North Dakota

We love National Parks! We are in western North Dakota on I-94. Theodore Roosevelt National Park is here.

Welcome to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota

First we stop at the Painted Canyon Overlook. This is part of the North Dakota Badlands.

Pink in the Painted Canyon

The pink shows why this is called a painted canyon. This place takes your breath away.

Painted Canyon has many moods

Don’t you just love it? Next we went to the Visitor’s Center, received our map, and drove through the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. First stop is the Little Missouri River Bottomlands.

Little Missouri River

Very pretty. The sign said these are Cottonwood trees, dark green jumpers and dwarf sagebrush.

Overlooking Little Missouri River

We ducks, like humans, enjoy seeing this beautiful, tranquil scenery. There are thousands of prairie dogs at various areas of the park.

Prairie dogs. Talking about us?

They are so cute. We do not want them in our yards, but we love to see them in parks. Oh no! This could be trouble.

Could this be trouble?

The coyote is walking among the prairie dogs. We hope it is not time for him to eat.

Coyote says to relax

Looks like he is saying, “I told you I was not hungry” Some of the road are paved, and some are not.

Quiet road in park

We are fortunate that there is very little traffic in the park now. This area is known as Beef Corral Bottom.

Beef Corral Bottom. Today we see prairie dogs, not cattle here

Years ago during the free range cattle round up, the cattle were brought here. Then the owners could check the brand and take their cattle home to prepare for sale. These buffalo are lounging by the side of the road.

Enjoying the sunny day.

We did not get out of our car here. No reason to be foolish. This is the home of the buffalo, not the home of tourists. The color of the rock varies here. Whitish in some areas.

Lighter rocks

Darker rock is other areas.

Darker rocks

We like the open lands also. The minerals in the soil effect the color of rocks. This lone buffalo stood on a hill surveying his land.

Buffalo watching us admire him

He was so still at first, we were not sure if he was real, but he did begin to turn his head and walk away. Behind the Visitor’s Center, is the Maltese Cross Ranch House.

Maltese Cross Ranch House. Theodore Roosevelt lived here summer of 1884

In September, 1883 Theodore Roosevelt part an interest in the Maltese Cross Ranch. He loved the Badlands of North and South Dakota. The following winter his wife and his mother died with hours of each other. When the weather permitted, here came back to North Dakota and lived in the Maltese Cross Ranch House. Here he was able to find peace and renewed strength of spirit and body. This ranch house was later moved to its present location in the National Park. We hope you also have beautiful sunny weather when you visit Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

We, the Colorado Traveling Ducks, are in North Dakota.

Welcome to North Dakota

We are driving on I-94. Our first stop is Jamestown. This is the World’s Largest Buffalo.

A really big buffalo

This buffalo is 26 feet tall, 46 feet long and weighs 60 tons. On July 24, 2010 he was named Dakota Thunder.

Dakota Thunder

We are on his foot. Dakota Thunder sure is big! This farm in North Dakota looks harvested and ready for winter.

North Dakota farm and lake

Our next stop is Steele, North Dakota where we met Sandy. Sandy is the World’s Largest Sandhill Crane. Sandy is 40 feet tall and made of steel. We are on Sandy’s foot. Can you see us?

Sandy the Sandhill Crane

The information at the kiosk says the crane is the oldest existing bird in the world. Cranes have remained unchanged for 2.5 million years. Sandy was made by James Miller. Our next stop is the capital of North Dakota. Bismarck is home to the North Dakota Heritage Center.

We are at the North Dakota Heritage Center

The building has great art. We like this train.

Train on North Dakota Heritage Center

This statue, a 12 foot tall bronze, was dedicated in 1910. It honors Sakakawea, the Indian interpreter for Lewis and Clark.

Sakakawea and her son

There are a few spellings of her name, but North Dakota uses this spelling. The statue was made by Leonard Crunelle. We like it! Nearby is this buffalo.

We are at the foot of this buffalo. Mom, careful we don’t want to get stepped on

The artist is Bennett Brien. The statue was given to the state in 1986. This is the capitol building in Bismarck, North Dakota. We like this different design for a capitol building.

North Dakota State Capitol Building

Close to the capitol we admired the statue of the Honorable John Burke.

The Honorable John Burke

In North Dakota, he was a Legislator, a Governor, and a Supreme Court Justice. In 1913 he was appointed Treasurer of the United States of America by President Woodrow Wilson. We enjoyed the autumn color on this tree in Bismarck, North Dakota.

Fall color in Bismarck, North Dakota

Here we can see that the work of the American farmer is never done.

A farmers work is never done

We think a well cared for farm is beautiful. In southern North Dakota, we liked the golden wild grass by the road and the farm in the background.

Zeb and Soapy by golden wild grass and a clear blue sky.

North Dakota was a nice place to visit. We had wonderful sunny days, but we have heard that North Dakota has severe winters. We are glad we did not see that weather. We really enjoyed our time in North Dakota. We hope you visit during nice sunny weather also.

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Colorado Traveling Ducks

Theodore Roosevelt National Park with Zeb and Soapy Smith Duck

North Dakota with Zeb and Soapy Smith Duck