A Wonderful Weekend Getaway

This past weekend, Faith and I both got to experience the Medora Musical together - for the first time ever! We went with my dad and sister. The singing and dancing definitely met our expectations. After the National Anthem, some of the first songs they sang included, "Let's Hear it for the Boy" and "Dancing on the Ceiling." Both songs were a great and energetic way to start the show. 

Faith was super excited, nearly dancing out of her chair! One reason she could hardly contain her excitement was that a few of the performers (Adam and Taylor) go to our church! The storytelling in between the musical numbers described how the little "cow town" of Medora came to be, as well as the influence that Theodore Roosevelt had in North Dakota. 

View from our seats!

Close up of the performers. 

Auntie Dawn and Grandpa

During the song, "Paint Your Dreams Across the Sky" by Dolly Parton, the cast invited the children to join them onstage. I wasn't expecting one of the cast members to come up and stand by Faith to sing. It was super sweet, but unfortunately, I didn't get a picture. They also sang "His Eye Is on the Sparrow," along with a medley of gospel songs. 

There were country songs and funny songs, too, that got the crowd laughing and clapping along. One that I remember was "40 Cups of Coffee." The entertainment also included a trick roping cowboy and another one yodeling.  

We were thoroughly enjoying the show when I noticed a shift in the weather. It had been bright and sunny upon arrival, but it had changed to cloudy and windy. Just as they were about to get into the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack Show, one of the ushers came over to us and said they were going to call the show in five minutes if we wanted to get ahead of the crowd to the elevators. I thought it was very kind of him to give us a heads up, but I was also very disappointed. 

Sadly, we didn't get to see much of the lumberjack show.

When we got up to the parking lot, my sister Dawn pushed Faith as fast as she could to the van and just as they got there, it began to rain. Just after the four of us piled inside the van, it began to downpour. 

Since we were just sitting there, I got a feeding going for Faith. After the traffic cleared, we sadly made our way to Dickinson. All was not lost, though, as there were some gorgeous rainbows in the sky. I have never seen so many of them in such a short time span! 

Bad weather heading straight for us.

The rain was coming down hard!

Videos by Michael Lawlar

Beautiful double rainbow heading from Medora to Dickinson (photo by Dawn Lawlar)

After getting to Dickinson, we found a place to eat. It was called "Sanford's" and when we pulled into the parking lot, Dawn and I realized it was the same restaurant we had eaten at when we had traveled to Watford City about 3 years ago. 

After supper, we made our way back to the hotel and started Faith's evening routine. It had been quite a day. I was so proud of Faith for how she was handling the traveling and the disappointment with the musical ending early. 

Waiting patiently for her chocolate milkshake!

Being udderly silly!

The next day after checking out, we set out for our next adventure: a visit to the Dickinson Museum Center where they had the Badlands Dinosaur Museum. Faith loves dinosaurs and she couldn't wait to get a new shirt for T-Rex Thursday at her day program. It was fun to look at the bones and try to imagine what it was like when dinosaurs roamed the earth. There were also numerous displays of minerals from all over the world, some of which were fluorescent. 

We also explored the Joachim Regional History Museum and Dad even asked if they could open up the Pioneer Machinery Hall, which they sometimes don't do on Sundays depending on how busy it is. Faith was a little bored with some of the history stuff, so she and Dawn ventured to the gift shop where she helped her auntie pick out stuffed dinosaur toys for her grandkids. After all that, we hit up the A&W/KFC and made our way back to Bismarck. 

Dinosaurs and fossils galore!

Faith didn't look too scared!

Faith checking out the cool fluorescent fossils. 

Inside the machinery hall. I told Faith this is what Laura from Little House travelled in. 

Grandpa was super impressed with this old tractor. 

Getting Faith to the Medora Musical was something I have been wanting to do for a long time and with the improved accessibility at the venue, along with help from my sister, we were able to make it happen! I was also very thankful that Faith's grandpa could accompany us. I was so happy to be driving to western North Dakota, as that will always be home to me. 

The end of July was a great time to head west as golden round bales dotted the landscape and the corn, sunflower, and wheat crops were flourishing. The Badlands looked so beautiful, and we even passed by a large herd of bison. It truly was a wonderful weekend getaway! 

The beauty of the Badlands