Summary Data

Now that my amazing journey has come to an end I am reflecting on the entire trip.   Here are some statistics, and some lessons' learned.

• 37 - Number of days away from home
• 6,043 - Total Miles driven (including traveling around when Waddles was parked)
• $633.54 - Total spent on gas
• 13 - # of states visited
• 2 - # of Canadian Provinces visited
• 4 - number of nights in a motel
• 16 - number of nights mooch docking in someone's driveway or yard
• 7 - National Parks visited
• 1 - National Monuments visited
• 8 - # of showers taken
• 14 - # of nights with shore power
• 28˚ - 95˚ - Temperature range
• 11,312' - Highest elevation
• 15 - number of friends visited
• 51 - most years since I'd seen some of these friends!  We were all very young.
• 2 - number of times the car was washed during the trip
• 1 - number of times Waddles was washed during the trip

Things I took that I didn't use:

• Lots of kitchen implements
• Extra sleeping bag
• Coleman stove
• Folding kitchen table
• Screen tent - I didn't stay in one place long enough to justify setting it up
• Lots of clothes
• Lots of food
• Air conditioner
• TV
• DVD Player

Things I used a lot:

• Check list for hooking up Waddles
• Solar light
• Tea kettle
• Small frying pan
• Stove
• Refrigerator
• Heater Buddy
• Extra blankets - when it was cold
• Light weight fleece blanket - when it was hot
• Car navigator
• 'Allstays' phone app for finding camping spots
• Handy Wipes
• Plastic coffee can for garbage
• Solar panal
• Spot Tracker - so others could see where I was, and to hide inside Waddles when I left her alone for any length of time, so if she wandered off by herself I'd know where she was.

Problems I encountered:

• Bad trailer battery - replaced in Illinois
• Lack of car wiring to charge the trailer battery while driving - fix in Illinois
• Keeping things cold in the refrigerator.  Works well with shore power, but sucks the battery otherwise.

I've been trying to think about the best and worse parts of the trip and that is impossible.  There were no bad parts.   I loved being on the road, loved seeing all the spectacular beauty around this country, loved visiting old friends, loved living in Waddles.   I discovered that I was sad whenever I unhooked from Waddles and drove away without her!

Waddles and the car have been unloaded and washed, lots of laundry has been done, and dishes washed.    I truly can not wait for our next adventure together.

Reconnecting

Yes, I know, I'm posting multiple posts on the same day.   I am catching up after not having internet access for a long time!  Stay with me here!

I left Glacier National Park on Wednesday, June 21.    I had scheduled to visit old friends from Alaska, Karen and Jack, at their lake cabin between Kalispell and Libby Montana this day.    It was not far to drive, so I took some time to explore Whitefish, which I had last visited in the 1970's on a crazy adventure I took hitchhiking across Canada in December.  I'd traveled down to Whitefish to try to get a job at the ski area, but was unable to find a place to live.  I spent 3 nights at the Cadillac Hotel before heading back to Banff where I'd started from. Whitefish has grown and looks much more prosperous now than it did back then.   It has a charming downtown area where I parallel parked with Waddles! (full disclosure, this was the two spaces at the end of the block, so it was pretty easy to get in and out).

Then I wandered around Kalispell for a bit before driving out Hwy 2 toward Libby.  (I'd been driving on Hwy 2 since the east side of North Dakota!)

I arrived at the cabin on Crystal Lake early afternoon.    What a beautiful spot!   Another friend from Alaska, Gail, drove up from Bozeman for the occasion and we had a great time reminiscing and catching up.   It had been 30 years since I left Seward Alaska, the last time I saw Gail and at least 20 years since I'd seen Karen and Jack.    We took a boat ride around the lake and did some exploring in the car the next day.  This is a string of lakes that are beside Hwy 2.  They are glorious!

I don't think we've aged a bit in 30 years!

We were treated to an amazing sunset!

I spent two nights at Crystal Lake and left early on Friday for Spokane.   My trip was getting down to the wire.   I have to be home for a class Tuesday-Friday next week and have house guests arriving on Monday.

The drive from the cabin, up through Libby and Troy Montana, and Bonners Ferry and Priest River Idaho, is spectacular.   I took my time and enjoyed the scenery.     I arrived in Spokane to a ducky welcome!

With friends, I spent the day visiting quilt stores, running errands, eating a lovely dinner and visiting.

Again, I was up early and on the road by 6am for my very last day of traveling.   Tonight I'll be sleeping in my house, in my bed, and with my kitties.

The Mountains Made me Do It

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is on the west edge of North Dakota, so I quickly found myself in Montana.  Now I think of Montana as being in the Rocky Mountains, but like Colorado, there is a LARGE part of the state that is east of the mountains, and very flat.    I'd been away from the mountains since I left Colorado Springs, more than 2 weeks ago, and I was starting to really miss them.   So I drove and drove and drove and drove across Montana until I could see mountains.

And once I could see them I had to keep driving until I was IN them.   This turned into another 11 hour driving day.  

I finally found myself at a Forest Service Campground on the southern edge of Glacier National Park, just about on the Continental Divide.    Now I'm a retired career Forest Service employee, and I love FS campgrounds, but this one was scraping the bottom.   It was RIGHT next to the highway, RIGHT next to a rest area,  RIGHT next to the railroad tracks, full of mosquitoes, had ONE, 1-hole, outhouse, the water only worked at ONE spigot and the water was BROWN and full of sediment, though the campground host assured me it had been tested and was free of bacteria (I used it to wash my hair only).   There were only two other campsites occupied, I saw one young boy who appeared suddenly when I was getting water.    I never saw any sign of life at the occupied site next to mine.     In the morning I went to use the one outhouse and it was occupied by someone who just grunted at me when I tried to open the door.    I hooked up my trailer, used the outhouse at the rest area near by, and hit the road.   The whole experience was kind of surreal.

A short drive and I arrived at the West Entrance to Glacier National Park.   I found a camp spot at Fish Creek Campground, in the loop that doesn't allow generators.   As I was setting up camp I realized that I was feeling pretty grumpy.  This was NOT normal, and I decided there were a few factors that contributed to that feeling.   2 of the last 3 days, I'd driven for 11 hours (not a good thing), it had been a week since I'd had a shower.  I was about out of fresh food and I'd been away from mountains for WAY too long.     It turns out there was a shower in one of the campground loops, and the woman who assigned me my campsite told me that it was closed for cleaning between 11 and 2.  And you sometimes didn't get hot water, but at 2, it should be good.

So I headed into town to do some grocery shopping, came back and went for a hike and got back to my campsite just in time to head over to the showers right at 2pm.   After cleaning up in a lovely HOT shower, hiking in the mountains, eating some fresh salad and relaxing in camp, my attitude was drastically changed!

Decisions

When I left Dryden, Ontario I wasn't sure whether I would drive across Canada or swing south back into the United States.  My next date was in Montana, so I could go either way.   When I crossed into Canada two things happened that helped make my decision.  #1, I turned my phone off because I don't have service in Canada without it costing a bunch of money.  #2, my car navigator doesn't have much data for Canada.    I'd been using these two tools extensively to make decisions about where to travel and where to camp.   I have an app on my phone called 'All Stay', which lists campgrounds and RV parks as well as other resources useful to travelers.   Without my phone I no longer had that information.    Not having the navigator made it harder to find my way through towns, but I'm pretty good with maps, so this one wasn't so critical.    I ended up driving west across Ontario and into Manitoba.  

On this trip I've tried to get at least one Geocache in each state, and province I traveled through.   In Manitoba I stopped along the highway and trudged through some wet grass to find the cache.  When I got back to the car I spotted a tick crawling on my pants.  Later in the day I felt one on my foot, and disposed of it.  That evening I found another one crawling on me, and then one on my bed covers.    I was pretty twitchy for a couple days!!!

I turned south just before I got to Winnepeg, and cross back into the US on the eastern edge of North Dakota.  

North Dakota was really beautiful.   Lush green, wildflowers and lots and lots of wetlands.   I imagine June is the prettiest time of year.

In one little town I encountered a BIG Biker Rally, where the main road was closed off and I had to detour around it.   I'd been seeing lots of motorcycles on the road all morning, and this explained why!

There were major rain squalls all around me, between bouts of sunshine

I only got caught in a squall once, but it was a doozy

In Kansas I came across the geographic center of the contiguous United States.  In North Dakota I came across the geographic center of the United States (including Hawaii and Alaska).   This is your geography lesson for the day!

I kept driving west on Hwy 2 across North Dakota until I got to the tiny town of Towner. My 'All Stay' app told me there was free camping in the city park, with electrical hook-ups.   After 11 hours of driving I was ready to stop, and this looked like a good opportunity.   It took me a few minutes to figure out that it was true, free camping in the city park.   I pulled in, parked, plugged in and went to explore a bit.    While I was setting up camp, a motorcycle drove by a couple times with a child on the back.  The second time the kid waved and yelled that she/he LOVED my little camper.    I went into a store and bought something to drink, told the clerk how wonderful it was that they invited people to camp in the city park.  He lit up and said he'd tell 'her' I said so.    I walked up and down the 4-5 blocks that made up town.   Most of the storefronts were empty.  This little town clearly is struggling economically, yet most people who drove by me waved and smiled.   I felt very welcome.  Although I was the only camper in the park, and I'm sure everyone in this tiny town knew I was camping there, it felt very safe.    It was like the town was happily hosting me for the night.   So if you ever find yourself driving on Hwy 2 in North Dakota, look out for Towner.... stop in, spend some money and enjoy these wonderful people.

I left them a good donation!

I got up early and continued on west through North Dakota.  My destination was Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Unit.    It was a much shorter driving day and I arrived at the Park early enough to explore.   Right off the bat I encountered buffalo quite close to the road.    The campground was lovely, right along the Missouri River, with lots of trees.  I drove the road through the North Unit, to the end.  There were many places to stop and explore, beautiful grasslands, and overlooks into the canyon.    Many buffalo were grazing on the grasslands.   It wasn't the most spectacular park I've been to, but it was diverse, quiet and very nice.

I left early in the morning and the ground fog was very cool.  I was taking a picture of the sunrise when I looked over and saw this guy watching me.   I got back in the car without much hesitation!

Onward toward the mountains.