We woke up early and left in a matter of 40 minutes. We knew the roads would be dead, but it was still a two-hour drive. Additionally, it was a hot summer day, meaning we would have a better chance seeing the animals earlier in the day, while they were still actively roaming the hills. Lucky for us, we were driving behind an hour into mountain time. This meant that us leaving at 7:00 a.m. would get us there by 8:00am local time. 

We had been to Medora, North Dakota, and Theodore Rosevelt National Park multiple times. However, it was so vast that there were still many new places to explore. We also hadn’t been lucky enough to see all of the major animals that lived there in our previous trips. For example, I had seen and taken pictures of bison, antelope, deer, and wild horses, but not any elk or cougars. I was really hoping to see one today, but I also knew that I shouldn’t get my hopes too high because they tended to stay out of sight. 

Like usual, when we arrived, we drove straight into the park. I still have a near perfect picture of the tan rocks that held up the wooden sign with black letters that read Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We had brought lunches and were planning on staying for at least three hours before heading back to the town to shop. 

Throughout the day, we saw many bison. My favorite moment of seeing the bison was when we drove past one that was peacefully rolling around in dry dirt. I think it was trying to keep the flies away, but from the looks of how many flies were still there, it didn’t seem to be doing a great job at it.  

Now sadly, we had driven and walked throughout much of the park without seeing any elk or cougars just like the past times. However, with still a few miles left on our way back to town, I spotted five stunning wild horses in the distance. One was brown, two were milky white, and then the other two were the same blackish-white. Based on their size, I believe they were a mom and her foal. 

We decided to pull off to the side of the road and walked towards them. Earlier in the day we had gone for walks as well, but never in grass like we were now. I could feel its roughness brushing up against my uncovered calves as I excitedly walked towards the horses. Beneath my feet, there were many prairie dog holes spread out in the field, making the trek slightly dangerous. 

As we walked, all eyes were focused not only on the magnificent horses, but also on the ground. We knew that rattle snakes could be hiding in any of the holes or even sunbathing in the grass. This freaked me out a little bit because just the year before when we were walking in a different area to go get a closer look at a bison, a rattlesnake hissed at my dad. Now my siblings and I were ahead of him, and it was crazy to think that we had just walked within feet of it and never even knew. Luckily, after it hissed, it went back down and hid in its hole without trying to bite him. 

As we got closer to the horses, we started taking pictures. I decided to snap a picture every 30 seconds or so because I wanted to make sure that I had the most amazing close up photo possible. I knew that at any moment they could run away and I didn’t want my closest picture of them to be one with them running away with their backs to me. Now after a lot of walking, we had finally gotten within 30 feet of the horses. My cousins and siblings wanted to get closer, but my dad didn’t allow it because these were wild horses that weren’t used to humans like the domesticated horses that we usually experienced. 

By now we had gotten an amazing view of them and had walked about a mile away from our car. We decided it was time to turn around and start walking back. 

As we were walking, I took in the beauty of my surroundings. The prairie I was in had many long green, skinny blades of grass that was scattered with small yellow wildflowers. Prairie dog holes were dug in every direction. The light brown dirt was sand-like and dry. Above all, the endless, crystal, clear ceiling-like sky reigned above me with a few small clouds. As I approached the car, I knew that I would remember this amazing moment forever.