It was hard to leave Montana after such a fun filled visit with Cousin Mike and Jeannie and seeing old friends Dave and Mike. Fortunately we are still reaping the benefits of our stay with them since Jeannie gave us jars of her strawberry rhubarb jelly and a jar of her currant jelly. Very good eats, thanks Jeannie

North Dakota is one of those states where in our summer travels we were always going through and never stopping but to take a picture of the state capital or look for a rare bird and then go on to Montana. A few years ago I met Cousin Mike in Medora ND and we played the Bully Pulpit Golf Course. We were only in town for one night but there seemed to be a lot of things to do in the area so I decided to visit here for a week now that we are full timing. 

Medora was founded by the Marquis de Mores and he named the town for his wife. The Marquis started a meat packing business that failed in just three years, but not before he built a 26 room summer home he called Chateau de Mores. We took a tour of the Chateau that sits upon a bluff above the town. That evening we were treated to a vivid rainbow after a quick rain storm. 

Medora is just to the South of Teddy Roosevelt National Park. Roosevelt came to this area in the late 1800's to hunt bison, and fell in love with the country. He returned after his mother and wife both died on the same day and he needed to get away. He bought and ran two ranches which are now parts of the park. We attended a one hour presentation by a Roosevelt re-enactor who was very entertaining and informative. After a full day of rain we drove the 36 mile loop road in the south section of the park. The North Dakota Badlands are far different then the South Dakota Badlands in that they have much more vegetation and thus more animals. At a few spots along the road we had to stop for Bison Jams. 

In 1963 the town was struggling to stay alive when philanthropist Harold Schafer, the founder of Mr. Bubbles bubble bath, bought most of the town and started to renovate it. He started the Medora Musical to draw tourists to the area. It is celebrating its 50th year in 2014. It is held in an outdoor theater set on the side of a hill overlooking the Little Missouri River. The show is a Wild West type show with lots of boot scooting music, horses and wagons and even two elk they must feed, to get out on the hill above the theater.  We really enjoyed the show and the majestic setting. We also enjoyed the Cowboy Cookout before the show that featured Steak and Buffalo roast.

I again played the Bully Pulpit Golf Course and Josie drove the cart for me. We were joined by a very nice couple from Oregon Len and Kathy. As you can see from the pictures below it winds through the badlands, making for a great golfing experience. 

Tomorrow we drive to the Black Hills of South Dakota.

We left the Flathead Valley and stayed in Deer Lodge Montana for three nights. My cousin Mike and our friend Dave met us there and we played golf at the Butte Country Club and then played the Jack Nicklaus course The Old Works in Anaconda Montana. The Old Works course was the first EPA reclamation project in the USA. The course is built over the remains of what was one of the biggest copper mines in the US. They covered the slag that was left over from the mining with clay and top soil, but made all the traps out of the ground up black slag.   

We then moved to my cousins in Laurel , Montana.  Whenever we visit Mike and Jeannie we are usually doing something every day and this trip was no different. We also eat like royalty since Jeannie is a fantastic cook and she spoils us with great meals, most made with produce right out of her garden. It is like eating in a gourmet restaurant every night. 

 Mike and I played golf with our friend Mike Lee and met his girlfriend Lynnette for dinner. We also met them at a Billings Mustangs baseball game.

Cousin Mike has a 1954 Ford that has been in his family since it was new and Josie and I tried out the back seat.

We were able to visit their cabin on the Stillwater River where they have a great array of bird feeders that Jeannie is constantly filling. Just down the road from the cabin we had a very nice dinner at Montana Jacks which is owned by Gary Bergdoff's daughter. You may remember him as Radar on MASH. There we met up with a very nice black bear. 

On another day we drove up to the Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range. When you travel the back roads in Montana you never know what you will see in the road. On the way up the very rough road to the range we stopped at the Ice Caves. Because of a temperature inversion at the mouth of the cave, ice is present year round. As you can see Josie took the term Ice Cave very seriously and was dressed for it. Once at the top of the mountain we found over 50 wild horses and visited an old log cabin now used as a refuge in case of bad weather. I was able to check off a life bird, a Dusky Grouse while looking for the horses. We also had a Greater Sage Grouse and two of her young ran across the road.

Mike and I have been on many fishing and hiking trips over the years and this year we drove to Red Lodge and then over the Beartooth Pass and fished Beartooth Lake in Mikes raft. The Beartooth Mountains get their name from the rocky spire that you see behind me in the picture that the Natives said looked like a bears tooth. We then took the Chief Joseph Highway over Dead Indian Pass back to Laurel. Along the way we fished the Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone. If you are ever in this part of Montana and Wyoming you should make this scenic drive, one of the best in the world. It is a great road to enter or exit Yellowstone National Park from the Northwest. We caught a few fish but none big enough to keep. That did not really matter, just getting out in  this beautiful country is a treat. 

We attended the Montana State Fair and walked through most of the exhibits. Of course when you are attend the fair you have to eat something fried and on a stick. We chose meatballs on a stick. We also played bingo and Jeannie won the first game. 

Mike and Jeannie are also birders so on our last morning in Laurel we drove out into the high prairie and found many great birds, among them a Short-eared Owl and a brood of Gray Partridge. 

We will truly miss Mike and Jeannie and the great fun we had visiting them. Tomorrow we drive to North Dakota.