Road-trip September 8 - October 8, 2017 (Day 1 - 7)

On the 8th day of September Marie and I headed out for a month long trip to British Columbia and the western USA. We were finally going to visit Lara, Jesse, and Joshua in North Vancouver since their move west in July  2016 and meet our new grandchild Maya. Afterwards we were going to take the ferry over to Vancouver Island and stay with my friend Bruce and his wife Kirsten in Nanaimo. Returning to the mainland we hoped to be able to swing down south to Utah and see my sisters Dee and Carolyn and brother Rich who was visiting. But this itinerary was to change as you will see. We set off with our camper and dog Ben early on the 8th of September, driving east to Embrun, Ontario, our first stop, to celebrate Damien's first birthday with Christina and Alex....

Christina and Damien

Damien's first swing at a pinata

William and Amy

Ben, Amy and Dexter

cutting the cake

me and Damien in his new truck

Damien wearing my hat - cool dude!

camping in Christina and Alex's drive

Early the morning of the 10th we said goodbye to Christina and Embrun, promising to drop by on our return home. We headed back out onto highway 417 passing through Ottawa, Arnprior and Pembroke, skirting the north side of Algonquin Provincial Park and followed the Ottawa River to North Bay and Sturgeon Falls. The weather was beautiful, sunny and warm, and the forecast was for clear skies as we traveled west. It would be the longest rode trip with the truck and camper - previously we had driven twice to Florida and back, a distance of 5000 kilometers. This trip would be over twice as much and we had given ourselves a month to do it. 
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lunch break near Alconquin Park

Ben, the mountain goat

Just outside Sudbury we pulled into Carol Campground on Richard Lake, one of hundreds of small lakes dotting this part of Ontario. We had planned to stop between four and six o'clock every afternoon, depending on where we were and the availability of a Good Sam campground that offered a 10% discount (and was well reviewed in the big catalog we carried around with us). It was warm and the lake just 50 feet from our campsite, the place quiet and only a few people in boats out fishing. We would find all the campgrounds we stayed at to be free of children and the usual noisy gatherings as a reult of school being back in and the summer break over. This was definitely the time of year to travel. Once we had parked we began the ritual of taking the very first of many selfies in front of the campground sign before it got too dark and, with very few exceptions, prepared to cook our own supper in the camper. I had the setting up down to 5 minutes - plugging in the electrical to a 30 Amp outlet, connecting the water, hooking up cable if it was available, and running out the gray water hose if necessary to empty the tank. The fridge ran on propane during the day and automatically switched over to AC when we stopped and hooked up. A 20 Lb tank and a half would last us the month, running the fridge, heating water to wash dishes or shower and to cook on our small two burner stove.

Carol Campsite, Sudbury, Ontario

early morning fog, Richard Lake

It was a four hour drive to Sault Ste Marie the next morning along the Trans Canada and we crossed into the US side with no problem. It was Sept 11th, a day to remember those awful events 16 years ago. As we drove through  Michigan's eastern Upper Peninsula on SR28, only a few miles from three of the great lakes - Superior, Michigan and Huron, we passed through the Hiawatha National Forest towards Newberry and our destination for the night - Kritter's North Country Camp, a quiet and clean spot that would have been nice to stay a few extra days longer to explore the nearby Tahquamenon Falls and local bear ranches.

Sept 11, 2017, Sault Ste Marie, Michigan

Kritter's Northcountry Campground, Newberry, Michigan

dinner is served!

It was a cool 10 degrees (50F) when we left the next morning, following the blue waters of Green Bay, Wisconsin before moving inland and east on the SR29 through forest and dairy farm country towards Minneapolis, the next big city on our route. We had to stop and try out the cheese Wisconsin is famous for before leaving the state but to my taste buds it wasn't much different then our local cheeses. The temperature rose steadily during the day and when we arrived at the O'Neill Creek Camp in Chippewa Falls for the evening it was a sultry 27 degrees (81F). The owners had started early with their Halloween celebrations it appeared as the place was festooned with scary blow up creatures, skulls and graveyards with arms and hands  sticking out. Ben was not impressed and growled at these silly apparitions as we walked down to the creek that gave its name to the campground.

O''Neill Creek Campground, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin

We picked up the I-94 the next morning in Eau Claire, crossing into Minnesota and almost immediately meeting heavy traffic in the Minneapolis-St Paul corridor. In all my travels east and west in the US it was actually the first time I had ever been there. Once past these imposing twin cities we headed north east, entering North Dakota and the town of Fargo.  It was still warm and pleasant when we decided to stop at the Jamestown campground an hours further drive west, having driven over 700 kilometers that day. We were both looking forward to a long, hot shower. The campground owners were very friendly and invited us to walk along the well kept trails on the camp's perimeter. It was nice to be able to stretch our legs after another long day and watch the sun set over the fields that stretched into the horizon.

Jamestown Campground, Jamestown, North Dakota

evening, Jamestown, ND

North Dakota was hot and unbelievably boring to drive through and we tried to put as many miles under us as we could. Sorry about that ND but I'm sure there is a lot of interesting places to visit and things to see...As we were driving through Bismark, crossing over the Missouri River, the longest river in North America where it begins its journey south, we found out my sister Lyn was flying to Utah. As my brother was there as well with the other siblings we made the quick decision to head there instead of carrying on to British Columbia. It would be a great treat to have all five of us together again! I let Lara know we would be delayed  and why and we turned south at the first opportunity into South Dakota, picking up highway 85 which went all the way into Wyoming. We almost ran out of diesel before we hit the state line, limping into the tiny town of Newell, the gauge actually reading zero when we pulled alongside the pumps. Marie had done a wonderful job of nursing it the last few miles and I could have kissed the cashier in relief as I paid. Restarting a diesel engine when it runs out of fuel can be a nightmare and I wasn't in the mood to attempt this feat. The weather turned cooler as we entered Wyoming and picked up I-90 at Spearfish, the rain and fog accompanying until we stopped for the night. We had wanted to drive by Devil's Tower National Monument, one of our favorite spots in the west but it was hidden by ground hugging clouds and the forecast for any clearing was not reassuring. After another 700 kilometer day we finally stopped at the Mountain View RV Park in the small town of Sundance, named for the sun dance ceremony practiced by the local native American tribes. It is probably better known for the fact that Harry Longbaugh, an outlaw and a member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch, spent 18 months in the jail here after stealing a horse, a gun and a saddle, earning the nickname "The Sundance Kid". But the view wasn't as great as all that, the wind blew all night, it was a fairly long walk to the showers and washrooms and we still had another two more days before arriving in Utah!  gws

crossing the Missouri River, Bismark, ND

Marie driving near White Butte, ND

Mountain View RV Park, Sundance, Wyoming