Hi Gram,
I woke up this morning feeling so very refreshed! The bed was so comfortable last night and I probably got some of the best sleep I’ve gotten in a while. I did my stretches and brain exercises, packed my bags, and checked out of the hotel.

I had a dilemma – I was hungry for breakfast, but also wanted to get to the park before too long. My solution was to stop at a grocery store for a quick yogurt and banana. I looked on the map and found Albertsons, a national chain, and Reynolds, a local chain. My default is always local or interesting, so I chose Reynolds and was glad for it. I wanted some grapes for the road, but didn’t feel like I needed a whole bag so I looked at the pre-packaged section. My frugal ways had me doing math and saw that a small packaged cup of mixed green and red grapes was more expensive than a whole bag of red grapes, so of course I chose the cheaper option. Besides, I like red grapes more than green ones anyway. I got to the car and enjoyed my breakfast while I separated the grapes into some plastic lunch meat containers that I’ve saved during this trip to make it easier to eat the grapes while driving. I had a lot more grapes than I’d eat in one day, so I packed a few of them carefully into the cooler and kept one container in the seat next to me, then I headed East, next stop Theodore Roosevelt National Park!

I got to the North entrance of the park and pulled over to the visitor center to get some information and maps and to fill my water bottle. I walked over to snap a photo of the park sign and thousands of grasshoppers or crickets sprung up and bounced around me. It was so cool seeing them bounce around like there was a tiny fiesta celebration going on and I was a friendly giant. I got my obligatory picture of the sign, then headed further into the park.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park – or Teddy Park as I’ve come to call it so I can move along to the other words in the sentence – is actually split into two portions that people can visit, then a wide swath of rugged nature between the two. I was in the north section, which I learned is my favorite of the two. Teddy Roosevelt spent some time ranching in the area before he became president and did a lot to create the national parks system once he was in office. There are long hikes that you can take and even do some camping in the back country, but I didn’t bring gear for that, so I stayed close to the road that winds through the park. I drove slowly along, my jaw on the proverbial floor, looking our across vast distances at the buttes and land features carved by the Little Missouri river.

My first stop along my drive was to see the cannonball concretions. To quote the sign:

The large, round rocks littering the ground and protruding from the butte are bizarre. They don’t seem to fit with the rest of the landscape.
Where did they come from?
These “cannonballs” were not carried here by lowing water or glaciers. Instead, they formed within the sediment layers of the badlands. Now, erosion is slowly exposing these buried treasures. Notice how some cannonballs have completely eroded out of the butte while others are just being exposed. Even more lie deep Within the rock layers, yet to be revealed!

Mineral-rich water deposits minerals as it seeps through porous sediment layers. The minerals act like glue, binding the sediments together and forming concretions. Concretions form in many different shapes and sizes. Those that are spherical are called “cannonballs.” For now scientists can only guess why some concretions take
such spherical shapes.

-Sign in Theodore Roosevelt National Park

I’m saddened seeing so many fathers leading their kids off the trail to climb rocks or cliff faces so they can get a photo or a view. The memories will last them an afternoon or maybe the season, but the damage they do will outlive them (and probably humanity).

I drove on, gawking at the intricate designs water and time have carved into the land over thousands of years. My next stop was at a lookout with a breath taking view from an overlook shelter built in 1937 and some history of the CCC helped to form the park. I decided it was a little hot, the sun too high, to hike today.

I’ll come back tomorrow for a few good hikes and spend today just scoping out the park and getting some ideas for where to hike. Just like the other parks, it was hard not to stop and get some pictures and drool over the mind shattering beauty of it all. I’m really looking forward to coming back tomorrow and hiking in a little away from the road.

I got to the end of the loop and was excited to see a few buffalo.

Then I saw a few more. Then as I reached the parking area, I discovered that there was a whole herd of them, standing around watching the tourists. They were so close, I heard them breathing – a grunt, growl, low guttural sound that I’d never heard before.

Now, a little side note – there are signs all over the park warning that wildlife are best viewed from a distance, basically explaining that they’re assholes who don’t know what humans, petting, or instagram are. I’ve seen articles and videos of people getting too close to the buffalo, only to get struck, trampled, or gored. Before today, I thought “how dumb could you be? Keep your distance from big animals!” But that was before I was there. I get it now, I understand why people want to get that close. Just to be clear, I kept my distance and took pictures from afar. I even walked around the long way along a gravel path to get to the observation point because the buffalo were, like, a hundred feet away from the sidewalk leading up to it – but I understand the allure of getting a little closer and a little closer, or thinking you can just walk up to one. They look so chill and docile, like a stoner after a Grateful Dead show.

In the name of resisting temptation, I headed back to the car and looked up a hotel for the night. I was a little surprised that the nearest town was almost an hour away, until I realized that I was forty minutes into the park. Once I reached the entrance, I was a mere 20 minutes from a hotel with a comfortable bed. I chose the Roosevelt Inn and Suites, complete with Teddy-themed artwork and memorabilia including a 20 foot high bust of the former president.

I headed to dinner (which was disappointing), then had a video chat with my friend Amy so we could document the e-Visa application process for friends heading to Bali next month. With that completed, I called and had a fun, earnest talk with my dad before heading out for my daily walk. I’m headed to bed now so I can get up early and hike some of the park before it gets too hot.