Ohio, Michigan and back to Canada

OK where were we? After getting the new tire installed on the trailer we took off on I 80 which was now called the Indiana Toll Road. Similar to some of the toll roads in Europe where you get a ticket when you get on and pay when you get off. After streaming along for 3 - 4 hours it was getting to be a bit boring and it was time for a stretch and something to eat. So we got off at an intersection that promised another quieter route to our destination, Harrison Lake State Park in Ohio (oh and just happenned to have an Outlet Mall). Unfortunately it also had a major construction project and detours from my planned route so we spent a frustrating hour as Garmin Gertie led us through the rural Indiana coutryside past many farmhouses such as this.

In the end what was supposed to be one of our shortest driving days ended up being pretty long and we missed getting a campsite on the more developed northside of the lake by nanoseconds and camping on a large grassy patch with a friendly family with six (yes 6) boys as our only neighbours. They were tenting, driving the twin to our van. They are entitled to be driving such a van. Today's thunderstorm came early and began with a terrific wind that had us scrambling to rescue the trailer awning. But the skies cleared after dinner and we had a lovely walk around the lake. That evening, knowing that we were returning to Canada the next day on a Saturday,we made a reservation for Wheatley Provincial Park, near Point Pele National Park

In the morning we again traversed our way through the farm fields of Ohio, past many corn fields that did seem to be suffering from the drought and a number of small churches many with small graveyards alongside with remarkably large headstones. But soon we were back on interstates making our way through Michigan. Unfortunatley I was too slow to take a picture of the most interesting road sign of the trip:

PRISON AREA

DO NOT PICK UP HITCHHIKERS

Pete requested that we avoid driving through Detroit on our way to Ontario so we crossed over by the bridge between Port Huron and Sarnia and then started to make our way down to Wheathley on Lake Erie. This was perhaps our most meandering route to date, now through Ontario countryside of potato fields, old brick farmhouses and United churches but eventually, much to our amazement we arrived at the very poorly signed park. It almost seems as if Ontario Parks didn't want you to find this place.

Our campsite was spacious but with no power and the most expensive to date. The park was filled with family weekend campers, lots of kids on bikes everywhere. But a short walkvia a dilapidated foot bridge over a lagoon filled with frogs and bird life took us to the banks of Lake Erie and down the banks to dip our toes in the lake.

And guess what no thunderstorm tonight. Canada eh.

My New Hero - Justin, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Mitchell SD

Day 9 – Another herd of Buffalo came to wish us a good journey prior to our leaving Custer. We headed off for another very warm day’s drive having tried the suggestions Brendan texted to us to coax the AC back into action to no avail. Crossing South Dakota is much like crossing the Canadian prairies but with cheaper gas prices. As the day wore on the temperature climbed and we were literally melting into our seats and gulping copious amount of water. I remember driving in the back seat of the 52 Chevy sandwiched between my two brothers in Keremeos on the way to Kelowna in heat like this but that was for a few hours, not days on end as we are facing. As we stopped for gas in Plankinton the radio was reporting a temperature of 102F in Mitchell. So while Pete drove on I had Garmin Gertie search for auto parks supply stores and we followed her into O’Reilly’s in Mitchell to try Brendan’s last suggestion (before taking it to a dealer) to see about a AC recharge kit. Justin, the manager came out to the van, popped the hood and the kit did its magic and shortly we were feeling the effects of cooling air where before we had been blasted by heat. I could have kissed him.

We carried on a few more miles and took the turn off for Lake Vermillion State Recreation Area, another facility of SD Parks and found a shaded, lakeside pullout site with power, showers and flush toilets available, beside a lovely manmade lake with only a few other quiet campers for $18. There was a wonderful breeze blowing down the lake and it wasn’t long after she was released from her seat that Mazy was wading into the lake. Pete and I joined her shortly after to wash off some of the day’s sweat and grime.










After dinner, we spent a relaxing evening reading with only a few flies to disturb us. I heart SD Parks.


Day 10 – What a difference it made starting the day with cool air in your face even though the temperatures were already in the 80’s at 8:00am. Shortly into our drive we passed into Minnesota and finally picked up the T-Mobile network allowing us to connect on the road. While Minnesota has plentiful rest stops it has the worst road surface we have encountered so far. The constant bouncing makes knitting or locker hocking nearly impossible. On the crafty front, I had hoped to finish my Girl Friday sweater but ran out of yarn two or three rows prior to finishing the front bands so that will have to wait until we return home. So I have started on my locker hocked rug and as long as the road it not too difficult I can manage to work on it in the van.

We progressed through Minnesota and crossed over the mighty Mississippi into Wisconsin and the landscape changed from the long straight roads lined with corn fields to a more familiar green hilled dairy farm country, very pastoral. except for the billboards on the interstate advertising cheese at every exit. Our stop this night was at Lake Kegonsa State Park outside of Madison, Pete's first adventure with piloting the trailer through an interstate at rush hour. The campsite was OK but it was disappointing that it was too far to walk comfortably in the 90+F heat from the campground to the beach given that this was our longest days drive of the trip so far. We knew something was up when Mazy refused to join us at the picnic table for dinner and retreated to the trailer. At about midnight the most dramatic thunderstorm I have ever experienced took place around us with Mazy shivering and panting all the way through it as she tried to sneak her way into our bed.

Day 11 - This was to be one of our shortest drives, even though we planned a detour from the route Garmin Gertie and Map Point suggested so we would not have to attempt driving I-90 through the heart of Chicago. We were motoring down I-39 to pick up I-80 in just coming up to Mendota, Illinois when a passing motorist honked and motioned to Pete. We pulled off at the first exit and discovered a flat tire on the trailer, right down to the rim. AAA was called but Pete proceeded to jack the trailer, change the tire and get us ready to leave, call to cancel with AAA just as the tow truck appeared and waved to us.

Turns out I-80 was still a challenging route, especially as the tire delay put us into rush hour again so we were glad when we moved over onto I-94 for the last 20 or so miles prior to arriving at Indiana Dunes State Park. This is a lovely site, a state park within a larger national foreshore on Lake Michigan. Very much a family campground but we have a large, paved site, again with power. With the help of a gentleman at the Visitor Centre for the National Foreshore  Park we found a tire store that could provide us with replacement for our spare so we quickly dropped off the rim at this place in the quaint Indiana town of Chesterton and did some grocery shopping before heading back to the campsite. Dinner was interrupted by yet another thunderstorm ( this seems to be the theme for this trip!) but it was a relatively short one and allowed us a walk down the trail to catch the sunset

over the dunes at the beach on Lake Michigan with a few of the skyscrapers of Chicago in the background.

Big Brown Cows

Day 7 – After spending the night in our first commercial campground in 15 years, I have to admit it wasn’t all bad. Being packed in tight with tons of kids running around on little go carts was somewhat evened out by the convenience of a laundry facility, a pool, wifi (spotty at best mind you), and power (no water at our overflow site). On leaving the KOA we restocked groceries and then embarked on a three state day; we started in Montana (not the best roads and rest stops few and far between with virtually no tourist information), passed through Wyoming ( good red-tinged asphalt, great rest stops (even with wifi) and minimal construction, and ended up in South Dakota where Pete complained that the road surface was making a singing noise. 

We arrived at Custer State Park,
 probably the jewel in the South Dakota Park system. It reminds us a bit of Manning Park. A number of campgrounds well spread out, several at or near small lakes or creeks, and some with lodges with rooms, cabins, restaurants, stores, theatres, or other attractions close by. We are staying at Game Lodge campground, one of the largest, near the eastern end of the park. We have a large level site with power, close to immaculate shower/restrooms and the campground hosts spoil Mazy with treats daily. It has been another hot day with temperatures into the 90’s so we welcome the short reprieve that comes with a brief thunderstorm but were able to spend the rest of the evening outside in the cool breezes relatively bug free.

Day 8 was a full day touring Custer State Park, the Black Hills National Forest, and a visit to Mount Rushmore National Monument. However, even before we went in search of the wildlife that are a main feature of this park, one bison (or as my friend Marcela called them when we passed several at Elk Island Park outside of Edmonton, big brown cows) came to visit within a few hundred yards of our campsite for a morning graze and dust rub.

We drove the Needles Road through some very narrow (one just over 8ft wide) shallow tunnels to remarkable views of Cathedral Spires and Needle Eye peaks.

Lunch was at the lovely man-made Sylvan Lake after a short hike.

We continued in the heat to the Mount Rushmore National Monument. The place was packed but it was nice to have a bit of refuge from the heat in the museum and exhibit halls which explained the history of the construction of the monument.

A short diversion to Keystone for gas and then back to the Custer State Park. Even before we reached the Wildlife Loop Road we were stopped by a lineup of cars as two massive bison blocked the road

while the rest of their herd wallowed nearby. I am sure that my “Twisted by Choice” friends will be surprised that I did not reach out and grab some buffalo fibre when one of the massive beasts came alongside the van,
 but I remembered the warnings from Judith MacKenzie and restrained myself.





As we continued along the Wildlife loop we saw two more herds then a number of mules, again getting up close and personal with passing motorists, deer,





  and the native pronghorn – who look a little like antelope.

This is the kind of place that would be worth 5 days or more to fully explore, but the road calls so we are off to cross the rest of South Dakota tomorrow.

Crossing Borders - Alberta to Montana

Day 4 - We got a late start after stopping at the only spot in the park with enough cell reception to publish the last post, check email and confirm the border times at Carway, AB. Garmin Gertie, as Pete has dubbed the GPS, took us on our first little detour of the trip when she decided that the most direct route was down some gravel range roads leaving Dinosaur Park on the way to Taber, AB. Today’s drive was again on straight, flat roads through more green and yellow lush ranch/farm lands. From Taber to a lunch stop in a lovely city park in Lethbridge (where we threw out the last of our meat, fruit and vegetables in preparation for US Agriculture rules) and on to Cardston where the mountains appeared again in the background. We turned down Hwy 2 and crossed the border at Carway/Pelgin after a wait of about 25 minutes which seemed far longer than the size of the crossing should warrant. No questions about what food items we had on board, oh well, better safe than sorry.

We reached St Mary’s campground in Glacier National Park about 3:30pm after restocking some of our missing grocery items. We camped on the west side of Glacier on the shores of McDonald Lake for a few days four or five years ago, but a forest fire kept us from taking the tent trailer to this side. This campground is not right on St. Mary’s Lake and the east side seems to be dominated by deciduous trees, unlike the west where evergreens surrounded the campsites. We do get a view of the mountains from this site

 and camping fees included complimentary tokens for the very clean and spacious showers that are housed in a building exactly opposite our site. Early evening saw a steady stream of campers arriving to line up to take advantage of this feature. It is somewhat cooler here so close to the mountains; 25c as opposed to the 30c of the past few afternoons. We were relieved to find that the mosquitoes hadn’t followed us and so for the first night we were able to sit outside after dinner and read until the light failed. While relaxing we had a visit from the Park host who was advising of a severe storm warning promising thunder, lightening, heavy rain, wind and hail due to arrive the following afternoon and recommending precautions such as putting the awning down.

Day 5 – One of the preeminent features of this park is the Going to the Sun Road, a narrow, twisting mountain road that links the east and the west sides of the park with an elevation gain of 6,646 ft     at Logan Pass affording some spectacular views of mountains, glaciers, lakes, rivers, the continental divide, wildflowers, and, if you are lucky, wildlife. Vehicles travelling the route are restricted to more than 21 Ft. so no trailers, trucks or motorhomes. On our previous visit we dubbed the route the Going to the Smoke Road as much of the views were obscured by the smoke from the forest fires so we were keen to do it again. However, when we woke to almost fog, we were concerned that we might be calling this year’s trip Going to the Clouds. But the sun broke through as we left the campsite

 

but the clouds descended again when we were at the lookout for Ghost Island in St. Mary’s Lake.

The muck thickened and completely enshrouded us when we parked at the Logan Pass Visitor’s Center.  It was cold and damp, like BC in February, but we pressed on and only a mile or so further on as we started the descent, the mist started to clear, blue sky appeared and big puffy clouds wrapped around the peaks

The remainder of the route to McDonald Lake Lodge (where a little fellow tried to join our picnic until Mazy had other ideas)

and back was mixed sun and cloud with plenty of opportunities to appreciate the dramatic scenery,

 catch a couple views of mountain goats,

and see St. Mary’s Lake in a different light.

We were glad that we had made an early start and were able to relax back at the almost deserted campsite during the afternoon. It was nice, especially for Pete, to have a break from a long day of towing the trailer down unfamiliar roads. The threatened thunder storm started to make its arrival known at about 5:00pm and we had a short 15 – 20 minutes of heavy rain, thunder and lightening but not the strong wind they had been predicting so pretty benign and now there is a pink sky sunset so we are hoping for good weather when we get back on the road tomorrow.

Day 6 - A long hot day driving across  Montana. Now I know why they call this Big Sky Country. Black Angus cattle, hay fields, the most gigantic wind farm you can imagine. Several long sections of road work made for an even longer day so we were lucky to get one of the last remaining sites at the Billings KOA, apparently the state games are going on here this weekend.

On Our Way - BC/Alberta

Day 1
We got away almost on time at 9:00am Monday morning. Overcast and about 15 C when we pulled away. We stopped to fill up in Abbotsford, sun is burning off the clouds so we turn on the AC. Uh oh, no cold blast of air. It was working fine when Pete drove it up to have the brakes on the trailer checked a couple of weeks ago. This could be a long, sweaty trip until we can get some time to have the van’s air conditioner serviced. We stop for lunch at the Coquihalla rest stop ( I wonder how many times we`ve stopped here?).

 Change into shorts as the temperature is continuing to climb. At the second gas stop in Merritt we open the side windows  Through the sage brush country of Kamloops and the mercury is now about 30C, decide to push pass Dave’s place in Sorrento at 3:00pm and get further on, thinking about spending the night at Martha Creek Provincial Park outside of Revelstoke.

At about 4:15 we see the sign for Yard Creek Regional District Park and decide to check it out for tonight’s stop. This was originally a provincial park campsite just a kilometre or so off HWY 1 that was closed in 2003 and then reopened as a Columbia Shushwap regional park. 65 sites, well treed, only about 3 occupied when we pull in. Decide it’s basic, but fine for an overnight sleep close to the Hwy but no significant highway noise. Then we discover it is mosquito territory! They even have Mosquito bombs set up amongst the campsites. A failed attempt at putting up the netted picnic shelter and we decide to retreat to the trailer, turn on the little oscillating fan, make dinner, walk the dog (quickly to avoid as many mosquitoes as possible) and call it a night.

Day 2 dawned sunny but the mosquitoes were not sleeping late so we pushed away from Yard Creek heading east before 8:00am. As we approached Revelstoke, the Rockies rose up before us. Just another reminder of why this province is so amazingly beautiful. From the vistas over Shushwap Lake yesterday to the majesty of these mountains today we are given frequent reminders of why we live in BC.

Lunch was a quick roadside break at Yoho National Park. Clouds started to become more prominent as we moved through Banff National Park but the temperature remained in the high 20’s. Having visited Banff several times before we didn’t linger on this part of the drive and started looking for campsites in the Bow Valley around 1:30pm PDT or 2:30pm MDT. We rejected a couple of smaller provincial campgrounds (sites too small or mosquitoes too plentiful) and ended up getting a site in the Bow Valley Campground. It had been 19 years since Brendan and I had camped there on our way to pick up Pete and Graham after the Scouts Canada Canadian Jamboree.  After swapping for a better site in the trees close to the river,

 we settled in, walked the dog and made dinner to the sound of distant thunder. Through dinner, the thunder, now accompanied by lightening became less distant and we had just finished dessert when hail the size of dog food pellets started to rain down.  The storm was short-lived but the after dinner dog walk was shortened when showers returned.

Day 3 arrived with the clouds starting to lift

and we got back on the road before nine. Today would be a short drive (well short by my standards, I’m not sure if Pete who is doing the driving feels the same way) and after braving the traffic of Hwy 1 through Calgary it was on to the straight prairie highway surrounded by lush green and yellow fields of hay and canola almost all the way to Brooks, AB. From here we headed up the back roads and arrived at Dinosaur Provincial Park about 1:00pm.  

What different landscape! The hoodoos and the badlands seem like they have been plunked into the surrounding verdant ranching landscape. Despite the 30+ C temperatures we enjoyed visiting the viewpoint and hiking the badlands trail before viewing the Royal Tyrrell Museum Field Station.

 Campsites here are OK, if a little crowded. I do find Alberta Parks description of their parks as having flush toilets and showers a bit misleading when that means that all the toilets in the campground proper are vault pit toilets and the only flush toilets and showers (just a couple for very large campsites like here  and at Bow Valley and paid tokens required) are in a building near the entrance. But as Pete says, it’s just for one night and we are fully contained, not like the old days in the tent trailer. Turns out the mosquitoes were as bad here as at the previous stops. Pete suggests I change the name of this blog to Travels with Mosquitoes!

Home Sweet Home Away from Home

So for the next couple of months this will be our home.

It's not big but after 20 odd years of camping in one of three small (but increasingly larger) tent trailers pulled by appropriately sized Toyota Camrys, this feels down right spacious. Well, the van seems ridiculously so, which may be way the US Border Service agent asked us why we were using such a large van to tow the trailer when we went down for a shake down cruise last month. We thought better of answering that the dog needs her own row of seats and so does the spinning wheel.

We have Gunter and Evelyn to thank for maintaining the van and trailer so well originally and Brendan for ensuring the van would be mechanically sound when we take off.

The interior is comfy and has all the basics we need.

The only major modifications we have made is restoring the option of folding up the bed into a sofa.

It gives us more floor space and lets me set up the spinning wheel in the trailer when the weather outside isn't conducive to spinning. (I can hear my Twisted by Choice colleagues saying, "Well, if you had a Hansen espinner you wouldn't have had to do that, you could even spin in the van!" ). But hey, isn't that what spindles are for? Besides you know I am a late adopted; just look at the Wooly Winder.

Getting Ready - Part 2

Not only do Pete and I need to get ready for this adventure, but Mazy does too. The last time we camped in the heat in Alberta and Montana she suffered with hotspots and insect bites exacerbated by her heavy coat. So this week it was time for a trip to the groomers for a serious trim.

The old girl was pretty shaggy prior to the grooming.

Now she is a little less so:

The groomer used a technique she called tunnelling to shave down her belly so that she will benefit from any coolness in the ground when she's lying down outside. It looks a bit strange but, hopefully, it will work and she will be more comfortable if the mercury climbs as we head east and south.

Now if we could just find a similar solution to cope with her hyper anxiety in electrical storms!

Getting Ready

The decision to make the long anticipated trip cross continent was easy; getting ready, planning a rough itinerary (route and schedule) not so much. How long should (could) this journey take? How much do we leave to serendipity and how much do we schedule to the hour and the day? Dates have already been adjusted once to accommodate my work schedule but now they are set and given that we have a finite time frame, something in between these extremes seems most comfortable. So the last month or so has been consumed with much time perusing maps, on the internet, and in guide books reviewing routes, checking campsite options and booking at least a few of the more significant mileposts for the first few weeks.

It seems like an awfully long green line on that map and that's only one way! But it there's a lot of new territory to explore, family and old friends to visit and maybe a few yarn/fibre shops to discover along the way.