Away we go towards Theodore Roosevelt National Park which is two hours away still at the south unit gate. Along the way we get a peak at the north unit and the bandlands that it has as well as some pull offs with some great views of the open spaces. There is a line for the gate at the north unit as we drive by and brace for a long line at the south unit since it is supposedly the busier of the two parcels. We cruise through the little town out front of the park that has been done over to look like an old west town which was fun to look at. When we arrive though there is only one car ahead of us! We buy the America the Beautiful annual pass for federal lands since we weren't able to pick one up before we leave and head into the visitor center before heading on into the park.
The initial part of the drive is pretty until we cross the highway and the little cattle grate and it's so different over there. The buttes are pretty and the strata in them look painted although not as vibrant as the Painted Desert. We immediately see some wild horses grazing on top of one of the buttes which look straight out of a western. Around the corner was the first of a handful of prairie dog towns in the park and it comes complete with a handful of bison grazing or resting in the middle of it! There are also a ton of the little guys popping out of their burrows and doing their stereotypical standing thing. We move on to what's called Skyline Overlook and it's a beautiful overlook of the badlands to the south of the park which is only partially spoiled by the interstate highway running through it. The kids sit on one of the rocks to take in the view and Gideon starts to do this meditation pose. It does fill you with a bit of awe to see such a vast vista. The next area we go to is another prairie dog town but the loop road here is closed so we need to go back to the fork in the road immediately behind us. Cruising along to the next stopping area I see a coyote trotting along in the brush! The drive along is full of lots of buttes, bison and stunning views. In more than one instance we get to have the bison standing against the buttes with such a classic look. We reach the other end of the loop road and turn around to head back out. By this point the hot day that we had before in the high 90s has become oppressive and has reached the low 100's. On the way we get to see some whitetail deer and a lone antelope cooling itself off under a lone tree. A quick trip to the store part of the visitor center here and off we head to the north unit.
Another hour-ish drive to the north unit and we get to have the first usage of the annual pass and start our drive through here. The vistas are much more impressive here complete with the Little Missouri River flowing through the buttes and clusters of adorable sunflowers along the road. There is also a pull off for a thing called cannonballs which looked like cannonballs that has been shot into the side of the buttes! Of course this was a natural occurance and had more to do with sediment than cannons but whatever. There was also an amazing overlook stop that got most of the valley and the river in it. It is truly breath-taking how large this area and the amount of natural process that had to occur to get these shapes and colors. Generally I would say that the vistas were so much more impressive here but the wildlife was more impressive in the south unit. We even got to watch a couple almost kill themselves trying to get a picture of themselves on top of a boulder at one of the overlooks before decided that they would just get the picture standing next to the boulder instead of on top of it!
On our way out we end up behind one of those people that you can tell is enjoying driving extra slow just because there's control in the fact that you cannot pass them. The joke is on them because the view is great anyway so Court just slows down a lot and we take in more of the sights. We determine to get Dominos for dinner to break the bad dinner streak we have been on for a while and end up going to bed a bit early since it has been a bit of draining day attempting to take these little side treks in the 100+ heat.