The last time I posted, we were in Marquette, trying the local culinary fare. We then moved onward to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park North Unit on the west side of North Dakota. Along the way we stayed in Duluth, MN and Bismarck, ND (where we continued the eating trend by partaking in a Portland Chocolate Malt and a Cracker Barrel Country Fried Steak, respectively. Both were expectantly fantastic.) Once we arrived in North Dakota, we were able to see not only Sue, the largest Holstein Cow in the world, but also a strip of road called The Enchanted Highway. In total, we drove about a thousand miles (plus or minus) over two days... Definitely more road trip than photography. But we were able to get some camera time too.
Now before you think we're eating our way through the country, let me say that we've actually been quite frugal with our meals. A majority of the time we are on a European inspired menu -- we have deli meat sandies, cheese, and fresh fruit. All courtesy of the local grocery of the town we are passing through. Don't get me wrong, we're definitely not roughing it. But we aren't eating out everyday either.
Although the cuisine on our trip has been memorable so far, the highlight of the past week has really been our time spent in Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP). The park is broken into two sections. The southern section is off of I-94, and is the better known of the two. We stayed there for the last night, but both Norman and I highly recommend the north unit. The wildness of the area is unreal -- you lose sense of the fact that you're in a national park. Rather it's a feeling of getting a glimpse of what it was to live like the cowboys of old.
A sampling of high points and pics from our time in TRNP. Click the thumbnail for a larger image.
Catching sunrise and sunset on the cliffs in the area. Waking up at 5am is not fun, but the resulting photographs hopefully outweighed the sleepiness.
The first morning, on the ridge behind us where the sun was rising, a herd of bighorn sheep crested over the hill toward us. We were able to get some silhouette shots of the sheep grazing their breakfast.
Also that morning, on our way back to our campsite, we realized the camping area was surrounded by bison. We slowly maneuvered the car around the beasts, and sat in awe that we were merely yards away from the gigantic animals. (A sad side note -- in the mid 1800's, there were an estimated 40 million bison in the US. From 1870-1890, that number was reduced to 1500 due to hunting and the fur trade). Thanks to T. Roosevelt and other conservationists, the numbers are now around 500K. They were saved from extinction.)
Seeing God's color palette on the sunset sky, the golden light glistening off the wild grass fields. If you can remember what the wheat looked like at the end of the movie Gladiator, you wouldn't be far off.
Strolling into a valley populated by a prairie dog town, and settling in on the grass, watching the dogs squeak out warnings that humans were near by. Then realizing that once again, the herd of bison were moving into the valley behind us. We moved to the side, and once again reveled in the opportunity to be as close (yet still a safe distance) as we were.
Hiking to the third largest petrified forest... once there, the landscape felt alien. It was perhaps the closest thing I will ever experience to walking on Mars and the Moon.
All in all, the TRNP skyrocketed to being one of my favorite National Parks. I can not say enough about it. It is a hidden gem and worth every mile we drove to get there.
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