Month: September 2023

Well, it’s been a great 7 weeks! Certainly very busy but so much to be thankful for. We’ve had incredible weather, hardly any rain and when it did come, it didn’t cause us any changes to our plans. We did have some warm days of low 30s C, but not enough to be uncomfortable. Most nights it cooled nicely for sleeping; some nights were actually too cold, but the furnace warmed the trailer (and us} up! Our drive home across S. Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan has gone well, although long. N, Dakota was the land of all things oil and gas! What an industry! Minnesota certainly is full of lakes. We had a very short drive through Wisconsin. We did stay 2 nights at a Corps of Engineers park near Deer River in Minnesota for a break from driving. It was beautiful and a chance to relax before getting back on the road! I think it’s a definite one to be on the list to return to if we are travelling highway 2 again.

Once we got into the western edge of northern Michigan we were treated to some beautiful fall colours. By next week they should be at peak.

Last night (Thursday) was a later night. We pulled into a small community park in Michigan just after 6:30 but we were only a few miles from the time change point so by the time we were parked it was getting dark. We had the whole place to ourselves – about 10 campsites along a stream.

We awoke to fog that had mostly dissipated by the time we were on the road, but it did appear again as we wound along the shore of Lake Michigan and then was fairly thick as we crossed over the Mackinac Bridge.

Tonight’s destination is on private property at a Boondockers Welcome host. They have a 100 acre bush where they have established a couple of sites. We plan to spend two nights there before we drive the last day of our trip to arrive back home.

So, on Sunday we drove the short distance to the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It was just over an hour north of where we were camping but since we were headed further north after our stopover, it made sense to move the trailer north instead of just making a day trip. Once again we chose a National Grasslands campground. This one was completely open with minimal trees, but we decided that was good since we wanted maximum solar to recharge the batteries.

As you can see, we had a nice view out our door. Once we got set up, we decided to head out to the park since it was warm and a clear blue sky (the camper picture was taken later in the day), with a cloudy day forecast for Monday.

As we drove into the park, we were immediately struck how much more scenic these badlands are than the south unit was.

The scenic drive was only 24 km long and had fewer scenic pullouts.

In one section of the drive there was an area of what is called concrete concretions. These are created through mineral deposits, but exactly how, is not certain. You can see them not only in a few piles on the surface, but also partially exposed in the side of the hill.

We also saw another unique formation called bentonitic. In the picture below, bentonitic is the blue-black clay on the surface in some areas. It’s surface is like popcorn, which will flow when wet.

The river valley is starting to show some golds as the leaves of the cottonwood trees are beginning to turn. Since there are more evergreens in this area, the yellow leaves are more scenic.

On our return trip to the main entrance, we saw one last herd of buffalo in the park. We don’t expect to see more since we’ll be outside of national parks Although this herd was crossing the road, it didn’t cause the jam like in the South Unit, since this park was much less travelled.

Tomorrow (Monday) is another travel day, as well as a chance to restock a few more groceries.