The Trip Home

 It took a day longer than we had planned.

We took more backroads 

and went through more beautiful countryside.

We made a stop in Minot to see 

the Gol Stave Church

and the parking lot where Paul stayed for 3 weeks

while working after the big flood.

The church is similar to the Chapel in the Hills in Rapid City.

Then just for fun we decided to go to the International Peace Gardens.

The entrance was  feet from the Canadian border.

There was a big sign at the entrance to the gardens 

telling Canadians to turn around NOW

or they would have to quarantine for 10 days when they went back to Canada.

I had to prove to the chilluns 

 that we were in Canada.

It was a gorgeous day for a walk through the gardens.

The 9-11 Memorial has actual beams from the Towers.

That part of the walk was very somber.

The rest of it was a nice walk 

with few people and lots of flowers.

It's very near the end of the season

but still gorgeous.

We had to go through Customs on our way back out.

Soon we were on the backroads again.

After figuring out that we were going to get home about 3:00 a.m.

we decided to spend the night in Grand Forks.

Monday we drove all backroads again

and went to Faith Haven Bible Camp

to see where Paul spent much of his childhood.

We made it back home to our amazing children

at bedtime Monday night.

The Medora Musical

 I'm still working on our North Dakota trip!

We had tickets for the Saturday night 8:30 showing of the Medora Musical.

I loved how they pulled the drummer out on stage.

From the first note to the last note

it was an amazing show.

The fast paced singing and dancing

kept our blood pumping

even wwhen it got way past our bedtime!

The choreography and effects would be hard to top.

My favorite part may have been 

the spot light shining on the girl in a red, white, and blue dress, 

racing up the hill on horseback 

in the dark 

carrying an American flag 

to go stand by the Medora sign.

It was 20* cooler 

than when we were there Friday night 

for the Pitch Fork Dinner. 

We were wrapped up in blankets 

like half of the audience was 

and we enjoyed every second of it!

Might have to plan a return trip!

The North Unit

Saturday morning we headed out again.

There was a dirt road calling our name.

We also stopped and walked through a cemetery 

out in the middle of a pasture.

It was all fenced in,

smallish,

and fairly new.

I had to play with a picture of a fencepost 

that I took by the cemetery too.

Friday was the North Unit of Teddy Roosevelt National Park

Saturday we did the North Unit.

It was another cloudy, smoky day.

and a lot cooler

but there were still super views.

We only saw one buffalo.

The South Unit was much better animal-wise,

but both were beautiful.

We planned on going into Medora a little early Saturday night 

so we could check out some shops 

before the musical began at 8:30.  

Turns out they roll up the sidewalks at 7:00 

so we didn't get to go in any stores.  

I took a picture of a flower filled wagon instead.  😁

Next stop...

The Medora Musical.

The Pitchfork Steak Fry

We drove up to the steak fry early just to check it out.

It was 90* and breezy

so we decided to sit and read and relax 

for an hour and a half 

until it was time to eat.

The kite festival was going on just across the parking lot.

Those were some serious kite fliers!

The place was empty when we arrived.

We were told that they could seat 800-1000 people.

They must have come pretty close that night.

The pitch forks were loaded 
and waiting to be put in the vats of boiling oil.

The chilluns bought this dinner for us!
Thank you!!

A delicious meal,

some live music,

a ton of people watching,

AND Paul ran into Ivan who buys eggs from us!!

All in all,

it was a great way to end a wonderful day!

Teddy Roosevelt National Park

Friday was Teddy Roosevelt National Park.

It was a cloudy smokey day

so the yellow coloring is the coloring we saw.

Still beautiful!

We saw several herds of buffalo.

There were even some idiot sightings!

The horses were elusive!

At least they were supposed to be.

But we found two herds and a loner.

So totally different from the SD Badlands.

Paul took a call after our picnic lunch. 

Just a super close picture of the original park entrance welcome center 

because I think it's a cool picture.

It was a tiny little thing.

We spent much longer in the park than the average visit.

We even found another retired Minnesota electrical lineman to talk to!

After the park we headed back to Medora

for the Pitchfork Steak Fry.

Stay tuned.