On the road: Day 5

The weather is damp and cold and it has put a gloomy shadow over the prospect of camping for the next ten days.  Becky and Jo are still fighting a cold and though they are feeling better, I know they would rather not unpack a soaking wet tent and tarp to camp in. 

On the way into the Grand Marais we made a brief pit stop at the Duluth Pack store in Duluth to look for a couple of pieces of kit: a small file for my axe and some seam grip to fix a couple of leaky spots on the tent and tarp.  We couldn’t find the axe file I was looking for, but we did manage to get a tube of Seam Grip, which is the greatest repair substance on the planet, and I’m embarrassed that we left without any in the first place.

Back on the road the weather worsened as we traveled up the Highway 61 along the shore of lake superior.  Apparently summer has not yet arrived in Minnesota.  Our Subaru’s thermometer read 54 degrees at 2:00 pm.  We finally arrived at the Grand Marais municipal campground and were delighted to see Lou and Jess Flynn Becky’s parents.  Perhaps most excited was Jo, who had been asking for Lou and Jess since Spokane!

We quickly set up our soggy camp, and headed to the municipal pool, conveniently located next to the campground.  We all enjoyed a swim and I especially enjoyed a long sauna.  We all headed in to town for a lovely dinner at the crooked spoon for Father’s day. 

The weather was still gloomy, but our moods were light after a lovely evening.

On the road: Day 4

After traveling from the Great Plains, the wooded hills of Minnesota were a welcome sight!  We crossed into Minnesota early in our day traveling that didn’t get started until about 11:00.  Sleeping late was helpful for both Becky and Jo, who are both under the weather.

We decided today that we would do better to stay one more night on the road, and push on to Grand Maris tomorrow.  We learned from Becky’s mom that a marathon in Duluth and a wooden boat festival in Grand Marais would probably leave little accommodation available.  We also decided that another night in a bed would probably be helpful for both Becky and Jo’s cold recovery.  So we headed south to Lake Mille Lacs where Becky’s family has a cabin. 

Unser Schloh (our castle in german) has been in the family for a long time and Becky has a very special place in her heart for this place.  I haven’t been since 2002, and the place looks almost the same as when I here last.  It is the kind of place where every thing has a dear memory associated with it, even if you don’t know the memories first hand.  The cabin has various additions to meet a growing family with changing needs.    The screened in porch with yellow bug lights is decorated with various water skiing inventions from a hydroplaning ski set to a canoe paddle mounted with a binding!  Inside is a lovely old rock fireplace.  The cabin walls are log with mortar chinking.  The last time I was here there was an old wood burning kitchen stove which has been replaced by a small wood burning stove.

The upstairs is filled with four beds and several cots are tucked away, all speaking to the nature of this place as an epicenter for family gatherings.  Stories are locked away in to the varnished wood walls.  I have probably only spent a few days total in this place, but it is warm and welcoming in a way that eludes description.

On the road: Day 3

We woke to rain this morning.  Sprinkles at first, just enough to zip shut the rain fly so that we could sleep a half an hour later.  I awoke again to a full downpour and heavy gusts.  We dressed, donned rain gear, and ate a quick breakfast of granola under a soggy tarp.  We packed up a thoroughly tent and tarp, and hydroplaned across the state into North Dakota.

I hadn’t really planned on any photo stops for North Dakota.  I’ve driven across it a couple times before, but its long and flat and driving across it is mind numbing.  This time was different.  Eastern Montana and North Dakota have been getting lots of rain recently.  Things are so dire that the National Weather Service bulletin warned of flash floods! 

It rained for about two hours straight as we drove across US-2.  At times I could barely see the centerline.  Coming from a place that people associate with rain, I found that I had never encountered rain in this quantity or intensity before.   The pinnacle was when the posted speed limit went down to 5 mph as a portion of US-2 lay under a few inches of water.  I pulled of and tried to capture a photograph of the immensity of the flooding, but with no idea of where the river actually flowed it was difficult to gauge how much land was flooded.  At one point looking north there was a flood field that reached to the horizon.  It is a grim sight to see all the farmland underwater as July approaches.

We arrived in Grand Forks on the border of North Dakota and Minnesota at about 8:00 exhausted.  We stayed in another hotel as we watched huge dark clouds loom over the city.  I cooked another motel parking lot feast.  This time it was udon noodles, with tofu and almond ginger sauce that Becky made before we left home.   Becky has been a champ on this journey as she has been trying to keep Jo happy as they both try and fight off colds.   

On the road: Day 2

Whip-poor-wills and robins are singing as the sun sets over eastern Montana.  Becky and Jo and I are camped below Fort Peck Dam at the aptly named “downstream” I can see the two massive powerhouses from my seat as I write this.  They are lit by massive floodlights and are an apt memorial to the Rivers that have become lethargic behind the massive earthen dam. 

Despite the impediments created by the army corps of engineers, and the land reclamation that supposedly occurred, much of eastern Montana’s low lands lay under water tonight.  This afternoon US-2 took us near the Milk River several times before reaching Glasgow and the landscape looks devastated.  A great deal of pastureland is underwater, as are many nearby houses.  The excess water is a boon to insect populations.  Mosquitoes  and gnats are pestering me still even as I hide in the back seat of the Subaru.

Our Journey from Kalispell was relatively uneventful and we flew across Montana at a safe and sane 75 MPH.  Once we crested the Rocky mountains the epic expanse of plains lay ahead, and the long straight sections of highway speckled by, wheat fields, pronghorns, and an occasional coyote allow the mind to wander.

A couple of stops today in the prairie country let Josie blow off some steam and Becky and I to stretch our bodies.  We drove about 410 miles today with a 21 month old, who was strapped in a car seat.  We were on the road form 8:15 am until 6:15 pm.  A very long day.  Fortunately it will be our longest stretch between here and Grand Marais, but tomorrow will still be a trek through more of the expansive plains.  We hope to camp near Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, but well see how the flooding is further east. 

More to come.

On the road: Day 1.5

Its good to finally be on the road to Minnesota.  Our journey has been uneventful and we have been fortunate enough to meet some interesting folks along the way.  Last night we stayed with Jane, a friend of Becky’s from her Midwifery program.  Her hospitality was a welcome beginning to our journey, especially all the love from her friendly lab Godiva who Josie was enamored with. 

This morning we ate breakfast and brewed coffee at a park next to the Peaceful Valley Community center.  The Spokane River was in flood from spring runoff and provided a somber backdrop for our breakfast.  We met a man named Jim who was living in Spokane, but originally from Maine.  Underneath a faded black moving company hat peaks long gray hair.  We struck up small talk about my Whisperlight stove which he was admiring.  Behind huge wire rimmed bifocals his eyes were fairly alert, but his speech came clipped and without rhythm.  He is the first real character we have encountered on our trip.   I was asked him about the river and he took me down to where he swims his dog and explained how much higher the water was a few days ago.  He originally arrived in Spokane in 1997 and has been working as a house painter, but work is scarce now.  He was eager to chat, but quickly abandoned our conversation and got into his patched up van when I started packing up the car.

Our next stop was in Libby, Montana at the Museum on US-2. It was a great place for Jo to runaround for an hour and for Becky and I to make a late lunch.  We enjoyed poking around the exhibits and seeing the frontier artifacts in the round log building.  Outside we wandered around ancient diesel caterpillar engines, ore carts, and mineral processing equipment and met Earl Stevenson who was mowing the grounds.  We started chatting and I learned that he drove a Metro bus in Seattle for fifteen years before moving to Libby.  He told me that he had been mowing the lawn at the museum for the last six hours.  After a few photos of Jo next to some mining equipment we headed east on US-2 towards the mountain.

After a wild goose chase trying to track down two campgrounds, Jo had enough and let us know that she wanted to get out of the car…immediately.  So we coughed up some cash and landed in a cheap motel here in Kalispell.  Upon arrival we promptly setup a parking lot kitchen (our kitchenette unit had a sink and a refrigerator, but no stove) and fixed up some delicious linguine with meatballs and homemade sauce that Becky made before we left home.  Both of us hate hearing Jo miserable in the car, and have come up with a better strategy for tomorrow (we hope). 

As I write this some of my fantastic motel neighbors are shouting at one another.  We may meet some more characters before the day is done.

Jo Goes Canoeing!

We we're pretty sure that Jo would like Canoeing.  After all Becky and I both like it, but still Jo had never been.  Sure she has played with our Royalex boat in the grass and has pretty much mastered getting in and out of it, but she has never been out on the water.  So yesterday Becky and I decided that we all should go on an evening paddle down in Blakeley Harbor. 

We had to make a quick stop in town at the FedEx drop box...more on that later.  The fantastic thing about  where we live is that it is about two and a half minutes from a perfect put-in.  Its perfect because its a pebble beach, and there isn't a boat ramp for several miles, so the yahoo factor is pretty low.  After greeting a few sea kayakers coming in we paddled out on glassy water at high tide.

The fantastic thing about paddling at high tide in Blakely Harbor is that you can explore the old mill pond.  We were able to paddle under overhanging Maple trees to the point where Jo was exclaiming "Inside! Inside!".  We traced the shoreline bumping gently against the old pilings, and fallen trees.  The Maple trees were vibrating with the buzz of bees in the flowers, everything feels a few weeks late around here and we were enjoying the warm evening as much as the other creatures.

After returning home Jo and I set up My mom's old Viking Sewing machine for a quick project.  For our trip Becky and I have been wanting a few stuff sacks for organizing Jo's clothing, and some of our miscellaneous crap.  Buying stuff sacks at $10.00 a pop feels pretty ridiculous if you have ever made one, so I vowed to make time to sew up a few stuff sacks before we left for MN.  The trouble with sewing outdoor gear is sourcing the fabric for your projects.  We are fortunate here in Seattle to have a brilliant fabric store: Seattle Fabrics.  You can buy anything from Gore-Tex, to Fleece, to a multitude of different coated and un-coated nylon fabrics.   The trouble is that its all relatively expensive.  While I would have liked purchasing a few yards of super light and strong silnylon, I wanted to keep the stuff sack budget a low as possible.  So an internet search of stuff sack patterns brought me to a page describing how to turn a Tyvek Mailer, like the USPS uses for Priority mail, into a simple stuff sack.

 
Jo and I were able to crank out six stuff sacks in about and hour and a half.  It took a couple of tries to get the thread tension and bag dimensions right, but in the end we have a bunch of stuff sacks.  I scrounged up a bunch of 550 paracord I had laying around and fitted them with draw strings.  It was incredibly satisfying to make these bags.  I'm going to see if I can scrounge up some used ones at work tomorrow and make a few more.

We leave for Minnesota two weeks from tomorrow!

Preparation

It's a few weeks before we actually leave for Minnesota, but there remains many tasks that are proving to accomplish with our helpful assistant Jo.  It's a busy time of year for us in general.  Both Becky and I are sprinting to the end of the school year, her from the perspective of a grad student, mine from the perspective of an educator. 

We have been dusting off of our camping gear and generally getting organized.  Becky and I have been pouring over road maps and we have determined that we will be taking US-2 across Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota until we reach Duluth, Then we follow the lake North East.  We've been trying to figure out how we will be spending our time after we finish building our boat and searching through maps is a fantastic way to lose track of time. 

Along side our paper road atlas and assorted state highway maps I have been engrossed in the world of electronic maps that are available for free to upload to my Garmin GPS unit.  I have been fairly frustrated about how expensive Garmin maps are, and how proprietary the mapping software is.  I was happy to stumble on a recommendation for free GPS maps on the ADVrider forum.  Some of the folks over there were speaking highly of the simple but powerful website GPSFileDepot.  I'm excited because last year I found a complete set of electronic topo maps for my GPS of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana for free (buying Garmin maps would have cost over $400).  Now I have discovered a fantastic map that includes all the portages and campsites in the BWCA of Minnesota, so I'm pretty sure that I could waste a few hours planning how to paddle away the entire summer. 

I'm eagerly packing up tents and tools, counting down the days until we head East.