Finished with North and almost South Dakota

Friday, July 20th

Nothing but driving today.

Nowhere but on Rt. 281S from Jamestown, ND to Mitchell, SD - which is flat, not much traveled and not much to see except for how the farmers are suffering here - no rain in 6 weeks in South Dakota.  Corn being ground for silage already.

Had time to remember my childhood vacations on Grandpa Kast's farm:

• fields of tomatoes and plates full of them at every meal (peeled and sliced and with a little sugar)
• picking cabbage seedlings in the muck and watching the planters popping them into the soil back on the farm
• fresh peaches on ice cream for dessert or cereal at breakfast
• going to the field to pick fresh peas and sitting on the back porch shelling them for dinner and freezing
• making jam and canning peaches and pickled cherries
• the best bacon in the world from their own pigs smoked in their own smoke house - salty and thick and after you nibbled the bacon right up to the rind you sucked on the rind
• plenty of sweet corn on the cob after you husked it and removed ALL of the silk
• milk coming in after milking the cows
• the cookie tins were always filled with apple-oatmeal cookies and graham cookies with a whole walnut half on top from the tree outside the back door.  And for special occasions the hickory nut cake with 7 minute frosting and each piece was designated by a hickory nut.

And that was just about the food produced on the farm.

DATA:

mileage:      265                       gas:  $42  @  $3.60                       camp:  $24
temp:  106 (heat advisory until Tues. night!!)

The Beautiful Badlands - Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND

Wednesday, July 18th

I made it to ND by 8 a.m. as the oil workers go to work with their diesel trucks at 5 a.m.

The drive again was very pretty with the funny little hills of rocks and undergrowth of oranges, yellows, all shades of green and beiges and the blue skies.

Beautiful Badlands of ND

What I thought were open grain train cars turned out to be coal cars - lots of them.  Didn't know they were still mining that much coal.

Funny, but for the past couple of days the words to Home on the Range have been going through my mind (along with America the Beautiful) and today, the 2nd exit (#7) in ND was for Home on the Range.  It just appeared to be a complex of buildings huddled together with a farm house so. . . maybe it's a dude ranch like Kathy went to.

Bought ticket for stage show tonight in Medora which has been recommended by several - outdoor amphitheater.  I decided to pass on the pitchfork fondue.  I'll give a review of the show tomorrow as I'm sure it'll be a late night - my first time getting into my campsite after dark - and backing in no less.

The National Park was very fun.  Of course you know my love of rock formations so even though this is considered the badlands of ND, I thought them pretty awesome.  And just look at all the buffalo - sorry - bison that run the place.

In T. Roosevelt NP

Prairie Dog Village in NP

Who can find Rhoda?

Oh give me a home. . .

where the buffalo roam

and roam right down the road

momma & calf cross together

but calf is thirsty

If you got an itch. . .

DATA: 

mileage:  85                          gas:  $64  @ $3.58                             camp:  $27

National Park:  $0                 stage performance:  $38                     ice cream:  $3.50