Road Warrior Momma: Medora, ND

June 20, 29015 – Day 18

Bismarck, ND – Medora, ND

186 miles/ 2 hours

Rough Riders Hotel, Rms 116 & 117

After last night’s wild storm, I wasn’t sure what kind of weather to expect this morning – but it was gorgeous. Although, there were remnants of the storm everywhere – fallen tree limbs all over town.

Before leaving Bismarck, we visited the state capitol (of course) and the North Dakota Heritage Center. The museum was interesting and in a road trip first – we stumbled about a wedding.

Fortunately, for their sake, the ceremony was over – we just got to witness the wedding party getting their pictures taken. The bride was gorgeous.

Then we headed west for a short drive (relatively speaking), to Medora, ND. This was a small ranching town established in the late 1800’s. Today it’s a quaint honky tonk town for tourists who visit Theodore National Park. Roosevelt first discovered the town when he traveled out west and fell in love with the area. He returned to Medora in 1884 to deal with his grief following the deaths of both his wife and his mother – on the same day. Medora helped him heal. He owned a great deal of land and built a home called the Maltese Cross Cabin, which at the time it was considered quite the “mansion” in North Dakota. In today’s world we’d describe it as a tiny log cabin, and it certainly paled in comparison to Roosevelt’s lavish home in New York City. Still, it’s pretty cool that it still stands today, on the grounds of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The park, also home to Painted Canyon, is beautiful. And there’s so much wild life roaming around – the kids were particularly excited by the prairie dogs – I was not.

The kids did not have a good day. There were a number of infractions, both big and small, reprimands, and punishments. Mom and Dad needed a break. We picked up two pizzas and left the children in the room to feast and get their technology fixes. We dined in the hotel’s restaurant, Theodore's Dining Room, which was very good. Just when we were starting to relax though, the hotel’s fire alarm went off. I’m not joking. Rich looked at me and said, “Oh no, Barrett pulled the fire alarm.” Before it was even out of his mouth, someone came out from the kitchen to say they had set it off – small kitchen fire. I was already out the door to the room.

The kids were getting their shoes on when I got to the room, this not being their first time at the rodeo. Some of you may remember that we’ve been evacuated from hotels more than once on our road trips. I flagged down the manager in the hallway who was banging on doors and told her what the chef at the restaurant had said. She said we still had to leave. I explained the situation (yes, shamelessly pulled the autism card), and she told me to hold on. She walked a few feet away from me, and conversed with someone on her walkie-talkie. Then she told me the kids could stay. I waited a few minutes, called Rich, and he said that nobody had left the restaurant – they weren’t giving up their tables. There had been a very long wait to dine. By the time I made sure that Hunter and Audrey understood the situation, the firemen were walking down the hallway giving the all-clear.

Never a dull moment.

Quote of the Day:

Cammy: “You better enjoy this Camden while you can, because tomorrow a new Camden is coming to town!”

Me: “Oh really?”

Cammy: “Yep! And he’s going to be someone who drinks Mountain Dew.”

Me: “Keep dreaming buddy.”

Cammy: “Oh, don’t worry. I am.”