Well, well, well. Have I got a story to tell. I'm unpacking my suitcase, and smiling at the grand adventure that just ended. It all started when my daughter decided to move West.
To help her relocate, I agreed to drive cross country with her, hauling all her belongings in her car, then fly back home to Atlanta, Georgia, once she got where she needed to be. Oh, and there was that one tiny detail that we would be transporting 3 cats in the car. Not her cats, mind you, but her friend's cats. Long story, but my daughter's cat Franklin flew out a week earlier on a preliminary trip with her, because he is such a gawd-awful car traveler that no one wanted him in their vehicle on the long drive. Franklin took to the skies. Then, my daughter flew back home so that she, 3 cats, and I could load ourselves into her car with a zillion personal belongings, and head West.
I was more than happy to help my daughter out. Even more so, when I realized that the major route to get to her final destination, Interstate Highway I-70, ran straight through the middle of two Gwen-Hasn't-Visited-Yet states. If you aren't aware that I am trying to visit all 50 US states, then I don't know what to tell you. Get with the program. C'mon, keep up.
After the 3-day 25 hour drive, 7 states, 2 hotels, and multiple litter box breaks, I am proud to proclaim that I have now visited the states of Missouri and Kansas. Check those suckers off my list! Oh, and my daughter, her roommate, and cats are happily exploring their new home. Except for Franklin. With all the excitement and changes, he's still pretty cranky.
Cats out of cages (!!) during potty break in car. Stops along the way---Cats in hotel in Kansas. Also, Gateway Arch, St. Louis, Missouri.
That would be the end of the story, but it isn't....
If you recall, I was planning to fly home after dropping everyone off at their new digs out West. Weeks before, I was using my computer to book that one-way flight back to Atlanta when wanderlust took hold. I couldn't help but click a few extra tabs just to see if there was anywhere interesting I could visit in a round-about way back home. I was surprised and intrigued to see that flights to North Dakota were very reasonably priced. North Dakota, the most out-of-the-way remote contiguous state I had yet to visit. North Dakota, the state that none of my family & friends seemed interested in visiting. North Dakota, the state that I would eventually need to visit if I were to complete my 50 states goal.
Anybody wanna guess what I did next?
Yuppers, I booked a flight from my daughter's new city to Bismarck, North Dakota, so I could rent a car and spend 3 nights in the state, before flying back home to Atlanta.
Another one of my daughters loves visiting National Parks. She has traveled far and wide to absorb the beauty of America's natural lands. Her schedule is usually pretty tight, but I called to tell her what I was planning to do. When I mentioned there was a National Park involved, she immediately cleared her schedule and made plans to join me in the quaint little western town of Medora, North Dakota, where we would spend a weekend at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. See, one of my family members did want to go to North Dakota, after all. Just so you know, the town of Medora is building the impressive new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum as we speak. Plans are to open it in summer 2026. If you're looking for somewhere to go next year.
The North Dakota trip was a huge success. I am here to tell you that the scenery in the western part of North Dakota is unlike anything I have ever seen before. It's true that I'm enamored with a good vista. Theodore Roosevelt National Park is chockful of vistas. Immense, never-ending, gorgeous, breathtaking vistas. We explored both the North (backwoodsy) Unit of the park and the South (user-friendly) Unit of the park, and each was as impressive as the other.
It's no secret that Dances With Wolves is one of my favorite movies. In North Dakota, I got my Dances With Wolves fix, 100%. While not exactly the same as the movie setting, I really felt the call of the land. Sweeping prairies. Fields of sagebrush. Majestic buttes. Tatonka (that's Bison, if you aren't a DwithW fan). Wild horses. Prairie dogs. Coyote. Miles and miles and miles and miles of western Badlands with canyons and rivers and spires and mesas and vast open spaces. It was a spectacular, mostly untouched land. I could easily envision the DwithW saga playing on the widespread prairies. I could also imagine Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders passing through the rugged terrain. Kudos to President Teddy for his significant role in supporting and expanding conservation efforts which led to establishing the US National Park system in 1916. He was instrumental in the push to preserve natural treasures, unique landscapes, and environments such as this.
Not only that:
Also noted, during the long drive across the country (before flying to ND), we stopped one night in the town of Hays, Kansas. When pre-booking that stop, I did not know that Hays was the home of old frontier Fort Hays.......which was depicted in the opening scene of Dances With Wolves.......set in the 1860s.......wherein Lieutenant John Dunbar (Kevin Costner) rides a suicide mission.......which unintentionally turns him into a hero.......thus setting in motion his move from Fort Hays to the outpost Fort Sedgwick, Colorado.......where he opens his heart to new ideas.......and embraces the Native American Lakota Sioux culture.......and experiences a full-on life transformation.
My daughter and I didn't see anything related to actual Fort Hays on our overnight hotel-by-the-highway stay in Hays, Kansas, but it was a cool bit of trivia. To shoot the movie DwithW, it seems that, instead of filming on location at the authentic historical Fort Hays and Fort Sedgewick, the production company constructed sets, staged, and filmed in South Dakota, which is a completely different state than North Dakota, but still. Not to ruffle anybody's feathers, but, you say DaKOta, I say DaKAta. Western Great Plains, same difference, right? Close enough. I'm just saying. For me, North Dakota had the real cinematic vibe.
I said I was a Dances With Wolves fan. This trip gave me all the feels.
There are many interesting details about Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the rock formations, and the animals within, but we don't have time to get into all of that right now. We'd be here all day. So I'll just finish off with a few more pics.
In conclusion:
After this adventure, by spending time in the virgin states of Missouri, Kansas, and North Dakota, I have only 6 states left to visit before I can join the 50 States Club. That would be Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Alaska. I hope I can knock those remaining states out in the next year or two. There is a good chance that I will, because I can be pretty determined when it comes to goals that I set for myself. If I succeed in going to all 50 states, you'll be the first to know. Well, maybe second, or third or......definitely within the top 20 or 30 to know about it. It goes without saying, if you wanna pay for my travels to your state of residence, I'll be forever grateful and give you a shout-out. I've got the South already covered, but this old lady will go West, East, or North. And, I promise I won't bring any cats.