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To Montana, >To Kansas, >To DC, >To Jersey, >To Vermont, >To 50th Reunion, >To Maine, >To Great Lakes, >To Minnesota, >To Glacier Park, >To HomeTo Minnesota
June 20, 2014
Departed Hopeville Pond St. Park, Jewett City, CT. Paid in the morning. Headed for Niagara Falls.
Spent most of day on the road, enjoying views of homes on the Lake Erie. Learned that slip-streaming behind trucks saves up to $.80 per gallon on gas. Speed is slower (65 mph instead of 70), but efficiency is higher. As we passed from Connecticut back into Massachusetts and then New York, we began to discard ideas of climbing the "highest" peaks in states and concentrate on heading west. Dianne wanted to see Niagara Falls, and the rest drifted into mist, except Jim's plan to see a couple of old friends, or old friends' surviving families, in Minnesota. That state also happens to be on Dianne's bucket list of states not yet visited.
Also, as we followed I-90 going west, we saw the deterioration of U.S. industry: skeleton after skeleton of decrepit buildings looming above cities and along the Great Lakes.
June 21, 2014
Paid for last night's campsite at Evangola St Park. Departed about 7:15. Stopped at SenecaHawk gas station and Truck Stop just outside the park to gas-up. Their $3.44/gal was the cheapest we found in the Northeast. As in Washington State, Indian-owned businesses don't have to pay sales tax. We should have waited for their cook to arrive to enjoy their breakfast. All we saw was fast-food after fast-food as we sped west,. We finally stopped at a McDonald's. I wonder if the McCafe in Seattle tastes as mild as that in Pennsylvania. They make up for it with whatever causes the indigestion I/we get. Continue west to Toledo and on to Indiana: destination, Indiana Dunes State AND National Parks. We chose the National Park for camping, got the last available tent site, and as we parked, a lightning bolt crossed the sky, and the rain started. After some discussion, we decided to go ahead and Jim would cook dinner while I set up the tent. Both of us and the tent were pretty wet when we finally crawled into our sleep sacks.
June 22, 2014
Woke up at Indiana Dunes Nat'l Park campground. Rain had stopped in the night, but trees and tent were quite wet. We alternated taking showers at the camp washrooms, getting breakfast, and packing up tent and gear. We were thinking about climbing a couple of sand dunes, but we opted for driving down to the very foggy beach for a walk and wade before heading on to Minnesota. We took Hwy 90 & 94, through Chicago (what a crowded driving experience!) past many toll booths. We stopped to switch drivers a few times. Illinois is very flat, Wisconsin is more hilly; has more National Forests.
Goal today is Brandon, home of Jim's friend, Glenn Zebarth. Jim had met Glenn, a veterinarian, in 1970 at Fort Detrick while working for the military.
Made it to Brandon. Stopped in Alexandria to meet the Zebarths, about 10 pm. We got acquainted over a beer and they led us to their farm. We had a bit of dinner and headed for bed.
Lake Michigan in the mist
June 23, 2014
After a very pleasant night's sleep, we arose, showered, and shared a nice breakfast. Glen, a veterinarian as well as an elk rancher, had gone out about 1:30 a.m. on an emergency call from a dog owner, and was late in rising, so breakfast was a bit late. Jim went into town with Glen on some errands. Dianne and Kaye had a nice long chat and Dianne worked on her blog while Kaye worked on home projects. Two teenage boys who help with farm chores arrived. In a couple of hours Jim and Glen arrived and we all had lunch. Jim had offered to prepare dinner, so right after lunch, he began working on that with some help from Dianne and Kaye. Dinner was exotic, with appetizers and salad of chopped, grilled peppers, and asparagus, nested in onion cups and cabbage, main course of grilled elk cutlets, broccoli, corn on the cob, and dessert of crepes, with ricotta cheese and strawberries, as well as a followup of watermelon. The boys were guests and quite intrigued with the menu, but a little nervous about experimenting. The rest of us were very enthusiastic, and ate beyond our fill.
June 24, 2014
Arose ready to pack and get on the road west. A good breakfast with pancakes, eggs and fruit, was enjoyed by Glen, Kaye, Jim and Dianne. We took some more photos of Glen, Kaye, and the farm. Headed west on I-94. Rolled into North Dakota at Fargo. At Bismarck we headed northwest on Hwy 83. We stopped at Ft. Mandan Historical site near where Lewis and Clark built Ft. Mandan and spent a winter. We visited the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, but it was closed. The area was quite pleasant. We searched for the Cross Ranch State Park. We wanted to stay the night. Finally found it. It seemed totally abandoned. No staff, no way to pay. Too bad. Stayed anyway.
June 25, 2014
Up, cleaned up the site, and headed north on 83. Crossed 480 square mile Lake Sakakawea
at Garrison Dam. Headed for Minot. Saw many coal trains and oil wells in operation. Turned west on Hwy 2. Oil well operations seemed even bigger, digging deeper. Stopped for gas just across the state line in Poplar, MT. Pleased to be spending 12 cents less per gallon than in ND. Headed for Glacier National Park. Stopped at Havre, MT, at Hi-Line Motel, for $55. Watched MSNBC for the first time The reporters covered some interesting current events issues. We'll look into it when we get home.
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