“Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground.” — Theodore Roosevelt

Gentle reader, if you are looking for the perfect autumn getaway in North Dakota, I suggest the fifth annual Dakota Night Astronomy Festival, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in beautiful Medora, N.D.

From the Theodore Roosevelt National Park press release:

“People have been marveling at the night skies for millennia,” said Chief of Interpretation Eileen Andes. “Dakota Nights celebrates the beauty and fragility of this awe-inspiring resource and makes it accessible and fun for people of all ages. You don’t have to be an astronomy expert; our festival has something for everyone.”

This weekend will be jam-packed with events in Medora as the festival coincides with the annual Theodore Roosevelt Symposium, sponsored by the TR Center (Dickinson, N.D.) and a street dance Saturday night. This year’s TR symposium focuses on TR the naturalist, so there will be many people there interested in all things wild, including the starry skies of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Saturday morning, Jim and I are volunteering for the festival, something we did at the first one in 2013. Maybe you’ll find us in Medora and say hi.

Go ahead, channel your inner child. Buy a rocket from Friends of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and shoot it off in Chimney Park!

P.S. While you are there, considering becoming a member of FOTRNP and Badlands Conservation Alliance, and join your voice with others, for a wild Bad Lands.