For those of you who don't know, I'm a writer golf... with the emphasis on writing before golf. You'd understand why if you played with me. Neither hacker nor scratcher, I mostly ride the OB fence while playing, but I can drive a pen like nobody's business... so I stick to that. That said, similar to our Alabama-Mississippi trip in April, another such adventure presented itself in theDakotas (and Nebraska) and we jumped on it. We got to bring our 7 year old - Dylan - this time as well. So we headed off to write and golf.

Being the Senior/Travel Writer for the Hacker's Guide, I wanted to present a week "in the life"... with photographic accompaniment... Some of these photos mandated the arduous task of getting up early (5:45) and removing myself from some of the world's most comfortable king-size beds... but for you, the reader, I endured...

Some photos require no words. Others speak for themselves... Wait... isn't that... never mind.

In all likelihood you'll care more about the photos than the writing... but I'll try to make both of interest...

August 16th: We left the psychos (my twin girls) at their Aunt Kelly's around 9PM and began our long 8 hour trek towards Bismarck, ND at 9:30PM. My wife, Stacy, and I slept while Dylan drove and we arrived in Bismarck around 5AM.

I slept for an hour and a half and we had breakfast at the Cottage Cafe. (We all hadFrench toast. Not just toast... French toast.) We then headed out to our 1st Golf Course in Bismarck... aptly named HawkTree. (Aptly used to describe the presence of an actual hawk tree on the course. Not shaped like a hawk. It had a hawk in it. Again... never mind.)

Photo 1: A panoramic view of Hawktree from the Clubhouse.

Photo 2: Hawktree had this amazing black sand in their bunkers... they call it slag. Not the old English/Australian use of the word. (Prostitutes/Hookers) Slag - as in the byproduct of metal smelting. A coal-ish product. Hitting out of it is like hitting out of the fairway... okay, maybe more like rough... You don't want to hit behind it. You want to hit the ball first. Incredible course. Best one I've ever played in North Dakota! Ever! Can't wait to play my 2nd ND course. Ever.

Photo 3: We left Hawktree, had lunch at the Cracker Barrel (My son, Dylan's favorite restaurant) and headed towards Williston, ND. We had dinner at the worst Applebees in the world... (You're off the hook Birmingham, AL. Bet you're "like totally relieved" and all.) and then headed towards Ray, ND and the Lewis and Clark National Park/Campground. What a beautiful place! (Photo) It got really cold (42), but it was Dylan's first night of camping in a tent/igloo ever... and he LOVED it.

Photo 4: August 17th (Wednesday)... We got up early and headed towards the "Links of North Dakota." It was a chilly morning, but not too windy... played right along the lake like an actual links course... it was pretty impressive. (Stacy hitting towards the water. There was a green between Stacy and the water though. A reverse psychology trick that played well for her on this hole.) - I was asked to explain this so I will. You know how when you're golfing and you have to hit over water you pretend it isn't there until you've hit three balls into it... Well, when you're hitting towards water and there's a green between you and the water, it's just easier to get it to the green than the water. For most people...

Photo 5: The Links had several impressive holes... The setting for this little Par 3 was awesome. It was tucked into a little valley, out of the wind, and yet surrounded by the picturesque lake and this stuff they call "fescue"... which I refer to as "youscrewed."

Photo 6: And there was quite the colorful display off the hilltops as you took in the majestic panorama that is North Dakota. (Stop laughing and look at the photos. I'm serious.)

Photo 7: Sadly we had to leave our 2nd ND course. It really was pretty there. Except for the wildlife. (Yes, that is what you think it is.) We were eager to get away from that. I wish I could say this was nowhere near the golf course. Yes, I wish I could say that.

Photo 8: We drove down along the Montana border from Ray, opting to go with a churro stand over the Applebees in Williston for lunch. We were greatly anticipating our time in Medora... On the way to Medora (on Highway 16) there is this hysterical stretch of road, that really should be more photographed worldwide. You come over a hilltop and can see for about 5 miles straight in front of you. Whoever built this road built it dead straight, north to south... and it's remarkable how straight it is, except for one little "3 city block stretch" that breaks so sharply to the right that you have to slow down dramatically... You can somewhat make it out in this photo, but I really wish I'd driven back to the top of the hill in the background, climbed out of the car and taken an actual photograph of it... although my son's iPhone pic is good too.

Photo 9: We arrived at our hotel (The Rough Rider) in Medora.

Photo 10: There we met up with our phenomenal guide, Annette (marketing director for Medora)... She took us on an hour loop through Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We were looking for buffalo, but sadly didn't find any. Wait... there's one. Sweet!!! He doesn't look like he wants to talk to us.

Photo 11: We did however find quite the talkative little fellow sitting next to the road.

Photo 12: We were so blessed to have Annette with us... and she was gracious enough to take us everywhere in her Jeep... which Dylan absolutely loved!!! It was beautiful weather, and the ND Badlands were inspiring. The hospitality and charm of Medora is hard to describe. Everyone was so gracious and friendly and the fudge was really good too. (I had to fit that in. That sentence, not the fudge, although I had to fit the fudge in too. Forget it.)

END OF PART 1 of 4.