North Dakota - #45

We did it!! We spent our summer vacation this year visiting the last 4 states in the Lower 48 on our list.  North Dakota... Minnesota... South Dakota... and Nebraska.  I admit I had a hard time getting excited about visiting these four states.  Matt had 11 days off in a row - which never happens.  I felt like I was wasting his time off driving all over these states.  But we decided to go for it and finish our goal.  And like most family vacations, we had a great time.

First up was North Dakota.  We left Great Falls on a Saturday morning and headed 6 hours down the road to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, ND.  AKA The North Dakota Badlands.  Huh?  Never heard of it!  But it's a national park so it must be worth the stop.  Right?

It was!  The park was beautiful.  Matt spotted a bison right after we entered the park and then we stopped to watch prairie dogs in a prairie dog town.

 

As we were watching the prairie dogs, a group of wild horses came up over the hill.

And then a coyote joined the party!

We saw so much wildlife during the first 30 minutes inside the park, we could have packed up and headed home and would've been satisfied!  We moved on down the road to see what else was waiting to be discovered.  We drove the scenic loop in the South Unit and made a few stops...

 to hike,

soak up the views,

and watch bison.

 

 

 After visiting the park, we drove another 2 hours down the road and spent the night in Bismarck.