The second national park of my summer, was a bit unexpected. Unexpected in the sense that I didn't originially have a plan to visit it. When mom and I found ourselves with a few extra days on the leaving side of our trip we decided we might as well head on out early. But where to? A look at the map and mom mentioned that there was one more national park in North Dakota we hadn't hit that wouldn't add too much (what is too much on a road trip that logged over 5,000 miles of driving?) to our trip. And so we headed off, with a plan to hit Devil's Tower National Monument which we hadn't gotten to the last time we were in Wyoming and then head through South Dakota and into North Dakota to spend a day or two around Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Never mind that it was going to be around the 4th of July. An hour of throwing hotel numbers at my mom to call, found us rooms to ensure we wouldn't have to keep driving forever on the holiday.
Usually I have a pretty good idea of what the options are for random stops on our trips, having outsourced much of my exploring to Roadside America, this time we took off before I had any ideas. I found myself scrambling every night to see if there was anything around for us to see. Which is probably why we ended up at the Geographical Center of the US in Belle Fourche, South Dakota as well as the Termesphere Gallery in Spearfish, SD. Devil's Tower was well worth the detail and the hour of two we spend walking around the base of the volcanic rock structure, constantly turning our heads up to glance towards the sky and the top of the monument. I have to admit though, there really isn't a lot when you drive through western South and North Dakota. Perhaps that is why we kept changing our plans as we drove.
Originally we had only planned to visit the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt Park. But when we realized it would be less than a 100 miles out of the way, and it wasn't even noon yet, we altered our mental map and kept heading north to the North Unit. A more remote, and quiet section of the park. We saw perhaps 5 people during the 4 hours we spent in that section. Our attention directed to the natural landscape instead. Cannonball excretions forming in the side of a hill, the rattlesnake that made both of us jump before quickly hurrying away at its warning shake, the endless landscape and bright yellow clover against a brilliant blue sky. The chance to get out, hike a bit (okay, maybe that was a bad idea as mom ended up with a fractured ankle on our first day out rather than just a bad sprain as we had expected), and enjoy clean air. Always one of the goals of my summer vacations.
The next day we headed into the South Unit of the park. A few more people, although still not enough to interrupt our enjoyment of the landscape. I took a 3.5 mile hike through the interior of the park, while mom continued along the road to the viewpoints. We saw a few wild horses and a herd of bison grazing in the clover. A hot, dusty day which made the idea of driving for another 3 days to Glacier National Park just bearable.
Usually I have a pretty good idea of what the options are for random stops on our trips, having outsourced much of my exploring to Roadside America, this time we took off before I had any ideas. I found myself scrambling every night to see if there was anything around for us to see. Which is probably why we ended up at the Geographical Center of the US in Belle Fourche, South Dakota as well as the Termesphere Gallery in Spearfish, SD. Devil's Tower was well worth the detail and the hour of two we spend walking around the base of the volcanic rock structure, constantly turning our heads up to glance towards the sky and the top of the monument. I have to admit though, there really isn't a lot when you drive through western South and North Dakota. Perhaps that is why we kept changing our plans as we drove.
Originally we had only planned to visit the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt Park. But when we realized it would be less than a 100 miles out of the way, and it wasn't even noon yet, we altered our mental map and kept heading north to the North Unit. A more remote, and quiet section of the park. We saw perhaps 5 people during the 4 hours we spent in that section. Our attention directed to the natural landscape instead. Cannonball excretions forming in the side of a hill, the rattlesnake that made both of us jump before quickly hurrying away at its warning shake, the endless landscape and bright yellow clover against a brilliant blue sky. The chance to get out, hike a bit (okay, maybe that was a bad idea as mom ended up with a fractured ankle on our first day out rather than just a bad sprain as we had expected), and enjoy clean air. Always one of the goals of my summer vacations.
The next day we headed into the South Unit of the park. A few more people, although still not enough to interrupt our enjoyment of the landscape. I took a 3.5 mile hike through the interior of the park, while mom continued along the road to the viewpoints. We saw a few wild horses and a herd of bison grazing in the clover. A hot, dusty day which made the idea of driving for another 3 days to Glacier National Park just bearable.
