I woke to another lovely sunny and hot morning, and immediately got on a secondary road that ran parallel to the Interstate but closer to the Yellowstone River. There were large farms along here and, at one point, an eagle nest with three young visible through my scope. How cool would it be to live along this great river? I would see small groups of brown cattle standing in the shallows, cooling off. I dreamed of kayaking a long river and thought about the stories I have read of those who did that and of the guy who spoke last winter at the Herrick Public Library in Holland who told, in such an unassuming way, of his experiences on the Yellowstone in a kayak.
I crossed into South Dakota and the first town was Beach. The last town in Montana was Wibaux. Beach??? I soon got to the South Unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and spent several hours driving the auto route, after first buying a few things at the gift shop and also talking to the rangers about the possibility of spotting a Peregrine. I got a great book on the prairies. The topography was amazing...
The LIttle Missouri River runs through the park and the riparian areas had camp grounds and were one of the few places while traveling that I saw way more tents than RVs. In this verdant riparian habitat I got the best view I will ever have of a red-eyed vireo. With time and patience, one could see lots of species in this place. I did not see raptors though at any time on the 35-mile route through the park. Fragrant sage, blue skies, no commerce, fascinating geology, sunshine.....
The commerce was in Medora, the town just east of the park entrance and where the tourists hang out, as Dave VH says, looking in shops, talking on cell phones, ambling along, eating ice cream and replenishing for the road. And buying shirts.
I drove a bit more and stayed in Dickinson, ND as the motels were filled in Jamestown.
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