Mighty Medora

We said goodbye to south Dakota and headed north. None of us had spent much time in North Dakota so we were curious to see what it held. Mostly oil fields, construction and natural gas lines. That state is a myriad of natural resources, and you can certainly see the difference it has made on local economies. Tons of temporary housing and construction workers packed even the most remote towns.

We landed in Medora, an incredibly surprising and quaint little resort town. It is the gateway to the Teddy Roosevelt National Park (used to be his private ranches). The town itself is a restored western town, with several shops, the North Dakota Cowboy Museum (a fantastic little museum), and an amazingly diverse collection of live theater.

We ate at the famous pitchfork fondue, where cowhands plunged pitchforks with steak into giant vats of oil. Sides included veggies, coleslaw, baked beans, bread and fruit. Dessert included doughnuts and brownies with cowboy coffee. After gorging ourselves on the delicious meat, we enjoyed the views for a little while.

At 8:00 we made our way into an impressively large amphitheater set against the Badlands hills. For the next 2 hours we were delighted by live performances from the Medora Musical, an outdoor live show that has been in seasonal production for 40 years. The talent was good at times (mediocre at others) but always entertaining. They invited the kids on stage prior to the start of the show and handed out fly swatters (Grady calls them fly swappers) in the shape of guitars. Colby was one of the first on stage but Grady was too shy to go up. The boys each went home with giant (literally giant) foam cowboy hats that guarantee a smile. highlights of the show included an Italian acrobat comedian who made mom laugh so hard she nearly "peed herself."

it was a late night but well worth it. Medora was such a pleasant surprise.