Tuesday 2 October 2018 to Alexandria, Minnesota, 470 miles O’s alarm goes off at 5:30 am. I drive the first shift in the dark down route 85 to I-94, then O takes over. The sun is not really up until well after 7. By now we are stopped for breakfast in Dickinson, ND which turns out to be a good thing. We are off the road just when the sun
Monday 1 October 2018 Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Unit As expected, the cold rain continues for most of the night. By daylight, which is barely arriving at 7:15 am central time, the rain has stopped, but the sky remains gray and the morning is cool and breezy. As we are cleaning up from breakfast, John, the ranger from Saturday, stops by our campsite for further conversation and to see
Sunday 30 September 2018 This morning it is 3.5 degrees C and not yet precipitating when we emerge from the tent. The sky, however, is dark and threatening. We stick to our “cold-rainy-snowy-day” contingency plan and drive 60+ miles back to Medora for a hot breakfast at the warm Cowboy Cafe. The place is really hopping and today, at 11 am, is the end of their season. After enjoying our
Saturday 29 September 2018 It wasn’t supposed to rain overnight, but it did anyway. At least it is a bit warmer this morning – above freezing. We wipe down Wglwof’s fly and pack up as dry as we can. It’s rather wet for cooking this morning so we drive to Medora for breakfast. Only one restaurant is open, the Cowboy Cafe. They are doing a pretty brisk business. After breakfast
Friday 28 September 2018 As expected, it is cold during the night, but with our fleece clothes, down quilt and extra fleece blanket it is warm and cozy inside Wglwof. The challenge is convincing ourselves to get out of the tent this morning. The temperature is -5 degrees C, about 23 degrees F. O and I replace our night time fleece layers with our daytime layers of jackets and vests.
Thursday 27 September 2018 After breakfast we drive about 3 miles to the South Unit visitor center from our campsite. Here we watch the park film which describes the beauty of the North Dakota badlands and their importance in helping a young Theodore Roosevelt recover from the death of his wife (in childbirth) and of his mother on the same day. Roosevelt credited the badlands and his ranching days here
Wednesday 26 September 2018 Theodore Roosevelt National Park Today we complete our 700+ mile drive across Montana. As we near the time for our third driver switch O realizes we are very near to Pompey National Monument. Although we are both concerned about time, we decide to stop and briefly explore as we have already driven by on a previous trip intending to stop “sometime in the future.” I guess
Tuesday 25 September 2018 on to Livingston, Montana Just after 8 am we are on the road once more. We cross from Idaho into Montana and lose an hour as we are now in the mountain time zone. The drive from western to central Montana is quite scenic. We cross the continental divide and return to the Mississippi River drainage basin. As we near Livingston we can see the distant
Monday 24 September 2018 on to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho O and I finish packing everything back into Vincent and leave our Bellevue refuge to head east. Half way across Washington I suddenly realize we did not pack everything. Our travel brownies are hidden in the back of S and K’s refrigerator. Luckily, I come to this realization before we pass Spokane, location of the last Trader Joe’s before we cross
Sunday 23 September 2018 Bellevue and Issaquah After checking on the 10 day weather forecast for Theodore Roosevelt National Park (cold!!), O and I, along with S and K, drive over to REI to pick up a large pack of hand warmers. Then it’s back to Mercer Slough for another walk with Zephy. For dinner, the four of us leave Zephy behind and drive to the Issaquah branch of Rogue