Ole meets the Bulls

The first time I ever went through the Badlands of North Dakota (Teddy Roosevelt National Park) I was about four years old. That was during the time my dad was working on a road construction crew and we were living in a trailer house like gypsies, traveling from one point to another throughout western North Dakota and South Dakota. My Dad was driving a 1950 Hudson and pulling a 34-foot trailer house. The road through the park at that time was very narrow, curvy and covered with scoria (red gravel-like substance), not fully paved like it is today. I remember being so scared I sat on the floor in the back seat of the car and wouldn’t look out the windows.

Times have changed.

We had a great trip through the park last night, Ole riding the bike with Lars on the back, and Lovely Daughter and I in her car with the doggers. We left the campground about five o’clock, just about the right time to get a good view of a lot of wildlife.

Lars had never seen a buffalo before, and we managed to get up close and quite personal with two of them. They were very large, lone bulls. One was quite old with very worn and broken horns; the other was young and somewhat aggressive. The first one really surprised us as we had stopped on a pull off to take some pictures. As Lovely Daughter went to the edge of the overlook and peered down, there, about a hundred feet from where she stood was the lone old-timer munching away on whatever buffalos munch on. He took notice of us, ate some more and then very slowly started up the hill. That’s when we decided it was time to leave, as meeting up with a buffalo on a motorcycle isn’t exactly a good thing. In past years when bikers have gotten too close, we’ve seen buffalo take a swipe at them with their huge horns. The second, younger bull appears right in the middle of the road as we rounded a curve. Ole got stopped, sat for a few minutes as the big guy ambled toward him, and then decided to back up and get ready to turn around just in case. About that time the big guy decided the grass on the other side of the road looked a bit greener so he ambled that way and began to munch. When he passed by the car I could have reached out and touched him he was so close. Second thought was I’d just sit very still and maybe he wouldn’t notice me!!

There were lots of deer, multitudes of prairie dogs, which drove the doggers crazy, and we even saw a golden eagle looking for his dinner in a prairie dog town. He was successful, too (which got kind of gross). We did let the doggers out to run a bit but don’t tell anyone. If a ranger had come along, we probably would have been arrested and thrown in jail for not having them on a leash. Every time we would leave them in the car they would take over the front seat (see picture below).

So this morning we’re going to run through the park once more – last night I let Lars ride on the back of the Harley – this morning it’s going to be my turn. Eve though I’ve put many hundred miles on my backside this last month, I’m not done yet. The calluses are just getting broken in (snort).