City Of Bison

Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley is Bison Central. It’s the perfect place for humans to safely observe these magnificent creatures (sort of) up close. We spent a long time parked by the side of the road with other tourists, taking pictures and looking through binoculars. I noticed that the males keep the females very close by, matching their wanderings step by step. When the males fight each other, it’s usually about a girl.

This was one of the best days on this trip because we also got to check out the big waterfalls on the Yellowstone River.

Yellowstone National Park

Believe it or not, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve visited Yellowstone. I think it’s my fifth, but it might be my sixth. I’m not sure. The first time was 20 years ago in the summer of 2005 on a road trip with  Dad and my brother Jackson. It was very memorable because we had a musical jam session with some other campers we met that lasted way past the quiet hour cutoff time.

Lots of fun.

Born To Be Wild

One of the most beautiful roads in America must be the Beartooth Highway (U.S. 212 between Red Lodge, Montana and Yellowstone National Park). It winds up into the mountains with lots of hairpin turns and crosses over a 10,000 ft. pass. We later hiked and camped at Island Lake (9,500 ft.). It was spectacular but really cold.

This road is very popular with motorcyclists during the summer. They like to ride in big groups. At the overlook stop I overheard some of them talking about coming from the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota. It sounds awesome. Dad has no idea how close I came to hopping on the back of a Harley-Davidson and leaving him to find his own way home.

North Dakota

North Dakota is a favorite state of mine, especially the prairies and badlands in the western part. One thing that I notice is that it’s very clean. There’s almost a complete absence of roadside trash and the farms and ranches are well kept up. It’s very pleasing to the eye when you’re traveling through. Only one complaint: our campsite on the Missouri River featured some very aggressive biting flies. They were very mean to me and Dad.

Holy Cow!

What’s that large object out on the open prairie? It’s “Salem Sue,” the world’s largest Holstein cow. She lives in New Salem, North Dakota on a hilltop overlooking the I-94 freeway.

Of course, we had to stop and check her out. She looks to be in good shape with a brand new paint job. I feel a little bad for her having to stand outdoors in the same place through all of North Dakota’s seasons.

Bird Woman

If you visit the grounds of the North Dakota State Capitol in Bismarck, you’ll find a statue of Sakakawea. As many folks know, she was a Shoshone woman who accompanied the Lewis and Clark expedition, serving as a guide, interpreter, and sometimes diplomat. All this while traveling thousands of miles with a newborn baby. Quite an accomplishment, although it should be remembered that she wasn’t given a choice in the matter.

Dad says that he once heard that she has the most statues of any American woman. It’s odd, because very little is known about her, other than what I already mentioned.

The Other Twin Cities

The cities of Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota are neighbors, separated by the Red River of the North. In the photo I’m standing on a bridge in a lovely park that connects the two towns.

The interesting thing is that this Red River flows north into Canada, meaning that it’s in a separate drainage system from that of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. We even saw a “Continental Divide” sign on the highway pointing this out.

I very much agree with the sentiment expressed by the graffiti on this bridge.