“On the road again…” Medora, ND. Murphy might miss the ranch the most. Day 39

We are packed up and headed to Medora, ND — 412 miles from the ranch. We are breaking our 300 mile self-imposed limit but there is not tons between here and there that tempts us to stop. In fact, there is almost nothing. We did pass Pompey’s Pillar National Monument that is a huge rock that Capt. William Clark signed his name on as he passed by on his quest west, we did not stop. Mat said the drive was easy with no traffic, nice roads and didn’t even mind the light rain most of the day. We’ve been pretty lucky with weather so far getting the worst of it during the nights. But tomorrow, our day to explore Theodore Roosevelt National Park, it is 100% chance of rain. We plan to get wet.

We scratched off a new state on our map today. None of us have been to North Dakota before. Our first impression is beautiful — even in the rain. We know Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) is a less visited park so we didn’t expect to find much in this small Old West town of Medora. Mat has been on fire with his cheesy dad jokes and he called it ‘Medorable’. So let’s talk about Medora… this town embraces Teddy Roosevelt like Roswell embraces aliens. They LOVE their history. They take such pride that they have multiple performances celebrating their history including “Medora the Musical” that is performed nightly from spring until fall for the past 51 years! If the weather improves, I’m totally dragging my family to see it in their outdoor amphitheater. They are praying for rain, LOL.

Back to Murphy leaving the ranch… He LOVED his time on the ranch and I’m sure will be dreaming about it forever. His highlights (according to his favorite humans):

No ramps to climb up and down every time he wants to go out. We were all getting what feels like hours of our day back. He’s pretty slow getting in and out of the RV.
No more leashes. He’s off leash at home but campground rules means he’s back on a leash.
The windows at the main house and Clark’s Cabin are huge enough that he can see out them despite his stubby-legged, short stature.
Lots of time to nap while his humans play — his favorite.
So many walks! Walking from building to building is gorgeous with great paths, but he did happily climb into the car when offered a ride. And by climb I mean he gets his front paws up and waits for a butt elevator.
He seemed very excited to sniff out the ranch cats, Onyx and Simba, and bark at them when he finally found them. And he’s not much of a barker so you know he was excited.
He made a new friend, Big Poppa’s new dog Lucy, who was good for a little playing, but her puppy ways wore him out fast. She did have a great bed he loved to steal.
Lots of people around to keep him company when he’s not sleeping. All a basset wants really.
Awesome lush grass to eat to his heart’s content and nap in.
And his extra special treat – Maddy slept on a mattress on the floor in the cabin so he could happily climb onto her bed for his long night’s sleep. He seemed to enjoy this more as the days went by and started really stretching out leaving Maddy with very little room on the bed!

We all think he’ll miss the ranch but he did happily climb into the RV with us when it was time to leave. He’s always been such a loyal buddy and we’re lucky to have such a good dog.