Day 26: Devils Tower & North Dakota

Happy Birthday, Janella! To celebrate the occasion we grabbed a quick breakfast with our mounted friends in the lobby of the Bear Lodge Motel and then hopped in the car to head towards Devils Tower.
​This was our first sighting from a distance. I thought it was so cool that there was nothing else around.

Before setting off on the short hike around the tower we were able to get our flag picture in.

We were about a quarter of the way around the tower when we spotted a group of climbers making their way to the top. The tower from base to summit is about 850' and this group was probably 200' up and really just starting the vertical climbing.

It took about 45 minutes to complete the walk around the tower and we even went back to check on the climbers progress (they had not moved much).

Next stop is Theodore Roosevelt NP in North Dakota! We crossed over the state line with a super long coal train right beside us!!

When we arrived we wanted to set up camp quickly and go grab a birthday dinner for Janella. These bison helped us pick the perfect spot.

There was only one restaurant open in Medora, the small town next to the park, so we found ourselves a spot at the bar. The restaurant is called Little Missouri and our bartender, Tim, was a great host. After the rush of the dinner crowd died down we had a great conversation about the adventure we were on and Tim gave us some recommendations for places to see in his home state of Minnesota.

Our wonderful fur-child sitters sent Janella happy birthday wishes from Penny Lane and Paislee!

Tomorrow we get to check out our fifth national park and then we have a ton of driving to do...

Lesson of the Day: Don't forget to take the camelback out of the car with us everywhere we go. Potential perfect flag picture opportunities are highly possible when you're out in nature!

​Word of the Day: laccolith