Sunday, August 12, 2012

Hello from Glacier National Park!

We departed Custer just as planned on Wednesday right about 1pm and dodged Motorcycles all the way up to Spearfish. I mean Motorcycles everywhere. They were "Wall to Wall", solid lines of them and many passed me on curves with solid no passing lines and there was oncoming traffic!! What is it with these jerks??  They just go crazy. Don’t seem to have any sense at all. I sure didn’t need to get involved in an accident with one of them, that would really mess up our trip. I was a nervous wreck by the time I got through Deadwood and then when I headed North out of Spearfish, there was only a few on the road……Whew!!  I was glad to be out of that mess…..
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At 6pm we pulled into the Red Trail Campground in Medora, ND.  This is the South Headquarters for the Theodore  Roosevelt National Park and home of the Medora Musical show. 

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The campground was nothing to write home about, but it served the purpose and they saved us a tight little spot with electric only for a couple nights.

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We were up early the next morning and began our drive through trip of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The loop is about 30 miles.  This Park is about the same size as Custer State Park where we worked for 10 summers..  The first thing we encountered was a herd of Buffalo.

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They have a fairly large herd, I don’t know exactly how many they have but we are used to being around Buffalo, as we worked with them a lot at Custer State Park.

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There is mile after mile of Badlands such as this.  They are a little different from the South Dakota Badlands but it's all pretty barren land..

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There are lots of neat rock formations…..

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This picture is from just inside the park as you look back on the little town of Medora.  The first building in the trees is the Park Welcome Center. I really enjoyed that, as they have a museum with lots of history on President Roosevelt.   I had no idea that he came out here from New York and fell in love with this rugged country and built himself a large ranch. Then he went back to New York and became president.  He kept the ranch and hired people to run it for him in his absence.

Now I’m not much of a history buff so I didn’t know a lot of this stuff. I’m sure many of you can enlighten me even more about this country and "Teddy", especially our friend “The Happy Hatter” from North Ranch in AZ. Bev was part-owner of the Little Missouri Saloon and Dining Room in Medora for 17 years. We found the Little Missouri Saloon but it was a little too early for Happy Hour. 

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Another huge attraction in the town of Medora is the Medora Musical. We had heard a lot about it and were told by lots of people not to miss it. I didn’t study a lot of the history of it but it is put on by many, very talented university students from all over the country.   It didn’t start until 8:30 pm so I told Ms. Pat it was out for me, since that is mighty close to my bed time….  

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This is a picture of the Burning HIlls Amphitheater where the musical is held. It is at the outskirts of Medora and is in a large canyon. It seats around 2800 people and is huge.  Ms. Pat "suggested" that I go.  She said we should go home and sleep for a couple hours, so we could stay awake for it.    Well, she slept for a couple hours and I didn’t.. I’m not a nap person, never was and probably never will be. I feel it is a nasty habit that is easy to fall I into and hard to break.  It's not for me. 

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I knew there was no way I was going to get out of this peacefully, so graciously agreed to go. I also knew if I didn’t go, Geri and Larry would both kill me..Smile   So here is a picture of us in our seats at 8:00 pm as the place started filling up. I wasn’t sure I could do this but I was gonna give it my best….. I was sure the Musical part would put me to sleep.

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WOW, soon the place was filled up and the SHOW began….

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This is the stage. The place is so steep that there isn’t a bad seat in the house, but we had super close seats just a few rows back..

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Soon the houses all move back and it opens up to the wide open prairie and the horses come in bringing the colors. Wow, spectacular!!....as we all sang the National Anthem.

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This was the band, the Coal Diggers, that played some beautiful old cowboy songs....that's my kind of music.  The speakers and the sound system were awesome, as was the lighting!!

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Wow, this little gal could really play that fiddle… 

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This is part of the group cutting up and joking around as the musical began..

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Here is the group, the Burning Hills Singers, during one of their acts. They danced and jigged, clogged and changed outfits about a dozen times… I’m telling you it was an action packed show!  As I said before, these youngsters are "super talented"!  We were also treated to a special featured comedy act by "Etta May"

The time went by so fast and I enjoyed it all so much that I forgot to be sleepy!!   We didn’t get home until after 11:00 pm.  I hadn’t been up that late for ages but let me tell you, I’m sure glad I went as I wouldn’t have missed it for anything!! I would highly recommend it if you're ever in the area!!

I did sleep well when I got home after the show though!! Because we had a long day ahead of us as we were moving on towards Glacier National Park.  I couldn’t believe it but after about 10 years of wanting to make this trip, we were finally on our way….. Praise the Lord!!

This morning we woke up at the Crooked Tree RV Park in Hungry Horse MT. We are just outside of the West Entrance to Glacier.  Ms. Pat is raring to go, so I gotta cut this off and get on "The Road to the Sun". Oh Boy, it is going to be a GREAT DAY!!!

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and come on back Wednesday, we might just still be in this beautiful area..

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

14 comments:

Kevin and Tracy (a.k.a. kcgaz) said...

Keep having a great time. I was in Glacier Park when I was 15 years old with my parents and loved it. Safe travels!

All Because Two People Fell In Love said...

I know how you can be when you want your way so I was glad that you didn't let mom down. That show looked beautiful and I'm sure they were fantastic. Keep having fun and don't hurry your trip. Just let mom have all the fun she can handle. You do not have anywhere to go until October so relax and have a lot of fun!!!!! We love and miss y'all, your kids

Sue and Doug said...

enjoy the road to the sun!!!..can't wait to see you pictures on Wednesday!!

LakeConroePenny,TX said...

Thanks for sharing, Mike. That place is awesome. Lovely pictures.
Happy Trails, Penny, TX

Sherry and Charley Dilworth said...

Have a great time at Glacier and take in all the beauty!! And be careful on that Going to the Sun road!! Don't fall off!! :)

Paul and Marsha Weaver OCT. 17, 2009 said...

We have heard about that musical also. So glad you went and had a wonderful time. Sometimes you don't know what you would have missed if you didn't go.

Looking forward to hearing about Glacier NP. Enjoy your visit.

Janna and Mike said...

Rollie is right, enjoy this trip--we will welcome you anytime you arrive! You would have been in trouble with me (Janna) too if you hadn't gone to the play--my Mom and Dad went and raved about it. Mom and her husband Chuck were going to work in Medora last year but were flooded out.

Happy Hatter said...

The Happy Hatter would feel privileged to "spin some yarn" with you about Medora; Teddy; and the Marquis. I'll bring the SD wine :) from Prairie Berry!Did you see the brick chimney--the remain of a meat packing plant destroyed by fire? How about the Chateau on your way to the amphitheater? I was there when Harold Schafer bought 75% of Medora and began the transformation of what it is today. Great photos and Pat--you always seem to do the right thing! Glad you enjoyed the musical!

Sharon Del Rosario said...

I think you've given us yet another destination for our bucket list. You'd think we'd run out of places after all these years full-time RVing, but the list just keeps getting longer! Thanks for sharing your great evening. Have more wonderful adventures and we'll look forward to reading about them.

JB said...

You are in for a treat, the Logan Pass is one of my all time favourite mountain roads.

Al Bossence said...

I'm like you Mike, I kinda gripe & complain about having to go some places but usually once I get there I am fine....sorta. Except for the masses of people, I do like musical concerts indoor or outdoor & for sure would have really liked that one you were at. Usually anything to do with music & I am ready to go & I am always amazed at the talent these young people pull together. True muscians & real music.....

Kathy said...

Sounds like you ran into all the motorcycles heading to Sturgis, SD, for the huge motorcycle rally there every year. Last year we had the saem problem when driving through S.D. Someone told us they draw over 250,000 motorcycles every year and I believe it!

Suzanne and Brad said...

Glacier is one of our favorite National Parks ~ enjoy!!! :-)

athena said...

Incredible lighting can set the mood and add boon to any vicinity and performance. It's a good thing you didn't sleep during the musical or you would have missed such great show.