Rick had heard about a place that hundreds of years ago lightening had hit it and it was still burning underground called the Burning Coal Vein.
We decided to see that. It meant leaving the pavement and going on this wonderful long red gravel road. It was just beautiful.
The weather was clear with bright blue sky. The area reminded us of the badlands. Hills streaked with red black, yellow, and white. The contrast with the red rock is beautiful.
Along the way we saw mule deer, rattlesnakes, turkeys and antelope. Every corner I was telling Rick to stop so I could get pictures. It was just that beautiful for miles and miles.
North Dakota has huge ranches and is very unpopulated. The have recently turned more to oil so you see the occasional oil rig
but mostly just unspoiled beauty. No Cell Phone towers, no government fences. No phone. We pulled into the park and saw hunters set up and on tent had a carcass of some sort hung so they could skin it. Most everyone drives trucks and ride horses. We took the Hamann road to Burning Coal Field and too the east river road to Medora. That was the best off the beaten track road I have ever traveled and I highly recommend it.
Medora is a pretty little touristy town. Lots of pretty and expensive things to buy. Very cowboy orientated. Boots and hats, western wear and horns. This is horse country and they have saddle shops on every downtown here. We went to the Missouri Dining room & Saloon and ate. It was our first meal since last night and we were hungry. Rick had a buffalo burger and I had the patty melt. We both got pie for dessert. Yummy, it was the best lemon meringue pie.
After walking around we went to Theodore Roosevelt park. This is the other badlands. Theodore Roosevelt had ranches around here.
This is very beautiful country. The badlands here have more trees and more water. They aren't as deep as the badlands in South Dakota but I actually liked them better.
Even the buffalo seem wilder here. They have wild horses and going around the corner we saw one lone horse walking right down the road. Of course I got a picture.
They had a peak that you could climb to get pictures. Very high and steep. My lungs are still messed up but I was not going to let that stop me. So up we climbed. It was really high. I told some German men that were up there that I was afraid of heights but I wanted the picture, so here I was. They laughed as the one taking pictures was the same way. We all agreed the view was worth it. Rick stood out on the point but I couldn't. It was really windy and I was worried he would blow away. He got pictures with the Soni, I with the canon. You can see the top where we climbed in the picture below.
Leaving the park we drove to Dickinson to get a room for the night. For reasons known only to Rick he had always wanted to go to Dickinson. So off we went leaving pretty little Medora behind with all their empty pretty little motel rooms to the great unknown. And wow, we got to Dickinson and were shocked. Tiny old style motel rooms that were rented by the week or closed completely. Closed stores block after block because it was Sunday. We usually don't eat alot when we travel but we were hungry and no open restaurants. How depressing. So we decided to drive back to Medora. It was a little before 6, we could make it by 7. So we turned down a different road and started back through the other side of town. And wow. Motels, open nice motels. Open restaurants. Yippy. So we stayed anyway. Still can't get my laptop to work. The room was great. Smelled great,looks great, clean but pricey. Our bikes and van were covered with thick red dirt.
We were covered in thick red dirt. To the showers and then off to eat. Dinner was at Sanfords Pub and Grill to eat cajen food in a place with a weird eclectic decor. Happy happy joy joy. Widmers on tap. Great food. Food we didn't have to cook. We had cooked all our meals at the cabin so this was a treat.
So here we are on Sunday. Not sure where we are going. It is suppose to snow in Yellowstone. So maybe it wouldn't be wise to go. It is raining outside right now. Time to think of our next step. After we slept. Which I did. I slept great. Rick slept terrible. I told him to take a sleeping pill.
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