TRAVEL +LEISURE

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://tsimdadadiversity.org/2021/03/22/example-post-2/

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://tsimdadadiversity.org/2021/03/22/example-post-3/ After flying in to Bismarck, north Dakota, we drove three hours west to cottonwood campground, near Medora, a rollicking wild west town and gateway to Theodore  national park. once settled ,we sauntered through the town, eating scoops of huckleberry ice cream from the Medora fudge & ice cream depot. as we walked, the rattle of horse drawn carriages made for a charming soundtrack. we also stopped by the north Dakota cowboy hall of fame, where the exhibits pay tribute to local ranching and rodeo communities. that night, we caught medora musical, a flamboyant ode to the great America west. it strings together vignettes about teddy Roosevelt time in the area with dancing, honky tonk tunes and  fireworks. the show was a fun spectacle but we were disappointed that the story the story totally glossed over the darker sides of the religion legacy settlers had forced indigenous groups from their lands and Roosevelt racial views. the next morning, setting out on the approachable trails of Roosevelt park felt like a rebirth. amid the red scoria buttes rock formations shaped by centuries of lightning strikes, prairies fires, and erosion i thought of the former champion claim of feeling perfection freedom  in this place. in a letter to his sister, he described the terrain as the barren, fantastic and grimly picturesque desert of the so called bad lands. as I took in the shifting colors of the landscape, i appreciated the high of being in the wild and felt grateful for his pioneering conservation work.