7/31/21 - Today we explored an 1820's trading post in the corner of North Dakota & Montana. Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site is a partial reconstruction of the most important fur trading post on the upper Missouri, 1829-1867. The fort site is about two miles from the confluence of the Missouri River and its tributary, the Yellowstone River. We figure that Wendy's Great-Great Grandfather,who was a Canadian fur trader, would have traveled to this fort  in the early 1800's. The fort is only 70 miles from the Canadian border and nearly directly below the area where he lived. It was pretty cool to visit and speak with the period tradesmen at the fort who were very knowledgeable.

Traders room at the fort.

Lots of fracking activity in the area we visited today. Many oil rigs, storage tanks and trains hauling material used in fracking.

Still goofing around with the pano feature on the Iphone.

 7/30/21 - Made it to North Dakota and our former neighbors Jon & Beth Luikart joined us at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. 

 Roosevelt in the early 1900's came here to hunt and ended up building a hunting cabin and eventually a ranch. To say the least, this is a very unusual landscape with eroding bluffs and buttes. We enjoyed a great day of touring NP. Lots of Bison, prairie dogs and whitetail and mule deer and we even ran across a rattlesnake.

Along on the trail I met my twin. Interesting guy and pretty funny!

In the the evening we went to Medora Pitchfork Steak Fondue and afterwards the Medora Musical. The pitchfork dinner was pretty good and it is cooked like it sounds. Lots of fun.

Medora Musical was very good and even included a juggling act with fireworks at the end.

 7/28/21 - Well the temp is lower today by 16 degrees, hit 97 and feels like a Spring day. Not really, but I'll take it. We headed out of South Dakota into Wyoming.

Just a couple hour drive so along the way we stopped at Sturgis, SD just before the border. Biker week is next week so lots of activity with vendors setting up. Harley Davidson who is sponsoring the week was busy with multiple tractor trailers to set up.

Wendy really wanted a Harley but had to settle for this.

Go figure just as we were about to leave a huge crowd showed up. So much fun!

Our real goal was to get to Devils Tower in Wy. We are camping at a KOA literally right outside the park entrance and have a view of Devils Tower from our camper. Noteworthy-this is the very first National Monument in the US, designated by President Roosevelt in 1906. The Tower rises 867 feet from its base and is some 312 feet taller than the Washington Monument in DC. And of course Close Encounters of the Third Kind was filmed here.

Pic of some of the debris from rocks that broke off. Luckily nothing plumented while we were there.

Prairie Dog town just inside the NP

Capped off the evening with a hay ride on a small portion of the 10,000 acre Camp Stool Ranch. Lots of whitetail deer (2 bucks) and a couple turkeys and horses were in view. Everynight the campground shows the movie Close Encounters of the Thrid Kind. Fun day!

 7/27/21 - Well the story here still is the heat! Today it hit 113 degrees in the afternoon. It's hot, but with the lower humidity than in Maryland, somehow it is not totally unbearable. While I handled getting the oil in the truck changed, Wendy took care of housekeeping duties of laundry and found that the clothes dried faster on the picnic table than in the dryer. Go figure.

We now are in Rapid City, SD. Busy city to say the least and for the the midwest it's pretty big. Along our drive from Nebraska were buttes and rolling hills in the prairie. Our route skirted the Black Hills (small mountains) just about the entire way.

We quickly dropped the camper at the campground and headed out to explore Spearfish Canyon, about an hour outside of Rapid City. The canyon is narrow, with multiple waterfalls and 800 foot steep canyon walls. The 13 mile long road into the canyon is a repurposed train bed following a stream flowing through the canyon. Beautiful drive and short hikes.

7/26/21 - Today we visited two must sees if you are in the area of north west corner Nebraska. First up was Agate Fossil Beds. Note Wendy drove the truck (no camper) for the first time in 4,000 +/- miles! Woohoo!

Agate Fossil Beds NP near Harrison, NE was quite interesting. The property was originally owned by James Cook a cattleman who owned thousands of acres.On horseback, one day in the 1800's,Cook noticed what looked like a skull poking out from a cliff. Instead of digging it out himself he invited a paleontologist from Nebraska Unv. to investigate. Eventually unearthed was a 23 million old skeleton of a giant Dinohyus below. Since the initial find many more have been found.

                                                                Ancient Camel.

Next up was Scotts Bluff NP, Wy which rises 800 feet from the prairie. What is really cool the NP Service dug two tunnels in the bluff so you can drive up. Thank goodness because it was 102 degrees! (dry heat)

                                                            Views from the top.

And of course Wendy planned a full day! Last up was Ft. Laramie, Wy which could be better described as a frontier outpost. The Fort kept the peace (sort of) between the settlers and the Native Americans. Two treaties were signed at the fort-one in 1851 and then in 1868. Needless to say the settlers/US Gov't never fully honored the Treaties. Gold back in the 1860's drove many to the area and beyond to Pacific coast.

                                                        Restored infantry quarters.

                                Sights on the two hour drive back to our campsite in Nebraska. 

                                                        (Annabelle this pic is for you.)

                   Pic of high level smoke from the fires on the west coast trapped up against the mountains.       Pretty thick.