We got lucky! The weather cleared up and we had a perfect afternoon and evening for the Pitchfork Fondue and the Medora Musical. The food at the Pitchfork Fondue was pretty good. And yes, they do deep-fry the steaks on a large pitch fork. Dinner included a buffet of baked potatoes, baked beans, coleslaw, garlic bread, salad items, a brownie, and lemonade. The Medora Musical was next door and lasted for a few hours. It was entertaining, although a little on the amateur side. We think it was by coincidence, but a couple bull Elks wandered by on the hill behind the outdoor theater. A few minutes later, a Bald Eagle flew overhead during a dance production. These natural events just kind of blended in with the show.
After spending a week in the southern unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, we had planned on another week in the northern unit. This National Park is separated into a few different parts. However, we knew a week would be too long for the northern unit. We stopped for a couple nights in the small Grassy Butte's community park. More like a dozen homes with a post office than a city (not even a town). But the park was nice and included electricity. From there, we toured the northern unit of Roosevelt NP. It was scenic, and this section actually had some Bison roaming around.
While at Grassy Butte, we made a change in plans and decided to head east to Lake Sakakawea. We found a Corps of Engineers (COE) park downstream of the lake along the Missouri River that included electricity. It has been getting hotter during the days and we were ready for some air conditioning. The community park in Grassy Butte only had 20amp electric, which won't run an A/C unit. After driving the 200 miles to Lake Sakakawea, we got a real pretty RV site at Downstream COE Campground. This site has 50amp electric, so we're enjoying the cold air from our three air conditioners. We decided to stay here for a week and see the sites in the area. Originally, we were going to stay at Minot AFB FamCamp. Instead, we made a day trip to visit the Air Force Base, it's an hour's drive north. We had our mail forwarded from Texas to the town of Minot. When we were in Minot last Friday, our mail hadn't yet arrived. So we'll try again tomorrow, hoping our mail showed up. While visiting Minot, we toured around the Scandinavian Heritage Park with replicas from each of the five Scandinavian and Nordic countries.
Although we didn't plan it, it seems we've sort of been following the Lewis and Clark Trail. It all started when we were in Washington state, near Fort Clatsop. We caught up with the trail again in Great Falls, MT and visited the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. Since then we've been following much of the trail route east. A couple days ago, we visited the Fort Mandan Historical Site. This is where Lewis and Clark spent their first winter (1804-1805). This is also where the legendary woman Sacagawea joined the expedition with her husband. Also near Fort Mandan, we toured the Knife River Indian Villages.
A few days ago, we looked at our travel plans for this winter. Originally, we were going to spend the winter in the southeast USA. However, we had difficulty getting any reservations for December and January. With all of the "snowbirds" heading to Florida for the winter, we knew reservations are almost needed. In addition, we will be returning temporarily to California in November for Connie's parents 50th anniversary (we were going to fly out). New plan - in mid-October, we'll just drive back to California and then take our time heading east again. We do have firm plans to be in Florida mid-February for Disney World with our grand-daughters.
Just this morning, we changed our immediate travel plans again. We arranged our immediate itinerary to include more sights in Iowa. This is one reason I don't like making reservations, at least not far in advance. We like having the option of changing our destinations and travel dates.
Our next stop will be a few nights in Grand Fork, ND.