Jul 24 – Aug 2, 2021

"And I guess that was your accomplice in the woodchipper?" We got to Fargo today. Interesting place. The theater looked cool!

A quick stop at National Buffalo Museum on the way to Bismarck today. Got my learn on.

Avery got a can of canned buffalo. He wanted us to video what is inside.

Started this morning at Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park. Lots of sub-categories at this place. More to follow.

George Custer House was our third stop today. Also on site was the barracks for his men. This was the second build of the house since his first one burned to the ground.

One of a couple Indian villages we visited today. Learned a few new things today.

Another Indian village for our fourth stop yesterday. This one has a cellar. Avery got his second ranger badge and certificate.

The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center was the last stop yesterday. Coolest thing here was the Lewis Air Rifle. Watch the video on that. Very interesting.

I think this was our only stop today as we're doing some driving to get to our next location. The North Dakota Heritage Museum. Lots to see here for all kinds of interests. This is part one as there were a lot of pictures to take.

Part two of the North Dakota Heritage Museum.

Camp Hancock State Historic Site. Both buildings we're closed but the train and buildings looked neat.

Okay maybe we're visiting more than one place today lol. I never know what my vacation planner has planned but we always get to see good stuff. This is the former governor's mansion.

Can't get enough Indian villages. This one wasn't too bad. You could see all the mounds where the Earth lodges were. The view of the river was great up here.

The view from the house we're renting in Williston ND is crazy good. Wow! Can't wait to bust the telescope out if the haziness from the fires on the west coast will ease up a little.

Went all the way to Montana just to have some ice cream at DJ's

We started the morning off today with the Missouri Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center. The water is so shallow here. There were a lot of general subjects at this location.

Fort Buford was our second stop today. Actually sort of part of our first stop today. Part two being posted in a second.

Part two of Fort Buford today.

Our other stop today was at Fort Union. This one looks much more like what you would expect a fort to look like. The other really interesting part about this place is that it is so close to the border of Montana that the driveway is in Montana but the actual fort is in North Dakota. So now Avery has been to Montana w00t!

Spectacular day exploring the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Lots of critters and great scenery. Hiked a few miles to see a prairie dog town. Avery took it like a champ. He was pretty tired by the time we got done. On the way out we had a pretty significant traffic jam of buffalo's crossing the road. Super neat trip. Tomorrow will be the southern unit of the park.

Measure twice cut once

Avery with Teddy in Medora

The playground in Medora was enough to spark the imagination. Better than the old steel equipment we had as kids.

We left Williston North Dakota to head for the south unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Tonight we're staying in Medora, ND. I think I like the North Unit a little better. Julie almost stepped on a rattlesnake at one of the prairie dog towns (see pics).

Golf before pizza. Couldn't convince Avery to do the gondola yet. Well keep working on him lol.

Chateau De Mores. This guy pretty much started the town of Medora. Started a beef business which did pretty good until people started liking the curb feed cattle of the Midwest a little better than range fed. This is part 1. Part 2 to follow.

Part 2 of our visit to Chateau De Mores.

This was the De Mores Packing Plant. This was central to the beef industry here.

Medora Musical tonight. Gotta love the backdrop behind all of this. What a fantastic venue! Avery is having fun.

A quick hike in the morning in Sully Creek State Park to get the juices flowing.

Billings County Courthouse Museum was like 600 ft from our rental. Had to go. It makes you feel really old when you see uniforms of the type you wore in a museum. LOL

This guy was involved with a lot of development here in town and was well known for a couple of brands he started. Some of them might look familiar.

I present to you... The Von Hoffman House. This was about a block and a half away from our rental. Couldn't pass it up.

Fossils are always good and Avery is a dinosaur enthusiast. That said, I had to hold my tongue a little in this place. It's run by some 'young Earth' type folks so expect to see dinosaurs in Noah's Ark and a few other things explaining that carbon dating is unreliable, etc. Still a neat place.

We'll call this one s bonus stop. It was right next to the dinosaur museum and had a sign starting free admission so why not get some free learning eh? Had a little of everything from dinosaurs, fashion, law enforcement and farm equipment. Lots of stuff.

Pitchfork steak fondue for dinner. The steak was good. They cook them all to medium. The view of town from there was phenomenal.

This dinosaur museum had different information than the other one previous in the week. Good stuff. Avery was in heaven. He's really into the rocks as well as the dinosaurs. This is part 1.

Part 2 of Dickenson Dinosaur Museum.

The Enchanted Highway was without a doubt the biggest surprise excursion this trip. I'm glad we didn't ignore the signs. Each one was fantastic. Avery thought he was going to be bored but ended up having a blast. Then... We stopped at the end and it was an animatronic one you get to control! So then we go in the store to get ice cream and the guy who made them all was serving the ice cream! Whaaaat? Yeah! So he tells us he has another one 2/3 done so we get to go get a preview. It's a knight and dragon he's working on. And he has a spider planned too. So much to take in. Fantastic!

Salem Sue was right by the highway so why not...

Don't even think about it Michael