2016 - The Year of the US National Parks!

There has been a lot of marketing behind this year's national celebration of the US National Parks' 2016 Centennial.  Social media is filled with special merchandise items, tour packages and photos encouraging folks to "Find Your Park" as the summer vacation season begins.

Last year, I had planned for what turned out to be pretty much my exact itinerary this year, only cancer got in the way.  With using a significant amount of paid leave for surgery and recovery, I didn't feel I could justify taking another week of vacation just a month after returning to work . . . so my trip in 2015 got scratched.

For this year, however, the plan started out as just an extended Memorial Day Weekend. I planned to take the Friday before and Tuesday after the holiday weekend and make a "quick" trip to the Badlands of the Dakotas.  Specifically, Teddy Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota and Badlands National Park in South Dakota were my destinations.   The five day journey was mapped out at just under 2,000 miles round-trip.

What happened however, was very different.  Prior to leaving town I had worked feverishly to get everything at my job taken care of before my trip.  I knew that if the weather was good and I was feeling up to it, I would consider adding an additional leg to the trip, pushing further west into Wyoming.  And that's exactly what happened.  My drop dead date to be back home in Wisconsin was Sunday, June 5th.

Ultimately, my "extended weekend" became a ten day adventure encompassing seven National Park locations including three I had never visited before:  Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site and Devils Tower National Monument.  The others were repeats, but just as pleasurable:  Badlands National Park, Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, Yellowstone National Park and Grand Tetons National Park.

My campsite in Yellowstone Nat'l Park

Using David's van, I was prepared to car camp for the entire duration of my trip, whether five days or ten.  I had enough food to go the distance, which worked out perfectly.  My camping nights were as follows:

Day 1 Milwaukee, WI to Fargo, ND (588 miles) - camped at the Lindenwood Community Park Campground
Days 2 & 3 Fargo, ND to Medora, ND  (504 miles) - camped inside Theodore Roosevelt NP
Days 4 & 5 Medora, ND to Interior, SD (257 miles) - camped inside Badlands NP
Days 6, 7 & 8 Interior, SD to Yellowstone, WY (653 miles) - camped inside Yellowstone NP
Day 9  Yellowstone, WY to Sioux Falls, SD (850 miles) - camped at the KOA in Sioux Falls
Day 10 Sioux Falls, SD to home (515 miles) - IN MY OWN BED!

Including my sightseeing and wildlife viewing day trips, I logged just over 4,500 miles during this trip.

I will be writing about each day, to include photos. Like any "Von Road Trip" I enjoyed a lot of wildlife, some history and cultural learning, a train or two and even a little cafe with six bowling lanes.  I hope you will enjoy taking the trip with me as I relive the entire experience one day at a time!

p.s.  You can click on any of the photographs throughout this blog to see enlarged images.