NORTH DAKOTA AND THEODORE ROOSEVELT NATIONAL PARK

As we headed further west to get to Theodore Roosevelt National Park we crossed over another time zone.....mountain time.  So we set the clock back yet another hour.  We've had to deal with eastern standard time, central time, mountain time, and PAMMY TIME.  Poor Mario!  Ha!  I give the worst jet lags!  We passed through sooooo much amazing farm land.  North Dakota leads the nation in the production of barley, canola, some wheats, and 90% of the nation's flax crop.  Miles and miles of these gorgeous farms are all you see on both sides of the highway.  The golden wheat, the blonde barley, yellow canola, and the lavender flax.  I wish we could have stopped more to take pics but the highway was narrow and we were hauling the r.v..  Just gorgeous lands all around with occasional black cows grazing.  

legumes in front, canola in back

a national grassland named after the Little Missouri River that runs through the area

part of the national grassland

beautiful wheat

Fun Facts:  North Dakota is the LEAST visited state.  Theodore Roosevelt National Park is the only national park named after a person.

As we neared our destination, the national park and the North Dakota Badlands, the land changed and we started seeing gorgeous stratified rock formations with multiple colored layers of sandstone etc.  set in stunningly colorful canyons like the Grand Canyon of the north.  

We drove all around the park and took short hikes.  We saw many beautiful herds of bison as well as the lovely surprise of the wild horses.  

we saw a couple of bands of the feral horses

So entertaining were the "prairie dog towns".  We could watch them all day.  Their chitter chatter was adorable and the way they communicate with each other was so interesting.  Visitors are warned not to go near their burrows as black widow spiders and prairie rattle snakes live around them.  EEEk!

The canyon had lots of petrified wood in it also. So beautiful.

We loved the look of the silvery sage brush that was scattered around the canyon.  The contrasting colors were beautiful in this rugged landscape.

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