have been president had it not been for my experience in North Dakota."

We learned a lot about Theodore Roosevelt during our time in Medora. Roosevelt is considered the "conservationist president" and is the only person with a national park named after him. During Roosevelt’s presidency, he designated 230 million acres of public land as National Forests, Parks, and Monuments to protect wildlife and habitats.

After the tour, we hopped back in the RV to drive the South Unit loop. It was a beautiful sunny day and there were hardly any people in the park which made our experience there a fantastic one. Slowly, we drove down the road taking in sights of the badlands, antelope, turkeys, deer and prairie dogs. Oh, the prairie dogs!

We watched the prairie dogs pop up and down holes in their prairie dog town for at least half an hour. They were so cute! I’d never seen anything like it. The kids were enamored with them, too. (Andi thought we were crazy.)

Farther along the South Unit loop, we parked the RV in a pull-off to do a quick mile-long hike along the Wind Canyon Trail. The kids weren’t super excited for it, but we promised them it would be short and they might even seen some animals.

Lucky enough, we did see a herd of bison grazing in the distance.

After our hike, we returned to the South Unit Visitor Center so the kids could turn in their Junior Ranger booklets and collect their badges. It never gets old seeing them sworn in for these! They are so proud of their achievement and the NPS Rangers do such a nice job of making it special for kids.

We still had a long afternoon of driving ahead, so we returned to the RV and said good-bye to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, North Dakota. I was pleasantly surprised by this national park! We learned a bit of history, saw lots of animals, and best of all — the park wasn’t busy at all which meant we could really take our time and enjoy the sights.

At Noon, we hit the interstate and continued our journey west. Next stop: Montana!

It took us 5 1/2 hours to drive to our first destination — a town called Big Timber which is half-way between Billings and Bozeman. Andi has done several photoshoots for work in Big Timber over the years, and had a few people he wanted to visit there. By the time we got groceries and purchased Montana fishing licenses at the gas station, it was nearing sunset. One of Andi’s friends recommended we camp at a fishing access point on the Yellowstone River, just outside of Big Timber. We were happy to learn that many fishing access points in Montana offer free camping.

We were tired when we arrived and finally set up camp. After we read to the kids and got them settled in bed, Andi decided to sit outside by the fire for a bit but I went to bed. Long driving days are exhausting.

Andi arranged for us to go fly fishing tomorrow on the Yellowstone River. We’re excited!