Touring Dakota

We have officially moved into the tourist mode as we travel through the Dakotas. Medora North Dakota was our first destination. It is a very cute tourist trap in Western North Dakota. It reminds me a little bit of Sisters, Oregon. All the buildings are constructed in Old Western Style. Medora is famous for cowboys - the Cowboy Hall of Fame, a Cowboy play that runs all summer, and lots of Cowboys walking around. The plays don't start until next week, but a large group of cowboys were walking out of the theater when we walked by.....a meeting of the Herder's Association, I believe.

Medora is also famous for being the home of Theodore Roosevelt. He had two ranches in the area and because of his attachment to this beautiful country, he started the conservation movement in this nation and the national park system. We spent a couple of hours driving through the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the evening. There were beautiful vistas of fascinating rock formations, prairie dog towns (they were all out of their holes looking and talking to us), wild horses, and buffalo. (We actually went by a lot more buffalo leavings - piles of it, than actual buffalo.)

We headed directly South this morning on Hwy 85. It goes on and on across the prairie - some rolling hills - a vast ocean of land stretching out to the horizon. The landscape is all dressed in green now - the color of early spring. The snow has been gone just two weeks. We saw lots of cattle in the fields, and a few herds of antelope. At one point I asked Paul if he knew if we had crossed the border from North Dakota to South Dakota yet. He checked the map, and discovered that we had actually been in South Dakota for about 50 miles.

At the end of the road, the Black Hills came into view. We stopped in Spear Fish, South Dakota.

This afternoon we took the scenic Spear Fish Canyon Drive. It was the first time I had felt sort of at home in the Dakotas. The landscape looked very Oregon like....lots of rock canyons covered with fir and pine trees, a lovely creek running by the road, and a water fall here and there. 

The road led to Deadwood, the infamous town where Wild Bill Hitchcock was shot and killed. They play this legend to the hilt. Historically there was a street of saloons, gambling and prostitution. In its modern form, it is casino(smoke filled) after casino - and more people than we had seen in one place on our entire trip through the Dakotas so far. After taking in some of the local color, we headed on back to Spear Fish for dinner and a quiet evening. We will be in this area for the next several days as this is where all the exciting things to see are in South Dakota. The family will becoming to join us on Monday.