We returned to one of our favorite National parks, Theodore
Roosevelt, despite saying that we were not going to repeat any of our previous
journeys. Theodore Roosevelt is broken up into the North and South units,
separate by about 40 miles. Both are
full of buffalo and the scenery is a lovely combination of badlands and rolling
hills and meadows. However, the north
and south are each in separate time zones, which drove us crazy! 
The last time we were in Teddy Roosevelt we saw a very large group of buffalo come through our campsite, which caused us to stand in the road while they had their way for about an hour. This time, we learned that because of cutbacks, the grasses were not cut near the camp grounds, we saw very few buffalo along the road and near the campground. However, we took a wonderful hike along a river and into some high meadows where we found, by following the grunts and moans, a large group of buffalo. One large guy, somewhat separated from the rest of the herd was a bit wary of us, and then, after about 5 minutes, decided that we were intruding and started walking towards us, which caused us to back away at a steady if rapid pace!
On our drive to the north unit, we again saw the effects of
fracking as we passed camp after camp of both trailers and shoddy housing which
supported the med working in the oil fields which sprouted up in every field,
often three and four right next to one another.
Our stay at the north unit was a bit disappointing; despite a campsite
right above the river since there were too many bugs and way too much
heat. In fact, one afternoon I was
trying toe scape the bugs by scalding inside the tent and David was doing the
same in the car when we both decided that enough was enough and rode around in
the air conditioned car, finally ending up in a McDonalds, since, believe it or
not, that seemed to be the only recognizable place to eat.
Then it was goodbye North Dakota and hello Montana,
where we
stayed at our friends Dave Tyler and Becky Weed who own a wonderful predator
friendly sheep farm and wool mill which is right on their property. 
We had visited them previously, and they
lived up to our expectations as great hosts.
We had their guest cabin to ourselves 
and were finally able to take long
needed showers in their main house! We
were in the middle of their haying operation which involved three large
machines; one to cut the hay, one to rake it and one to bale it. David, always one for big toys was
practically jumping up and down seeing these monster machines and asked, “Can I
drive the baler?” at which point Dave turned pale and said nothing. At $65,000.00 a pop and hay needed for the
winter, guess who watched the process from a safe distance! 
We spent some time in Bozeman, took a drive
with Dave and Becky past Ted Turner’s buffalo ranch on 100 thousand acres and
then spent one whole afternoon and evening at the county fair.
where we
stayed at our friends Dave Tyler and Becky Weed who own a wonderful predator
friendly sheep farm and wool mill which is right on their property. We had visited them previously, and they
lived up to our expectations as great hosts.
We had their guest cabin to ourselves and were finally able to take long
needed showers in their main house! We
were in the middle of their haying operation which involved three large
machines; one to cut the hay, one to rake it and one to bale it. David, always one for big toys was
practically jumping up and down seeing these monster machines and asked, “Can I
drive the baler?” at which point Dave turned pale and said nothing. At $65,000.00 a pop and hay needed for the
winter, guess who watched the process from a safe distance! We spent some time in Bozeman, took a drive
with Dave and Becky past Ted Turner’s buffalo ranch on 100 thousand acres and
then spent one whole afternoon and evening at the county fair.
The reason we went to the fair was for the rodeo that David
obliged me by attending. However, we
found out that this was a Cowboy rodeo that was far different from the
professional rodeos we had been going to.
The events , in which teams of 4 cowboys participated were Branding,
Medicine application, Transporting, Milking a wild cow and bucking bronco riding. In addition, the rodeo started with cart and
draft horse demonstrations, which really showed the skill of the horse and
rider. 
The first event of the rodeo,
Branding, had one cowboy rope the steer and then two cowboys wrestled it to the ground and then the 4th branded it with a branding iron dipped in
chalk. 
The steer was a baby which was in
the ring with lots of other mamas and babies and when a baby was roped, several
times the mother tried to defend it and went after the cowboy! Very
interesting. Medicine application was
about the same except that the cowboy had to poke the steer on the nose with a
pretend syringe. Then the weird
began. In transporting a steer was
culled from the herd, roped, dragged, pulled, pushed and manhandled into a
transport truck compartment into which he was shut. 
Then two horses were loaded in after him and
then three cowboys had to jam themselves into the cab of the truck! Just culling a specific steer was hard
enough, but to see these men push that little guy into the truck was a
riot. HOWEVER, nothing beat the wild cow
milking which is just as it sounds. 
A
very wild cow (with not much milk, it seemed) was culled from the herd, roped,
wrestled to the ground at which point a cowboy dove in and tried to get enough
milk so that the judge could pour at least a few drops from the bottle. This was kinky to say the least!!!! The bronco riding was just that! 
After a great stay with our friends it was off to
Yellowstone. We knew it was going to be
zoo like since we had made reservations for camping well in advance and we
reserved the last of two campsites in the whole park. Even so, it was a bit disconcerting to be in
major traffic jams and have to wait up to 10 minutes for a parking place at the
main attractions. 
However, they are not
called main attractions for nothing!
Despite bad rain the first night, the weather was great for the next 3
days, the campground was quiet and the sites just jaw dropping. The altitude affected me sow e were not able
to go on many good hikes but the walks we did take were memorable. 
However, they are not
called main attractions for nothing!
Despite bad rain the first night, the weather was great for the next 3
days, the campground was quiet and the sites just jaw dropping. The altitude affected me sow e were not able
to go on many good hikes but the walks we did take were memorable. 
Here it is! My 10 minutes of driving
And then on to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and another home stay, this time stay with my friend Gary.
This was the last stay
before reaching Fairbanks. 
This is Gary's house in Jakson. While in
Jackson we made more complete arrangements with Gary to buy his house in Fairbanks, which is
very exciting! 
We were very fortunate
that Gary’s lady friend is so socially connected which gave us the chance to do
some great socializing, first at dinner with Mickey’s house guest who was
connected with the Wyoming public radio station, then at a fundraiser in an
amazing house on a beautiful property for the radio during which spoke and then at a dinner at Mickey’s house
where we met one of her neighbors.
The
four of us also went kayaking on the Snake River one whole afternoon that was
so peaceful and beautiful. We saw
eagles, an osprey who caught a fish in front of our own eyes, swans, ducks, swans,
grey heron, geese, ravens and lots of fish.
We stayed both in Gary’s guest bedroom and Mickey’s exquisite guest
house and were made to feel so welcome and cared for. And we enjoyed the three dgos very much! 
It is so nice to have good friends both human and canine! 
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