6/20/20 – Medora, North Dakota

Spent the day today in Medora, N.D. where Theodore Roosevelt had a ranch and spent his time healing from the death of his wife and mother who both died on the same day. It was a healing time for Teddy and a time for me to rest and prepare for Sunride Chapter 3. 

Judy and I went into Theodore Roosevelt National Park and we hiked for about five miles seeing and hearing lots of birds, a couple of buffalos, and a dozen or more horses. It’s an interesting park – part of the Badlands. Erosion has left an interesting landscape where layers of sediment, including coal, are visible representing their respective millennia.

We attended an outdoor play commemorating Roosevelt and his life here. The actors at one point stated, “Theodore Roosevelt, my favorite President.” I resisted the urge to yell out, “What about Trump?” Of course it would have been sarcasm for me, considering his stance on the environment, but could have been received genuinely by the audience. The on stage band was the “Coal Diggers,” yep, you heard right, “The Coal Diggers.” One of the sights in T. Roosevelt Park was even called the “Coal Vein Trail.” They seem to like coal around here. 

Methinks coal was a good thing for the 1800s and 1900s but we know now it’s bad going forward. Come on people, get with it, it’s solar from here on out.

I rode Sunride for a few miles on the bike trail in Medora. It was a lovely day. We met a couple at the campground from Texas who were quite interested in Sunride. Tomorrow the big day starts in SE Montana.