Week 9 of our 48 state, 52 week adventure found us in the great state of North Dakota! This was a place that I had never really had any real desire to go and had only really heard of Fargo because of the movie. Which I never saw… What a surprise to find such amazing places like Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Medora and Lake Sakakwea! Here are the Top 5 Memories from North Dakota!
Memory #1 – Theodore Roosevelt National Park
I hadn’t really researched this park before we came, but looking at what North Dakota had to offer I knew it was a place we shouldn’t pass up. And we were very glad we didn’t. What a beautiful place tucked away in the middle of nowhere!
The views were pretty spectacular, but you had to look for them. Not in your face beauty like Bryce Canyon in Utah, or awe inspiring grandeur like in the Redwoods of California. No, a beauty that requires a closer look. And if you are willing to take the time, you will be in for a treat. Bison off in the distant plains. Wild horses along the side of the road. And the “Little Badlands” with it’s muted, but brilliant, colors. We really had a great time at this place and were so happy we took the time to visit!
Memory #2 – Medora
I had never heard of Medora, nor did I have any real intention to visit it other than to pass through as a way to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I had read reviews on the RV Parks etc an nothing clicked. We stayed in Dickinson as a result, which was a nice enough place. But we were there for a few days and so I decided to see what Medora might have to offer.
After reading up a little bit, I decided to check into the Medora Musical. Everyone who had been there said it was a must see, so we bit the bullet and bought some tickets. Online. For the wrong day…
Fortunately, the folks selling the tickets were very understanding and simply moved us to the right day – which came with the added bonus of making the kids tickets free! Can’t beat that.
The Medora Musical is held in an outdoor amphitheater – which we didn’t know… Turns out we picked a beautiful night. The set was beautiful. Kermit Apio was the main act – and he was hilarious! The musical itself was really well done. All in all, this was a winner! Bella really enjoyed it and Kari got into the old country songs. Scout had a blast and even got the chance to go down on stage with all the other kids there for a little line dancing with the cast! He even asked Kari if she thought he could dance on stage like that one day! Absolutely! We all had a really good time!
Memory #3 – Lake Sakakwea
This is one of the largest man made lakes in the United States. It was huge. And we only saw a small part of it. Not far from Dickinson, it is known for some great fishing. From a boat anyway. Which we didn’t have. So we were left to explore the shores…
Which turned out to be a bad idea. As I was exploring with Scout, I got a little taste of what wet bentonite clay is all about. Turns out it is a lot like quick sand. Before I knew it, I was knew deep in gooey muck. Flip-flop and all. It took a bit of time to get myself out of that mess! Live and learn I guess.
The lake itself was beautiful and a great stop for sure!
Memory #4 – Hazen Bay Campground
This was a state run campground and was a decent place to spend a few days. You can tell it was a place that the locals hang out and pretty much everyone there had a boat to enjoy the great fishing. There were a number of playgrounds for the kids and the facilities were decent enough.
This is to say nothing bad about the park or the management, but it happened. We went to bed around 10:30 or so to peace and quiet. Around 1 a.m., that was over. Apparently, the party showed up. And it carried on for what seems like hours. And hours. To make it worse, my allergies had kicked in for some reason making it even harder to sleep. We are big fans of quiet hours! It was only one night of chaos, and it made us so grateful for all the nights up until this one that we were able to get so much peace and quiet!
Memory #5 – Bismark
We literally drove around the area of the Capitol Building of North Dakota 3 times. Google Maps kept bringing us back to the same place, but we couldn’t find it. So we Googled images of the building and realized we had been there the whole time!
Apparently, the original building had burnt down back in the 30’s during the depression. With money being tight, they could not build an expensive monument to replace the original, so they ended up with a pretty plain looking spot to call their Capitol. Not that there is anything wrong with it – it just wasn’t what we had been used to seeing. Still, a fun place to visit with a beautiful park surrounding!
The Wrap
North Dakota was a pleasant surprise. To be honest, we had thought that being so far north, Montana and North Dakota would afford us some cooler weather. Boy were we wrong! But Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Medora and Lake Sakakwea more than made up for it. Another great state in the books – on to the next!