Road Trip #7 - Medora and Teddy Roosevelt National Park

Saturday, June 20th

We spent the majority of Saturday in Medora, ND. It is a fun old western tourist town and was always a highlight of my childhood vacations! We started by going to one of the old timey photo places to get a fake turn of the last century rancher/saloon photo taken, but the earliest available time they had was when we had to leave to get back to the family reunion dinner. If you go, make a reservation as the first thing you do before sightseeing to ensure you get a time.

We ate lunch at the Cowboy Cafe. It is our traditional spot to eat buffalo burgers and drink sarsaparilla. We love the ranch decor with local ranch brands burned into the tables and booths. There are pictures of the local ranchers all over the walls. Even though the waitresses are young ladies, most of them have been working at the Cowboy Cafe year after year. There are also foreign exchange students who get to practice English and learn the restaurant business. The ranch feel is so authentic, Eight found a tick crawling on the table at our booth.

My aunt, niece, and sister at one table. Photo by Karen Rasmussen.

Tim, Six, me, Eight, and my dad at our booth. Cheers! Photo by Karen Rasmussen.

Decor is all about the local ranchers.

The menu really hasn't changed since I remember coming here as a child, or at least what we always order hasn't changed. We all went for the buffalo burger and sarsaparilla. Some of us branched out and got the buffalo burger special that came with potato salad, others went for a side order of french fries. Six being her usual self chose the chicken nuggets with fries that came in a cardboard car. She took it home to use as a Barbie car for the rest of our trip. The food is a novelty since you can't find this menu at just any restaurant. We were adequately satisfied and it was inexpensive. The Cowboy Cafe is a cash only establishment, so plan accordingly.

My buffalo burger, side of fries and sarsaparilla. I chose not to go for the special with potato salad.

After we fueled up, we went to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park so the girls could earn their 11th Junior Ranger badge. We attended the Ranger Program touring Teddy Roosevelt's house. He actually lived in this house, although it has been relocated a few times, with it's current location right outside the Visitor's Center. It was quite the ranch mansion in it's day because it has 3 rooms on the main floor for himself, two doors, and a second level for his ranch hands. At the original location, it also had a root cellar access from a trap door in the kitchen. He came to the Badlands to try to heal his broken heart from losing both his wife and mother within hours of each other, and hours after his first child was born. His daughter went to live with his sister because in those days single dads raising children was very rare. His time in the Badlands also helped form his view on conservation and preservation. When he became president, forming the National Park Service was one of his proudest accomplishments.

Teddy Roosevelt's house in the Badlands.

The girls and my mom in the kitchen with my dad and uncle with the Park Ranger in the living room.

We drove the Scenic Drive and enjoyed seeing the rugged nature as Teddy Roosevelt once did. We saw prairie dogs, wild horses, and a few bison off in the distance. One of the Junior Ranger tasks was to take a hike. While on the Wind Canyon Trail, we spotted a herd of bison crossing the road from where we just came. So we hurried back to our vehicles to see the herd up close. As we pulled up and off the side of the road, we opened the doors to take pictures without buggy windshields. In the process my sister managed to lose one of her sandals on the side of the road.

Prairie Dog town, their chatters and chirps were loud!

Family photo with the Badlands.

A beautiful example of the different layers of rock that make up the Painted Canyon of the Badlands.

Family photo overlooking the Badlands.

A herd of wild horses.

Very cute colt in the wild herd.

A view from the top of the Wind Canyon.

My little Junior Rangers enjoying a break on their hike, right before we spotted the bison herd.

Our cousins are in the red car!

Awe, baby bison!

This herd crossed the road and started grazing in the field near our cars. (This is where my sister lost her sandal.)

Huge bison.

So big and shaggy!

We could almost reach out and touch them. But we didn't because that would be really stupid. Leave the wildlife alone!

After many bison photos, we drove back to the Visitor's Center to turn in the Junior Ranger books. The Ranger checked over their books and had the girls swear in for their 11th Junior Ranger Badge. Then my dad took my sister to look for her sandal while I took the rest of the family back to the family reunion for dinner and the talent show.

The Ranger checking over the girls' work.

The Ranger swearing in the girls, taking an oath to be conservationists.

Congratulations on your 11th Junior Ranger Badge!

Round Rock Day

Today is Memorial Day. I always get a bit weepy this time of year because way back in 2004 I was in Iraq in the Army with the 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st Infantry Division and my battalion lost 10 heros. I considered two of the guys good friends. I miss my Army Brothers. So while this weekend no longer just means the unofficial kick-off to summer to me as it did before 2004, I do believe they would like us to take a moment to remember them, the good times we shared, and then get on with it.

Visiting my Army Brother's final resting place in Arlington, Memorial Day 2013, pictured with my oldest daughter. 

This morning I had to get my 2007 minivan it's 100,000 mile service! Yes, this military life has moved us coast to coast and now in the middle. My mom-van has served me well and is still going strong. As a reward for having to get up early on a no-school/work day, we decided to play tourist and head to Round Rock Donuts.

Round Rock Donuts neon sign by the registers.

I first heard about Round Rock Donuts when I attended a taping of the Jimmy Kimmel Live show in Austin this March. Then my spin instructor brought up that she got a "Texas Sized" donut from Round Rock Donuts for her birthday and she made us burn the calories for her. So today was the day to try these world famous donuts.

We drove up and were a bit surprised that the road was a weird left turn that kinda looked like a fork in the road, the road less traveled because just beyond the shop the road was blocked due to road construction. It didn't slow the traffic down at all. The parking lot is miniscule, with maybe 20 parking spaces. There is a drive thru that constantly has at least 10 vehicles waiting for their orders.

We parked and walked in. Amazingly we started to wait in line inside the doors. The good news is that the line moves quickly. The line moved so quickly, we didn't have much time to ogle the variety of donuts. We decided to get everyone a maple glazed and a chocolate glazed donut. The girls each got a chocolate milk that I wish we had glasses to share one, because neither one of them finished their milk. Tim and I got coffee.

The selection of donuts in the case with the Texas sized donuts. *They were similar in size to the Monterey Donuts which will be an upcoming Throwback Thursday post.

After placing our orders, there was barely any room to wait to pick up our orders. I'm not a fan of crowds, so I sent the girls and Tim outside to get a table while I waited for the donuts. It wasn't an overly long wait, but still felt long since I constantly felt I was in the way, but then again, so was everyone else.

Our family with our donuts. A nice lady who was sitting in that empty chair didn't want to photobomb us, so she volunteered to take our picture!

I finally got our order and joined the family outside. The donuts were obviously made fresh. They were very doughy and soft. Even under the chocolate and maple glazing, there was an odd orange colored glaze. They were a bit messy, especially the maple glaze. Their website says the orange or yellow color is because they use fresh eggs while hand making these donuts.

Six getting really messy with her maple glazed donut, plus some of the road construction equipment behind her.

While the donuts were delicious, I don't know if we'll be back any time soon. We have a few donut shops a lot closer who also make fresh donuts daily, with a lot less traffic and crowds. We might be back to order the Texas sized donuts for birthday breakfasts for the girls.

As we left, the traffic was just as bad and the line of people to get in the donut shop was even longer. Since it started to rain, we were happy to make room for others.

A horrible picture of the lines of vehicles coming and going from Round Rock Donuts.

As an added bonus, when we had to pick up my minivan from it's completed service, we decided to have burgers for lunch. So we headed to Mooyah.

We had decided not to review chain restaurants, because we usually avoid chains in favor of supporting local restaurants and businesses. Someday we may own our own restaurant or business, and we'd like all the support we can get! However, we didn't realize this was a chain, because it's only a Texas chain, like HEB the grocery store.

The burgers and hotdogs can be ordered with all kinds of toppings for free. Only cheese, bacon and avocado costs extra. You can also order salads here.

The rain was coming down hard and the restaurant was loud, so I had to repeat myself a few times. We did have a friendly chat with the gal working the register about Jimmy Kimmel and Vulcan Video that her friends own, and was featured on the episode I was there to see taped in person.

The girls were entertained by the big wall of chalkboard and chalk.

Our shakes came out first and mine was missing. Eight got cookie dough, Six got peanut butter cup and Tim got chocolate. I ordered an Oreo shake, but when it was delivered to me, it was peanut butter cup. Good thing I'm not allergic to peanut butter. It did have candy crushed on top, so I was warned it was not what I ordered, but I decided I didn't care enough to send it back. I was disappointed that the last third of my shake had no candy blended in, just vanilla ice cream.

My very disappointing and completely wrong milkshake.

Our food came out and it reminded me of Five Guys burgers. Five Guys happens to be my favorite fast food burgers, so this is a glowing review of their burgers from me! The one thing this place has over Five Guys is Sweet Potato Fries! Six was apparently not in the mood for her hot dog. She called it "spicy" but Tim tried it and he said it was delicious. We were filled, mostly enjoyed our food and didn't mind the wait as a huge storm moved through the area.

The rain falling in sheets as we waited to find a good time to drive home.

It was a blessing in disguise that we were stuck at Mooyah for awhile waiting out the storm. We drove home in the thunderstorm and torrential rain. A few minutes before we got home, a funnel cloud was spotted near our house. The storm has passed by now and we are all fine, still in our watertight house.

Someone shared this on facebook - the funnel cloud we missed as we were driving back from Mooyah, as seen 3 miles from our house.

As an added bonus, here is a link to the episode of Jimmy Kimmel I watched on March 16, 2015! Here's what I wore, matching my sister so we could find ourselves in the crowd. Amazingly Jimmy talked to us during a commercial break and we became known as "The Sisters" and got called out all evening walking around Austin that night! There's my 15 seconds of fame!