Lunar Eclipse

First, I promised a few photos once I got them downloaded from my camera...if we had good Internet service tonight.  Well, we do, so here they are.

A shot of the road from Stanley down to Teddy Roosevelt NP.  It was heavy construction nearly all the way which is why we wound up staying at TRNP North instead of making it on down the the south park.

Then a shot of oil rigs pumping away.  There must have been hundreds of these things.  Actually, the road leaving Stanley had more than the area right around Stanley.

Taken in the North Teddy Roosevelt Park, the Little Missouri River and a CCC pavilion overlooking it.

A quickly fading sunset for the park.

The moon...just to prove there was one a few days before the eclipse.

Weird rock formation.  Could it be there was a graffiti artist there some time ago?

Someone knocked over the egg basket.

Teddy Roosevelt NP Badlands.

Park buffalo bison.  Before our visit was over we were surrounded by them after dark.  Kind of eerie watching dark hulking forms moving slowly in the moonlight.

Thousands of fat little prairie dogs put there just to make Ditto go crazy.

Another weird rock formation that caught Joyce's eye.

Today was a short travel day.  We drove maybe three hours.  Life is hard when retired.  We left Teddy Roosevelt NP South this morning just before noon.  As we headed out, we stopped to take on a load of fresh water and just beyond the watering hole was a herd of bison hanging out on and around the road.  A couple of campers on bicycles had stopped and eventually turned around.  The woman had noticed a couple of bison calves in the bunch and thought it might not be a good idea to get too close.  Joyce and I speculated the bison have been so close to so many humans in the park that a couple of cyclists would probably not be noticed.  But, better safe than sorry.

We have to eventually nose our way through the crowd to get out of the campground.  Then we headed for Medora, the little town just outside the park on I-94.  We had taken a quick look around when we had arrived yesterday, so we just drove on through the outskirts, stopping briefly at the site of a historical beef packing plant.  Oh joy.

We jumped on the Interstate and headed for Miles City where I had planned to stop for the night.  It was a short hop, but I wanted to get settled in early so I could get set up to photo the lunar eclipse this evening.

We nabbed a campsite at a clean little park called Big Sky RV Park.  After all, here we were in big sky country, so why not?  Of course, the fact that is was about the only thing around had something to do with it, too.

We got settled in and I took a nap.  No hurry, as it was early.  We ate supper and I watched a little TV (they have cable hookups here).  Watched the Pope leave...and watched the Pope leave...and watched the Pope leave.

I got a little nervous when I saw dark clouds beginning to drift in about dusk.  The eclipse was to start at 8:11 pm Mountain time.  Things were looking critical about 7 pm, but the clouds were moving quickly so maybe...

Maybe didn't happen.  I finally got my photo just as it began to sprinkle.

Regardless of the eclipse disappointment, if you have never visited Teddy Roosevelt National Park, I recommend it be added to your bucket list.  Joyce and I liked it about as much as The Grand Canyon.  It was nowhere near as crowded and the sights were beautiful, the critters great.  Of course, visiting in late September made a big difference in the visitor population, no doubt.

Sunday Morning Coming Down

Woke up this morning to the sun sneaking through the gaps around the edges of the window blinds.  Pow!  Good morning (smiley face goes here).  It's like a puppy trying to wake you up in the morning by playing licky face.

We're still in the Teddy Roosevelt National Park (southern area).  It has a 20 miles or so loop road around the park which we took yesterday...twice, once one way then once the other way.  Things often look different when viewed from a different perspective.  This is a beautiful park, but the wildlife is the big attention getter.  I've never seen so many buffalo (okay, okay, bison) roaming free as I have seen here.  There may be more at Custer State Park in South Dakota, but I been there several times and haven't seen this many before.  Then there are the white tail and mule deer and, holy cow!, the biggest prairie dog town I've seen and with the biggest fattest prairie dogs.  They look more like groundhogs they are so fat.  Guess they're about ready for winter.

On our second go round, it was dark by the time we got back.  So, it was dusk for a portion of the trip and the critters were out in force.  We even saw a herd of feral horses that thrive here.  It was getting pretty dark by now and as we were putting along about 20 mph, we picked out a dark form in the middle of the road.  As is came into view in the headlights, we could see it was a big old (I mean old) buffalo bull strolling right in the middle of our lane.  When I got too close, he grudgingly yielded the road and headed for the shoulder.  It was then we noted he was limping.  His right rear leg was in some kind of trouble.  Joyce made a comment about him gripping about having to leave the smooth road and walk in the rough roadside...with him bum leg.

As we approached the end of the loop the speed limit went from 25 mph to 35 mph, so I picked it up a bit.  Mistake.  Buffalo are very difficult to see in the dark and before I knew it, I was in the middle of a herd of 'em.  No, I didn't hit any, but they did surprize us.

Joyce and I both have a boat load of photos that I haven't yet downloaded from the cameras.  I'll try to do that and maybe make a special post of park photos IF we have decent Internet service next stop.