Let me be very clear that I am not a camper. Waking up damp, freezing or sweating all night, wearing flip flops to an iffy campground bathroom, YUK! I once shared a shower stall with the world's largest daddy long legs spider. No thank you! My husband and kids, on the other hand, love everything about camping. So about 8 years ago when Steve wanted to take B on a camping trip with his dad and grandfather I opted out. They camped (in a tent) at the Oshkosh Air Show and had a great time. The next year Steve wanted to go back and bring E and me along. He also started throwing around the idea of a camper. At the time we both were diving smaller SUVs which meant our options would be limited. After many discussions we decided it wasn't in the budget (nor was I interested in making camping our main form of vacationing). After lots of research we came upon a nice compromise and invested in a tent trailer. This got us sleeping up off of the ground- yay for not waking up damp! And it was
End of summer 2021 we decided to "squeeze" in one more camping adventure. When we start planning a trip we often start with a main destination. Then, as we begin planning we find other sites to visit, or stay for a while, along the way. This trip was planned around the prize gem that was a campsite in West Yellowstone. We decided to go north on our trip west to see Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We left home around 2pm towing our new, to us, travel trailer. First stop down the road was a Costco for gas and pizza. We made it to our first overnight stop in Bismarck, ND around 10:15p. We chose a KOA Journey for an easy in-and-out stop and it was exactly as expected. Day 2 was hit the road and go. We stopped at Theodore Roosevelt National Park at the Painted Cavern Visitor Center. There was a small herd of bison and a beautiful view. As we drove on to Medora it began to rain. We stopped at the South Unit Visitor and did the first part of the Scenic Drive. The prairie dog town