Taking Hannah to Utah--Theodore Roosevelt National Park (Fargo, ND to Rapid City, SD)

I had no idea what to expect from the day, but after a good dinner of Chipotle and a good rest, I felt like I was in a good head space.

Hannah and I drove to Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  Turns out, there is a small visitor center down I-90, and we were surprised to see lots of horse trailers...and horses! I mean, if there is an iconic picture of Theodore Roosevelt in anyone's mind, it's on a horse.  We went into the "visitor's center" which isn't more than just restrooms and t-shirts, but holy smokes, what a collection of t-shirts! Whoever is the marketing director for this park deserves a raise because the center had so much great merch that I had a difficult time choosing just a magnet and a sticker...so I bought two t-shirts ;-) Hannah got her junior ranger packet, and we were off.

We then drove another bit to the park.  I won't lie--I was a bit relieved to see a teeny tiny town right outside of the park.  It felt a bit like a western town in Disneyland, but it held promise if we needed anything (*cue forboding music*)

Theodore Roosevelt was declared a national park in honor of the man who decided that the United States needed to preserve its unique and iconic landscapes.  Thank goodness for Theodore Roosevelt.  However, Teddy Roosevelt's inspiration came from tragedy.  Before he was ever elected president, he lost his wife in childbirth and his mother on the same day.  To mourn, he headed out to North Dakota to his ranch.  There was a beautiful quote from him (that I didn't record) which said that Americans deserved a place where they could find themselves again.  A place of peace.  A place to mourn.  And thus the national park system was begun.

For all of the national parks that are mentioned anywhere, I have never heard of Theodore Roosevelt National Park which is a travesty.  A travesty because nobody knows about it, and yet a blessing as well because nobody knows about it.  The crowds were low, so Hannah and I had plenty of time to just enjoy ourselves.  It's an easy park for those of us who aren't intense climbers.  It has a scenic driving route that goes for miles with short easy hikes off the side of the main road.  And it has terrific wildlife, all showcased against the backdrop of the badlands.  We nearly lost it when we caught sight of our first bison only 20 feet off the road, but that was nothing as we started to spot bison everywhere.  We maintained a healthy distance from them inside our car, but we took all the time we needed to just watch them.  They are amazing beasts.

Second down the road, while getting out and watching more bison across the valley, Hannah spotted a wild horse, or as the park rangers call them, a feral horse.  Turns out, he was just leading six other horses along the winding river in the valley.  See what I mean? How much more Americana does it get? Throw in some Copland's Rodeo or the soundtrack from Silverado, and we're set!

We watched and watched some more, and then got back in the car....only to stop minutes later to watch the prairie dogs.  They are seriously everywhere (and not enclosed with brick walls in Lubbock).  I must admit that growing up in Lubbock, and being a Texan, I just assumed prairie dogs were special to the Lone Star state, but no.  They were everywhere, and for good reason.  Their abandoned dens provide homes for other creatures, and they are low on the food chain of the prairie.  A healthy prairie dog population means a healthy biome.

We then got out and hiked windy canyon, a canyon created by wind (versus water) and got an amazing view of the river and valley.  We were also busy identifying plants, and Hannah was smelling them.  The sun was shining which we appreciated after three solid days of cool and overcast weather.

It was named Windy Canyon for a reason ;-)

We decided to drive the rest of the route which involved some pretty steep inclines, and we got out and did another hike, but at some point, a message popped up on my car saying, "Engine coolant low.  Stop safely."

I'm sorry.  What??

Thankfully, Hannah had just enough service for us to look up the message, and sure enough Volvo was telling us that we could ruin the engine of our car if we didn't stop soon.  I didn't want to color our experience with panic, so I stayed calm on the outside and just turned the car around.  On the way back, I noticed that when we were going UP hills, the light would flash, but otherwise, it disappeared which told me we had enough for the moment.  However, the closest auto store (i.e. Auto Zone) was three hours away.  I said a little prayer and trusted that we would be okay.

Why do I trust? Why did I have an overwhelming feeling of calm? For as long as I can remember, our family has said a "travel prayer" at the beginning of every trip, asking for safety along the way and for happiness to exist.  Hannah is one of those people that I think Heavenly Father especially hears her prayers.  When she prays, I know that what she prays for will come to pass, and she and I had been rotating saying prayers the entire journey, even saying a new prayer that day.

We went back to the visitor center and Hannah took her pledge.  I also bought Hannah a bison.  She had refrained the entire trip from buying a stuffed animal, but since this park felt extra special, I felt like she needed a reminder of the fun times we had (and of the miracles we were about to see) for her upcoming ten weeks in Utah.  So I found a bison with the cutest face which we promptly named Rosie in honor of Roosevelt ;-)

Then, I knew we needed to find some coolant, and I knew we needed to give the engine time to cool down before we put it in.  Remember that teeny tiny town? The type of town that hadn't existed around any other park we had visited? Medora had a "convenience store" that was really just a glorified gift shop.  I could only hope they would have coolant.

There were actually a couple of mom-and-pop restaurants on the Main Street, so I parked in the shade and we headed to The Farmhouse, a fun diner-style restaurant where we both got the most delicious hamburgers and fries.  Really, sometimes a girl just needs a good burger.  We then walked down to the convenience.  We walked in, the guy behind the counter asked us if we "ladies" needed anything, and without missing a beat, I asked him, "Where's your engine coolant?" (like it was no BIG DEAL if he didn't have it).  He pointed to the back corner of the store, and I knew we were going to be okay.

Sure enough, we had done our research on what Reddi needed, and there it was.  Like manna from heaven for our faith in Hannah's travel prayers.  Again, I had just enough service to get instructions about how to put it in, and thank goodness the engineers at Volvo have realized what areas in an engine compartment need to be accessed easily.  Upper left corner with a special cover.  There was even an older man who came up to try and help us, but once we saw where we were looking to put our engine coolant, he threw his hands up in the air and said, "These new cars are so different!" and walked away.

Nobody would've been the wiser to us having no idea of what we were doing, because two minutes later, we were closing the hood and we were off!

Next stop? Fargo, North Dakota!