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Days 25/26 - The long drive home - July 8/9, 2025

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 The drive home from North Dakota to Ohio was done in two days, with a brief overnight stop at a rest area in Wisconsin to sleep. Not ideal, as there is much land in between that we haven’t gotten to see yet, but it was necessary to get back home a little early. Since we were running ahead of schedule by a day or two, we were still able to check off all the places on our itinerary. The trip went smoothly and safely and aside from a few pictures, there isn’t much else to say or show. My oldest two kids are 18 and 17 and time with them may be growing shorter. We had debated whether or not to prioritize this trip that we’ve been talking about for years, because we knew it would be expensive, just for the gas alone for a camper and a van.  But if it wasn’t that, there would always be some other reason not to go. The best things in life don’t always make sense on paper, but are still often worth the jump. I had a whole month with all my kids with me, seeing the great wide expense o...
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Day 24 - Theodore Roosevelt National Park - July 7th, 2025

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After our steak dinner, we took a drive into Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  One of the things I love doing when we stop at visitors centers, is to see if there’s an auditorium or  viewing area, where they’ll often be showing a film about the park. It’s a quick way to learn about what the park has to offer and if there’s any specific parts of it we should make sure to see. The film shown at Roosevelt incorporated the story of the man himself, who started off an explorer/rancher and ended up President. His home property here was preserved nearby, but like other parks, the square mileage is so large, we wouldn’t have time to go visit that particular area. Instead, we opted for a slow ride down a 30 mile loop road that was closed at one end, requiring us to turn around and backtrack. This worked out nicely as we were able to get a second look at certain things. For instance, Caleb insisted he saw some turkeys, which I admit I felt skeptical about. I didn’t realize there were w...
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Day 23 - On to North Dakota - July 7th, 2005

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 After a second night at Lost Johnny Point Campground (I’d like to hear the story behind that name.) on the sprawling and huge Hungry Horse Lake, we headed northeast toward North Dakota.   By the way, I couldn’t get a great picture but this what a forest fire looks like about 10 years later. The sun hits the forest floor, no longer held back by a canopy of tree tops, and the seed bank that has been patiently waiting for this moment, jump at the chance to sprout. It’s similar to the effects of a clear-cut back east. You could spend a whole summer exploring this 34 mile  lake. I would need something better than my little 2.5 horsepower motor for that though. We went through a section of what appeared to be a cattle ranch that had dozens upon dozens of these little shacks, with solar panels on top. I have no idea what purpose they serve, but you can bet I wish I had as a hunting shack back home. Lots of old grain elevators across North Dakota. This one was actually in p...
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