Whiteout: Winter ISN'T over!

When I hit the sack at my hotel in Medora, ND last night, the wind was howling. Throughout the evening, several freight trains rumbled by on the track adjacent to the hotel. Thankfully, they didn't blow their horns! In the morning, it looked like it had rained heavily overnight, but it was just drizzling lightly as I left. Even though I held out a bit of hope that I might be able to visit Theodore Roosevelt National Park's North Unit this morning, I quickly realized it wasn't happening. As I traveled east on I-95, then north on US Hwy 85, the rain turned to snow. In addition, there was slush on the road and it was still windy. What had I gotten myself into! I got stuck behind a snowplow, which was probably a GOOD thing, although I was crawling at 30-40 mph.

When I reached the town on Williston, I had lunch at a road trip favorite, Culver's. I enjoyed a butterburger, but passed on the frozen custard. With temps hovering near freezing, I didn't feel like eating something cold. Since I really wanted to fit in some sightseeing today, I briefly considered visiting the nearby Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site. But, with a long drive ahead of me and horrible weather conditions, the only thing on my mind was making it to my pit stop for tonight. As I drove west on US Hwy 2, things alternated between sleet, snow and rain, with wind and near whiteout at times. I was genuinely worried! At least the road was passable, and I was able to maintain the speed limit most of the way.

It was quite a relief when I made it to my hotel, and I checked in extra early...it was only 2:30 pm! Right now, it's still very windy, but no rain or snow. Since I have no sightseeing report for today, I thought I would post a photo from each day of my road trip so far...different pics that you haven't seen yet.

Day One: Bryan Hall, Washington State University, Pullman, WA

 Day Two: Miner with family, Wallace, ID

 Day Three: Ghostly shadow in corner, Bannack State Park, Bannack, MT

 Day Four: Ice-covered Earthquake Lake, MT

 Day Five: Weirdly shaped tree, Yellowstone National Park, WY

 Day Six: Bison, Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park, WY

 Day Seven: scenic view near Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite, WY

 Day Eight: prairie dogs, Devils Tower National Park, WY

 Day Nine: bison tracks, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND

Tomorrow, things are supposed to clear up, but I might still have to deal with less than ideal road conditions. I'm hoping that won't stop me from having some fun. I shouldn't be experiencing stress on my vacation!