I’ve had a nasty bout of strep this last week (along with half of Watford) so have been laying low, not much writing.  But today, I bring you pictures from the badlands.

On Saturday the weather was a bit warm (warm as in, if we bundle in 13 layers we can probably walk outside for a few minutes) so, we layered up and drove out to the north entrance of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. There are no entrance fees until next year because the road is closed half way up. We drove as far as we could and then parked in the little parking lot by the block off and hiked a bit.

I am a lover of national parks. In Utah we had 5 and most of our weekend trips centered around getting into one of them. And, lucky for us, we’ve got this one close here in Watford. The north entrance is minutes away from home.

The landscape here is different than I’ve seen before. There is quiet, solitary beauty. While the city is so beige, everything is the color of dust, the hillsides and trails have a golden hue. I felt peaceful walking in between these massive rocks.

And sometimes, a kid just needs to run, in the opposite direction of their mother, and climb and fall and see something new.

I love my eskimo baby. When we bought his coat on the clearance rack last spring, we had no idea that coat would be protecting Benj from North Dakota cold and would also be the perfect camouflage for this place.

If you haven’t yet, or even if you have, take a drive out there, you won’t be disappointed.