Cottonwood Campground, North Dakota, United Statesaug 30 monday cottonwood campground south unit Theodore Roosevelt National Park ND
It has been a long day and I am worried there is something seriously wrong with my Subaru.
From a whistle to a rattling at 60 mph and now to an almost continuous rattle, clicking sound in 3rd and 4th gears when trying to get up steep, windy roads. I am now at my campsite picnic table, but I think I am being bitten by insects - it is windy though. I can hear the wind in the trees and feel my hair flying across my face so maybe the insects won't get me. It has been a confusing day timewise. I thought I got up shortly before 7 am. I showered and then went to the Dakota Farm restaurant for take-out eggs benedict and a coffee since the motel owner told me I could make coffee in my room but there were no filters or coffee. I can't imagine he can expect patrons to know what filter they would need, but, the restaurant coffee was good and, when I checked out, the motel owner offered me OJ, coffee and asked if I wanted a muffin. He felt guilty I think.
At some point I tried to call Juliet to update her in case she can come out and join me, but no answer so I left a message. I tried to get to the United Native Artist building by 10 am.
When I arrived there, I found no 400 W Main - nothing but an empty lot and construction. Then I googled it and found a notice that it was permanently closed. I had had that web site up before but failed to notice the closure. A definite mistake on my part, but, oh, well. Somehow it turned out to be earlier than I thought. Somewhere I crossed into mountain time but I do not know when.
It was only 80 or so miles to Davidson and maybe 20 more to the first Theodore Roosevelt National Park visitor center. I went there and got a call from Juliet just after I went in. I couldn't get my mask off to talk and somehow cut her off so I called again and we tried to resolve my itinerary and whether Juliet could join me if she can be comfortable that Bobby would be OK. So then I went into the visitor center and found out about the campground site which the ranger said would probably be available if I got there by early afternoon. She also gave me some tips on a route and where to stop in the South Unit.
I drove further to where the second visitor center is - in a small town where I was able to get some gas - with an old style pump - no credit card reader - and some wine. They wouldn't let me have two single beers from 2 different cartons and there were no loose ones. I thought I was set. I forgot about needing water. I bought a sticker for my national park passport and 2 postcards. Of course, I neglect the most important item.
Then I began driving on the scenic loop road and stopped a t a few overlooks, saw some prairie dogs and beautiful scenery. Oh, I forgot: just before reaching Theodore Roosevelt NP, I saw a buffalo grazing by the fence sort of near the road - a single buffalo. I was very excited. So back to the scenic road - lots of colorful rocks, sagebrush and some yellow flowers - quite beautiful. I though I would see the overlooks on my side of the road, but then it seemed I was taking too much time so I headed to the campground and it is a good thing I did. The ranger told me to go to the loop without so many rvs because I would have better luck there and she told me to look at the reserved ones because some ould not be reserved for tonight. But they were. I went around over half of the loop before finding a single spot. It wasn't the greatest - it had a path for people to go to the restrooms and a path to get at the water faucet. I put up my registration though. I kept walking and looking and found a better situated site and almost ran back to take off my registration and switch to this new one .
..all the time afraid someone would come along and snatch one and then the other, but a car slowly drove by MY site and then drove on. I put my registration on the new site, ate my leftover egg benedict and had some water and left the watermelon on the table to mark my territory. I was a bit afraid that you weren't supposed to leave out food, but it was still there when I got back.
So after lunch, I got back in the car with camera, phone, and binoculars all ready to see with my eyes and capture by photos. There was a lot of great scenery to see, but stopping places were limited. My plan was to go out to the end - it was no longer a loop because a piece was closed, and then hit the other side on the way back. If I missed anything, it would be the closest to the campground so I would not have to drive far to get back to it.....that was the plan. It was very hard to drive and look for little small animals. I did see one big animal, a bison, right next to the road and the car in front of me stopped when a large deer-like animal ran into a ditch.
I only saw parts of its rump, but was excited neverthesless.
Once I got to the end of the scenic drive and turned around, I was so worried about the car that it was hard to concentrate on animal sighting. But I did stop at the primo overlook - it must have been close to 6 pm and that golden light was over all the hills. From the top of one of them, I looked out into the green pasture type areas and saw a small herd of animals. Oh, I forgot I did see a couple of bunches of wild horses that other people pointed out. So I found this one bunch of black dots and tried to zoom in with the camera but I don't think I got any good shots. The people next to me had better eyes and they saw scads more bison scattered all through the valley below. That was definitely exciting.
Once I hit that high, I started to worry about not having much water so I decided I would go back to the visitor center and fill two bottles with fountain water - so that was an extra 10 miles added to the trip which was already totally stressing me because of the car.
But the trip back didn't seem as long or as hard on the car, so I got to the campground and the watermelon, backed the car into the spot, but I think someone moved some big stone blocks to prevent me from backing farther into the site....Where I am parked is not so great for sleeping in the car because I will be a lot closer to the road and there are no bushes on that side. Maybe I will switch the mats to the other side, but that is closer to the rv with its generator. Luckily, it is not running now. How long do they have to run those generators anyway?
So weather-wise it has been another perfect day, this park is beautiful and it is only my worry about my Subaru that is troubling me. Did I not lose anything today?? Oh, I can't find my little short sox, but they might be in the car somewhere.
Now it is time to have my dinner I still have to work on my cheese and crackers but it is leftover pizza tonight. That was a big pizza from Domino's for 7.99 and it was pretty good too. Too bad I don't have a microwave here at the campground though. I suppose if I had an RV instead of a tent and sleeping bag, I might have a microwave too, but I would scorn such camping, wouldn't I??
2025-05-22