Medora: Ryan to the Rescue

At 9 o'clock at night and after a LONG, LONG drive, all you want to do is get home, right? Well... so did we. IS that what we got? NO!

Thirty four miles west of our West Fargo exit we heard a large clunk from the front of the truck. Did we hit something? Brett pulled over when the gages started going wacky. He popped the hood to check it out and came back with a very long hose and a mangled fan! CRAP!

We drove to the next exit and pulled off the side of the road. Without the fan, it overheated right away. So sad! It was starting to get dark so we called our Larsen friends and started transferring things to the trailer. (In hopes they could load us in his truck and haul the trailer back home). Ryan very kindly agreed to come rescue us! He was out on errands so by the time he dropped his fam off and drove to exit 310, it was about 10:30 pm. Our kids were so good and so patient! They sat on the trailer til the bugs and cold got to them, played games, told stories and drew pictures. We got some great kids!

Turns out that Ryan attached both the truck and the trailer and hauled it ALL home! He is amazing!!! Thanks Ryan & Lilly for saving us!

P.S. For those of you wondering... I am in denial that breaking down late at night after a trip has anything to do with me! LOL!

Medora: Other Fun Stuff

We finished our trip off with a lunch date at the Medora Children's Park. They all (even my BIG kid) had a great time playing at the park. And we ate lunch at the pavilion. So great!
The Medora Children's Park is located on the east side of town, across the street from Mini Golf . The playground has a western theme with a false front town and a section that looks like an Old West fort. The play areas have western-looking equipment like a stagecoach and train engine. Children of all ages will enjoy their visit to this FREE attraction.

Before heading out of town, we picked up some souvenirs and buying some fudge!! Yummy!

Thanks Medora! We had a blast!

Medora: Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Named for the 26^th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt National Park covers 110 square miles of breathtaking vistas in the savagely beautiful North Dakota Badlands. Visitors to the South Unit are able to take a relaxing 36-mile scenic loop drive through the badlands. This paved drive includes interpretive signs that explain the park's historical and natural features. One can explore this rugged terrain by vehicle, on foot, or by horseback. Extensive systems of backcountry trails encourage viewing the natural habitats of a wide variety of plants and animals such as bison, prairie dogs, wild horses, mule deer, elk, pronghorn and numerous bird species. Over 500 species of plants can be found here. Optimum wildlife viewing times are in the early morning and early evening hours.

We decided to take the scenic drive through TRNP this evening. The Badlands really are quite beautiful! Brett really misses the mountains so the contour was right up his alley! And the colors were amazing!

Going in the evening turned out to be perfect to see the wildlife. We were a little freaked when we passed 2 feet from a huge buffalo. We could have reached out and touched him. The Prairie Dog Towns were the kids favorite! They wanted to bring them all home. ;) We also got to see a couple of deer and some wild horses.

The most exciting or scary part of the trip was when we came across the buffalo herd crossing the road. There were hundreds of them! They had tons of babies but some of those "papas" were HUGE!!! It took us quite a while to be able to inch our way through them. What an experience!

By the time we got out of the Park, it was getting dark and the Museum was closed. But Liberty and I went back in the morning to check it out. It had some neat things to check out.

Medora: Horseback Riding

While the little girls and I took a nap- Brett, Liberty and Justice went horseback riding. It was a bit overcast which made it perfect weather to be out on a horse. They had a great time! Well except for backing out over a bike rental someone had parked behind the truck. Oops!

Medora: The Town

Medora is a cute little tourist town but it also has a lot of history.

The town of Medora was founded in April 1883 by a 24-year-old French nobleman, the Marquis de Mores. He named the town for his bride, the former Medora von Hoffman, daughter of a wealthy New York City banker. It has many little shops and museums and fun things to do & see.

We visited the ruins of the Marquis de Mores' Packing Plant. The kids loved picking morning glories and climbing on the ruins.

Then we went to the Harold Shafer Heritage Center. Where we learned about Mr. Bubbles and saw posters from all our birth years of the Medora Musical.

We also took a ride on "Smokey's" train through town. When we got off the train, Smokey had the kids make an oath to be good the rest of the day and gave each of them a Medora Passport. You had to visit at least 5 places in Medora and stamp your passport to get a free ice cream cone @ Marquie de Mores Ice Cream Parlor. Score! Visit places and get free ice cream. Who can lose at that? Smokey even had stamped one for us. To get some more stamps we stopped by the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame and the Chateau de Mores Interpretive Center. We also checked out all the little shops along the way. Fun stuff!

And we earned an ice cream in no time. Yummy!

What a fun little town!

Medora: The Musical

After dinner, we made our way down the 2 outdoor escalators (can you believe that?) and a flight of stairs to find our seats for the Musical. We got tickets for the 4th row. Awesome!

Introducing the Medora Musical!!!!

"Enjoy family entertainment while in the outdoor splendor of the North Dakota Badlands in the 2,852 seat Burning Hills Amphitheatre. This professionally produced, high energy, two-hour Western style musical is proudly dedicated to the legacy of America's 26th President, Theodore Roosevelt, and the time he spent here in North Dakota's Badlands. Each show pays tribute to American patriotism and the old-west way of life. Audiences are treated to an exciting array of song and dance routines performed by the Burning Hills Singers and accompanied by the on-stage band, the Coal Diggers. The Medora Musical also features nationally known comedy and variety acts."
To begin the show, the kids got to go up on stage with Theodore Roosevelt, Teddy and the rest of the cast. They got to sing and received fly swatters in the shape of guitars as a gift. The rest of the show happened so fast. Totally entertaining! Some of our favorite parts along with the music and dancing were:

*the kids getting to go up on stage
* Brett being in the show
* a ND Minute or two
* the horseys
* the fireworks
* the neon glow-in-the-dark cloggers
* the popcorn box!
and
* the red, white and blue piano

Along with the kids being on stage, Brett got a chance to be in Medora Musical 2011 as well. LOL! The comedy/variety act going on this week starred the Acromedian, Rudi Macaggi who happened to pick Brett out of the crowd to help him with one of his acts. So funny!!! I'm sure Brett wishes I had forgotten this part of the trip. ;) After Rudi explained the plan, Brett wasn't sure he wanted to be up there but after the entire crowd kept chanting Brett's name he decided to stay and participate. The act was so hilarious and pretty amazing. Rudi looks so small next to Brett but he is one buff man! He had Brett hold onto his waist and lift & hold his legs straight out. Then I totally missed it (on camera) when Rudi got his legs up as well. Both Brett & Rudi's legs were straight out and both men were held up only by Rudi's hands. Crazy! Brett was quite a celebrity after that around town. The next day, people kept saying hi to him or asking him if he was "the guy"? LOL! I just wanted to die laughing. Glory wasn't so sure about the whole thing. In fact, when Rudi took him up there she was on his lap. She came and sat with me and cried the whole time. Then when Brett came back down to sit, she would never go back with him. Poor baby was a little traumatized. LOL! But Brett was a good sport for sure! ;) Rudi finished his performance by doing an amazing balancing act with wine bottles, planks and a basketball. This guy was pretty good at his job!
Rudi Macaggi is a third-generation circus acrobat from Italy. He grew up performing with his family and traveling the world, becoming fluent in Italian, French, Spanish and English. He first came to the United States in 1982 while performing with a circus and eventually ran away from the circus to pursue a solo career that has taken a unique path, combining acrobatics with comedy, and earning him the nickname “The Acromedian.” Macaggi strives to bring happiness to people in each performance, inspiring laughter and smiles with his friendly catchphrase, “I like you.”

We totally enjoyed all of the Medora Musical! It was so fun to be there, experience it, be in it! LOL, and enjoy it! Yeah for the Medora Musical!

Medora: Pitchfork Fondue

We finally made it to Medora just in time to park, setup the popup and run up to the Pitchfork Fondue. It was a little spendy but way yummy!
"The nationally acclaimed Pitchfork Steak Fondue is a traveler's delight. Every evening our chefs load steaks onto pitchforks and fondue them western style. Savor your steak as you overlook the picturesque badlands from atop a bluff at the Tjaden Terrace. Your steak comes with all of the fixin's. Plus, you'll be serenaded with western melodies performed live by cast members of the Medora Musical. Menu: 12 oz Ribeye Steak fondued on a pitchfork, baked potatoes, baked beans, cole slaw, fresh fruits and vegetables, garlic toast, double chocolate brownies, lemonade, coffee, and water."
At the Pitchfork Fondue, you dish your food up on big metal trays so if you have kids and need help, they assign you someone to help hold the tray. Glory made a new friend, Liesel that helped her dish up her food and get to the table. After we got seated and were eating, Glory would see Liesel walk by and say, "There's my friend"! Way cute!

After we ate, we took a chance to walk around and check out the scenery. So beautiful! The kids wanted to climb all the scary high rock formations giving Mom & Dad slight heart attacks every time. It turned out we were quite the rock climbers!
Medora also has it's own herd of elk. We tried to get as close to them as we could by climbing down the steep hill but never got close enough to take a great picture. I think we finally counted like 13 of them. Pretty amazing! Here's a few of them we saw:

Middle of the North American Continent

We decided to take one last mini-vacation before school started. Destination: Medora, ND. But we made a little long detour just to say we had stood on the "middle of the North American continent". LOL! It was quite a bit out of the way! Going north to Grand Forks and then west to stop by Rugby, ND actually added 4 hours to our trip. A long time for what we actually did there. We literally pulled into the parking lot, got out, walked up to the monument, took a picture and that was it. But hey! If North America would have started to fall into the ocean from all sides at that moment... we would have been the safest people alive! LOL!

Geographical Center of North America

The geographic center of the North American Continent is marked with a monument or cairn that is pyramid form in shape. It is 21 feet high, 6 feet wide at its base, and set on a heart shaped foundation with three flagpoles representing each of the countries making up North America. (Canada, United States, and Mexico) It was completed in August 1932.

When we were done with our pictures, we checked out the info board which informed us of another monument to check out. So we took a little walk down the road to the:

Northern Lights Tower
This 88 foot steel monument, lit at night by multicolored lights projected from below, rises out of the prairie to mark the interpretive site and recreate the spectacular beauty of the Aurora Borealis.

Also:

On our walk down the street, the kids found Morning Glory flowers. So pretty!... and special for Glory because every morning, I sing Glory that Primary song that goes:

In the leafy treetops, the birds sing "Good morning". They're first to see the sun. They must tell everyone. In the leafy treetops, the birds sing "Good morning".

Except I always change it to "Good morning Glory". She thinks that's how it really goes. LOL!

Well, what fun detour even if it did mean a LOT of time in the car!