152: Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Grand Opening

Exploring the National Parks

The hosts of 'Exploring the National Parks' podcast recount their thrilling journey to Medora, North Dakota, for the grand opening of the Th

Key takeaways

• The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library offers a well-rounded, authentic portrayal of Roosevelt's life, including both achievements and controversial decisions.

Main topics

• Grand opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library
• Medora, North Dakota's dedication to Teddy Roosevelt

Notable quotes

"Have you thought about Theodore Roosevelt?" – a recurring question in Medora that reflects the town's deep dedication to his legacy.

Conclusion

The podcast concludes with strong recommendations for travelers visiting

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Unfortunately, something pretty big happened in Speaker 2 (0:04) between Speaker 1 (0:05) the time that we recorded our exploring Theodore Roosevelt National Park episode and this one. Right. Speaker 2 (0:15) Really big. Speaker 1 (0:17) Yeah. And it was too late to go back and fix the other one. So we're going to tell you all about it here. Yeah. Speaker 2 (0:25) Which is great. Speaker 1 (0:26) It deserves its own episode. It Speaker 2 (0:28) does. Speaker 1 (0:29) This is the Exploring the National Parks podcast with Dirt in My Shoes. My name is Ash and I'm a former park ranger and the founder of Dirt in My Shoes. I think that the parks are best seen from the trail and I'm here to make national park trip planning easy. And Speaker 2 (0:44) I'm John. I carry the kids on the trails, tell stories, and notice all the things that Ash doesn't care about much, like flowers. Speaker 1 (0:52) Join us as we show you around America's spectacular national parks. We're Speaker 2 (0:57) sharing our favorite places, fun facts, adventures, and misadventures. And Speaker 1 (1:01) we'll even throw in a little trip planning. Speaker 2 (1:04) Let's start exploring! Speaker 1 (1:09) We had no plans to visit North Dakota this year, but we were made an offer we couldn't refuse. We Speaker 2 (1:17) made a joint offer we couldn't refuse. That was a terrible Italian Godfather accent. Making an offer you can't refuse. Nope. Can't do it. Okay. Speaker 1 (1:25) It's not working. Moving on. I'd Speaker 2 (1:27) like to apologize to every Godfather fan out there. That was really rough. Speaker 1 (1:32) But we did end up going to North Dakota this summer. And so we wanted to share our experience today. Basically, we were invited to the town of Medora, North Dakota, which is the gateway town to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Speaker 2 (1:49) Yes. And Speaker 1 (1:50) they invited us for the grand opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. The grand opening was on July 4th, 2026 for the 250 year. celebration it was independence it Speaker 2 (2:07) was so cool absolutely love it Speaker 1 (2:10) we when they invited us we were like there literally is not a cooler place in our minds to spend the fourth of july because what Speaker 2 (2:19) was our plan otherwise ash our Speaker 1 (2:21) plan otherwise we've been traveling so much and we just moved and so our plan otherwise was to stay home and Speaker 2 (2:30) light off fireworks in our front yard And to maybe set up an above ground pool or a kiddie pool. You know what? Speaker 1 (2:37) That sounded so nice to me. And like literally nothing could have swayed me to give up like those really relaxing 4th of July plans this year. Speaker 2 (2:47) Because Speaker 1 (2:48) we've already done some 250th celebration things. We went and saw Big Boy, that big steam locomotive that's doing its cross country travel anyway. Super cool. It came through Ogden, which is just south of where we are. And we have a very strong railroad history out here because the Golden Spike. Yeah. You know, Golden Spike National Site is just, what, an hour from our house? Speaker 2 (3:16) Yeah. It's so fun. Speaker 1 (3:18) Yeah. So anyway, so we've done some things and I was just like, I just want to be home and I just want to sleep. I'm so tired. Speaker 2 (3:25) But Speaker 1 (3:26) then people from... the presidential library in medora they invited us out to the grand opening and we were just like we have to yeah this we love teddy roosevelt so if you've listened to those exploring and fun facts episodes that we recently released you know how much we love teddy roosevelt huge Speaker 2 (3:46) fans the Speaker 1 (3:47) national park i think is one of the most underrated and most amazing national parks in the country it Speaker 2 (3:54) is i Speaker 1 (3:55) love teddy roosevelt national park So even just that, it was just like, oh, we love Teddy Roosevelt. We love the National Park. We love Medora. It's got a really fun vibe. Let's do it. It Speaker 2 (4:07) was so much fun. And the whole Teddy Roosevelt vibe and everything in this area, it's so great because, I don't know, some national parks mix their messaging. A lot. Like some national parks get created and famous for a very specific reason or a very specific person. And then when you go to their website or the visitor centers, they want to tell you about a bunch of other stuff. I Speaker 1 (4:31) know. It's like, no, actually we just like, we came to the Grand Canyon to see the canyon and to learn about the canyon. So Speaker 2 (4:42) maybe Speaker 1 (4:43) don't care as much about. The animals. Right. You know what I mean? And they're just like, well, we got it. You got to talk about the elk. And it's like, no, I just like I just want to see the canyon. I Speaker 2 (4:54) know. It's so funny. And I think the worst culprit in my mind is Acadia National Park. If you go to their website, you would have almost no chance of learning how big a part John D. Rockefeller played. In the creation of that national park. Speaker 1 (5:09) They are trying to get rid of that information. It seems like. Speaker 2 (5:12) It's crazy that they focus on everybody else, no matter how small a part they played and seem to completely omit or at least minimize Rockefeller in the story. It's historical malpractice. If you ask me. Speaker 1 (5:26) Which is happening a lot these days. Yeah. To be honest. Speaker 2 (5:29) Which is why I love the part of the country we are. going to talk about today. North Dakota does not mix its messaging. It is all about Teddy Roosevelt. From the National Park and the restaurants and hotels, you'll find his name on almost everything. And what doesn't have his actual name usually is Teddy Roosevelt related. Yeah. One of our kids, our kids, they lived in a travel trailer named after Teddy Roosevelt. And our oldest son was like, I didn't know how big a deal Teddy Roosevelt was. I felt like I knew about him. But then after this trip, he's like, but now I know everything about him. I like Speaker 1 (6:07) his voice. That's a good voice. It is Speaker 2 (6:09) a pretty good. He'd probably be pleased. It Speaker 1 (6:10) does not sound like it. Speaker 2 (6:12) He'd probably be pleased with how deep my impersonation of his voice is. Speaker 2 (6:17) North Dakota reminds me, there's a funny movie that Ash's family really loves. It's Joe versus the volcano. Love Speaker 1 (6:23) that movie. It has Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Yes. Like during their like heyday of you've got mail and sleepless in Seattle, they released this special gem of a movie. Speaker 2 (6:38) Oh, it's so funny. But there's this, there's this scene in the movie where Tom Hanks's character needs to buy some luggage. So he goes to a store and the salesman asks him, have you thought about luggage, Mr. Banks? To which Tom Hanks responds, no, I never really have. And the salesman tells him, it's the central preoccupation of my life, you know? And I don't know why he's got a British accent in my interpretation of him. But when someone enters North Dakota, the city of Medora asks them one simple question. Have you thought about Theodore Roosevelt? And most people say, no, I never really have. To which Maduro responds, he is the Speaker 1 (7:19) central preoccupation of Speaker 2 (7:21) my life. You know, it's impossible to leave Medora, North Dakota without gaining some new appreciation for Theodore Roosevelt. And just when you think the town and its people can't be more Teddy Roosevelt focused, they double down. They gather up all their chips and they go all in again, betting it once again on Teddy Roosevelt. As if to say to Teddy Roosevelt, like the salesman said to Tom Hanks after he bought four pieces of luggage. May you live to be a thousand years old, sir. You know, it's just North Dakota, Medora in particular, is so Teddy Roosevelt focused. And then, like I said, they doubled down because high on a butte in Medora, North Dakota on July 4th, 2026, we attended the grand opening of the Theodore Speaker 1 (8:15) Roosevelt Presidential Library. And Speaker 2 (8:17) it was. Just the coolest experience. And it was such a fun way to like with the people in that area, celebrate their favorite person again. It Speaker 1 (8:30) was pretty remarkable because you have people from all sides who can come together and. you know, recognize this man and what he did and what we love him for. And, you know, they mentioned several times, like they didn't just skip the hard parts of his life and maybe some controversial decisions that he made and things that he did and stuff. It's like a very well-rounded way to get to know him and to have all these people who are excited that. They got to bring it, you know, or have a special part in bringing that forward. Speaker 2 (9:06) Yeah. And like I said, I think to your point, because he's basically 125 years removed from today's politics, it really allows people from all different angles to appreciate his impact on the country. And Speaker 1 (9:22) he needed a presidential library because I got to say that library is. really cool. It was Speaker 2 (9:28) amazing. But Speaker 1 (9:29) they kept saying during the grand opening, like how miraculous it was that that library was in Medora Speaker 2 (9:37) because Speaker 1 (9:38) it was a lot of work from a lot of people who