Eastward Ho! GO TOWARD THE LIGHT!

All the way I kept singing a spur of the moment song about driving east. Sometimes I'd add a line about how I was released from the clutches of British Columbia, or how Big Blue got her make-over and is now on her way. Yeah, that is road trip entertainment. I'm so sick of all my CDs.

There is such a stark difference between the gorgeous green landscape of south, southwest and northwest Montana compared to the utter ugliness of Northern Montana! This Highway 2 parallels not a river which is what you'd find in most of Montana, but a railroad track!

I stayed at the Fresno Reservoir Campground. Not too hot, fewer mosquitoes, nice and quiet. It actually had some trees which was a welcome after driving for hours through the stark ugliness of empty prairie lands. The temperature is between 85 and 91 degrees, humid as hell, and not very comfortable, but it cools down at night.

I continued across northern Montana on Highway 2 worrying about wildfires as I'd been scanning the wildfire sites to look at maps. They are supposed to be all over Montana which almost made me change my route. I didn't see one fire nor did I even smell smoke! WTH? Where are they? It's really difficult to get good travel information, but I'm happy not to have to turn around and backtrack due to a road closure.

North Dakota was more visually interesting with more green fields, trees and interesting rocky landscapes. (I hope it stays that way the further east I travel!) I attempted to stay at the Fort Buford Historic Site Campground, just over the North Dakota border. Very cool! I've read a lot of books that featured General John Buford who was one of the Union commanders at the Battle of Gettysburg. This fort was named for him and used during the Indian Wars. The cemetery headstones feature a lot of suicide as causes of death. How sad! They have reconstructed barracks and other buildings, lots of maps to let you know layout and how they used the fort. I don't know if I would have stopped if I wasn't looking for a free campsite. Fort Union is just down the road and it looks authentic, but it was closed.

As I'm setting up at my campsite, I feel this intense sting on the top of my foot. I look down. OMG! Fire ants swarming all over along side my van. I packed up too fast in order to move, but then carried a couple ants on my rug into my van. I hope I killed them all! That would not be good! My foot hurt for about an hour. I put some anti-histamine cream on it which helped. Four days later there is still a big red blotch and it itches like crazy.

I moved locations, checked the ground, no ants. So I sat in the van writing emails, writing this blog, etc. I went out to bring in the Starlink, put the box I prop it up on in the back of the van, and I notice there are ants swarming the ground!! I grabbed the box, but there are at least 8 ants on it. I brush them off. Oh god, I hope they didn't get in the van!

I left. Went to another campsite 30 minutes away. I had to get a camping permit for this one traveling another 30 minutes. I got back to the park and I notice...red ants all over the ground here as well! Damn.

I give up. It's now dark and I hate driving on little country roads with no street lights in the dark. I drove all the way to Walmart in Williston and stayed the night. No ants on this cement! But the traffic was noisy until late at night and early in the morning. This Walmart is on a corner with a busy intersection. So nice to have a safe place to stay if everything goes wrong.

The next day I drove through North Dakota, had brunch at an experimental forest site, then on to Grand Forks where I stopped in to say "hi' at Twin City Motors.

Why? You ask? Big Blue has a sticker on her behind for Twin City Motors. 

It seems in a past life she was sold through them. I wondered if it was her "birthplace", but it was a used car dealership. Maybe her second owner bought her from Grand Forks? I'm sure the salesman thought I was crazy, but that's OK, because I usually feel crazy. He was very nice.

I headed next to Minnesota! I'm very excited to make progress going east! I stayed at the Mentor City Park. Very nice with a porta-potty and garbage, swings etc., nicely cut grass to park on. It rained all night. Very hot and muggy.

Drove through Minnesota and Wisconsin all day along the Great Lakes in a thunderstorm. Lots of warnings on flash flooding. I decided I should find a higher elevation for the next night's camping and found the formerly Indianhead Ski Resort, now called The Lodge. The front reception guy said, "Sure! Park by the snow cannons." I did. I can't believe I'm in Michigan! Rained all night which damped my spirits. (Pun intended.)

Pouring rain the next day as I meandered through Wisconsin hoping to find some place to plug in the Bluetti. Several times the rain was pounding so hard I had to pull over off the highway and freeway. I couldn't see in front of me! It was frightening. Much to my horror, the roof started leaking! I discovered it when I sat at a gas station watching the downpour and I could hear "drip...drip...drip" so I think I caught it right away and place a bucket under. I'm hoping the leak (only in one place) is because the water came down so hard it was like being parked under a waterfall? When the rain slowed to normal, it stopped leaking. Can I be more stressed out?

The Bluetti doesn't like rain or clouds and it seems my last update destroyed my app connection so I can't even plug the Bluetti into regular AC outlet to charge! I'm in a panic...so I did the only thing I could do...I drove 16 hours through monsoon rains. I tried calling Bluetti but their first line support is useless. When I got a call back from a specialist only then could I get it working again. I did discover it takes 16 hours driving time to charge the Bluetti to full capacity! I think Wisconsin was beautiful, but most of the time I couldn't see it. Drove back to Michigan and camped at White Fish Point. It rained all night.

The next morning I went to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum on the coast of Lake Huron. It continued to rain. I considered driving back west. I met a man who said the storm is moving east so if I can just hold out another day, I'd be behind it if I continue east. Another woman was walking the site with a short sleeved t-shirt while it was blowing wind and pelting raindrops. She said she came up from Indiana where it was 85 degrees. She didn't think she needed a coat! Everyone expressed surprise at this July weather. This information formulated my next plan...drive south. Forget Ontario and Quebec. Go south, then east up the eastern seaboard where according to the weather reports it is sunny and clear, then up to Nova Scotia. I might as well. I'd be really disappointed in myself if I headed back west only to hear the weather cleared the next day. Maybe on the way back I'll head through Ontario and Quebec? I'm not that excited to cross another international border and honestly, the people I had planned to visit seemed put out that I wanted them to stop their lives and go to lunch. I think they all thought I wanted to stay a month or move in. Do they not understand people with MCS aren't going to risk their lives and stay in someone's stinky house? People, even friends, are a pain in the ass.

As soon as I headed out, the rain stopped and the clouds lifted. They didn't disappear, they just moved high enough to allow some light to charge the Bluetti! It's such a wonderous game to watch the Bluetti app register solar power! I find myself elated and exclaiming, "YES!!! YES!!! YESSSSSS!!!" while I dance in my driver's seat.

I drove to Ohio and that night camped at Cabela's. I also worked on eating all my contraband food: chicken, eggs, and red peppers, in preparation for the border crossing. I awoke the next morning to clouds and then rain, but continued driving east. My new mantra "GO TOWARD THE LIGHT". Isn't that what they tell dying people? Good advice. I'm a sun chaser, just GO TOWARD THE LIGHT.

GO TOWARD THE LIGHT!

I've decided I have "Weather Affective Disorder". When it rains, I fall apart. I become depressed, stressed, irritable, angry, and cry. I cried the whole day in Wisconsin! When the rain and clouds clear, I am the happiest person on the planet!

I drove through Ohio and into Pennsylvania. Both very beautiful states with lush greenery dotted with gorgeous farms and fields. Pennsylvania in particular. Very clean and well-maintained villages with beautiful streets.

I hate freeway driving, but with clouds or rain, I'm not interested in a lot of sightseeing so it's the fastest route. Approaching cities gives me a headache and lung pain. I'd rather be out in the country. Every now and then I take a detour and drive into a village and into the country, then back on the highway. I took Interstates 90 and then 86 most of the day.

Besides freeways, another problem with the east...not a lot of free camping. Walmart, Cabela's, and Cracker Barrel are really excellent for providing a free place to park overnight. Most campgrounds charge a lot of money especially if they are anywhere near a tourist attraction. Very few if any boondocking opportunities. I was warned about this, but I am stubborn.

The New York countryside is delightful. Beautiful scenery dotted with gorgeous farms. Lots of huge white farm houses, white paint and white trim. Vanilla is their flavor of choice. Lousy drivers!!! They are crazy especially on the freeway!

Near Allegeny nearer to Almond, New York, at a dispersed camping site called Bully Hill, I found a dispersed campsite way out in the woods. It was a little clearing, a field that was maybe 100 feet x 50 feet. Clear sky (for the Starlink as long as I place it on the roof) and sun (to charge the solars)!! The temperature is a perfect 72 degrees and no mosquitoes! I stayed two nights to get some work done. Some ATV and pick up truck traffic up and down the dirt road, but most of the time very quiet.

Sunday's weather forecast predicted rain by noon so I planned to leave in the morning. I headed to Syracuse to do errands: get caulking for my roof, get copies of work documents, and to visit their food co-op. The city looks pretty beat up. The university district where the food co-op is located has wonderful gigantic Victorian houses all lined up on the streets, but they are in need of paint and maintenance.

Then I headed to the Adirondacks. I had high hopes since this was a popular location for 19th Century American painters. The towns along the route were gorgeous, but overcrowded with tourists. The scenery wasn't that impressive. Lots of trees, but not much view from the highway. Since it was raining (as predicted!), I wasn't inspired to get out and hike. Once the rain stopped, it was nice, cool, and NOT muggy. I found a great place to camp at Union Falls Dam, but the trees kept it too dark to be able to charge the Bluetti or use internet. Still, it was a nice peaceful spot for the night.

Next morning...it was cloudy, but I could see light in the distance! GO TOWARD IT!

South Dakota Meanderings

I drove to Rapid City to check out their health food stores. Very nice! Seemed to have all the amenities needed, spacious and clean.

Wall Drug Store was next on the stop. Thirty miles east from Rapid City, this landmark sure knows how to advertise! There were signs every two minutes on I-90 all the way advertising everything from homemade pie, to western clothing, boots, tourist attractions! It was fun to see and I was really proud of myself for being able to avoid buying fudge...second time so far. Pretty good willpower even though I make up for it with other foods I should not buy or eat, but I think fudge might kill me!

I drove through Badlands National Park. The rock formations were created from volcanic activity. It reminded me of Utah's sites. It was interesting, but dry and barren, also much like Utah. Finally saw a bighorn sheep.

There was one really cool BLM land just south of Wall Drug and just before the park entrance on the left. The campsites were high on a cliff with a marvelous view of the Badlands canyons. The weather definitely improved and the wind was gusty, but I didn't want to camp in that nor under electrical transformers. I high-tailed it to Mt. Rushmore and found a glorious free campsite at Wrinkled Rock right next to the monument. Lots of wild turkeys roaming around.

Speaking of turkeys, the Wrinkled Rock campsite was just a trailhead parking lot. Lots of tents in the woods beyond that later I discovered belonged to a group of 20-something boys. The sun went down and they decided to stand in a group outside my van and talk loudly. Do they not even consider for a minute someone might be trying to sleep in the van. After about an hour I got impatient, with keys in hand crawled into the front seat ready to move the van. Instead I opened the door. They all looked at me. One cheerfully said, "Hi!" I said, "Hi! So how long do you plan to stand in the parking lot next to my van talking?" They all started apologizing. I said, "I don't mind moving." They said, "No, no, we are sorry." They became very quiet, but they still stood there. Then they slowly dispersed to their tents and I heard car doors slamming for the next hour. I got up early and left, made breakfast at the Mt. Rushmore profile view. See the profile of George Washington beyond Big Blue?

Then I drove, at 5am when no one was around to get a better view of the front of Mt. Rushmore.

I drove around to see Crazy Horse Memorial, but it was closed.

Then I made my way back to Keystone to do laundry, and went through Custer State Park and up the Highway 16A. Beautiful drives especially early in the morning when it's quiet. There were three rock tunnels around 10 to 11 ft high and wide! There was the Norbeck Overlook with distant view of Mt. Rushmore.

After laundry, I headed to North Dakota along the incredibly boring Highway 85. Lots of green, rolling prairie! Sides of the highway are very clean. But it went on and on for miles and hours with not much to look at! Except cows. Lots of little babies playing in the fields.

Stopped at the Picnic Spring Campground north of Ludlow in the Custer Gallatin National Forest. Huge campgrounds with campsites spaced far apart. Each site has a picnic table and fire pit. There is a piped water source down a canyon. I'm the only one here and it's so quiet, especially considering last night's experience with 20-something boys.

Left Monday morning early and arrived in North Dakota to much of the same flat prairie landscape. The air is muggy and hot. It feels like it needs to rain. North Dakota like South Dakota has amazingly well-kept highways and interstates. Great roads. I continued west to Montana...