The last 48 hours – or back to reality.

17 Tuesday Jul 2018

Sunday started with a quick trip to the grocery store for water and a few other items. We opted for the All Canadian grocery store across the street from the hotel. It was enormous, good prices, and a huge selection. It reminded us of a classier Wal-Mart. We got in the checkout line, and the total was $23 Canadian and change. Mom hands the cashier $25 US. She had to punch a few more keys to have the machine convert to US$ total, which was about $17. The cashier is still holding Mom’s $25. When she keyed in the amount of money tendered, she keyed in $40, not $25. I quickly let her know we’d given her $25, not $40. It then took 2 store managers to try to figure out how to correct the mistake without voiding the transaction. Long story short – the transaction was voided and redone, and we were on our way south.

The sky looked a bit overcast and gray as we started, but soon cleared. Could we be so lucky as to avoid rain yet another day? We crossed back into the US a little after 11AM. A quick stop for gas as I’d forgotten to check the fuel level before we left Thunder Bay, changed the settings from metric to US, and we drove the short distance to our first stop, the Grand Portage National Monument. An incredible historic fur trading site that has live demonstrations and docents to answer any and all questions.

We had no cell phone signal for the GPS, so we reverted to good old fashioned map reading for about an hour. Beautiful views of Lake Superior all along the drive.

It felt like there was more traffic, but we were on a 2 lane state highway, and the North Shore area of Lake Superior is a vacation destination. It thinned out a bit the further south we went. The scenery changed from lake views to vast rolling hills of farmland as we entered Wisconsin. We checked into the hotel in Eau Clair about 6:30PM, and took a short drive to an area restaurant that sounded good. Unfortunately, they weren’t open, so back to the restaurant near the hotel, Shoeless Joe’s Sports Grill. It worked for two ladies who were probably a little more road weary than they thought or would admit!

Monday dawned sunny and bright. Our last day on the road. We were both glad we’d opted to bring in the bare minimum the night before as the elevator was being serviced. Two trips down the stairs and we were loaded and ready to go. First stop was The Paul Bunyan Logging Camp and Museum. Another fun, educational and interactive museum. We learned a lot about the early days of logging, and I learned my paternal great-grandfather was a logger in New Hampshire. The museum is supported and run by the local Kiwanis Club. They do an excellent job, and really bring the story of Paul Bunyan to life. I read the book many times growing up, and now need to reread it with the background information I now have.

It was time to hit the road for the final leg of Road Trip 2018. A quick stop at a local liquor store to purchase some New Glarus Brewing Spotted Cow. This beer and brewing company have a cult-like following, and you can only buy it in Wisconsin. No, I didn’t plan the trip through WI just so I could bring some home, but it was a happy coincidence. You also can’t be in Wisconsin and not stop for cheese! (Although my travel partner this trip would disagree.) We saw the sign for Humbird along the freeway, and we needed to fill the gas tank anyway. A great little place with a really nice gift shop.

The terrain continued to flatten out, and we were soon in very familiar surroundings. We realized that other than the last 5 or so miles of the drive, we had avoided duplicating roads and freeways. One BIG loop around the US and Canada!

Had to add the miles I accidentally cleared when we stopped in the Rockies!

I still have a little over 600 miles to go tomorrow to get home. If I include the miles that I drove to get to the starting point, I will log in excess of 6,600 miles in a three week period. I think I will stay close to home for a few months! At least until October, anyway, when the next big adventure begins…

Posted by andreapw | Filed under Canada, cheese, Eau Clair, Gichi Gami, Grand Portage National Monument, Lake Superior, living history, Minnesota, New Glarus Brewing, Ontario, Pau Bunyan Logging Camp and Museum, Paul Bunyan, Road Trip 2018, Roadtrip, Wisconsin

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It’s not the yellow brick road or the yellow mustard road, Toto. It’s the canola road.

13 Friday Jul 2018

For two days we have felt like we were following the yellow brick road, but it was a beautiful crop of yellow something that stretched for acres. It looked remarkably like mustard, so that’s what we thought it was. We found out tonight from our wonderful waitress that it is canola. Yellow and blue canola is one of Alberta and Saskatchewan’s main crops. File that away in the memory bank for future reference! It was still a beautiful sight today on our way to Regina.

We started the day with a short walk through Medicine Hat. A quaint town with great shops, restaurants and public art work. It was a bit warmer than usual, so our walk was rather limited. We stumbled upon the Inspire Cafe for what we hoped would be a late breakfast, but it turned out to be an early lunch. Mom had tomato garlic soup and a curried egg salad sandwich on raisin bread. I had curried lentil soup and fried egg and cheese sandwich. We got there just before the lunch crowd arrived, and they were doing a very steady business when we left. Great art work on display and for sale around the cafe, and artists’ studios/work areas beyond the cafe.

We finally stopped at the stop light near this hotel so I could get a picture. We passed it at least 3 times on our back and forth to various places yesterday, and it made me smile. I can just picture the 1940’s – 1950’s, maybe even 1960’s, when this would have been one of the top spots in the area.

We crossed into Saskatchewan a little while later, and decided a stretch break was needed as we approached Swift Current. We parked the car and began walking down Center Avenue when I spotted a gift store. We meandered the store for a while, and I found perfect mementos for several on my list. It was early afternoon, and a rather warm day for these parts, so we opted to hit the car and continue our drive.

A bit west of Swift Current we spotted what initially loooked like a herd of goats on the side of the road. As we got closer, we both did double takes, and it took us a moment to realize it was a herd of alpacas. Given it was still 80+ degrees fahrenheit, we opted not to stop and check out the alpaca goods for sale. A short bit later as we approached Lake Chaplin, we saw what appeared to be mounds of snow. I knew in this heat it definitely was not snow, but neither of us had a clue what the piles of “white stuff” were. I surmised salt or lime as a small tractor to my left was making its way up a pile. Mark that down as something to research when we get to the room tonight…

We stopped at the Tourist Information location outside Moose Jaw for a rest stop and information on Regina. Canadian tourist/information stops are such fun. Each one we have stopped at has information about the surrounding area (think school project, state fair type displays), and a variety of local goods for sale. A great place to get a feel for the area, decide if you’ll stop and for how long, or just sample the local fare and keep going. We learned the piles of “white stuff” by Lake Chaplin were potash. Canda is the world’s largest potash producer and exporter, and the bulk of the industry is in Saskatchewan. Potash is one of the main ingredients of fertilizer.

We each picked up a few gift items, and decided it was time for a bit of local gelato. We both opted for Saskatoon berry. I still need to taste an actual Saskatoon berry before we leave – it looks a bit like a blueberry, but the gelato was definitely sweeter than that. Not sure if that was due to added sugar, or if it really is that sweet. I did buy a rather pricey jar of mustard believing that the yellow fields we were passing were, in fact, mustard. Oh well. I can make a lot of mustard sauces over the coming months if needed! A stop here is not complete without a photo of Mac the Moose.

We arrived in Regina early evening. The hotel had glasses and bottles of wine 50% off, so we opted for an elevator ride to dinner tonight. We shared a bottle of montepuliciano and a charcuterie plate, reminisced about the past 2 weeks and many decades, and had fabulous conversations with our waitress. Definitely a day and night for the memory books.

Before we head out of town tomorrow we plan to tour the Legislative Building and Queen Elizabeth II’s Gardens. We will cross into our 4th Canadian province sometime tomorrow.

Posted by andreapw | Filed under Alberta, Alpacas, Canada, Exploring, Medicine Hat, Mustard, Potash, Regina, Roadtrip, Saskatchewan, Swift Current, Travel

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Why fly to a wedding when you can drive?

30 Saturday Jun 2018

So, my nephew is getting married next weekend in Seattle. When the date and location were announced last year, a little thought bubbled in my head. We did want to get back to Montana and see Glacier National Park…I wonder if Mom would want to drive to the PacNW with me instead of fly? Surprise, surprise, she was all for it. So, here we are at the end of Day 1 on our 4th official roadtrip.

5 years ago when we started these adventures I wasn’t blogging about them, but I was posting regularly on my personal FB page. Today was a bit of a walk down memory lane, but we created a few new ones, too. GPS routed us to US Route 36 rather than I-70 this time. (No wonder I couldn’t find the spot where the very kind MO State Trooper pulled me and 5 or 6 other cars over for exceeding the speed limit! For those unfamiliar with the story, I got a warning only after he’d ticketed every other car. Today I was barely over the speed limit and on the lookout!) We enjoyed a beautiful drive through northern Missouri farmland and watched the flat prairie become rolling hills. Across the mighty Mississippi, a different view of Hannibal, across the Missouri, and on to Independence, MO where we finally got to visit the Truman House and Museum. When we came through in 2013, the museum was closed for the day. We promised to come back and see it some day. An incredible place to visit if you have any interest in politics, history, or small town America. We didn’t go to his official Presidential library, but the visitor center and “Summer White House” provided an insight into a President I didn’t know much about.

What would he think about 5,000 miles in three weeks?!

I believe I may have said similar things to my father over the years!

We departed Independence and hit Kansas City just in time for rush hour. Rush hour in KC is like driving I-285 in Atlanta on a Sunday morning. Traffic moved along smoothly, until we found ourselves on the Kansas Tollway. The speed limit was 75 MPH (normally not a problem for me), but cars zipping in and out of lanes at that speed or greater is not my idea of a relaxing drive. Tomorrow we will set the GPS to avoid toll roads and highways!

We were checked into our hotel by 5:30 or so, rested a bit (by rested I mean got the road buzz to stop), and headed to dinner. I was in the mood for a burger, and I have learned the best burgers are found near good beer. We opted for Lawrence Beer Co. near the University of Kansas campus. A fun place, although very loud if you want to sit inside. We opted for outside seating, despite the near 100 degree heat and heat advisory in effect. Live music on the patio, lots of cute kids running around, good food and a few really good beers. The sun was behind the trees soon after we sat down, and there was a beautiful breeze blowing.

Tomorrow morning we get to visit with a former shipmate of my Dad’s from Hawaii days and his wife, and then we continue west. Perhaps we will find our way to Oz somewhere along the way!

Posted by andreapw | Filed under Exploring, Independce, MO, Kansas, Lawrence Beer Co, Lawrence, KS, Missouri, Roadtrip, Summer White House, Travel, Truman House

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It’s not the destination, it’s the journey

06 Friday Oct 2017

A slow, relatively leisurely start today. I think mostly because neither of us wanted to leave “our” cabin on the lake. We could have stayed until 3PM, but that would have only prolonged the inevitable. When making our plans for this trip, I completely missed a day on the calendar, so we opted for a short drive today, and we will play tomorrow by ear – it may be even shorter than today with a long drive on Saturday, or we find another hotel for tomorrow that is a bit closer to our final destination. Either way, we are completely enjoying our journey.

We left the Finger Lakes and hit the NY Thruway to Buffalo. I had never seen the Erie Canal, and when you’re this close, it really is a must do. We stumbled onto the Buffalo Military Park and Museum right on the Buffalo River. The park has monuments to every war from WWII to present, and recognition of every branch of the military. There were three former Navy boats which could be toured – the destroyer USS The Sullivans, cruiser USS Little Rock, and a submarine, the USS Croaker. Mom recognized the name of the submarine, and more than likely we knew or know someone who served on board. I did ask Mom if she wanted to tour the sub, but she declined. (We have both had a sufficient number of personal tours back in the day!) We had to imagine Dad was likely grinning from ear to ear that his “girls” were wandering around a Naval Museum – willingly and without him present! There is clearly a very active retired military population in the Buffalo region. (Why anyone would retire to an area that gets the winters Buffalo does is beyond me, but I’m grateful for their dedication to the park and preserving history.)

The park also had the conning tower of the USS Boston.

We saw only the commercial lock of the Erie Canal which has been restored. There was a beautiful reiverfront park with adirondack chairs scattered throughout. Lots of people taking advantage of a warm fall day during lunch hour. And lots of revitalization going on throughout the downtown area.

As we were only an hour or so away from our final destination, and it was still early afternoon, we opted to set the GPS to “Avoid Highways.” We meandered along the shores of Lake Erie, through fields of concord grapes being harvested for Welch’s and through many small towns. In the town of Dunkirk we detoured and followed the signs for the lighthouse. It was closed for the day, but I was able to take a photo through the fence, and a shot of the lake.

The lake really is that blue! A few times along the drive the water near the shoreline looked very turquoise, and it was like being at the ocean.

Tonight we are in Erie, PA, and our waiter at dinner gave us a few recommendations for places to see tomorrow as we head further south and west. We will still get quite a bit of coastline tomorrow (GPS will likely stay on its current setting to avoid highways until tomorrow afternoon), and Christmas may just come early tomorrow!

Posted by andreapw | Filed under Buffalo, Lake Erie, Navy, New York, Pennsylvania, Roadtrip, Uncategorized

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