North and South Units of Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota

Just a few pix from our current travels. The Roosevelt Parks are great.

Before we left Montana, we visited the Bowdoin Bird Refuge by Malta, Montana. As with so much of this trip, the rain was off and on, but we captured a few pix we liked.

While others have told us what these are, we always forget and just enjoy pretty birds. I just wish the little ones would hold still. :-)







And they always say try to capture the eye, the that blade of tall grass just would not move.

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Then before we left Idaho, we found this pretty campground on Highway 12, the Nez Perce Trail, near Orofino, Idaho. It was a very pretty scenic route to take.



Then when we were in the far northwest corner of North Dakota, we saw the boomtowns happening. They are building a lot of infrastructure and we wonder what will happen to it when the oil boom busts. We wanted to take more pictures, but mother nature decided to rain and rain. But this is one example of some of the quick housing that has popped up, and in talking with locals, we heard that EVERYTHING is very expensive. Some of the locals seem to like the boom, and not so others.



In the off and on rain, we camped one night in the North Unit which is less popular and we enjoyed it more! Except the skies at night are no longer what they were at one time because of the flares from the fracking near by. Thank goodness Teddy Roosevelt fell in love with this area and so that became protected as a National Park, or it would be a part of the fracking mess.

It was quiet and nice with some nice walks. We did discover, however, that the ticks were very active. Tommy Dog was well protected; we were not. Ni modo, we managed.

We call this the dancing widow makers --- one can never trust a cottonwood



And this the crawling tree monster



And just a pretty plant



Camping in the South Unit, we were treated with the site of a very large herd of bison crossing the river --- lots of babies included.

It followed a pattern. First there were only some adults crossing.




And then they raced out of the brush with the babies



Run Babies Run



And we later encountered some individuals up close and personal. This one was hiding.



And he was headed on down the trail.



And he was eating while keeping a close eye on me.



In the South Unit we did see great prarie dog towns.



And my personal favorite --- while it is raining, they stay underground, and when it quits, they peek out a little just to make sure the rain is gone so they can fill up before the next rain.



A couple pix of the Painted Canyon in the Park







And out of the National Park, we had this crop duster fly toward us --- he is not on the ground, he is flying.



While getting out and hiking was just not in the cards due to the weather, it was still a great place to be. We are still on the road for a bit longer

Thank you for looking



[Edited on 6-12-2015 by DianaT]

Quote: Originally posted by DianaT

Thanks Udo, and thanks for the lunch offer. We did not go into Rapid City as we headed for the less congested Nebraska. Hope to see you next time. Stay healthy.

Quote: Originally posted by Pompano

From then on the lights below grew fewer and fewer until finally all were gone...just an inky blackness below. A lonely land indeed. But full of great upland game to enjoy!