First of all, thank you Hilary for the comments! Imagining being duped by a fake moose yard ornament made me laugh - did you take a photo of it??? Certainly photo-worthy? As for the guilt about not reading the blog - keep on reading! :-)
Today has been a delight. Sunny and warm all day - had the A/C on in the car. Started out on the scenic drive in Teddy Roosevelt Natl Park about 09 -(we rarely get an early start). The breakfast at the inn was stellar including the waffle mix that comes out of a dispensing machine into a small cup and then you make your own waffle. The process makes me nervous so I never do it. Dennis seems to enjoy them, though. Protein was provided in the form of hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, milk, etc. Those who travel will know that many "continental breakfasts" are a sugar hit so a real breakfast is a treat. Fortified we were off on the drive and at mile 19 of the 36 mile scenic loop we were stopped by bison in the road. About 60 were gathered for a mid-morning siesta and cud-chewing. Many were snuggled down in the shade looking like bison boulders, a few settled in the road and others stood around chewing without having eaten anything. A "couple" were on the side of the road, he investigating his opportunities and she blissfully ignoring it all. Another male came around and the first guy huffed and waved his giant head - young guy left but kept an eye on the lack of action. Ever hopeful, I guess. We were sort of stuck as they were blocking the road and frankly the possibility of mating happening right there was too good an opportunity to pass up. Nature in action! Well, not so much, as nothing happened for half an hour and the other bison moved off the road with a bit of nudging so we left. The couple was still together when we departed - maybe later...?
Well we were psyched for nature after that and weren't disappointed. Rounding a corner about 7 miles further down the road, the bison boulders were visible and a few were eating - maybe 10 of them, not the herd of mile 19 but still worth a stop. Thirty feet away were four antelope intermittently grazing and standing on alert because 20 feet away was a coyote who was pacing back and forth on the hillside just above the antelope. The coyote trotted away and then came back and the antelopes ate and then ran a bit when the coyote was too close. Wow, talk about a nature vignette. The bison were oblivious to all of it. The coyote continued pacing but didn't seem all that interested in the antelope as there were no young ones. Dennis figured out he was probably after the prairie dogs in an adjacent field. Yeah, there were prairie dog towns all over this park. After the fourth or fifth "town" with it's hundreds of furry rear-wobbling rodents, they started to creep me out. I kept thinking "hanta virus" but Dennis tells me it's bubonic plague that they can spread. Whatever. They are rodents. End of discussion.
It's Teddy Roosevelt National Park so we stopped at the Visitor Center and dutifully saw the 13 minute movie narrated Teddy-like and using his words. It was OK. His ancillary ranching cabin was out in back (there was a bigger cabin elsewhere). This cabin has been moved and one of its previous landing places was Portland, OR. Has anyone seen it while it was on display here? It's pretty tiny and the claim-to-fame is the attic with outside access and a window where the ranch hands could sleep. I took the paper fold-up of this cabin - meant for children, of course - and will color it using the set of free crayons from the North Dakota Visitor Center. It's always good to participate in the hands-on opportunities provided by travel! One interesting exhibit was a Teddy figure riding a horse in original clothing. Not exactly a big man, our Teddy. Beautiful park, though, and I'm glad he arranged for national parks to be created all those years ago.
By now it's noon and we've got to get going or we will never get home. Drove all afternoon on cruise control at 71mph. Montana speed limit is 75 but I guess I'm too old anymore, or not used to it. Sunny and lovely and good NPR jazz station and all is well. Called it quits in Big Timber, MT. Tomorrow we head to St. Anthony in Idaho, home of sand dunes and then on to PDX. Probably get home Sunday. dw
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