World's Largest Buffalo and the smallest dam? at Gull Lake COE Campground

 We woke to overcast skies that would end up clearing as we headed eastward towards Brainerd, MN.

The "wildlife" of Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park strolled by the VRRV as we ate breakfast:

We left by 8 AM and were set up by 3:30PM at the new campsite within the Corps of Engineers (COE) Campground at Gull Lake.

We've left North Dakota behind, don't foresee visiting it anytime soon again.  I liked the state's low population but there also wasn't much in the way of dramatic scenery I guess.

One last ND sight though, we stopped in Jamestown, ND to check out the world's largest Buffalo.  It's seen better days and we didn't have the sun at a good angle to "Dakota Thunder", the name of the buffalo.

Let's just say, we were more impressed with Salem Sue, the world's largest cow.

We're in Minnesota now, and the state bird: the mosquito, greeted us in force as we set up camp.  Out came the bug spray and mosquito electric rackets....sigh.

The campground is quite small, which in a way is fitting since it is next to the smallest dam we've encountered under COE management:

yes, that's a dam....we thought it was just a small bridge

martha pic

martha pic

Lots of trees to go along with all the water in the state's lakes....claimed to be 10,000 lakes but who knows.  The trees make the sites pretty secluded, which I liked of course.

It didn't take long for us to do a recce of the campground, and we ended up at the local watering hole called Ernie's.

More exploration tomorrow of nearby resort towns and such, perhaps a visit to a statue of Paul Bunyan in Brainerd, MN.

World's Biggest Cow and Scenes from Fort Abraham Lincoln, ND

 After a day of zero riding and simply resting and relaxing yesterday, we displaced today to Mandan, North Dakota.  It's across the Missouri River from Bismark, the state capital.

We're staying at the Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park's campground.  Electric and water sites for only $20 night, not bad at all.  The day started overcast and rainy and would remain this way for the rest of the day.  

On the way to Mandan, we had to stop in Salem, ND to visit Salem Sue....the worlds largest cow!  You can drive up to a small parking lot near Sue and a short walk later, there you are.  In Martha's case, trying to tip the cow over or feeling up one of her teats.

She was visible from the I-94 Highway from at least 4.5 miles!

We then proceeded onto Mandan and the state park.  Set up camp and then we rode over to check out Custer's House.  Yep, Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer was the commander of Fort Abraham Lincoln as his last assignment.

$5/person gets you a guided tour of the house via a uniformed guide.  He delivers his spiel within the context of us being guests who are to expect the imminent arrival of General Custer and his wife....nice touch.

The house paraphernalia is pretty standard stuff, the only picture I offer is of Custer's bed, a replica thereof I think.  I thought it was quite small:

Custer House

Next, we toured the visitor center and joined a guided tour of the Mandan Slant Village:

Interior of the main/community earth lodge

Earth Lodge entrance

Bison Skull

Painting showing life inside a earth lodge

At the nearby Visitors Center, there's a diorama depicting the nearly 100 lodges that existed in the area.

Some of the paintings, done by George Catlin in 1834:

Decorated Buffalo Skin

After the visitor center, we motored to the top of the bluff where the original fort had been established (Fort McKeen).  The fort was originally an Infantry post but Cavalry was brought in later.  The infantry troops were there to protect the railroad surveyors, cavalry proved more mobile and therefore effective.

Blockhouse

View of the Heart River which joins the Missouri

Atop the modern replica blockhouse

Martha and I adjourned to camp, got some showers at the bathhouse within (nice shower/bathroom facilities) and called it a day.

Buffalo in the campground and a visit to the Visitor Center

 A short ride this morning, to check out an overlook that we'd skipped yesterday.  On the way, and just barely out of the campground, Martha spotted a Buffalo (technically, a Bison):

We checked out a trailhead and there were two Bison just hanging out nearby:

At the Wind Canyon Overlook, you can see good views of the Little Missouri River which spans the park.

As it was getting close to lunch time by then, we headed on back to the campground.  As we neared our loop, Martha spotted a Bison near the community bathroom building.  She went on to start lunch, and I stalked the Bison for a bit, waiting for a chance to take a picture with the 200 mm telephoto lens.

The Bison above was accompanied by a friend, he was hanging out at the other outhouse building:

After lunch it was quiet resting/napping in the lounge chairs at the campsite till about 4 PM when we rode to the visitor's center to be educated.

A short film and some perusal of photographs and displays related to Theodore Roosevelt, we ended the tour with a quick look at his cabin.  It's been relocated from the Elkhorn Unit of the park and gives one a nice idea of how the young Roosevelt lived when visiting his ranch.

As a young man in his 20's

Leaving the visitors center at 5PM, we wandered on back to camp but stopped at the overlooks for a look.  Here's a view of I-94:

View of the Badlands from same viewpoint above:

In case you've ever wondered the difference:

Two-Wheeling Across the Dakotas - Day 3: The Enchanted Highway and Camping in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park

 Thursday, June 2

Soon after breakfast, we broke camp and left this last look at how crowded this particular BLM dispersed camping site has become:

Yep, there's RVs as far as you can see along the edge

Enroute to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, we made a slight detour to check out the scrap metal sculptures along the Enchanted Highway.  Welded/built by Gary Greff to try and get folks to visit his hometown of Regent, North Dakota.  Kind of a "Build it and they will come" approach.  He started this work in 1989 and continues to maintain the sculptures.

Kind of neat in a kitschy way, something perhaps you'd expect to see along Route 66?  More info here: www.ndtourism.com/best-places/7-ways-be-awed-enchanted-highway

It was, very windy today, and the mileage on the VRRV suffered accordingly.

Tin Family

We didn't for the Teddy Rides Again sculpture but here's a pic from Martha's phone:

Teddy Rides Again

Pheasants on the Prairie

Fisherman's Dream

Grasshoppers

Deer Crossing

Geese in Flight

We had left the Badlands of South Dakota at 7:30 AM and were camped and eating a late lunch by 3:30 PM.  We got one of the last remaining "first come first served" campsites.  Note, it appears one should try and get to a campsite like this before 2PM.

We rode out in the evening to check out the sights, but didn't do much exploring of the loop road.  We did, while stopped waiting for the pilot car at a road paving section of the loop, spot a small herd of Buffalo.

I was wishing I still had my Sony HX-80 camera with the 30X zoom but the telephoto lens I had recently acquired will do I guess:

All the greenery by the way, is atypical we were told.  They had a very wet Spring apparently.  It's usually browner in this area.

We returned to camp when things started getting chilly, a pretty good day in spite of all the driving.  We'll be here for a couple of days I think.