PNW Trip Day 7 {North Dakota - Theodore Roosevelt National Park}

Each day of this trip seems to get better and better! We all slept in a little this morning, thanks to the dark hotel room (our only hotel stop this trip).  After filling up at the continental breakfast, we drove over to Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  I had never even heard of this NP until Alex started planning the trip last year so my expectations were low...but wow!! This park is amazingly beautiful and full of wildlife!

Our typical RV life.

First stop was Painted Canyon Visitors Center in the South Unit of TRNP.

Then we took a hike on the Painted Canyon Loop trail. Pictures do not do it justice. So beautiful!

Bria was a big girl! She hiked the entire trail (marked as moderate) by herself!

We drove into Medora, a tiny town on the south border of TRNP. 

Beilyn's ice cream was perfect for her, loaded with strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries.

Just like his dad, making friends everywhere.

We decided to go check in at our campsite in the Cottonwood Campground inside the park. Along the way, we stopped at a huge prairie dog town. They were so noisy and squeaking so much. Then a coyote walked right through with the prairie dogs diving into their holes!

The campground was really cool, right in the valley of the badlands along the Little Missouri River.

Perfect climbing tree at our campsite.
We had planned to go back into town for the outdoor Medora Musical, but we couldn't leave the beauty of the park! The trails were calling!

As we were climbing up this trail, we saw a small deer swim across the river. 

Wind Canyon Trail

Again, the picture doesn't do it justice. So amazing to stand on that peak and watch the bison down below.  Then we drove down where they were crossing the road and were completely surrounded by them for over 30 minutes.

All of that sage around them smelled so good!

We saw lots of babies and two males fighting.

Beilyn loved watching the babies so much that she had tears in her eyes. 🥰

 This video makes me laugh. Beilyn says, "You not getting us. nah, nah, nah, nah" to the bison. Brielle says, "Beilyn, don't do that or they will charge us!" to which Beilyn replies, "No, we're in our RV!"

We found another area to climb.

If you look closely, you can see Alex and the girls up at the top...

And me waving from the RV door while I got food out for dinner. We eventually all made it to the top. Probably not the safest activity with the 2 & 3 yr olds, but they loved it!

We all agreed that a picnic beside a prairie dog town made for a better memory than that show in town. ❤️

Beilyn: And I'm prairie dog.... I'm wagging my tail! 😄

We went back to our campsite and took a walk through the campgrounds before bed.  No cell service or electricity in the campgrounds (and no generators allowed except during meal times) so it was a quiet night! The weather was perfect for leaving the windows open. I think we wore the girls out well because they all fell asleep quickly. Another amazing day! 🥰