Medora, ND to Dickinson, North Dakota, Saturday, August 28, 2010.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park was the first thing on our agenda for Saturday. We first visited the Visitors' Center, viewed the exhibits, and watched a video about Teddy Roosevelt's time in the Medora area.

We then drove the loop for the scenic tour. We only visited what is called the South Unit. The area is considered badlands and has a stark kind of beauty. It is not as empty of vegetation as some of the Badlands National Monument. Prairie Dog villages appear regularly along the loop drive. Early in the day, they appeared far away from the road. Later as we neared the end of the loop we saw them very near the road. One had even been killed by a passing car. At the end of the loop, we finally saw bison. They were graving and resting beside the road (they are not fenced). We stopped to admire them. They ignored us. One handsome horse wondered by, but we don't think it was part of the wild horse herd. Probably just an escaped domesticated animal. (More Google images)

From Medora, we drove along I-94 to Dickinson, ND. Their motto is "Explore the Western Edge." Dickinson is home of the Dakota Dinosaur Museum. This is a small museum with a nice collection of dinosaur and other animal fossils and minerals wonderfully displayed. Their mineral collection offers several interesting examples of objects that look like fossils of animals and plants, but are not. One looked like the skin of a dinosaur. Another looked like a fish.

We stayed the night in Dickinson and ate dinner in a nice restaurant. We both had a very tasty garlic soup. Chris had an expensive rack of lamb. And Kathy had an appetizer. The piped in music played Frank Sinatra and similar songs.

Ceylon to Medora, North Dakota, Friday, August 27, 2010

In the morning, the park caretaker came along to collect money and chat. Then we drove to Montana.

The US customs agents took all our uncut tomatoes, one green onion and the mountain ash berries (on right) we had picked up in Boissevain, Manitoba. We had not thought that the food in our refrigerator might be an issue. It all had been in the camper since Great Bend but, of course, we couldn't prove that. It is interesting that sliced tomates were OK.

We reentered the US in the northeast corner of Montana. We drove east into North Dakota to Medora, near Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Medora's history focuses on two major events. The town is named after the wife of a French aristocrat/adventurer, de Mores, who attempted to start in 1883 a cattle business and packing plant to ship meat back east. Theodore Roosevelt also came here for adventure and later to overcome depression over the loss of his wife and mother in 1884. Theodore credits this area into forming him into a man who could become president. So both men were in Medora at the same time and knew each other.

From this inspirational past, the town has slid into mere tourisms, i.e., shops, restaurants, one stage theater, museums, and two campgrounds. In the evening, we went to the Medora Musical.

We were expecting a musical telling the history of Medora. What we got in the first half was music with no real story. The singing and dancing was very professionally performed, but the lack of a story made the event comparatively meaningless compared to the inspirational story we expected. This was a 45th anniversary show which may have replaced the story-telling show we had expected and would have preferred. Why would tourists care about the 45th anniversary of the show? This reminds me of the time Bob Hope did a "Thanks for the memories" show in front of the University of Florida undergraduates. Since the students had no memories of Bob Hope, their behavior showed that they didn't care.

The second half of Medora Musical was much better. Acrobatic clowns, the New York Goofs, were amusing. This was followed by a skit about Theodore's Rough Riders' charge of San Juan Hill. This portion of the show was very sentimentally patriotic, very much in the spirit of Theodore's own enthusiastic nationalism.

We did not partake in the western delicacy popular in Medora, pitchfork (steak) fondue.

Indian Head to Ceylon, Saskatchewan, Thursday, August 26, 2010

This morning we drove north of town to see the Bell Farm Round Barn. Actually, the current attraction is a reconstruction of the original barn. The barn is stone and served as a stable for the large farm. The original was built in 1882.

The barn is more of a museum inside now, with only one stall as an example. However, the panels containing history of the area, the farm, and the owner were well done and interesting about the settlement of this part of Saskatchewan. The farm eventually failed and the owner, Bell, moved elsewhere.

After visting the Barn, we went south of town to the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) Shelterbelt Centre. We were especially interested in seeing any shrubs they are growing because we will be planting new shrubs in front of our house this year. We really didn't find a variety that looked like what we want, but did take a few pictures of possible ideas. We also picked up a few brochures and enjoyed looking at a model of the suggested arrangement of a farm with well-planned shelter belts. It was quite interesting. This summer we had to remove three trees on the north side of the house, so it gave us some ideas about what to do in that area.

We then drove west and stopped in Moose Jaw to visit the Saskatchewan Burrowing Owl Interpretive Centre (SBOIC)First opened in 1997, the interactive interpretive center was developed adjacent to an abandoned racetrack surrounding the native habitat of several wild nesting burrowing owls. The Centre is also home to any wild Burrowing Owls that may not be released into the wild due to injury or loss of migratory ability. We were told that the original wild burrowing owls in the area have not returned at this time; this may be because the city is developing more around that area.

We enjoyed our tour and observing the owls. These owls are very small and nest underground. Although called Burrowing Owls, they do not actually dig their own burrows. They use burrows that have been dug by prairie dogs, gophers, or badgers. At the Centre they actually live in constructed burrows using flexible pipes. However, there are prairie dogs living there also and we saw some "visiting" the owls in their cages. The staff member that was showing us around said the staff have to refill holes near the cage walls made by the prairie dogs often so that the owls can not escape. Since most of the owls currently in residence can not be released because of their past injuries, this is a concern.

They are very small birds and their coloring certainly blends in and makes them difficult to spot sometimes, even in their cages. Three of the owls are imprinted on humans and are used in programs outside the Centre. You can see a short film about some of the Centre's activities and the owls here.

Our next stop was Rouleau, Saskatchewan, location for the Canadian TV comedy, Corner Gas. This is the show we have been watching on DVD in the camper each evening. We like the songs at the beginning and the end of the show during the credits. The song at the end is part of "My Happy Place"; the full song was originally done by The Odds. Here's the part used as the Corner Gas closing theme. Folks in the Great Plains, whether U.S. or Canada, will enjoy!

In the show, the town is called "Dog River." "Dog River" is painted on the grain elevator across the main highway from the town and easily seen from the Corner Gas station/convenient store and Ruby's Cafe, the main locations for show. All these buildings could be seen first as we approached the town from the northwest. We picnicked at Corner Gas and took pictures.

While we were there at least two other vehicles stopped, people got out and took pictures.
After taking the pictures, we drove into town. The local bar and one store sold souvenirs. We bought some.

Then we drove south to Ceylon, Saskatchewan, just short of the border. We camped in the city park.

International Peace Garden to Indian Head, Saskatchewan, Wednesday, August 25, 2010

We woke up to our first day of camping in Canada! We really were impressed with the campground at Adam Lake. It had lots of trees, good separation between campsites, and showers and electricity.

First order of business was to return to tour the International Peace Garden. The entrance is actually on the border between North Dakota and Manitoba. We had to go through Canadian Customs the night before, but did not need to on our return.

The International Peace Garden is a 2,339 acre botanical garden "devoted to World Peace, along the world’s longest unfortified border". The atmosphere while walking in the garden was quite "peaceful". Visitors can walk up one side of the main garden area and then back down the other side. Along the way there are a number of special structures: the Carillon Bell Tower, the Peace Tower, the Peace Chapel, a 9/11 Memorial, and a new Interpretive Center. (PDF map)

The Peace Tower consists of lots of concrete featuring four huge slabs (columns 120 feet high) representing the immigrants' aspiration when coming to both the United States and Canada and the other bonds between the two countries.

The Welcome Center seems to be brand new and isn't even quite finished yet, although it is open for business.

In Chris' opinion, the managers of the International Peace Garden seem to have a strong understanding of the garden part. There are lots of colorful flowers in a variety of pleasant arrangements. Their understanding of the peace part of their name seems more doubtful. Here are two observations.

The Peace Chapel is the place where the garden managers can most clearly express their thoughts about peace because inspirational quotes are carved on the interior walls. (YouTube video of quotes) The quotes are very thoughtful and inspirational. I really did like them. But this is a Peace Chapel. Shouldn't the quotes be about peace? When the quotes were being selected for the chapel walls the selector(s) seem(s) to have forgotten the main theme half way through and just started picking quotes they liked. For example:

"Does't thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of." - Ben Franklin.

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you." - Jesus. This quote may or may not be about peace, but Jesus said several things that definitely are about peace, e.g., Matthew 5:9, 5:38-48 and 26:52. Aren't these passages more relevant?

The Interpretive Center's gift shop sells wooden toy guns. This itself is not a contradiction because some claim the intimidation of guns causes peace. But, this garden on the "world's longest undefended border" symbolizes a peace created by trust between two nations sharing a common belief in democracy. Therefore, selling guns at this gift shop is ironically amusing. It would be appropriate to sell toy guns at a peace monument on the border between North and South Korea.

After leaving the Peace Garden, we again had to go through Canadian Customs to re-enter Manitoba. Our plan was to head for Brandon, Manitoba, to catch Trans-Canada highway 1. [as an aside, I think Brandon Manitoba sounds like a great stage name for someone. How about you?--Kathy]

While passing through Boissevain we first stopped to get tourist information. This community has many murals painted on buildings around town and a giant turtle welcoming visitors (remember the Turtle Mountains?). We ate lunch at a new facility that included food and snacks and gifts. It was nice and the folks there were very friendly. The café part had books on shelves all around the large room. It was very nice and homey for two librarians on the road!

We caught the Trans-Canada Highway at Brandon and headed west toward Saskatchewan. This would be the first time either of us had been in that province.

We had discovered, while reading some of the travel brochures, that Indian Head, Saskatchewan, was were a Canadian TV program called Little Mosque on the Prairie was filmed. After reading about it and watching some clips on the Web, we have decided that we are going to interlibrary loan the series to watch. It seems like it might be fun.

So, of course, we decided to stop in Indian Head to see the "mosque" from the show. After driving around fruitlessly searching we went to the city office to ask about this. (Yes, the library was closed!) We discovered that the church building in the show was actually just a façade and had already been taken down for the season (they film in town during July and August each year). The helpful lady in the City Office pointed out where it usually stands during filming.

We decided to stay in Indian Head at the KOA campground. We also ate supper at the Craft Tea Elevator Restaurant. Kathy was excited because they serve breakfast all day (the omelet was very good)! Chris had good liver and onions.

When we first began camping in Canada, our night-time DVD viewing has included episodes of season one of Corner Gas, another Canadian TV show. We have enjoyed watching the show which seems similar in spirit to Northern Exposure. Take a look at the first season, episode one opening scene on YouTube.

We hope to visit the town where it was filmed later on the vacation, so we watched more episodes before we bedded down for the night.