After arrival at the campground in the little town of Medora, we jumped onto the free trolley and headed into town. Found a lovely old saloon (with real saloon swing doors), with great music, and had a relaxing evening.
Day 2 was calling for 107 degree heat, so we got out a little earlier to try and hike in Painted canyon in the North unit. It was not to be, as there were reports from other hikers of bison on the trail and we have a healthy respect for these beasts. The temperature climbed to 111 degrees, so we embarked on the North scenic drive, where we saw ‘concretions’, which are huge, spherical rocks that are exposed after erosion and eventually roll down to the base of the hill. Then, after lunch and since it was so hot, we decided to do a 2.4 mile round trip hike to a lookout point and call it a day. All 3 of us did it, but it wasn’t a pretty sight. Go us! Back to air conditioning, and celebrating the last loads of laundry!
After leaving the campsite the next day, we headed to the Roosevelt presidential library in Medora. This place is newly opened and is spectacular. The building is gorgeous – made to fit in with the landscape, but beautiful inside. It uses solar power extensively and the main building has grass growing on the roof. The actual museum was AI driven, clever for all ages, thoughtfully put together and left us feeling a little emotional as we learned about Theodore Roosevelt, his life, his vision and what he did for this country.
Now heading to the Apostle Islands National seashore in Wisconsin
-Sally
