Debbie and Ed's Wild West Trip: Part 1

Ed and I have been home for two weeks or so from our epic western trip and before too much more time passes, I wanted to post some thoughts and photos from our adventure.  I can't believe I am 55 years old and had never explored the northwestern part of our county. I just didn't know what I was missing.

The basic plan for the trip was to drive out to Glacier National Park in Montana via North Dakota and return via South Dakota, swinging through Kansas. This plan would allow me my first car trip out west and allow Ed to color in three more states on his U.S. map, leaving only two unvisited states: Alaska and Connecticut.

Here's a couple of things you need to know about this trip. First, our approach to travel has changed in the past couple of years, mostly due to the fact that we don't have a carload of kids with us or jobs that require us to check in daily. We are more flexible with setting (or not setting) our itinerary and the pace that we set for ourselves along the way. For this trip, we had a general idea of how the days would lay out and the stops we would make -- but not every day was accounted for, and we had pre-determined lodging reservations for only about half the nights. 

The other thing that has changed (for the better) is our reliance on our little GPS system that clips to the front windshield. I consider myself a woman of many talents, but reading maps and providing accurate navigation is NOT one of them. So in olden times, Ed was at the mercy of me trying to figure which way was up on the map, squinting to see the fine print, and getting confused between left and right turns. Now, a very nice woman with a lovely australian accent gives Ed (mostly) accurate directions and when he choses to not follow them, she simply says: recalculating. 

Here's a day-by-day recounting of our trip -- probably more detail than you want to know, but I offer it up, mainly to help me remember the days and nights of our grand adventure.

Part I: Shelbyville, KY to Cut Bank, MT

Day 1: Shelbyville, Kentucky to Mauston, Wisconsin
Drive time 9 hours and 49 minutes. 537 miles.

We packed our Subaru with camping gear, hiking poles, homemade granola and trail mix, and a couple of books on CD and headed out the drive, stopping at the gate to reset the trip odometer and say a quick prayer for a safe journey. 

First stop: Chicago, Illinois, for lunch with our friends Jeananne and Katie Beth, both seniors at DePaul University. It was great to catch up with them and see them thriving in big-city life.

From there, it was on to Madison, Wisconsin, one of our all-time-favorite cities. Maggie graduated three years ago from the University of Wisconsin and we hadn't been back since. We strolled down State Street, stopping to buy some kettle corn and ogle over the cheeses in Fromagination. 

We then headed over to The Old Fashioned to meet up for dinner with three of our favorite people: Nate, Claire and Ed.

Our intention was to spend the night in Madison but alas, the Madison Ironman beat us to all the hotel rooms, so as the sun was setting on the capitol building dome, we made our way westward, another hour or so to Mauston, WI. 

Day 2: Mauston, Wisconsin to Glendalough State Park, Minnesota
Drive time 6 hours and 33 minutes. 379 miles.

Because it was a Saturday morning, we checked the i-pad to see if by any chance Mauston or another town on our route had a farmers' market and sure enough, Eau Claire did. And it was a nice one too, set up in a city park, right on the river's edge. We loaded up on hot coffee, fruit tarts and some corn-on-the-cob and Italian sausage for a campfire cookout. Too bad I didn't need any fresh flowers; they were beautiful.

Lunchtime found us in Minneapolis, home of the University of Minnesota Gophers and Marlo Thomas's That Girl. From there we pressed on toward Fargo, North Dakota. Using our trusty i-pad, we began our search for a place to stay that night and focused on a couple of state parks just south of Fargo. One phone call to a park ranger determined that there were some first-come, first-serve, cart-in camp sites still available at Glendalough State Park. We pulled into the campsite at dusk.

We had not camped in a couple of years and I was a little worried that we had lost our knack for it -- or our interest in sleeping on the ground. WRONG. It was a wonderful campsite and a great way to stop for the night. In a matter of minutes, Ed and I set up our two-person tent; I crawled in to blow up our super thick Therm-a-rest® and lay out our sleeping bags, while Ed got our campfire going. 

The next morning we got up early to birdwatch along the lakeshore and in the tall prairie grasses. Such a nice way to start our day.... 

Day 3 : Glendalough State Park, Minnosota to Medora, North Dakota
Drive time 4 hours and 22 minutes, 275 miles

I just remember fields and fields of tall prairie grasses and nothing much else. That's North Dakota – and we covered the whole state – east to west – and it all looked the same, until we got about 10 miles from our night's destination and saw a sign to a lookout point. We took the off ramp and found ourselves staring out at the North Dakota Badlands, an eerie scene if ever there was one. I half expected John Wayne and his posse to come riding over the desolate hills.

We spent the night at the historic Rough Rider Hotel in Medora, North Dakota. The town sits just outside the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and not much was going on. We walked around the town and found a bar serving cold draft beer, salad and buffalo burgers. It fit the bill.

The hotel is named to honor Roosevelt's Rough Riders and their service in the Spanish-American War.  It is currently owned by Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation and features many TR memorabilia, including books from his library.

Days 4: Mendora to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
Drive time: just an hour of so of driving around the park

We were up and out early the next morning, staying around just long enough for a big western breakfast in the hotel dining room. Then we headed up to the park to search for a campsite. We found a lovely one amid cottonwood trees on the banks of the Little Missouri River. 

As soon as we set up camp, we drove through the hills, stopping at a trailhead. We grabbed our hiking poles and set out along a dry and dusty trail that followed a dry and dusty sage-lined creek bed.

We spent the rest of the morning/early afternoon hiking trails on either side of the main park road.

Wild buffalo roamed the entire park -- we saw them along side the road, down by the river and right at our campground!

That night we cooked over the campfire and turned in early.

Day 5: Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota to Cut Bank, Montana

Drive time: 7 hours and 42 minutes. 496 miles. 

Tough driving day through a boring, boring landscape. We were saved by listening to a  Louis L'Amour book on CD. I can't remember the title, but like all his books, it was a western fiction story and kept our attention as the miles rolled by. We stopped in the small town of Cut Bank and checked into the Super 8 Motel. Here's a photo taken from the room's window. See, I told you it was boring landscape.

We left all that boringness behind as we headed toward Glacier National Park...

To be continued. Stay tuned.