Ficks Travels

or "A Princess Goes Camping"

Teddy Roosevelt camped here or 100 miles of perfect asphalt

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Drove a perfect road today. Fresh two-lane asphalt for 96 miles; ND-16 north from I-94. Smooth long straightaways to let the truck run, leading into gradual sweeping S-turns that were there for no apparent reason except maybe to see if you were paying attention. Vistas to die for if you are into vast grazing land and low rolling hills.   Prime Country on the satellite radio; the 5.7L burning through premium gas like it was 1968.  Another S-turn, over a hill into another twenty-mile view. Does not get much better. Made us smile.

North Dakota Route 16, 96 miles of perfect tarmac

We left the music festival with no serious plans.  No booked campsites. No particular place to be.  Our only thought was to try to put distance between the rig, the heavy forest fire smoke, and the heat that plagued us for over a week. We dropped down from White Sulphur Springs, MT to a KOA in Billings to take care of domestic chores and to meet up with a friend. The dinner and conversation were good but the 107-degree temperature was a little tough to deal with.  We only stayed one night and decided to head east on I-94 up to Glendive, MT.  We parked a few days at Blue Sky RV Park about 2 miles outside of Makoshika State Park.  This non-decision decision to come here didn’t work out all that well.  Let’s be honest here.  I am a big baby when the thermometer tops 100.  I tried to act like I was enjoying myself, coming here was my idea after all, but it was hard. I have wanted to see this park for several years but just could not get into it with the gray/yellow sky and blistering heat.  I would recommend coming to see the unusual rock formations in late spring or early fall. Not in August.

Painted Canyon overlook

I was ready to drive back to Illinois, to reliable AC and an office (read “man cave”) in which I could hide from the heat.  The Princess, trying to save the rest of the summer road trip, got on the internet looking for a location with lower temperatures.  A day later and 55 miles east, we ended up in the Buffalo Gap Grassland where the temperature dropped significantly. I was saved.

 We found a well-maintained Forest Service campground with large electric sites just off I-94 a few miles from Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP).  A little too close to the interstate but the road noise did not bother us much.    We parked the rig here for the next four nights to give us time to explore the Park.  The smoke was still with us but not as bad as it was in Montana.

Wild horse herd in TRNP

One morning the Princess and I had our morning coffee well before sunrise to see if we could beat the other visitors to an overlook of the Little Missouri River to watch the sunrise.  The quiet and calm of the early morning was only interrupted by the sounds of the birds catching insects along the river below.  Further away there was a small herd of bison grazing along the river. We could plainly hear their hooves crunching on the river stone.  It is easy to see what drew Teddy Roosevelt to this area so many years ago. This is a beautiful place.

Wind Canyon trail overlook, Little Missouri River.

Later that morning I found that aforementioned perfect road traveling the South Unit of TRNP to the North Unit. There was a shorter, faster route than what I took but a Ranger explained the long way around was not used by the traffic from the oil fields and which made for a more pleasant journey.  She was correct.

Sunset through a smokey sky on the Little Missouri River flowing through the TRNP.

It was a little sad leaving the Park behind but it was time to move further east. We read about an interesting bike trail in Iowa that sounded like a good next stop. 

Dennis

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