I arrived at Teddy Roosevelt on Friday afternoon after a night in St. Paul with an old friend, Tori Hall, from elementary school. I checked into the Cottonwood campground to do some unloading and gathering my bearings. What a place! I was in complete awe of the beautiful lush prairies, short and stubby badlands, bison, and prairie dogs. I felt an immense feeling of calm as I sat by the Little Missouri. I rode my bike around as much as I could and even ran into a bison at one point on the side of the road. I quickly turned around! Teddy spent time in North Dakota as a rancher and credited his success to his time spent there. I felt refreshed and quiet.

I've been working on SLOWING downnnnnn and breathing a little bit. I feel like my nature is to continually plan, schedule, figure out what to do next, etc. It's becoming a bit stressful to live that way as there isn't always something specific to DO. This trip so far has been a rollercoaster of emotions, absolutely joy to absolute loneliness. And it's only been a month!

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is nothing fancy, it's not flashy. It's simple, quiet, beautiful, and calm. I felt like I needed that spot to begin as I needed some reminders to slow down and enjoy what I'm doing at that moment. I also know that I will need to continue learning that lesson on this trip!