This morning began with a breakfast of pancakes and the siren of the smoke alarm. We had been warned about the sensitivity of the alarm, but, even so, we were surprised that a few pancakes would awaken our entire end of the RV park. The only way to stop the ear-splitting alarm was to open the windows and doors and let the breeze blow through. And it was rather windy and chilly!

 

We have arrived at today’s destination in the early afternoon. We decided on 3 shorter days to reach Glacier National Park instead of 2 very long ones (500 miles in the RV is much slower than in a car). From Casselton in the very eastern part of North Dakota, we traveled to Dickinson in the very western part of the state.

Eastern North Dakota is flat enough to cover in felt and play billiards. It is beautiful farm land, and some of the crops are sprouting.

As we drove west, we noticed the sky darkening and the wind picking up. People who live in the Texas panhandle say there is nothing between them and the North Pole but a barbed wire fence. Well, North Dakota must be that barbed wire fence, and the wind howls through it with a vengeance. I'd estimate that the wind blew a steady 35-40 miles per hour. Norman had to steer the RV 5-10 degrees into the wind in order to keep it straight.

Maybe you can see the whitecaps on this small lake.

Toward the middle of the state we began to see the many small depressions and lakes left by the retreat of glaciers. Farther west we came to the North Dakota part of the badlands.

This is the Painted Canyon in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Our early arrival left us time for a side trip to see a small part of this park. In the parking lot, we spotted another of the Great Alaskan RVs headed to Anchorage.

We drove part of the scenic loop in the South Unit of the park. We saw prairie dogs, feral horses, the Little Missouri River and this fellow:

The wind has died down, and we are hooked up to water and electricity for the night. On to Montana tomorrow. (No map today; as a substitute, you can draw a rectangle, then draw a line parallel to the top and bottom about half way between them; label this I-94; that's your map for the day!