Finally, September 2nd (Labor Day) at noon, we were
off. Because we planned to take the Mass Pike west the first day, I thought
this would be the perfect day to start our travels. For the most part it was
but the traffic started bunching up in places for no particular reason so we
chose Rte. 84 through Hartford instead. Night one was at a small Pilot truck stop
in Montague, NJ. Although off the highway, it was noisy enough to get us up
before 4 a.m. for an early start the next day.
The second day with a more respectable range of 665 miles
got us to a Cracker Barrel in Elkhart, IN. This was actually a nice one in
Amish Country surrounded by a half dozen inns, lots of grass and trees. Did you
know CB’s now serve “wholesome” meals 600 calories or less! You can now get
steamed broccoli instead of gravy and grits.
Day three ended at the Great River Bluffs State Park in
Winona MN looking down on the Mississippi River and Black River Delta. This park is
in a small region of the Upper Midwest that was not covered by glaciers at any
time. The steep bluffs were cut by the meltwaters from the glacier coming down
the Mississippi. Tom and Jean both sent messages about an award winning donut
shop in Winona, Bloedows Bakery. Not to disappoint and wanting to be able to
send a review back, off we went to indulge! The store was in an old saloon
and the display of donuts impressive. We both got cinnamon rolls that were so big
we should have shared! They were very good but also very sweet so we saved some
for another time.
The fourth night was spent at an Army Corps of Engineers campground,
Left Tailrace, on the SD side of the Missouri River. The campground was below
the dam by the spillway where the water was teaming with seagulls, white pelicans
and all kinds of fish. We watched one fisherman make quick work of his filleting
by using an electric knife. Good stop.
We now were pretty close to the Badlands where we had
thought we might stay long enough to rest. The weather was unseasonable warm at
104 degrees and the refrig. was having difficulties maintaining a temperature cooler
than the high 40’s after days of sun baking the side of the van. We arrived in
the campground midday and quickly realized there was no shade or electricity to
cool the van. Nina couldn’t hike with us nor could she stay in the van. And
then there were the warning signs for snakes . . . . . . ! We drove a good part
of the Badlands Loop Road and it really was pretty with the colors in the rock
formations and yellow mounds. Perhaps more time would have revealed more beauty
but we decided to move on to the Black Hills National Forest near Rapid City,
SD. Still hot at 80, we had a wonderful night in the pines by the lake at
Sheridan Lake South CG.
Saturday was another long day of driving through SD, a small
corner of WY and into MT through beautiful rolling hills and fields of sunflowers,
sorghum, corn and MANY billboards. We passed through towns that appeared more
like ghost towns and one, Lavina, a fictional scene from Stephen King with decent
storefronts empty and a porch filled with chairs rocking in the wind, chimes
playing but not a soul around anywhere. We spent the night in the King Hill
Campground in Lewis and Clark National Forest near Neihart. The campground was dense with pines and had that wonderful woodsy pine smell. Not long after we
got settled, a really bad thunderstorm came through with marble sized hail.
That was a first for me. The noise on the van was deafening. No dents or damage
though!
Click here for photos
