Day 68 – Miles City, MT to Medora, ND

This was a classic out west day … hot, dry, windy and desolate.

The Route

Today’s trip was short and simple. We took I-94 east for 139 miles and stopped in Medora.

Last Night

The evening temperatures dropped nicely. We turned the fans off around midnight and had a good night’s sleep.

About the Day

We awoke to blue sky and temperatures in the low-70’s. It warmed quickly and became hot (91°), dry and windy most of the day. A severe thunderstorm arrived around 7:30pm. Heavy rain and wind lasted about half an hour. Showers and strong wind gusts lasted late into the night … both brought cooler temperatures.

Along the Way

Leaving Miles City …

First Presbyterian Church

I-94 …

Eastern Montana along I-94 is pretty desolate. Glendive is the only city of any size between Miles City and the North Dakota border. The scenery is rugged and the terrain seems to be shaped by children playing in the mud.

This is definitely Big Sky Country

Yellowstone River kept us company

Badlands are rising in the distance

We crossed the Yellowstone River near Fallon

Hello North Dakota

What a contrast with the badlands look.

Approaching Medora

Guess what’s coming?

We checked into the campground, set-up the trailer, and took a driving tour.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park scenes …

The park entrance is in Medora

The park road climbs quickly to overlook Medora

The only bison we saw

We passed six prairie dog towns on the drive and heard lots of barking.

Where are you Charlie?

I think I'll go home.

A prairie dog town

The park covers lots of different territory.

Wild horses

Skyline Vista

Medora …

We returned to the trailer to close windows and then went to the Medora Fudge and Ice Cream Depot for both.

The storm moves in.

The Campground

We’re staying at Red Trail Campground in Medora. It’s OK, but rough around the edges. We have an electric only site, backed up to a mobile home. The storm left a small lake around the trailer door. They brought a shipping pallet for us to stand on. Even though the mobile home is blocking some of the wind, we're still getting buffeted.

Tomorrow

We continue across North Dakota, past Bismarck to Jamestown.