First it was the pronghorn now we are among bison and bighorn sheep.  There are supposed to be elk here as well but we haven’t seen them yet.  We are in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota.  It is badlands terrain created as the Little Missouri River cut its way through thick layers of centuries old glacial silt.  It not something I would want to wake up to every morning but it is strangely beautiful with its odd shapes and colored layers.  The river has wandered widely through the years and left a broad lower valley filled with cottonwoods and laced with huge meanders and oxbow bends.  Our campground is nestled in one of these huge cottonwood groves.  Juniper trees are all around too.  The smell is amazing.