Mountains' Purple Majesty

After a fitful sleep (for Chris at least; Stuart claimed he had a great night’s sleep) we awoke in the truck to a stunning view of huge mountains and colourful foothills. The drive from Dubois to Grand Teton National Park was unbelievable. The mountains dominated the landscape and were extremely impressive, especially considering that we had not up until that point seen a single mountain all trip. We passed through Jackson Hole and entered the park, hoping to eat lunch at the Jackson Lake Lodge. Unfortunately Jackson Lake was closed, but we had a great lunch at Signal Mountain Lodge. After lunch we set up camp, meeting three people from France who were in the campsite adjacent to ours.

After we both took naps, we decided to go hiking. We found a trailhead near our camp and set out on the two mile hike to Taggart Lake. As we set out on the trail we saw a man and woman coming back with snow shoes in their hands. Seeing no noticeable snow on the ground, we mocked the couple to ourselves. About a quarter mile later, we would eat our words, as we were forced to trudge through knee high snow for the remainder of the hike. The lake, when we finally reached it, was beautiful.

We were famished after hiking so we decided to have a big meal that night at the lodge. Both of us ordered the most expensive item on the menu, an eight ounce filet mignon on top of a crab cake. The steaks were by far the best meal we had had on the trip. After dinner we took a drive around the park and ran into a pair of moose, herds of elk and many bison. At the campsite that night we sat around the fire and made S’mores until we fell asleep.

Stuck in the Sand

Burke Lake turned out to be beautiful, as we discovered in the morning. We hiked a trail that took us to a great view of the Great Plains – endless rolling yellow grass. We left early, however, as we knew we had a lot of driving ahead of us. We faced a problem – we had planned to camp at Badlands National Park, which was only a three hour drive away, but would then be faced with a 9 hour drive to Grand Teton National Park the next day. Not wanting to be encumbered with so much driving, we decided to make stops at Badlands and Mount Rushmore, but find a campsite somewhat closer to Grand Teton.

We arrived quickly at Badlands National Park, which, we discovered, was breathtaking. Stuart and I had never seen anything like Badlands – incredible rock formations atop lush green valleys. We took a few hikes around the rocks and then took a scenic drive around the park, hoping to spot bison. On the drive we pulled into a turnout and were surprised by two old bison who had been lying down – our first sighting. Another car was also parked in the turnout observing the bison. I was driving, and had my window rolled down when I suddenly heard from the other car, “Hey! Do you guys have weed?” We were sorry to say no, as the hippie girl with dreadlocks who asked was very attractive, but they were nice nonetheless, and told us they were on a road trip headed to Wisconsin. We said goodbye and got on our way, only to be unexpectedly delayed. I was driving on a dirt road and there was a truck right on my tail, so I decided to pull to the side of the road and let the truck pass. After pulling off the road however, we encountered a problem – we couldn’t move. The truck had become stuck in the sand. We had no cell phone service and were stuck in the middle of the park with nobody in sight, so we became slightly worried but after several ingenious manoeuvres we became unstuck and got on our way. We ate big cheeseburgers at a town just outside the park and then set off for Mount Rushmore.

Mount Rushmore was very impressive but we both decided that it was only worth seeing once. Stuart received some retribution for the ribbing I gave him about his “roadrunner” when I mistakenly identified a flag as being that of the European Union – it was really Alaskan. Stuart enjoyed making fun of me, but at least I owned up to my mistake (eventually). After Mount Rushmore, we faced a decision – how far we should drive before calling it a night. Stuart’s grandparents had told him that the drive from Dubois, Wyoming to Grand Teton National Park was a must, so we set our course for Dubois, nine hours away. We didn’t expect to make it to Dubois, but along the drive we were feeling good and decided to give it a shot. We switched off driving every couple hours, allowing us each to nap while we weren’t driving, and by midnight we were still on the road, albeit close to Dubois. Tired, we decided to stop at the next campsite we could find. We made what turned out to be an ill-fated decision. Taking a dirt road that purported to lead to a campsite, we drove for what seemed an eternity on a road in bad condition. Not finding a campsite and dead tired, we decided to pull of the road and sleep in the truck.

The Day of the Jolly Green Giant

Our campsite, we discovered in the morning, was situated on a river. We skipped stones for a few minutes and then decided to get on our way as we had a long drive ahead of us. Crossing the Minnesota state line, we noticed countless lakes and realized why indeed the state was called the Land of 10,000 lakes. We stopped in a small town, hoping to find a place to stock up on needed supplies. Finding a Target, we purchased a blanket to assuage the cold we had not prepared for, and a gadget that let us listen to our iPods through the car speakers. These purchases, it turned out, were our best of the trip. We ate breakfast in the same town at Panera Bread, where we ate delicious food and got to use the internet. We then got on our way for what turned out to be a very amusing drive.

In Blue Earth, Minnesota we took pictures with the world’s tallest statue of the Jolly Green Giant (standing at a full 60 feet). We stopped at Pipestone National Monument, where we observed a Native American fashion a peace pipe out of the malleable red rock known as Pipestone. Then in Mitchell, South Dakota we encountered the Corn Palace – a giant building constructed entirely of corn. Only in America. The drive itself was interesting as we drove right through the Great Plains, a sight neither Stuart or I had ever seen. Farmland stretched as far as the eye could see for miles, interspersed occasionally by rest stops and tiny towns. As the sun set we were still driving, navigating our way through South Dakotan country roads. All of a sudden, Stuart slammed on the breaks and exclaimed, “I saw a roadrunner!” I asked him what the hell he was talking about, as I was fairly certain road runners, being a desert bird, do not live in South Dakota. Stuart, however, was certain of what he saw and tried to find it for me to see. He pointed out a bird that he thought was the roadrunner but turned out to be a pheasant. Although Stuart was still insistent on what he had seen, I was beginning to have my doubts, so using Stuart’s Iphone, we looked up roadrunner on Wikipedia. According to Wikipedia, Stuart either saw the only roadrunner in South Dakota or he was mistaken. Stuart nevertheless stands by what he saw, and the mystery might never be solved.

Approaching Burke, our drive became eerie as we passed through tiny South Dakotan towns that looked as if they had seen better days. South Dakota is comprised primarily of German and Scandinavian immigrants, and their influence is well felt. We noticed many of the small towns had Scandinavian names and many had sister cities in Sweden. We passed many stores that had names such as Oma’s Groceries. A strong Christian presence was also felt – we started seeing billboards advocating against abortion. It was dark by the time we reached Burke Lake Recreation Area, so we quickly pitched a tent, made a fire, and fell asleep.

Day 3 - Chicago and St. Croix

We woke up early feeling refreshed and decided to make breakfast on our camp stove. Our eggs and Italian sausages were delicious and made us ready for the day. Before we left the national park we checked out its main attraction, Mt. Baldy – a huge sand dune overlooking Lake Michigan. We climbed the dune and the view was gorgeous – teal water as far as the eye could see with no boats or people in sight. We then left the park and drove through Gary, Indiana – a decrepit and rusting factory town that appeared to have seen its better days. Chicago followed, and we decided to stop by and see our friend Kerry. Kerry showed us around Chicago, which we both decided was an incredible city, and took us to eat Italian roast beef sandwiches, which were delicious. Kerry’s house was in the middle of Chicago and was very nice – it had four stories and lots of space – surprising given that it was in the heart of downtown. Bidding Chicago farewell, we got back on the road towards Wisconsin for a six and a half hour drive. Along the way we stopped in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin for Pizza Hut. We eventually arrived, after a beautiful drive, in Sioux Falls, where Interstate Park is located. It was dark by the time we arrived at the park, so we quickly made a fire, set up our tent, and settled in for the night. We arranged the tent right beside the fire and left the flap open – falling asleep to Miles Davis and a flickering fire was perfect. We quickly fell asleep despite the freezing cold

Day 2 - Indiana and It

After waking up several times during the night, we finally decided to start off at 7 in the morning. No breakfast, no shower and no change of clothes - we wanted to get away from Ohio as fast as possible. So in the spitting rain, we packed up the tent and went on our way. After about 3 hours of rain, we finally broke into Indiana, and the sun came with it. We made a pass though South Bend to see if Notre Dame was all it is cracked up to be. It is. The first part of campus that we saw was the towering golden dome and spire, followed by a full-sized golf-course. We entered the gates, and were soon greeted by a cemetery (we thought this a funny way to welcome kids to school before a gruelling year). The campus is absolutely stunning and we walked around for about an hour, seeing the various quads and student centres. We both concluded that it was the most beautiful school we had ever seen, but that we still preferred our respective colleges better. Notre Dame is much too large. In South Bend we also had the opportunity to eat at Chipotle and sit at Starbucks to surf the internet. After this pit stop we had the fuel (both for us and the truck) to make the final press to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Arriving at the lakeshore was a sight for sore eyes, as there were no RVs in sight. We parked at campground 28 and set up the tent, all the while thinking about how happy we were to finally be camping for real. A fire soon appeared in the fire circle, and we decided to put the air mattresses next to it, outside the tent. The night was absolutely sublime. Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, Ravi Shankar, Danny Schmidt, and CSNY all joined us and we drifted away into blissful sleep by the fire.

Day 1 - Cuyaho...err Somewhere in Ohio

We are off to an auspicious beginning. We left the Doherty’s at 7 in the morning, Carolyn and Meghan in tears (us joyous), and began our 7 hour drive. We received an early scare when we thought we were being pulled over, 5 minutes into our drive, by a cop while we were travelling 30 miles over the speed limit. Luckily we drove safely on and the ride was smooth from there. Of course, the tolls were absurd, and we are required to mail in a toll…somehow. Who the hell has heard of mailing in a toll? Somewhere in the middle of Pennsylvania we stumbled upon beautiful scenery, but the highways were very windy and Stuart, not being the very accomplished driver, had difficulty handling the truck. Eventually we crossed into Ohio and soon arrived at Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Before entering we stopped at Walmart to buy supplies and discovered just what kind of wonderful citizens Walmart hires (god bless America). At Cuyahoga, apparently, there is no camping (we were not expecting this) so we had to drive around looking for a place to pitch our tents. In small-town Ohio, evangelicals run rampant but unfortunately campgrounds do not. We had to resort to KOA Kampgrounds, which appears to be your run-of-the-mill franchised campground company – we didn’t know there was such a thing. It began to rain shortly after we managed to start a fire, and the KFC chicken we bought for dinner was miserable. We have hereafter pledged not to make impulse dinner purchases due to the intoxicating scent of grease and fried chicken. We hate Ohio. It’s 6:30 in the evening and we have decided to stay in the tent for the rest of the night.