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.

Turn Around Point

Again, I've not had internet access, so it has been too long since I've posted.    My last couple days in Illinois were fun.    We watched my grand nephew play baseball (they won).

After a week with my sister I packed up Waddles and headed north toward Ontario, Canada.   It felt good to have Waddles attached to my car as I drove down the road.

I drove on Hwy 20 northwest toward the Wisconsin border and then got on the 'Great River Road' which is a series of highway sections that follow the entire length of the Mississippi River.   I followed it until I got to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin and then took Highway 53 north.  

I stopped for the night at a Wisconsin state park that was lovely.   I saw a pair of swans with babies, but could not get a photo of them.   In the morning when I was leaving there was beautiful ground fog as the sun was coming up... and I saw happy Wisconsin cows all along the way.

I reached the Canadian Border around noon at International Falls.  I discovered that you have to pay a bridge toll to get to the border ($7. for the car, $4. for Waddles).   I also learned that I could not take my tiny mace can into Canada.  I had to go inside and fill out a form and forfeit my mace.

After I crossed the border I headed East on Highway 11 to Highway 503 which heads north to Dryden, Ontario.   It is a lovely road, 2 lanes that winds through forests with these funny moose warning signs.  I am wondering if there are ghost moose that come out at night and terrorize the drivers.

I reached Dryden and found my friend Rachel with the study Caribou.  These little ones don't like to be touched, but have huge personalities and were a delight to watch.  The adults are shedding so look a bit ragged this time of year, but they are beautiful animals.

I spent 2 nights here and then headed west.  

The Windy City

I'm not sure if I can top the Sock Monkey Museum, but I'll try.    Saturday we drove up to Wisconsin Dells to attend my great niece's high school graduation party.   Turns out my great nephew was playing tuba in a street concert with his Jazz Camp group, so I got to see that also!   It was a fun day, and I got to meet 'almost' family members I've not previously met.  

Waddles has been sitting 'mooch-docked' in my sister's driveway, skootched up against the garage and I've been sleeping out there all cozy.   When I got up on Saturday morning I thought there was a terrible smell in the air, and figured it was the hot, humid weather creating it.  When we got back from the graduation party, my brother-in-law commented on the smell and told me it was not something he'd smelled before.   I did some investigating and discovered that it was coming from Waddle's battery!  And the battery was quite hot.   So I unplugged the shore power right away.  The battery is sitting right next to the propane tank, so that was NOT a good thing.    The smell went away  and the battery cooled down.    Something was not right.   So Sunday we went to a Batteries Plus store and they tested it.  They said if it had just been charged (which it had) something was definitely wrong and I should replace it.  They did not have a similar battery in stock, so we went to Napa and found what we were looking for.   I installed it and all is well.

Also, I think I may have mentioned before that Waddles' battery is not charging when hooked up to the running car, which it should be.  So today I took it to an automotive place to see if they could figure out why.   I'd not tested this before leaving home, and suspected that the needed wire was not hooked up when the hitch and wiring was installed.   They confirmed that suspicion and fixed the problem.  I just hooked up the trailer and all is right with the world.   I'm hoping this will make my return trip a little easier.  I've been worried about the battery up until now.

Old battery 

The new battery charging while the car is running!  YEA!

Last night we took the train into downtown Chicago to attend the Chicago Blues Festival. This is a free 3-day event with 4 different stages!    On the way from the train to the festival we found the end of Route 66!

And the festival was right next to 'The Bean', which has a virtual geocache.

The music at the stage we went to was wonderful...and there were a LOT of people

Rhiannon Giddens was fabulous

Gary Clark Jr.  was really amazing

The first performer was Ronnie Baker Brooks, son of Lonny Brooks.   Another wonderful performance.    We headed back to the train at about 9:30pm.  On the way we saw this Picasso sculpture:

The the view sky-ward was pretty cool...

On the train home, the doors were not working, so we got home after midnight because two conductors had to manually open the doors at every stop!   It was entertaining.  At least the train was running.

Tonight we are going to see my other great nephew play baseball.    Tomorrow I'm not sure what is on the schedule.  Wednesday I'm planning to head home, via Ontario to visit another friend!   The next few days here in Illinois are going to be tough.....  check the precipitation as well as the temperature.

Family

Spent Wednesday driving south from Hannibal toward St. Louis Missouri, to visit Cahokia Mounds.  We took in the Visitor's Center and climbed the largest Mound.  I followed a path through the prairie vegetation from one site to another.   It was very interesting and informative.    From the top of the Mound we could see the St Louis Arch.  We spent a second night in Hannibal before heading home,

Thursday we took backroads driving from Hannibal, Missouri to Elgin, Illinois  It was lovely countryside.  We discovered Coatsburg, Illinois is the birthplace of William S. Gray, one of the authors of the Dick and Jane readers.    We also drove through Cherry, Illinois and learned that in 1909, it was the site of third largest Coal Mine disaster in the US.   It is truly amazing what you discover when you go off the beaten track!

Waddles is parked in my sister's driveway for the next week or so. Today I did laundry and changed out the flannel sheets for cooler sheets.    It was almost 90 degrees today and predicted to be hot and humid for the next couple days.    The Pendleton blankets are also off the bed!

Today I took the car in for an oil change and general check to make sure everything is operating properly.  Got a clean bill of health.  My sister and I then drove to Rockford Illinois to visit the gravesite of an aunt and uncle.  I had never been there, so it was lovely.   Then we attempted to find the historical society office to see if we could find more information about these relatives.  That search took us to a museum, where the historical society meets, but they do not have an office.  What WAS there was the Sock Monkey Museum!!!   I didn't know that was on my bucket list, but it was pretty darn cool!

We will be attending my great niece's High School Graduation party tomorrow.