New England

Day 13: 
We took off for Rhode Island from our campsite in the Berkshires. They call them mountains here. In Oregon they would be nearly "bumps." They are beautiful, nonetheless. Our first stop was Stockbridge, Massachusetts.  We had some postcards to mail, and the town was only about 5 miles away from our camp site.






Of course, we had to find Alice's Restaurant.  It really was "around the back," as we had to go down an alley way to find it.  Unfortunately, it wasn't open, and was renamed Teresa's.  Not exactly the same.  So we walked around the town taking in the New Englandness of it all, including pre-Revolution architecture, and the spacious "commons."
We found a bakery for our second breakfast before taking off for Rhode Island.

We decided to stay off the freeways, and took the (not so) long and windy road that lead to Emma & Tom's door in Cumberland, RI. Weaving in and out of Massachusetts and Connecticut in the process. Emma, George's niece, and her husband Tom welcomed their son William into the world in February. This was one of the main reasons to make the trip.  We wanted to meet William.  He's a sweet, mellow baby and smiles easily. When we got there, George's sister Barbara was minding William. Oma happily and joyfully babysits William every Wednesday.  Emma and Tom's large house has lots of room, and they are working on making it their own.


Day 14:

We ate breakfast with William and Papa Tom. Papa Tom is William's grandpa, who gets to babysit on Thursdays.  After a nice visit with the two of them, we took off for Point Judith, on the Rhode Island shore.  This is the southern most point in Rhode Island, where one catches the ferry to Block Island. And, standing on the beach, we face the open Atlantic Ocean.  So, we have made it from "sea to shining sea."

After a nice walk on the beach, we went on a search for a lunch of fried clams.  We found it at a restaurant called George's where we sat on the patio with a view of the harbor.








Fried clams, Rhode Island clam chowder and the local lager, Narragansett. Splendid lunch spot.












After lunch we found a place to get the oil changed in the RV, which is a bigger deal than you might think. And after all, it had been 3000 miles.  We then made our way to Barbara and Laurel's house on Amston Lake, in Lebanon, Connecticut.  What a beautiful, peaceful place. We love it here.

Day 15 & 16: Days without driving the RV!
While George went to visit with his Aunt Lisl, Lori went kayaking on the lake with Barbara and Laurel, as she has every time she's visited, without incident. However, this time she had the exciting experience of flipping the kayak.  Luckily, it happened close to shore, so we were able to beach the kayak, remove the water and relaunch.  She made it back across the lake to the house without similar mishap.

George and Lisl travelled to Smith College in Northampton.  They visited the art museum for an exhibit of Kathe Kollwitz.

The next day, we spent relaxing day at the lake house. George's cousin Judy joined us, and we spent happy hour on the six person float out on the lake. We ended the day with a fashionably late supper hot off the BBQ.

Day 17: 
After a brunch with the family at a restaurant in Glastonbury, we said our goodbyes and headed west on I84. Pennsylvania, here we come.

We spent the night at a well-loved, and well-used campground in the Promised Land State Park on the Pocono Plateau in northeastern Pennsylvania. We made reservations before we even left, as this was Memorial day weekend.  Boy, was it packed.  Nestled in an ancient deciduous forest, we saw many glacial erratic boulders randomly spaced in the forest.  We would love to spend a week here, however, we are on a schedule, so early the next morning we are headed to Indiana!

The Delta Quadrant

Day 8: 

Leaving Minneapolis behind, we entered the Delta Quadrant. We will be in parts of the galaxy where neither of us has ever been before, and there is no family until we reach Rhode Island.

Lake Michigan

We drove across Wisconsin, stopping for lunch along the way. Turning north at Marinette, WI, we entered Michigan and drove along the shore of Green Bay on Lake Michigan, stopping in Escanaba, in the land of the Yoopies, to get the famous Yoopie pasties. They were delicious. As the proprietor told us, everything is better in the UP. Just like Portland. Or Israel.

Lake Superior

We are on a mission to visit all five Great Lakes. We've got Michigan and Superior checked off.  

Arriving in Munising, MI we are camped at a city-owned RV park on the shore of Lake Superior. Lake Superior is clear and cold, with beautiful colored rocks on the shoreline. This campsite is clean and new and full of RVers from all over North America.

We woke up this morning to a beautiful sunrise.  It is bright and almost frosty. The weather looks to be good for our trip into Ontario.

Day 9:

Today we go through the wormhole into Ontario, and Lake Hueron via Sault Ste Marie, Michigan into Saut Ste Marie, Ontario.  Lori got the honor of driving over the "Sault" bridge into Canada.  The boarder patrol checked our passports, and our dog, then asked us about weapons. No sir, we are not carrying any weapons. Wait....does my Leatherman tool count?

Then we stopped at the visitor center and exchanged our boring old green US money into cheerfully colourful Canadian money.

We also found a campground guide, and George found a place to park the rig for the night at the Serpent River Campground, on the First Nation, just North of Lake Huron.

Lake Huron

In a town called Bruce Mines, we got our view of Great Lake #3, Huron.  We also met a couple who were out biking on their his and hers Harley Davidsons.  Beautiful bikes, and very nice people who suggested a route around Toronto to avoid the holiday traffic for Victoria Day.

The camp site was beautiful, and we parked next to a family with a Mastiff named Sergeant.  He and Tsuki hit it of, and chased around the campsite.

The mosquitoes are small but fierce in Canada. Luckily Lori picked up some repellent on one of our shopping trips....just in case.




Day 10: The next morning we had a long drive (over 400 miles, er, 640 kilometers) from Spragge to Sherkston.  So, we found a Tim Horton's, Canada's version of Dunkin' Donuts, to fuel us on our long journey.

Lake Ontario

Still 100 km above Toronto, the traffic really picked up, as people were returning from their long Queen Vic weekend. We did take the detour around the freeway to escape some of the traffic and to get a more scenic view. Everyone else thought the same way. It was scenic, but crowded. With some judicious old-school map reading, we managed to find a route past the largest city we will encounter on this whole trip. There is an express toll freeway going East along the shore of Lake Ontario from Toronto to St. Catharines. We kept waiting for the toll booth, but there was none. We think they took our picture, and eventually we will get the bill. Very trusting, these Canadians.

We finally made it past Toronto, and made our way toward St. Catherines. We stopped before we got there, at a small park in Grimsby and took our selfie in front of Great Lake #4: Ontario. The beaches are long and rocky.

Lake Erie

We rolled into the Sherkston Shores Resort shortly before 8pm. Long day. We had hoped to be parked by the lake, lake Erie, but instead were parked next to the quarry lake.  Turns out this huge vacation resort had not only RV spaces, but cabins, and a bunch of permanent manufactured homes that people use and rent out. It has play grounds, paintball, skate court, waterslide, and arcades. Not the mellow, cozy, outdoorsy RV parks we've grown accustomed to.  We did take a walk in the morning to Great Lake #5: Erie, so we could check it off the Great Lakes list! Mission Accomplished!

Day 11
From Sherkston, we headed toward Fort Erie, on the Niagara Parkway following the Niagara River all the way to the Falls.  What a gorgeous drive. The beautiful river on the right, and some really expensive homes on the left.

The Falls. Wow! We've been told that they are more picturesque from the Canadian side. And they were. You get the full frontal view. There were hundreds of tourists, of course, from all over the world, speaking many languages we recognized, and several more we did not. Lots of obviously honeymooning couples, and families taking selfies. Tsuki had to stay on the leash, and she was wondering what was the big deal. There is a life-size statue of Nicola Tesla, who designed the original power station. George Westinghouse got rich.

Discovering that we still had Canadian cash to spend, we stopped in a Chinese restaurant less than 1 km from the Falls. Mere moments after we walked in, two busloads of Chinese tourists arrived, with their tourguide. At least 50 of them. We drove over the Rainbow Bridge back to the US, and got on the I90 and drove 520 km, (um.....300 miles) across the state of New York, crossing the Hudson River at Castleton, and nestling down into a lovely campsite in the Berkshires, just a few minutes from Tanglewood.

The weather was beautiful in Canada. Here tonight the rain is softly falling, and the frogs and insect sounds are combined with the rain on the roof. Home sweet land yacht.

South Dakota and Minnesota

Day 4: Rapid City, Wall, Winner & Reliance


Lori has many relatives in South Dakota, so our itinerary includes three days for visiting South Dakota's charms and jewels.






Continuing our way east from Rapid City, we stopped at one of South Dakota's charming places: Wall Drugstore. There are signs for miles advertising all of the ameneties such as free ice water and 5¢ coffee. But for some reason, I don't understand, they don't advertise the delicious donuts that they make fresh daily and serve up warm.  With donuts and postcards in hand, we continue our trek east making a detour through the Badlands.

At the entrance to the Badlands National Park, we saw bison and prairie dogs. Driving on, we stopped at the first viewpoint to take in the vast and beautiful scene. The stricking geologic deposits contain one of the world's richest fossil beds.

At one of the pullout areas, we stopped to observe the huge prairie dog city. They were everywhere, and "barking" to one another so loudly, that Tsuki heard them and almost jumped through the truck window. How she likes to think she could actually catch one of the critters.

From the Badlands, we hightailed it to Winner where Lori has two sets of Aunts and Uncles. After a

short visit, we traveled on to Reliance where Lori's Aunt Gladys, and cousins Keith and Kent ranch is. This family run ranch was established in 1909, and the Stewart family continues to work the land to this day. Keith's son, Sheldon and Kent's son Grant are working alongside their dads and look likely to carry on the family business.

Aunt Gladys took us out to the Golden Buffalo Casino on the Lower Brule Indian Reservation where we enjoyed a prime rib dinner that was big enough to provide lunch the next day.

Day 5: Reliance to Sioux Falls

A "short" drive to Sioux Falls from Reliance. In Sioux Falls is Lori's cousin Lisa, daughter of Aunt Gladys. We had a wonderful visit with Lisa and her husband Duane. Their daughters Jamie and Janna joined us for supper. We also got to meet the grandkids: Jaden, Keegan and Linden. All three were cute, friendly and rambunctious as only kids can be. Duane took us out on a ranger drive through their 40 acres of oak forest. Tsuki followed along with us, and got to chase the deer and turkey we saw along the way.  She was pretty tired by the end of the short trip.

Day 6: Sioux Falls to Minneapolis

We crossed into Minnesota and were able to place the next state sticker on our USA map (Thanks Ben!).  Stopped for lunch in a Nature Park near Mankato, and then rolled along the shore of Elysian Lake, rimmed by spacious vacation homes. Paradise indeed.





Driving into Minneapolis, we saw the first full-scale city since we left Portland. Traffic, smog, lines at restaurants...

We arrived at Matt and Naomi's house in
Minneapolis in time for dinner. Naomi is George's niece. We went to a local trendy restaurant, Wise Acre Eatery, recommended by Jane & Michael Stern. We had roasted beet humus, pea salad, locally-made summer sausage, and thick-cut smoked bacon. This town is almost as foodie-friendly as Portland. Mathew and Naomi have a lovely home, and we availed ourselves, for the first time in a week, of an indoor bed.


Today we enter terra incognita, and we proceed across Wisconsin into the Upper Peninsula or Michigan. Tonight, the shores of Lake Superior!

Living Deadwood

Day 3: The drive from Missoula to Hardin was long (390 miles), but beautiful. Montana is really a lovely state.

Tsuki ususally she sits in the passenger seat, but Lori has usurped that position, so she has claimed a new spot during the drive.

Day 4: We woke up in Hardin, Montana at dawn to clear skies.

We drove for hours across the Crow and Cheyenne Nations passing by the Little Bighorn National Monument. We were struck by how the land had been preserved. We saw pronghorn and prairie dogs amongst the hundreds of cattle that dot the land around here.

We nicked the NE corner of Wyoming before entering South Dakota.  But, we made a rule to only put the state stickers on if we saw a "Entering State" sign. We saw one, so we have placed both Wyoming and South Dakota stickers on our Land Yacht.

Deadwood, SD lived up to its reputation. The town is full of faux gold rush architecture almost indistinguishable from the originals. Nearly all of the tourists had white hair. Including 100% of the Harley-Davidson riders. We were looking for Rocky Raccoon. We could find no sign he had ever been there, not even Nancy. However, Wild Bill Hickock's ghost was in evidence. We're pretty sure we saw him at the barbershop getting a haircut.


The steep windy drive through the Black Hills was spectacularly beautiful and worth the detour.

We stayed at the Hart Ranch Resort.  Lori's cousin Jane is a member and got us a nice spot to park the RV for the night with all the hookups and amenities.  Lori cooked supper (that's what they call dinner in this part of our country), and had a nice visit.  We don't get to see each other often, so we got to trade stories of doing biology field research work.

We're off to the famous Wall Drug Store, the Badlands National Park and visiting with Aunts and Uncles in Winner and Reliance tonight.

Over the rivers and through the woods....

Day 1 Route

We drove east up the Columbia River Gorge past Pendleton, and into the Wallowa Mountains, the Alps of northeastern Oregon. We spent the night on the NE slope of Mt. Joseph at Jay and Liza’s magical hill.

Liza and Jay in their cozy little home

Their five acres of heaven has a shop and outbuildings along with the small house.  They have big plans for a new house in the future to take advantage of the land and the picturesque views.

We had a lovely dinner of elk and vegetables. Good food, good drink, and good conversation with good friends. 

Day 2 Route

We went to sleep with the sound of the rain on the RV roof.

We woke up to the sound of the rain on RV roof… In fact there is a flood warning out for NE  Oregon today until Monday night.  Should make for an interesting drive north on what the locals call Rattlesnake grade (Hwy 3) toward Lewiston, Idaho. From there we proceed over Lolo Pass (Hwy 12) on our way to Missoula, Montana.




It did, in fact, rain as we drove the Rattlesnake Grade (OR Hwy 3, WA SR129). Unfortunately, this normally scenic drive was hidden by clouds and fog as the rain came down steadily. We crossed the Grande Ronde River in Washington.



Following the Snake River into Lewiston, WA, we made our way to US Hwy 12 over Lolo Pass.  The rain finally let up when we reached the summit at 5233 ft (1595m).  However, there was still snow on the ground at the visitor center.


From the visitor center, we drove to Missoula, Montana, and the home of our good friends David Cox and Susan Sather. They moved here last fall from Portland.  They have many cats, and one of them even has a place at the table where "Mama" dines with the family.

Tomorrow, we head east on I-90....

Preparation and Planning for the Trip

This fall, we bought an RV. George has been test driving it around the Pacific Northwest and into Southern California. Now that he has finely tuned the land yacht, it's time for a serious road trip.

We've planned a road trip that starts Saturday, May 14th heading east to Rhode Island. We've given ourselves four weeks to get there and back.

We have friends and family to stop and see in Montana, South Dakota, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Indiana and maybe Colorado. We will cross into Ontario, Canada in our quest to see all five Great Lakes. And, you can be sure there will be some pretty amazing scenery along the way. For example, we'll be re-entering the US over Niagara Falls!

Yes, our land yacht is the specially-equipped amphibious model. At least that's what the owner's manual says.

George has the route mostly planned, and Lori has been working frantically on organizing and stocking the pantry this week.

Stay tuned, more adventures on the road will be forthcoming.