We're in Medora!

Now that you know where we're at, you might be wondering where Medora is.  Well, there are three Medoras in the US in Illinois, Indiana, and North Dakota which is where we're at.  We're here for our summer and early fall employment gig.  We arrived here about two weeks ago on the 29th of April after a hard ride from Clearfield, Ut, which was 812 miles stopping overnight at Idaho Falls, Idaho, and Billings, Mt., on our way here.  The folks in the HR department of Theodore Roosevelt Medroa Foundation (TRMF) were very accommodating upon our arrival and offered us a room in the Badlands Motel as they weren't sure if the water was turned on in the Medora Campground where we're staying.  Well, ...the water was turned on, but we took up the offer for about a hour to just use the shower in the motel room, which really felt good as there was an unlimited amount of hot water as opposed to only the six gallons of hot water that we have in the moho.  Once the showers were completed, we went back to the moho and finished up setting up our campsite.  

The next day we were formally employed by TRMF by filling out the forms needed, and then took a ride around the city, in particular where we were gonna be working at, with me at the Bully Pulpit Golf Course three miles south of the city, and Katie at the Chuckwagon Buffet in downtown Medora.  We both started work the next day with Katie only getting a few hours as the buffet is only open those few hours right now, but will open more as the summer nears, and me getting two full days of work in.  Since then, the buffet has been open more and more so Katie's been getting more hours.  My work hours haven't really haven't changed, but the weather affecting my working has changed from summer back to winter with a snow storm in the area just Sunday night, leaving us with lows in the 20's both Sunday and Monday night.  Having said all that above, I'm gonna say that work so far has been pretty good with the exception of the weather.

As Katie's job is being a cashier at the only eatery in town that's open for lunch presently, she's getting the opportunity to meet just about everyone who works for TRMF.  And then when all the diners leave, she does the cleanup stuff, and assists in the kitchen.  I, on the other hand, take part in the golf course mowing, cleaning and setting up the tees, and other things having to do with golf course maintenance.  Not a bad gig, huh?

While the town of Medora has a history from the Marquis di Mores coming to the area in March of 1883 to ranch and try other business ventures and naming the city after his wife, Medora von Hoffman, it has it's most current claim to fame from Theodore Roosevelt when he came to Medora in October of the same year and afterwards as well.  From his visits in 1883 and 1903 and love for the area, the north unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park was established in 1947, with the south unit being established in 1949.  There is also history here from 1864 when General Alfred Sully fought the Sioux a few miles south of Medora, and from 1876 when Lieutenant-Colonel George Custer passed through on his way west to the Little Bighorn.

With the population of Medora being only 129 as of 2013, it's not all that big, with a downtown of only a couple of handfuls of blocks, and a total area of land only a third of a square mile.  Here's pictures of some of the buildings.

This is the Rough Riders Hotel.  It was originally the Metropolitan Hotel when it was built in 1885-86, and changed to Rough Riders Hotel in 1903 in honor of Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders and their service in the Spanish-American War.  Renovated in 1965, and again in 2009 adding 68 more rooms.

 

On the left side of this picture, you can see the east side of the Rough Riders Hotel, where you'd go if you were going into the lobby.  From the center to the right is the Medora Post Office (zipcode 58645), the First State Bank of Golva, and the Congregational Church.

This is the Demores Elementary School which has a student body of about 40 from Pre-K through eighth grade.  It also houses the 15, 000 square foot Billings County Resource Center Library.  Looks pretty nice, huh?  See the sign in the foreground?  See it better in the next picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks kinda old fashioned, huh?  This is why I like the new one better.

Just a couple blocks away from the Rough Riders Hotel are these buildings.  On the left is the Sacajawea Trading post, which is one of a few variety stores in town.  Next to that is the old Medora Fire Station which looks kinda small, if ya asks me.  The new fire station was dedicated a few days before our arrival here, and you can read more about it here.  The Town Hall on the right is where various plays are put on, including "Bully!  The Play" in which Teddy Roosevelt comes to life.  It's received many good reviews, maybe if you're in the area that'd be a good thing to take in.

Of course ya can't have a small town without the customary convenience store.  Don't know that it has any special history or not.  But it's the main store in town.

 

 

 

The place to eat in town where the vast majority of folks eat at right now is the Chuckwagon Buffet.  Having said that, with the exception of Theodore's Dining Room at the Rough Rider's Hotel, to the best of my knowledge, this is the only eatery serving breakfast, lunch and dinner right now.  And this is where Katie works.

And this is Katie at work.  Only this was after the rush of lunch so there wasn't anyone in line.  If there were, she wouldn't have been looking at me taking this picture.

Here's the food line with a couple entrees each meal.  Beverages are on the right out of sight.  The food is very good, and you can have as much as you want.

Lastly, here's what the campground looks like without campers in it.  There's been many folks working on cleaning it up from the winter months, and improving it by putting a new general store in it that includes a laundromat.  I'm not showing the swimming pool, or other play areas that are at the entrance to the campground, but they're there waiting for residents and visitors to use

Ok!  Having said all that, realize that not all the stores are shown here, and there aren't a lot of visitors and shoppers here right now either.  Starting on the Memorial Day weekend, there's gonna be lots more folks cruising up and down the streets, camping in the campground, golfing at the golf course, eating at the eateries, hoteling at the hotel (...?), etc., etc., etc.  In other words, ...I don't think it's gonna be quite as quiet as it is now.  So if you wanted to get here and have the place to yourself, I think that time is gone for the moment.  But if you enjoy being around friendly folks who enjoy having you visit them, Medora may be for you.  And if ya come, make sure ya lets us know so we can see ya!

Have a blessed day!