Medora

Where are we? I look around and see rolling terrain, low dirt buttes, ranch land. Southern Utah? Nope, we've finally crossed the border into North Dakota. The churches look different, the liquor laws are definitely different from Utah but when I saw two young men in formal clothes, riding bikes I thought first oh there are the Elders. Nope, just two boys going to work at the same restaurant in uniform. John's sister Patty calls and wants to meet because she is in the area. Really! Then a Pelican flies over your head, you shake it, check your blood sugar and think where the hell am I really. Medora, ND! The confusion continues! General Custer is sitting outside his tent on the corner, there is a man walking down the street carrying a rifle (he's the the one we asked directions to the coffee shop) and the town is set up like a made for TV Western Disney movie with both a taffy store and a doll shop. Lucky me I've been dying for a good day at the mall. There are wooden planked sidewalks and another cowboy on the corner telling some stories about the good old days. You remember when the white man drove the Native Americans from their land etc...
Medora is so different from the towns we have past thru over the last few weeks. Those have been mostly older depressed smaller communities that have seen better days, when either logging or the railroads were king. Beautiful, sometimes stark landscapes, the kind of towns when Steve Earle comes up on your random shuffle as you ride you know exactly what he is singing about.
Medora is definitely a change of pace , the home of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, another grand chunk of land saved for our enjoyment. A little hokey but we all have to make a living, right? We got to see the cowboy hall of fame, where they were having a roadshow firearm evaluation going on. Hence the man with the shotgun wandering thru town.
We are dealing with some bike repairs and will be here for a few days waiting for parts. Hopefully we will see the park a little more and maybe ride some of the Maah Daah Hey trail on some mountain bikes. John guided some trips out here years ago with Western Spirit, then the weather was very hot and buggy. Thankfully now it's cool (OK I can see my breath in the tent) rainy and essential bug free (OK except for the ants and spiders).
Spending so much time on the bikes lets you think lots of deep thoughts and ask the big questions. Like if this is the 'bread basket' of America where is the good bread? Why is ground beef $ 7/pd when we just biked by the cattle and why are the tent sites in the RV/ campgrounds always set on the low ground. Signing out from our puddle in the Medora campground. Kate
'Believe you can and you're half way there'. TR