Day 6: To Bismarck, and More Parks

Last night a decent sized storm blew through the campground. We felt so lucky to be in this huge RV and felt awful for the tenters weathering the rain and wind. We had another first last night as we ran out of water…still figuring out how much we need to be without hookups for a few days. Some of us were more stinky and thirsty than others, but we knew we’d have full hookups again today and could manage a bit longer.

Painted Canyon is a third part of Theodore Roosevelt National Park that was on the way to our next destination, so we started the day with a hike there. Rob took his meetings from the visitor center parking lot while the boys and Kelly did a hike and entertained themselves with selfies at the national park sign. Oddly, only Kelly’s watch/phone thought we were in Central time when staying at the campground, but the other devices all knew it was Mountain time. Glad we’ll soon have this time oddity behind us.

It was a bit windy, but pretty smooth drive to Bismarck, ND. Nicholas was the front seat buddy, and we stopped for lunch at a rest stop along the way. While driving, we were impressed by this cow so he took a picture. Apparently, it is the worlds largest cow named Salem Sue standing at 38ft high and 50ft long.

We are staying in a beautiful campground, and the kids were thrilled to get to ride their bikes to explore. The hosts recommended checking out Fort Abraham Lincoln, the oldest state park in ND, so we headed out for an evening visit. On the property they had replicas of the native Mandan On-A-Slant earthlodges, blockhouses, and Custer’s last house. The first blockhouse had another “visitor” so we opted to skip and move on to the other one.

As a side note, today also marked the first day Kelly hit a breaking point. Driving the RV is stressful, add in kids bickering because the three of us are within three feet of each other 24 hours a day these first few days of summer, toss in some extra picking up (since anything left out is in the way), and it became too much. The three of us chatted over dinner at Five Guys and while exploring the fort, while Rob finished working then went for a run in downtown Bismarck. It wasn’t pretty or perfect, but we have hit a reset button that should set us up for smoother sailing going forward.