Medora Trip

Last Thursday Brynn and I stayed at Weckerlys' so we could head out West to Medora with Tessa, Elise, Ben and Ollie on Friday morning. We weren't quite sure if we'd have enough room in Tessa's vehicle for everyone, and with the long drive, we thought Clara would have a better time at the lake with Dad.

I had wanted to get back to Medora again, and thought Brynn would enjoy it out there, so we were thankful for the opportunity to tag along with Auntie and gang.

I think the last time I had been to Medora was possibly when I was in junior high, and I was wondering how much it had changed.

It seemed like a pretty quick drive and before we knew it, we were in a very different-looking part of our state. Brynn seems mystified by the buttes, not quite knowing what to call them since they clearly aren't mountains.

Our first order of business was lunch, so we grabbed some pizza.

Tessa took her kids mini golfing, and Brynn and I opted to explore around town a bit.

After the Weckerlys were done golfing, we met back up again and Ben and Brynn braved the zipline. It looked absolutely horrifying, but they said it was fun.

Everybody's fav, the shooting range.

After a little wait for our motel rooms to be ready, most of us cooled off in the outdoor motel pool while Brynn rested in our room.

We were all excited to get to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in hopes of spying some prairie dogs, buffalo and wild horses...of which we were able to see all three.

The prairie dogs were so funny.

My sissy is one of my most favorite traveling partners. It never seems to fail us that we inadvertently end up wearing at least one outfit matching during our trips together. Great minds think alike!

My Brynnie girl.

It was a beautiful evening to be in the park.

Of course it is very dry out there, like everywhere in North Dakota.

I had always wanted to do one of the old time photos that you can get done in Medora and Brynn was game to do it with me. It was really fun. Brynn wanted to hold as many guns as we could. Haha.

On Saturday morning, Tessa had booked a trail ride that just the girls and I ended up going on together. There were a few kittens running around the place and we couldn't help but snuggle them. This little gray one was so precious and cute. We all wanted to take it home with us.

It fell asleep in Brynn's arms. So sweet.

The trail ride was fun, but my bottom was sore from the saddle for about three days after!

After we were done with our ride, Auntie came to pick us up and we checked out the Cowboy Cafe for breakfast which was a hit with everyone. (I recommend the Belgian waffles.)

We found Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt.

In the afternoon we went on a horse-drawn wagon ride around the grounds of the Chateau de Mores and then toured the house.

Afterward we found some ice cream. Brynn tried the huckleberry and was hooked. It was really tasty.

More swimming. I ended up falling asleep on my lawn chair by the pool, but it was nice to relax in the afternoon.

Before long it was time to get ready for the pitchfork fondue and the musical following that. I had been to the musical before, but not the pitchfork fondue, so I was excited to try it.

Loaded up and ready for fonduing!

All the food was excellent. Brynn ate herself into a bit of a food coma.

I'm not usually a huge fan of musicals, and neither is Tessa, so when intermission rolled around, we were polling the kids to see who might be ready to duck out. Most of us were pretty bushed after a full day of fun, but Ben really enjoys the musical, so we ultimately decided to stick it out. I think everyone was glad that we did since there was a magician in the second act that the kids thought was really good.