You Just HAVE to go to Medora (and the Musical)

We are heading another 2.5 hours straight west this morning along Interstate 95 in North Dakota. Normally we would have driven the slower, but more picturesque two-lane highway that parallels the interstate. This section of that smaller road is called "The Enchanted Highway" with large metal sculptures along the way. At the beginning of that special local highway, we got a view of one of those sculptures from our route on the interstate.

We knew we were getting close to our destination when the endless flat grassland, turned into these curiously-shaped hills. Welcome to western North Dakota and the Badlands! We've always heard "The Badlands" are in South Dakota, but this northern neighbor is bad as well. (Now you've had your geography lesson for the day.)

More specifically, our destination is the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We were on the road early this morning, and took the faster interstate highway, as we are hoping to snag one of the first-come-first-served camping spots at the national park campground.

Arriving at 10:00 a.m., we had several choices for sites that had opened up this morning. We can't say enough nice things about the campground hosts--Debbie and Jim--who are so helpful to campers staying here. We enjoyed getting to know them! We picked a large site on asphalt close to the entry of the park. We love our view from our motor home windshield!

Even though it was threatening to rain, we spent some time exploring our new home town. We hopped in the car and headed to the national park visitor center. We watched the film, went through the museum, and checked out the little cabin where the park's name-sake--Theodore Roosevelt--once lived during his time in North Dakota. He came to this area to mourn the death of his wife and mother, who both died on Valentine's Day 1884--on the same day and in the same house in New York. After their deaths, he spent two years in the Dakota Territories before he was ready to return to New York and politics, later becoming president in 1901. (Now you've had your history lesson for the day!)

It was raining as we drove the five miles to the secondary visitor center at the Painted Canyon section of the national park. In between rain drops, we took a picture of the beautiful hills and buttes from the view point.

We also spotted our first (of very many) bison. We used to incorrectly call these animals buffalo. But we have visited enough national parks and wildlife refuges to now know that this incorrect title came from early European explorers. The correct term is bison, and we're trying hard to reprogram our brains to call them by that correct name. (Now you've had your science terminology lesson for the day.)

We knew there were trails that lead down into that canyon, and that was our plan for the afternoon. The woman at the visitor center explained that the steep trail was clay, and would be terribly slick and treacherous after the rain. She assured us that we definitely shouldn't try the trail. But we never have been good at following good advice, so we headed down anyway.

We soon found that her advice was spot on, as we were slipping and sliding our way down into the canyon. We had assumed that the tread on our hiking boots would give us some traction. But this gooey clay turned that tread into roller skates as each shoe gained a pound of mud. (Now you've learned your always-follow-the-ranger's-advice lesson for the day.)

Even sure-footed Mark slipped down an incline, landing on his right hip and arm. He wore that mud for the rest of the hike as he saw the view from the canyon floor.

The rain clouds looked ready to open up again, so we decided to head up that slippery mess of clay before it got worse.

We're sure that would be a lovely hike on a dry day, but we should have followed the ranger's advice on this rainy day. After spending thirty minutes trying to clean our shoes, we drove back to the tiny town of Medora--the gateway to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. President Roosevelt was standing on the street corner, welcoming us into town.

Filled with cute shops and restaurants, Medora is a likable tourist town. We also found out that this tiny village will be getting another feather in its tourist cap, as the Roosevelt Presidential Library will be built here in 2020. Even though Roosevelt served as a New York legislator, his heart was in North Dakota. A very good re-enactor tells his story daily at the town hall auditorium. We ran into him later, and enjoyed a picture and a nice visit with President Roosevelt.

Medora has another favorite son--Harold Schafer. No, we didn't recognize that name either, but we did recognize some of the products that made him wealthy. He was the marketer of Mr. Bubble bubble bath, Snowy Bleach, and Gold Seal products of the 1950's like floor wax and glass wax. If you recognize that product line, you are older than us.

A very interesting museum in Medora tells his life story. We also found that his picture was hanging at the state capitol with Lawrence Welk and other famous North Dakotans. Mr. Schafer used some of his fortune to bring the dying village of Medora back to life.

One of the things he purchased and refurbished was the town's amphitheater. Situated on a beautiful hill overlooking the Little Missouri valley, the outdoor show had closed for lack of interest. But Mr. and Mrs. Schafer brought the Medora Musical back to life, and backed it with their bank roll. We had read about the musical, as it is a highly rated thing to do in Medora. When we were in Bismarck, several people insisted that we HAD to go because "it's the thing that North Dakota is most known for." All-righty then, we guess we'll just head out to the amphitheater south of town if we just HAVE to see it.

But we also HAD to eat the meal before the play--pitchfork steak fondue and all the trimmings. We had never heard of this western delicacy that starts by sticking 12 ounce steaks on the tines of pitchforks.

It was quite a spectacle to see all that red meat lined up and ready for the fondue.

A long line was forming for the meal, so Mark got in the line while Denisa stayed to watch the cooking. The cue was long, as it looks like we are eating out with 350 other people this evening.

At just the right time, the two fondue chefs started immersing those pitchforks into the big vats of heated oil. One made a cut to check for doneness, but it only takes around four minutes to cook an entire pitchfork of meat. (Now you've had your cooking lesson for the day.)

They rang the dinner bell after they had a few pitchfork-fulls cooked. (Interesting to note that we don't ever remember using "pitchfork" and "cooked" in the same sentence). Then that long line started moving quickly.

We decided to share one meal, and that worked out well. This is one plate, with everything except the meat already split. We had live music during dinner, and absolutely perfect weather. It was quite an experience!

Our only complaint would be that we really had too much time to kill between the meal and the musical. We walked around the ledge overlooking the canyon. You know we have too much time on our hands when we take a selfie.

We picked a beautiful evening to spend outside, and it was a pleasure finally riding that long escalator down to the bottom of the valley. The seats were built into the side of the hill on the right, and the stage, with its moving set, is in front of us.

The Medora Musical is a song and dance variety show, with a little comedy and patriotism thrown in. The Schafers always insisted that it remain a family show, and many of the attendees were children.

We also learned more about Medora's history and famous citizens, as stories were told throughout the performance. The sun was setting in the picture below, turning the clouds to pink during this scene.

It's a little odd, but right after intermission they have different traveling groups perform. It's totally unrelated to the theme of the musical. Sometimes it's a comedian, or a musician, and tonight it was "Skate Nation," a group of traveling roller skaters.

By the time it was dark, we were back to our theme of history and patriotism. The trick horse riders that we had seen on stage earlier were spotlighted as they were making that very steep trip down the facing canyon wall.

It was a fun show, and something that is a big part of visiting Medora. Like the advice we were given--you just HAVE to see it!