Theodore Roosevelt NP

Tuesday morning, we checked out of the hotel and drove to the bakery we had been dreaming about. I guess we should not have tried to re-create that great breakfast from over one year ago. The croissants were not nearly as good today. Oh well. They weren't bad but the bar had been set so high the year before. Actually, the raspberry-white chocolate scone was this year's winner. Delicious!

Next, we drove back into the park to do the full 36-mile loop road. The kids were less than enthusiastic about any sort of hike today. I can't blame them really. They've had a busy 2+ weeks of backpacking, etc. Colin and I did walk a very short trail to a lookout over the Little Missouri River. Last year we had seen a bull snake on this trail but this year the big excitement was created by a bull bison on the trail. At one point, he followed us at a quick pace (yikes!) onto the trail as we made our way ASAP back to the car. He was "in a mood" it seemed.

Two Young Park Rangers Watch this Bull Bison

When the bison reached the parking area, there were 10+ people watching him with interest. Most people knew to keep their distance but as the saying goes, "there's one in every crowd". One guy tried to get close to the bison to have his photograph taken by a woman. The guy kept approaching the bison (who was already in a rowdy mood) and as we drove away, I actually saw the bison trot directly at the man. He came within a few feet of him and easily could have gored him if he had wanted to. DUH! You hear about these stories and we were almost a witness to one today.

The young park rangers were busy working on repairs to a trail and were oblivious to what had transpired. They blew it too and should have been a bit more helpful in that situation.

Bison Scratch

More Wildflowers in Teddy Roosevelt NP

After completing the loop road, we left the park and jumped back onto I-94 for the long haul east.