Day 30: Hazelton, ND Recreation Area

The forecast yesterday morning when we left Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park said that by midday that the winds would be cranking up from the south.  So we took advantage of mild winds in the morning to cross the Missouri River to a campground on the east side and about 40 miles away.  We're camping at Hazelton Recreation Area ($14, power, no water), which is operated by the Corps of Engineers (it is situated at Lake Oahe, which is quite low right now, since it is nearing the end of irrigation season).

Alea stopping for fuel, with Twin Buttes in the background (along the east side of the Missouri River).

The big attraction here for Lana are the pocket gophers.  You don't want to be in a direct line between her and the tree that she is tethered to, or you risk having a limb amputated by her cord if she decides to bolt after one of them.

I haven't mentioned for a while that there has been fairly heavy smoke from the forest fires in the Rockies and points west, even this far east.  The sun both rises and sets as a dull red ball, due to the large amount of smoke on the horizon.  It should be a bit better by tomorrow, as strong winds are pushing all that smoke up into Canada today.

I also thought I'd point out that bugs haven't been much of a problem after that couple of days back in NW Montana.  There are bugs, and a few that bite, but it hasn't been so bad that we've had to resort to bug spray.  However, we have entered the land of no-see-ums.  They are a bit annoying, but tolerable.  There were about a zillion of them parked on the lee side of our van yesterday, hiding from the strong winds.