My 50th State

Before departing Minnesota, we stopped for a few nights at Winnie Dam Corp of Engineer Campground near Deer River, MN.  We took a day trip and drove over to the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca State Park.  This small stream begins the flow of one of the world’s mightiest rivers.

Pattie walks across the Mississippi River

Another day, we drove over to Grand Rapids, MN to visit Judy Garland’s childhood home and museum. She was quite the celebrity in her day and most famous for her role as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.  

Departing Minnesota, we headed west into North Dakota.  This was my first time in North Dakota and it is the only state I have never visited. Moving cross-country when I was young and then traveling extensively during my 24 years in the US Air Force, provided me the opportunity to visit every other state, but somehow I always missed ND.  There are a few states Pattie has not visited and we have several states where we have not yet camped in The Bus.  For now, we are happy to add the ND sticker to our national map.

We stayed at four different locations across ND.  Driving from east to west, the terrain looks much like Iowa with flat farmland as far as you could see.  We saw a sign in Rugby, ND denoting the geographic center of North America and made a quick stop for a photo op.  

Once we made it to west side, things began to get interesting.  The Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) is impressive on many different scales.  The beautiful scenery, interesting animal life, various plant life, and unusual geological formations are what attract many visitors here each year.  

We dry camped in the National Park Service North Site campground for several days before moving to a horse ranch near Medora, ND to visit the South Site.  Both the North Site and the South Site have scenic drives and many hiking and horse trails.    

The TRNP and history in the area made this the most interesting part of ND we visited.  The small tourist town of Medora, ND is home to a top quality outdoor amphitheater where many plays and musicals are performed each year.  We attended the Medora Musical and ate at the Pitch Fork Fondue.  They cook steaks on pitchforks by dipping them in hot oil.  It was more of a novelty than a wonderful tasting meal (there is a reason the best steak houses in the US are not cooking steaks by frying them in large vats of oil).  

The musical however was top notch entertainment.  Just before the performance began, a large bull elk wandered up for a quick visit and look around.  It was a fun evening out.

We also spent a long rainy day never stepping outside The Bus.  It gave me time to catch up on computer work and Pattie time to bake bread and do some laundry.  The following day, we sought out the Elkhorn Ranch Site located about 40 north of Madora, ND.  Most of the roads were dirt that had turned to mud the day before, but after an hour sliding around, we found the ranch site that was so inspiring to Theodore Roosevelt.  A short hike and we walked among the foundation stones that were once his cabin.  Back at the Jeep, we spent half and hour getting all the ticks off each other, but it was worth the trip.  

Next we had south into South Dakota to visit some friends and see the Crazy Horse monument.
Thanks again for keepingupwiththejonesrv!