The End/Beginning of the Great River Road

Deb in the River

Friday, Sept 10, 2021

  Today was a very exciting day for me--I got to cross another bucket item off my list. In my searches over the map of the United States, as I followed the Mississippi River up and down the continent, I had wanted to visit Bemidji, MN, and nearby Itasca State Park. The Mississippi River gets its start in Lake Itasca, flows out of the lake northeast toward Bemidji, and then eventually turns south and continues on to Louisiana. Today we drove through Bemidji, and spent the night at Itasca State Park. 

 The drive from Voyageurs NP was only about 125 miles, and we arrived in Bemidji at lunch time. We stopped at Paul Bunyan Park, on Lake Bemidji. The Mississippi flows out of Lake Itasca about 25 miles away, going through a number of lakes like a ribbon threaded with pearls, until it becomes much larger downstream. Lake Bemidji is both filled by the river, and then the river empties out of it as well. Bemidji is also the "hometown" of Paul Bunyan and Babe, his blue ox. The park has statues to both of them, as well as a lovely playground designed to be "accessible" for all children, including those with disabilities. The swings would accommodate a child who needs help sitting, and there's even a swing for a child who can only lie down. There were a number of children playing, as well as people just walking around enjoying the day, which turned from chilly in the morning to quite warm by lunchtime. I even changed into shorts! 

 We walked Cassie, ate some lunch, investigated the ice cream store across the street (they did NOT have sugar-free, so we didn't get anything,) and took photos of ourselves with Paul Bunyan and Babe. Finally, we stopped at Dunkin Donuts, where the Baskin Robbins DID have sugar free ice cream for Joe, and I had an iced coffee to satisfy my own sweet tooth. Then we headed for Itaska State Park. I had not realized that the Mississippi River was right THERE, and we drove over it as soon as we got back into the RV. So I made Joe turn around and go back, so I could take this photo of the river as we crossed it. It is only about 20 feel across at that point, I would guess, and it is only a mile or so in length, because it is passing between two lakes at that point. Anyway, we drove over it a second time, and then continued for 30 minutes or so until we came to the park. 

As we lined up for the campground entrance, I suddenly realized, it was Friday night! I had not made any reservations, and I was just hoping the park was not full. Well, we got SO LUCKY. They had ONE space, and it was because someone had just cancelled!! So we took the spot, which turned out to have a view of Lake Itasca through the trees. It was a very unlevel spot, but we decided we could live with it for one night. We got ourselves as level as possible, then jumped in the jeep. It was 4:30 pm, and we wanted to visit the Visitor Center before it closed at 6, and then go to the Headwaters of the Mississippi, which is what the park is most famous for. 

The visitor center was well worth the stop-- it had a number of excellent displays and panels explaining the search for the Mississippi headwaters through the 19th century, the importance of the river, and the natural life around it. There was one fantastic display about the Civilian Conservation Corps. Itasca is the oldest state park in Minnesota, established in (i think i remember) 1891. During the depression, the CCC was dispatched to build cabins and other structures to enhance the experience of visiting the park. The display included letters home written by boys who were working at Itasca, as well as an overview of the corps in general. I have always found the CCC to be so interesting, and I don't see why we can't have something like that these days. Our National Parks certainly could use some maintenance and TLC, and the government could be training and paying men and women to do this work. It would be so worthwhle. 

Anyway.... we left the center and drove back up the road a couple of miles (the park is very big!) to visit our ultimate goal--the headwaters at lake Itasca. It was around 6pm, and it seems like we really timed it well. There was almost no one there, and we were able to really enjoy the peaceful walk to the lake. When we got there, I climbed on the rocks, waded in the water (I was glad I'd changed to shorts at lunch time!) and really enjoy being there. Joey took photos of me and of the river heading downstream after it tumbled out of the lake and over the rocks. I was beaming the entire time, and I think the photos show how happy I was to finally be there.

Heading North as Fall Arrives

Wednesday-Thursday, Sept 8-9, 2021 We woke up Wednesday with a travel day ahead of us. The original expectation was a drive of about 3-4 hours, ending up at Voyageurs National Park. I figured we'd have an hour or two there, and then find a place to stay for the night, then head southwest to Bemidji, MN. But that's not exactly how it played out.
We made a good departure from Duluth, after dumping right at our campsite and hooking up the Jeep. The weather was overcast again, and Joe had put on some warmer clothes including jeans. I was still in denial about fall arriving, and wore shorts--but I did put on socks and sneakers for the first time, and had to wear a long sleeve top and a sweatshirt. It was definitely getting cooler! We got onto US 53, and that was our route for about 100 miles. We stopped for lunch at a big shopping center in the town of Virginia, MN (another state-state combination name), where we were surprised to see an Einstein's Bagels restaurant. But we resisted temptation so that my diet wouldn't be immediately sabotaged-- I can't resist bagels! Instead we ate in the RV. Then after walking the dog, we stopped across the highway so I could drop my postcards into the mail at a post box in front of the grocery store. And then, back on the road.
The only stop after that was a quick one at a ranger station for the Superior National Forest. I was hoping for some maps and information, but unless I spent $14, the map I needed was not available. I also found out that there is a legal dispute between the US Government and the state of Minnesota about who owns the forest immediately surrounding the National Park--i.e. in the area where we would be. The ranger told me i could NOT camp "dispersed camping" style (i.e. anywhere in the forest that i wanted) because the state did not allow it. (If it is federal land, it IS allowed--but there is no definite decision as to whose land it is.) I had hoped to find a free dispersed spot, but decided that was not going to work.
I could see we were likely to be arriving at the Visitor Center at Lake Kabetogama at 4pm and it closes at 5:00. Unfortunately, we missed the turn, adding 20 more minutes to our drive. We arrived at 4:30, after passing another Visitor Center at Ash River. I said as we passed, "Should we go there instead?" But Joe said no, let's just go on to Kabetogama. Well, after missing the turn and arriving in a cranky mood, we found that the Visitor Center at Lake Kabetogama is CLOSED from Wed-Saturday. The park website did not mention that important bit of information! So the Ash River site IS open Wednesday-Saturday (the other one is open Sunday-Tuesday), and we could have stopped at that one.
As we made this unhappy discovery, the sky opened and we had yet another brief torrent of rain--something we've just started taking for granted up here lately. We decided to camp at the nearest place-- Woodenfrog State Forest Campground. Well, that was the best decision we made all day. Our campsite here is surrounded by nothing but trees (all the sites are spread apart, and almost no one is here anyway, so we are all alone.) The lake is nearby, but we are just in the trees, and it smells great and is so beautiful.
It's a primitive site, though-- no electric or on-site water. So Joe decided to run the generator so he could use the microwave to defrost something for dinner. That's when he discovered that sometime in the past week or so, the generator's exhaust pipe had fallen off. Unfortunately, that makes us leery of using the generator, since the exhaust will be right under the RV and is toxic. We ended up having hot dogs for dinner, since that required no defrosting (just put them in a skillet and cook!) But now we need to find a new exhaust pipe.
We woke up and decided on a plan for the day. The site fee was good until 4pm. So instead of taking the RV, we drove the Jeep down the road (30 minutes) back to the Ash River Visitor Center. We spent about an hour there--first watching a video about the park, and then going down to the lake. It is absolutely gorgeous up here, really. The park is mostly water, and most of the activities are boating, or boat rides. The boat rides are over for the season. We don't have a boat. (We weren't going to start kayaking at this point-- we BOTH put on jeans this morning and wore sweatshirts all day... the temperature is in the 60s.) But we did spend time admiring the views of Lake Kabetogama and the peaceful atmosphere of the park.
After an hour or so, we headed back north (all this is back and forth on Route 53), past the RV's location, up to International Falls, MN. This is the northernmost point of the state, and across the river (where, supposedly, there are falls, but you can't see them because of the international border crossing) is Canada. Our goal was the NAPA, to see if they had a part that would work for the generator. Unfortunately they did not. I made another disappointing discovery as well-- the Walmart which I thought was in International Falls turns out to be in Canada! A mere mile and another country away. Between Covid and not having passports, we were not going to cross the border. So we stayed in town, looked at a couple of other auto repair places (no one had what Joey is looking for), ate some lunch (BBQ brisket at the snack bar in one of the auto repair places), went to the grocery store, stopped at the post office to mail more postcards which I'd bought at the park, and finally at around 4pm, came back to the campground. There, we paid for another night, and went for a walk in the woods.
Like I said, this state forest campground is beautiful. The lake is right here, and we found a lakeside path to walk on as well as the trail in the woods. So we have photos and we are relaxed and since we have such a flexible agenda, oh well. It was just "one of those days." Gotta have them sometimes! Tomorrow we will get up early and head for Bemidji and the headwaters of the Mississippi, and then, we'll see where we end up for the night. After that: book it for Montana.

New Year in Duluth

 

Monday-Tuesday, Sept. 6-7

We got up on Monday morning and packed up our camper, used the excellent KOA showers, and hit the road for a drive to Duluth, about 3 hours away. We had a reservation at a campground on the river (I didn't know WHAT river) so we could spend Rosh Hashanah in a place with decent phone reception. We planned to "go to services" via AEMT's livestream Monday evening and Tuesday morning.

We arrived without incident in the late afternoon at River Place Campground. It was, indeed, right smack on the Saint Louis River, only a few miles upstream from where it pours into Lake Superior and Dululth Harbor. Almost all the campers there were seasonal, with porches and lawn ornaments, and they had all the actual waterfront sites. But there was a pier with a table and chairs where I sat for a little while, admiring the serenity of the river. 

Saint Louis River along our campground

There was no one to be found at the office cum bait shop. My instructions had been to ask there for my site number. But there was a list posted on the door and I saw that we had Site 33, so we found it (very easy) and parked ourselves there. It was quiet--many of the seasonal campers were not there, and there was plenty of grass to walk Cassie, so we were very happy and settled ourselves in.

Dinner was early, because I wanted to catch the services at 6:30 central time (they were 7:30 at home.) I sat in the dinette with the laptop set up, and watched the whole thing, sang along with the prayers, etc. This was an improvement from previous years, when this technology was not utilized, but the one upside to Covid is that we can now participate in important events via Zoom, Livestream, or even YouTube (the services could be found on all three.)

Duluth Shipping Channel by Maritime Museum

Tuesday morning, I got myself going in time to catch late services (10:45 my time.) I had touched base with Aimee and Beth, and the three of us had a phone text group going as we all watched services together. That made it a bit more comforting, since I was missing being with family for the New Year. 

When services were over, Joey and I had some lunch. Then we drove to Duluth to be sightseers. My plan had been to take the North Shore Scenic Highway (another All America Road) for as long as we felt like driving. But I was not at all sure where or how to pick it up! I saw in my Duluth tourist book that there was a Maritime Museum run by the Army Corps of Engineers right by the Aerial Lift Bridge, Duluth's landmark. So I felt they could surely tell me where to go, and we'd visit the museum as well.

The Aerial Lift Bridge, built 1905, up to allow the tanker to pass underneath

Unfortunately, we seem to be on a streak of getting to places and finding them closed! The Museum is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. However, the outdoors were open, and there were quite a few people enjoying a beautiful fresh sunny afternoon and watching the shipping lane, which ran in front of the Museum and under the adjacent lift bridge. Just as we arrived, the bridge started going up. We looked to see why, and saw a huge tanker in the harbor coming toward us. We watched as it turned hard to go through the shipping lane under the bridge. It was BIG!!

As it was passing, suddenly a woman came on a loudspeaker from the Museum, and told us all about the ship, which was called the Indiana Harbor. It was 1,000 feet long, 105 feet wide, and was carrying  78,900 tons of iron ore pellets from West Duluth (I didn't catch where the ship was headed.) It was fascinating watching it go past us just a few feet away. After it cleared the bridge, the roadway descended again, and we watched the cars go over. It was super cool.

The Aerial Bridge descending after the ship is through

The Museum might have been closed, but their gift shop was operating out of a trailer next to the building. So i picked up some postcards and magnets, and asked the lady how to find the North Shore highway. Then we got back in the Jeep and drove a few miles until we found Minnesota Highway 61. This tickled me, because Bob Dylan wrote a song called Highway 61 Revisited, and it starts out, "God said to Abraham, kill me a son," and kind of "reimagines" the story of the Akeda. Since we'd just heard that read a few hours earlier as the Torah portion of Rosh Hashanah, I thought it was fun that later in the day, I was on Highway 61. 61 happens to lead right to the North Shore drive. 

So we drove up the scenic road along Lake Superior listening to Bob Dylan on the radio (he grew up in Duluth and is sort of the "favorite son." I also snapped a photo of Bob Dylan Drive later in the day.) The Lake was simply gorgeous--a deep green/blue near the shore and darker farther out. We could see "our" ship, the Indiana Harbor, in the distance. At one point, we pulled over to a scenic overlook/historical marker, and just then a huge rainstorm came through, pelting us. We just sat in the car and waited until it passed over us, and then watched it sail out over the lake. There were actually quite a few rainstorms over the lake, and the clouds were amazing--sun in some places, and dark clouds with rain pouring out of them in others. 

After the rain, I got out to read the historical marker (it marked the site of Buchanan, a settlement in the mid-1800s which disappeared later), and realized that the rocks below allowed us to go down to the very edge of the lake. Our goal had been to find a place to do "tashlich" in Lake Superior. So Joe got out of the Jeep to join me, and we carefully climbed down the rocks and tossed our bread crumbs into the water. Hopefully our sins went with them. But if they did they will now plague a flock of seagulls, who appeared out of nowhere at the very first toss, and squawked and grabbed up all the crumbs as they hit the water's surface.

Lake Superior Shoreline with Storm clouds over Lake

Tashlich on Lake Superior

We continued up the shoreline after sitting in the sun and enjoying the water for a little while longer, but the road took us off the immediate shore at that point, and we decided maybe we should head back south toward home. When we got to the city again, we wanted to find a grocery--we needed a few things as usual. There was construction to foul us up more than once, and that meant we discovered that Duluth has a lakeview park which looks out on the lake and is spectacular! In face, the city really seemed delightful-- it is built much like San Francisco in that the hill it's on is VERY steep, and the higher you go, the better the harbor view. There were trendy shops in the area we found, and I would have loved to park someplace (there seemed to be nowhere to park, really) and walk in that park. Something else to come back for, I guess!

We finally found a Whole Foods Co-op store--much smaller than a regular Whole Foods, but with veggies (which we needed) and some other stuff as well. And after that, we were able to return to our RV.  We did get lost on our way home, and ended up going over a couple of large bridges. Only to discover that crossing the bridge took us back to Wisconsin! I didn't realize that the tip of Wisconsin was there, sharing the port with Duluth. The second bridge brought us back to Minnesota, and it was the GPS announcing "Welcome to Minnesota" which tipped me off! So it was a geography lesson as well.

All day the weather varied from bright and sunny autumn to brief rainy spells. Luckily, we timed our adventures to maximize the sun and not suffer much from the rain. We really enjoyed our afternoon, and felt it was a nice start to our New Year.

Mauled at the Mall of America

Sunday, Sept 5, 2021 

Today we took our courage in hand and went to see the Mall of America. I'd always wanted to see it, whereas Joe hates malls with a passion. Also, he hates crowds. But he encouraged going, on the theory that it was a unique experience. 

We had actually spent the entire morning in the RV, just hanging around doing chores and relaxing. So it was after lunch when we headed for Bloomington and the Mall. We were already amazed before we got into it-- the parking deck had digital signs to say how many empty parking spaces were on each floor (of 7). Even cooler were the lights which stretched down the center of each parking row-- anywhere that there was an empty space had a green light. (I have since learned that lots of large parking decks use this technology, but we hadn't seen it before.) 

We were parked fairly close to a Mall entrance, and as soon as we walked in, the Amusement Park was visible straight ahead. We walked to the edge and stared in amazement at three roller coasters, other thrill rides, and kiddie rides down below. I'd heard there was an amusement park, but it's quite another thing to see it, surrounded by stores such as Macy's and Nordstrom. 

Since we had absolutely no agenda, we had decided to look for the Lego store, which has giant Lego creations up on its roof (which was the 2nd floor of the mall.) We had no idea where it was, so I played around with the electronic mall guidance system-- I put in the store I wanted, and the electronic guidance first told me which floor and quadrant of the mall it was in, and then showed me on diagrams how to get there. I memorized "walk toward Macy's, go downstairs, turn the corner at Macy's, and Lego is in the middle of the corridor on the left." Slowly we found our way there.

The Mall was crowded, but not nearly as bad as the State Fair had been, and at least half the people seemed to be wearing masks, so it was possible to mostly maintain our distance from others. We admired the Legos, then kept walking until we came to the Aquarium. We could see down into the lobby there, where there were tanks of rays and other touch-tanks for kids. The price for the Aquarium was pretty high, though, so we decided to pass on it.

Meanwhile, I decided I was thirsty. There were lots of places to get food, drinks, candy, ice cream, cinnamon buns, cupcakes, and all the other stuff they sell in malls. But when I saw a Dunkin Donuts, I decided that an iced coffee would satisfy both my thirst and my sweet tooth. So I used my Dunkin app to order, and watched through the window until the screen said that my number had been served. (I would have had to wait in a line if I hadn't used the app.) I walked in and took my coffee and left, thus bypassing the people in the small store. We sat on a bench facing the center "courtyard" and watched the people and the amusement park rides for a while as I drank my coffee.

In the end, this pretty much summed up our Mall visit. We did buy a couple of things-- Joe got some sugar-free candy, and I fell prey to the Lindt store, where the display of Lindor truffles just could not be ignored. (I told the salesgirl, "I want to dive into your display and swim through it with my mouth open!" They were pushing boxes with 100 truffles--fill it myself with any of their flavors, many of which I had not been familiar with before. But conscious of my attempt to lose weight, in the end I bought only about a dozen Lindor balls to take home. I also picked up some face cream which I needed, and stopped on a whim at the Vera Bradley store, where they happened to have my favorite style wallet at 40% off. Since the one I have is threadbare, I decided I could splurge on a new one at that price.
And that was it! We left the Mall when Joe decided he'd had enough. I could have shopped a few stores having Labor Day and End of Season sales, but truth is, not only do I not need a thing, but my RV is already full of too many clothes that I overpacked.

 So: the Mall of America is quite an astonishing testimony to American consumerism, mindless entertainment, and junk food. But it was certainly worth seeing at least once.

The Biggest State Fair

Saturday, Sept 4 Today we decided to go to the Minnesota State Fair, billed as the largest State Fair in the country. I had never been to a State Fair, only the MIddlesex County Fair. I figured it was a lot of animals, rides, food, and booths of various kinds. And that's exactly what it was. But GINORMOUS!

Mother Earth Scarecrow

 

 

 We drove into the city and found (after one wrong try) the parking deck where the shuttle was leaving from to take people to the fair. The numbers of people who show up is so huge that there's no way to have enough parking at the fairgrounds, so there are a half-dozen places around Minneapolis where you can do the park-and-ride thing. Parking was free, but the bus cost $6/pp . This was only the beginning of the insistent drain on our finances to attend this extravaganza, but it was worth it--it made it very easy to park and get to the fair.

We bought tickets and went inside, and were immediately overwhelmed. There were thousands of people there already. BTW, there were signs about wearing masks indoors and when "in crowds" outside, but there were very few masks outdoors. (The bus required them, so at least everyone was masked there.) Anyway, I had no idea where to go first, so we went to the information desk and I asked for suggestions. They explined where the 6 sound stages were, where the animal barns were, the agriculture buildings, the craft buildings, etc. Then they gave me the brochure specific to that day, which listed EVERYTHING that was happening.

Joey and I wandered off, deciding that we needed a drink first. We just strolled down one of the streets-- it was non-stop food options, including unusual stuff like deep fried olives ("Olive you SOOO much!"), alligator, and I forget what-all else. It was a food extravaganza, and so much that we couldn't even THINK about what we wanted, because we were sure that the next booth would sound even better. So we got some coke and some water and kept walking. After about 30 minutes, I said, "We just have to DECIDE." I was looking for something maybe a little bit healthier, but not coming up with much. So in the end, we got a plate of ribboned potatoes (which was like instantly made potato chips) served like nachos, with a choice of toppings. We got sriracha chicken, but ruined the healthy aspect by getting melted cheese and sour cream on top. Then we found a set on a bench someplace and ate, while crowds of people walked past us.

After that, we kept walking. We found the agriculture building, which we really thought was interesting. There was a section on bees and honey, which had not just beehives, but all the categories of fair entries which "went with" bees and honey: baking with honey (categories for bread, cookies, pie, etc), crafts which featured bees or honey, etc. The next section had seeds. Yes, they judge SEEDS at the Minnesota State Fair. We looked at boxes full of seeds, and walls of corn on the cob, some of which had won ribbons (they all looked precisely the same to me; it seems the seeds were also judged on germination, which of course we did NOT see.) And then, crafts made with seeds (like pictures using different colored seeds to create a picture). There was a section on plants/flowers, one on farm machinery, it just went on and on. I loved the creative scarecrows we saw--those were the best!

Scarecrow Line-up and Vintage Seed Sacks

 

Then we found the animals. We went inside an almost empty arena and watched the bulls being judged. The woman describing them was so funny--she described their "conformation" and said things like how she liked seeing their musculature, and "this one has the masculinity I like to see in a bull." Joey says to me, "She's talking about his penis!" LOLOL! I have no idea how one bull looks more "masculine" than another! Then we went to the horse barn, which was more crowded. But we saw some pretty horses (no judging going on that we could find.) We skipped the goats and sheep--we'd had enough animals by that time. I also walked through the international bazaar while Joey people-watched, and we ate a little more-- we got a sausage sampler plate (Polish, anduille, and Italian--all hand made) and i got a bowl of sweet corn ice cream! (It was very good.) 

All in all, we were very good about not eating too much. We did not go on any rides. We just walked around being amazed at the sheer size of it all, and somehow we missed the crafts building, which I would have liked to see (thinks like quilting and painting). 

Overall, it was just a mob scene. I don't remember when I saw that many people in one place BEFORE the pandemic. I think it must have been because it was the last weekend of the fair, was Labor Day weekend, and was Saturday. But in any case, it was crazy. And NOISY. When we first got there around 1pm, we could get food without standing in line. But by the time we left at 5:00 or so, there were lines for everything. Joey was exhausted, though, so we called it day, trudged back to our bus stop, and took the shuttle bus back to the parking deck, and then drove another 20 minutes to get back to the RV. It was a long day, but we really liked it! A lot of fun just experiencing the energy and watching everyone else have a great time too. We were very glad we

went.

Another long driving day

Day 4: August 30, 2011

Yesterday continued uneventfully after my blog's ending point. We had a lovely drive through Wisconsin, on some windy hilly roads through gorgeous green farms and countryside. I am just in love with that state--so lush and relaxing. It speaks to me.

We crossed the Mississippi River at La Crosse, and followed the river on the Minnesota side up to I-90. And then we were back on the superslab, driving as fast as we could. We were hungry but didn't want to take the time to make dinner, so we had some fast food, not a very exciting anniversary dinner, but oh well. And then we drove until about 10:30pm when we voted to stop and spend the night at a rest stop. I have to say, I have stayed in many places noisier and more crowded. The highway itself seemed very untravelled and the rest stop had 3 cars when we pulled in. It was dark and even quiet.

We set the alarm for 6:30, hoping to get an early start today. We knew we had to make a stop in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for our new air conditioner cover, and Joe would have to replace it on the roof. So we were up and out early. It began to rain overnight (luckily Joe decided that would NOT make a difference to our naked AC) and it was lightly raining while we had breakfast. It was cool, too--we dressed in jeans and sweatshirts, and I was cool all morning. We turned on the radio during breakfast, and were entertained by the lead-in story of the news, that the harvest was now 60% in, and by the flat midwestern accents of the announcers. The local news was also interesting--evidently volleyball is a big deal in Minnesota, at least in the southernmost part of the state. Then we started driving and again the road was fairly empty--I don't know where everyone is this year--relatively few RVs and campers compared to the past, I think, and even fewer cars. Perhaps I-90 is just less travelled than I-80...it seemed so empty to us.

So we zoomed through Minnesota and arrived in Sioux Falls around 11 a.m. We spent about an hour at the RV dealer. They were very nice--they had the exact right AC cover, and Joe went up on the roof and had no trouble replacing it--he is just great at this stuff! I, meanwhile, purchased a few other items and made myself generally useless. We left Sioux Falls around noon and headed west again.

The rest of the day was basically about driving. At some point, it got really hot, and we changed from jeans to shorts--I think we went through a 35-degree temperature change today. South Dakota is also a beautiful state--rolling farms, mostly, and the road stretching out endlessly. We stopped for lunch--Joe made me an awesome salad!--and at a beautiful visitor's center in the center of the state near the city of Chamberlain overlooking the Missouri River. (it IS "wide" at that point!) There was also a Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center there.
Then back to the road until 4:30pm Mountain Time (we crossed another time zone--they put them out in the middle of nowhere, amid the corn) when we stopped at Wall Drug. We skipped this stop back in 2007 and I must say, we were smarter then . What a horrific collection of every kind of tchatchka in the entire world! I walked in and walked around but the entire place gave me a headache. Joe and Roxy waited outside on a shady bench and watched the people go by.

Less than an hour later, we were leaving Wall and continuing on. At this point, I started to fall apart--the heat was too much for me and I was stressing because I didn't know where we would stay tonight. I really did not want to spend a lot of money, and a lot of the campgrounds in the area of the Black Hills are ridiculously expensive. The KOA at Rapid City was listed as $25-$80. I mean, who PAYS that for a campground! But we did want internet and Joey pointed out that it would be good to have AC tonight to cool me down.

So I finally found this place called No Name City Campground. It is in Sturgis, which means we are now only about 30 miles "behind" my original day-to-day plan for this trip (obviously the mechanical problems yesterday set us behind; now we're virtually caught up.) It's small and seemed noisy to me, because it is very near the Interstate with no trees or anything as a buffer. But in that it's no different from most of the campgrounds we passed along the highway--they are all sitting out in bare fields without any charm whatsoever. I guess it's because we are on the edge of the Black Hills and not really IN them. The good news though is it only cost us $18.99, a downright steal, and we do have Internet. Today we drove 512 miles.

So now we've had our dinner, I've written this blog, and all I have to do now is wrestle with the photos from yesterday and today. Tomorrow we are on schedule to drive into Montana for the first time, stop at Little Big Horn, and then continue on to Red Lodge for the night. And then, into Yellowstone.

Crossing the Prairie

August 21, 2010

After obsessing for way too long about where to go from Wisconsin Dells, Joe told me we should just go with our original plan and “go west”. So despite online weather projections of 100 degree heat in North Dakota, we decided to head in that direction anyway. As Joe said, “we’ve been hot before”, and our other options seemed either unexciting or too mosquito-y.

We got our usual fairly late start from the Dells, jumping right onto I-94, which was pretty much our route for two days. We did stop after a few hours at a Walmart to refill our cupboards and find a few other odds and ends. We are happily surprised that we managed to go for 6 days without a stop at a Walmart or a similar place for a long list of forgotten, overlooked, or emergency items. Maybe our packing is improving. In any case, we found everything we needed, including a mailbox with daily pickup, so I mailed some postcards while I was at it.

(Above: These Amish farmers were selling baked goods and rugs. Their carriages were right under the Pilot sign; their harnessed horses were tied in the shrubbery across the street.)

Otherwise, it was a very long day of driving. We crossed the St. Croix River into Minnesota (beep beep—another new state sticker!) at about 3:30 pm and stopped at the first rest stop so I could pick up maps and other tourist info, in case we wanted to change our direction at that point (still possible). When I came out of the building, I found Joe lying in a shady spot in the grass with Roxy. From there we made our way through construction and Friday afternoon traffic around Minneapolis-St. Paul. Then we went over the Mississippi (it’s much narrower up here than it is further south! And it goes right through Mpls-SP—am I the only one who didn’t realize this before?) and headed northwest. We stopped sometime around dusk for dinner, and then continued on our way.

At about this point, Joe made a discovery—he could not find his cell phone. After much searching and thought, he realized that it must have fallen out of his pocket when he was lying in the grass earlier in the day. So we added to our agenda for the next day to find an AT&T store in Bismarck, and try to replace it. Meanwhile he turned off the service by using my phone.

At about 10pm we crossed the Red River into Fargo, North Dakota (beep beep!) So this is the truth: it is VERY VERY DARK at night in North Dakota, even on an interstate highway (with a speed limit of 75, btw). There were almost NO cars. There wasn’t even the almost obligatory rest area/tourist info stop within a mile or two of the state line. Two out of three exits say “no services”, and it was extremely eerie in the nighttime. By the light of the moon we could see fog rising in the fields next to us, and from time to time we drove through bands of fog over the highway. I started to freak out a little bit (without the tourist rest stop I didn’t even have a good map) but we had our trusty Next Exit book which told us that in about 50 miles there was a highway rest area. We got there at about 11 pm and that was enough driving, we were both quite tired—we’d travelled 510 miles since morning. And luckily,this rest area also had enough tourist info (and maps) to make me happy.
We hit the road again in the morning and stopped an hour later in Jamestown, the first place of any size we came to. We wanted to find some wifi so we could possibly check online on where we might find an AT&T store. We also figured it was a great opportunity to see the World’s Largest Buffalo. So we went to Frontier Village. While there I asked someone if she had any idea where we might find an AT&T store, and she told me that “probably the nearest one is in Minnesota”, LOL! It seems AT&T doesn’t operate in ND. She was, however, able to point us in the direction of someplace with wifi. Unfortunately that didn’t help, because the AT&T store locator page was completely worthless. So it seems Joe won’t have a replacement phone any time before Nebraska, since I’m guessing SD doesn’t have AT&T either. Meanwhile I updated my Facebook status from Jamestown.
From Jamestown we drove another 100 miles to Bismarck, the capital of ND. The guide book mentioned something about the state capitol being unusual, so we decided we’d get off the highway to see it, and to have some lunch. We didn’t go inside (we were there during the time it was closed, but I doubt we’d have gone in anyway. I think the fact that it is 19 stories, the only such “tower” we’ve seen in the whole state, is what makes it unique around here, although it’s supposed to be beautiful inside. Our visit did coincide with the “Pink Heals Tour” event on the grounds of the Capitol. Their pink fire trucks were so cool and their mission even cooler--check it out! So I took some photos and we had some lunch, and left—crossing the Missouri River before I realized it! So no photo (I’ll try to get it on our way back east.)

Right past Bismarck, we finally got ourselves off the “superslab” by picking up a “scenic byway” which basically paralleled I-94. This was nicer scenery (although actually the views from I-94 are quite lovely), and we really enjoyed the next 100 miles. We passed thousands of acres of sunflowers and “amber waves of grain.” Toward the end of the route, we stopped at the “Flying Geese” sculpture, the largest scrap metal sculpture in the world. It is situated on a hill overlooking the highway and the countryside, and the view was simply gorgeous. As we looked down on the fields, we could see the grasses blowing in the wind, looking absolutely like flowing water (the illusion was increased by the most “flowy” field being the color of spring green). Plus the varying shades of greens, and golds, and the shadows in the distance, and the hills, were simply fabulous. Such a beautiful state with such broad vistas and wide horizons…. We just love it. And then we jumped back on “the slab” for the last 30 or so miles to Medora, ND, the entryway to Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
So we are now nestled in a campsite in Medora at the foot of the Badlands-we are right by the river under the cottonwood trees, looking at striated rock perhaps 100 yards away from us. It is hot, as advertised, but it seems that North Dakota has a VERY strong “breeze” blowing today, and it has helped hugely. We seem also to have entered Mountain Time, which means we gained an hour to relax this evening. In fact, Joe and I are sitting outside in our lounge chairs with the breeze blowing. He’s reading, and I of course am typing. Roxy is lying nearby, and not embarrassing us too much by barking at the very-close neighbors and their little white dog. Tomorrow, we explore the Badlands!