Across the Great Plains and Badlands to Canada
Long driving days across parched landscapes took a toll on me, but Paul found it mesmerizing and I took comfort in a lumbar support cushion purchased at a Walmart. We left the lush landscape of Minnesota, crossed North Dakota and headed into northeastern Montana, staying at two recreation-oriented campgrounds in ND. In one, we appreciated the posted rules, which included “no shooting toward parking lot or campsites.”
Along the way, we made several history-oriented stops. The first was at Fort Mandan, a replica of the home the Corps of Discovery over their first winter. The Lewis & Clark interpretive site nearby was very good, and even though Paul and I have both read and listened to Undaunted Courage, the stories of that expedition never cease to amaze us. Naturally, the site had good information about the critical help provided by the Hidatsa and Mandan (albeit in the form of trading). That site also has a large collection of George Catlin’s excellent paintings depicting Native American life.
The other big opportunity to geek out on history was at the brand-new Teddy Roosevelt Library. His life is famously eventful and colorful, so it was fun to review it, and we also appreciated that throngs of people were getting an education on the virtues of a “Square Deal” for workers, and of conservation of wildlife and natural resources. AI gimmickry was entertaining throughout. It included the opportunity to ask TR questions and hear fairly good answers delivered by his hologram, and to place our own images in historic settings. Even better than AI films: the real wildlife and crazy geology of the badlands (lots of deep fissures and towering pillars) in the TR National Park where bison and prairie dogs thrive in the area surrounding Teddy’s one-time ranch.
We also spent a happy hour driving along the “Enchanted Highway,” a series of huge outdoor sculptures made from scrap metal installed over a couple of decades. The designer’s effort to re-enliven his moribund hometown (Regent, ND) by making it the end point for tourist traffic apparently did not work, but we enjoyed the whimsical art in the desolate landscape.
Evidence of a long-term drought was everywhere – dusty fields and depleted rivers and lakes. The irony of reading signs in public restrooms asking users not to wash muddy boots in sinks and showers was not lost on us. Nor the toll on the population in Great Falls, MT, where the homelessness was dispiriting, as were the falls that Lewis and Clark had admired (as they spent a month portaging across them) – all dammed up and dominated by power plants and other industrial operations.
We also coped with two underserviced and rather disheveled campgrounds on Native American reservations, but the settings were lovely – Red Eagle near Glacier and Stony Park near Banff. On both occasions, we took advantage of the lack of supervision and chose different sites than the ones we had selected online – setting up by a babbling brook at the first and taking refuge in a glen to escape gale force winds at the other. Three dogs adopted us at Stony Park – “Scratchy” and his two uncollared friends – first at the windblown site overlooking the Bow River, later by escorting Duncan on a dawn run and back to our camp. We thought they would never scamper away but learned that coyotes could draw them off. Perhaps their lives are like those of the Bloods and Crips.
Yep, our good friend Duncan joined us for a week in the glorious Canadian Rockies and has accepted the invitation to author a guest blog (that post coming soon). I am not sure if we will enjoy reading observations about our crazy camping life! Worth noting, friends and family with the flexibility to join us on a week or two’s notice and bring along camping gear are welcome. Others domiciled in the West may receive our requests for berths on short notice as well. Just-in-time planning is the modus operandi.