UPDATE!

So a day after the last post, the rope was replaced at the Medora weather station. Keep in mind that this has been missing for a few weeks. Coincidence? I think not. Just doing our public service for Medora!

(today was fair with a little wind)

Medora, Medora, by the heavens blest?

Medora has been our home for the last three months, and we've come to discover that tourist towns are meant to be visited, not lived in. As employees, we live in the same dorm, eat at the same three places, work together and generally occupy the 4x6 grid of blocks that make up this town. We all know each other just a little too well, nothing goes unnoticed. Not even our blogs are a secret connection to the outside world, they are googleable and plenty of people in town read them (hey guys!).

This town does have it's charm though, it's charm and it's quirks and it's weird little moments that may or not be noticed by the visitor just passing through. Abby and I needed to be reminded of the good, share the bad, and embrace the weird, so here are a few random things about this town:

1. There has been a thief in town for quite some time.

2. Did you know that there is an oil boom in North Dakota right now? Well there is, and all the hotels are filled with oil workers. If you plan on driving through North Dakota on your way to somewhere else, or you plan to vacation here, you better call way ahead and make reservations, or you will not find a hotel with open rooms. Weird? yes.

3. We have 3 hotels in town, the Rough Riders (which is very very nice) the Badlands, which is your average motel. And then there is the Bunkhouse. It looks like a bunch of portable class rooms split up into 8 rooms each. They were built for the last oil boom, and well...

4. Medora has a queen. her name is Shelia. Whenever she comes to the Musical they announce that the queen of Medora is there and stands and does a cute little wave.

5. Our mayor wears knee high boots, a white button up shirt, and a trench coat for everyday life. Also his hair is epic. This photo is from the 4th of july parade, but it's not too far off from regular life.

6. Motorcyclists love Medora. Mostly really old ones with trike things.

7. There is a train that drives around the streets of Medora and gives tours. It's called "lil smokey" and quite fittingly, it smokes terribly the majority of the time. It quite popular too. But really, a train in the middle of the street? It doesn't help with the tourists inability to drive.

8. If you see the police pulled over talking to someone, there is no way of discerning if they are just chatting or if there is something going down. There are 3 cops in town and everyone knows all of them.

9. The boys dorm used to be a stable, and most of them don't have windows in their tiny rooms.

10. During the day, the town is a bustling hub of activity. Around 8:00, everything shuts down, most people go up to the musical and it becomes somewhat akin to a ghost town.