8/24 Theodore Roosevelt National Park

After Theodore Roosevelt's wife and mother both died on the same day, he built a cabin on the western frontier and lived there for a couple of years while mourning and healing. The hard work of ranching and hunting helped mold him. Later he remarried, fought in Cuba with the Roughriders and became president. He loved nature.

We visited Teddy's cabin,

and saw lots of scenic vistas.

Summer didn't actually get bitten on the backside by the friendly prairie dog. There were thousands of them on this hill.

Then we headed off to find a free campsite but found that we were led astray by Google and/or our GPS coordinates. The drive was beautiful and we saw 2 bighorn sheep.

Google Maps took us down a series of dirt roads for 15 miles ending at a plot surrounding an oil pipeline valve. A sign warned of hydrogen sulfide but we didn't smell any. Having no other good options, we stayed the night and headed out about 6 am the next morning after catching a whiff of sulfur.