Traveling through rural Oregon (in temperatures ranging from 2°C to 16°C) on our way back to San Francisco we came across the small town of Shaniko. It's not quite a ghost town, as some people still live here and a few businesses still operate, but it is well on its way to becoming one.
john wayne was a big man, and a big star, but...
Stopping at a supermarket to buy some fruit for lunch we couldn't help notice this huge sign, using the (probably unlicensed) likeness of John Wayne. They did a good job with the face, but that body, and that shirt... the Duke would not have been happy.
huckleberries
Apart from tourism, the other major industry in this part of Montana appears to be huckleberries. Everywhere we went there were people selling fresh huckleberries, huckleberry ice cream, huckleberry chocolate, huckleberry yoghurt, huckleberry jam, huckleberry pies... you get the idea.
The owner of one store told us that in summer a lot of the population are employed picking berries. We felt obliged to try a punnet of fresh ones and they are very, very nice. Very hard to describe the taste as they are so different from all the other berries. We also tried the chocolate and a pie. Very nice!
A cold, wet visit
This morning we visited the western part of The Glacier National Park in Montana. It was pretty cold (about 8°C) and there were scattered showers all morning. However, the scenery was still great and we never actually got wet. The rain always seemed to hold off whenever we wanted to get out of the car to look around or take photos.
The locals probably thought we were pretty crazy as they were all dressed warmly while Vyv and I were wearing shorts. After the cold Kiwi winter this didn't really feel that cold to me.
Minutes after the above photo was taken the clouds rolled in and completely obscured the background. You couldn't see a thing. We started heading back south and the weather improved. There were fire fighters fighting a large fire over the mountain range to the right of the photo and we hoped that the rain, which was a nuisance to us, was of help to them. They have been working hard at controlling the fires for some time.
Here's a few photos to give you an idea of the area. The clouds covered a lot of the higher peaks but the views were still pretty amazing.
The colour of the water varies at different locations but it is always incredibly clear...
aren't we going the wrong way?
We decided to visit the Glacier National Park on the border of Montana and Canada. We really should be heading south away from Canada, but I am sure we have time. We spent most of the day driving through the changing scenery of Montana passed lots of prairie and into the farmlands and mountains. At one stage we were on unpaved country roads but eventually got back to some decent roads near the Glacier area.
Tonight we are staying in a town called Whitefish which is near the Whitefish Mountain Ski and Summer Resort, and is quite close to the Glacier National Park. We will visit the park tomorrow morning and then start our way back to San Francisco. They are fighting fires in this area, but hopefully they are under control and won't hinder our trip south.
NOTE: Vyv reminded me to mention that she had a buffalo burger for lunch yesterday and enjoyed it but thought it tasted just like beef. We had a Ben & Jerrie's Red Velvet Ice Cream too and that was really good!
Quite a few of the farms around here have an interesting way of storing their hay. We are a long way from anywhere so it just maybe that it is too much trouble to get balers up here:
Dinosaurs...
This morning we visited the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana. It contains an extensive collection of dinosaur bones that have been collected in the Rocky Mountains over recent decades. Not having seen real dinosaur skeletons before we were very impressed with the variation of kinds of dinosaurs that roamed the same area, and the immense size some of them grew to.
Amongst their other exhibits they had a new one detailing the history of chocolate. Since chocolate is one of my favourite things we had to check it out. They pumped the smell of chocolate throughout the building and I soon was craving chocolate so much I had to be restained from tasting the large chocolates on display.
A hot and cold holiday
Since we have been on holiday we have had temperatures as cold as 7°C a week or so ago, and as warm as 38°C yesterday. We expect the temperatures to be pretty consistently high for the rest of the trip. Hopefully.
the badlands of north dakota
Being a fan of old western movies and novels, I had to visit The Badlands. The scenery is an impressive change after the endless flat prairies we have travelled through over recent days.
I took a hike down to the floor of the ravines and they are even more impressive up close, with wonderfully strange rock formations.
Vyv didn't want to make the hike, and was hesitant to let me go on my own, so I promised her I'd be back in 15 minutes. I ran down the slopes to the bottom and after half a mile or so I was feeling great and thinking that I was pretty fit for a guy of my age. Then, of course, came the uphill climb to get back to the top. I tried to run that too but the realisation came quickly that I wasn't as fit as I thought. The hot sun, humidity and 39°C temperature soon slowed me down. I did make it back in about 15 minutes though.
This bison watched my progress from a rise above me.
We then drove on to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park (still in North Dakota) and were quite taken by the huge colonies of Prairie Dogs that live there. We must have seen thousands scampering around. They dig an underground city of interconnected tunnels to live in. You can see the many tunnel openings as pale patches of ground:
Wild horses roam the park, along with herds of bison. We had spent a couple of hours touring the park and had only seen the rear end of one bison from a distance. We had almost given up hope of seeing one up close and then, just as we were about to leave, we noticed this one resting by the side of the road:
Another “world's biggest”...
We came across what is claimed to be the world's largest holstein cow on the hills above New Salem, North Dakota. Yes, that is Vyv standing under the udder. She looked big from a distance but was massive up close (and yes, I am still talking about the cow).
A few things we saw today during our drive through the vast flatlands of Minnesota and North Dakota
Seen on a farm in Todd County, Minnesota:
Outside a petrol station in Frazee, Becker County, Minnesota:
The big claim to fame of Jamestown, North Dakota, is the world's largest buffalo. It stands next to the buffalo museum (which is a lot better than it sounds), a collection of buildings from the 1800s, and a large protected area where a herd of buffalo (bison) roam free.
Jamestown's other claim to fame is that it is the hometown of Louis L'Amour, one of the biggest selling authors of western novels. I have read (well, listened to the audiobooks actually) most of his books over the last 10 years. The shack that he used to write in is preserved here.
A lucky non-purchase
We saw these fruit for sale at a great amazingly well-stocked deli. They are called Hedge Balls and are the fruit of the Osage-orange tree. The strangest fruit we have ever seen. We were tempted to buy one to try but never got around to it. When I googled them later I found that they are unpalatable (even to birds and animals) and are only used to repel insects by cutting them in half and leaving them around the house.
I wonder whatever possessed the store to sell them in the fruit section. I don't know what would have happened if we had tried to eat one, but I can't imagine it would have been pleasant. Even handling the fruit is known to irritate the skin. Fortunately Vyv had no reaction after posing for the above photo.
Taylors Falls
Driving the country roads towards North Dakota we came across the small town of Taylors Falls. It was full of cafes, new age jewellery shops and elderly bikers (by elderly I mean my age, but reliving their glory days on huge Harley-Davidsons).
We did the boardwalk from the crossroads centre of town to view the waterfalls the town was named for...
and minutes later we got to view the falls in their full glory...
Magnificent aren't they?
Coolest collection of pedal cars ever
Today (Saturday) while driving to Fargo, North Dakota, we came across a sign in Cameron, Wisconsin, for the Pioneer Village Museum. We needed to stretch our legs so thought we would check it out, although we weren't expecting much.
To our surprise we enjoyed the place and the best exhibit was a collection (can't remember how many there were but must have been close to 100) of antique pedal cars that had been restored by a local family. There also quite a number that they created themselves. It was an impressive collection and we could imagine our grandsons racing around the backyard on them
Here's a sampling of the cars:
They had even made a very large car hauler. Those are all full-sized pedal cars on the back.
This home-made trike with sidecar was particularly clever:
Back in the USA...
Last night we stayed in an executive suite on the 7th floor of the Quattro in Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, close to the Canadian/USA border. We couldn't believe how cheap it was. $115 plus tax, which is quite a deal when cheap (budget) motels cost around $100. The bedroom was large and the bed was the biggest we had ever slept in.
We left early in the morning (once again it was very, very foggy) and crossed the bridge into the US. The bridge was quite high and it was quite spooky not being able to see very far in front, or anything on either side or below, it looked like the bridge just faded into nothing. I was tempted to find the Twilight Zone theme on my phone and play it through the car stereo...
we can Bearly believe it...
It was only a couple of days ago I wrote a short post about the bear-proof rubbish bins we see everywhere and this morning, shortly after leaving our motel (in Terrace Bay) driving in the worse fog we have ever seen, we stopped at a small, lonely lookout to see if we could even see the lake. We couldn't, but Vyv noticed a movement by two rubbish bins. We jumped out of the car to take a look.
There, just over the safety railing, was a black bear watching us. I took a few photos, like any good tourist would, but Vyv was very frightened so we retreated to the car. We sat there quietly for 5-10 minutes and he slowly emerged from the bush and went back to scrounging.
We were so excited to see a bear in the wild.
The bear actually gave the bear-proof bin a look over...
But, having no luck, he had more success with the old-fashioned drum, after having removed the lid...
I did manage to shoot a quick video of him (her?) in action. You can clearly see how foggy it was...
this is something you don't see every day
We noticed this in the front yard of a house on Amethyst Mine Road, Ontario. Just shows you that there are clever people everywhere.
the lake that lives up to its name
Lake Superior is a very impressive lake. It is vast and you have to keep reminding yourself that it isn't the ocean.
On Tuesday night we stayed at the Best Western motel in Grand Marais, on the shore of the lake. The only room they had left by the time we got there was a large suite that had a jacuzzi, super-king bed and balcony overlooking the lake. They did discount the room rate heavily for us, as everyone knows kiwis don't have any money. I had to work for a couple of hours in the evening and for a short time before breakfast and it was a great environment watching the lake and listening to the gulls circling as I worked.
Our view from the balcony.
A view from outside the restaurant where we had dinner. This would be a great place to live - if it wasn't for the snow that will be here in a matter of weeks.
bearproof rubbish bins
We see these rubbish bins everywhere. They have been designed to outwit the roaming population of bears who manage to open pretty much every kind of bin ever used. This new bin requires you to slip your hand into the slot on the top and trigger a small latch to open it. So far the bears haven't figured out how to open them. Their paws are probably too big anyway. They could, of course, train their kids how to do it. Their little paws may just get in the slot.
it must get pretty cold here in minnesota
In Karlstad, Minnesota we came across a company that specialises in converting all kinds of vehicles into tracked vehicles. They look like they could go just about anywhere...
only in canada
By the time we left the Mennonite Village it was 3.30pm and we had to plan were to go next. We settled on Thunder Lake, which looked interesting. Our tom-tom satnav said it would take 7 and a half hours to drive there, taking the slower route that avoided motorways, but there were no motels or hotels on the route. So I checked the alternative, which was the shorter route, using motorways. That was going to take 10 and a half hours.
In what other country would the longest route be shorter than the shortest route?
In the end we took the shortest (longest) route that took 10 and a half hours because there were towns along the way and we would have somewhere to stay. Little did we know that the route took us across the border back into the USA an hour or so later. We were very surprised. The border crossing was on a very quite road and only manned by one guy and there were no other people using the crossing. It looked like he had a very easy job.
We stayed the night in Bemidji, Minnesota.
We will be crossing back into Canada sometime tomorrow when the road winds back along Lake Superior