September 9: Serpent River RV Park

Spragge, Ontario; Drove a couple of hundred miles from Agawa Bay to our next stop. This time just for one night. Checked out the river, but it was not swim-able. Oh well. They did have a swimming pool, but it was closed for the season. It was still hot enough, but the calendar speaks.

Self portrait with Adirondack chairs on the banks of the Serpent River.

Train tracks that ran between our campsite and the river bank. What a hoot when it went by. Toot Tooooooooooooooooooooot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Playing Catchup: September 6-7

Tuesday we left Happylands RV Park and went to Neys Provincial Park on Lake Superior. It was super! A really beautiful lake and park. We were just a few meters [metres] from the sandy beach. We only spent one night and would have liked to spend more.

We did walk the beach to the end where there is a remnant volcano. One that erupted 2 billion years ago [don't know how much that is in meters [metres]]. But it was impressive. Unfortunately, our dog seems to take offense at waves. She lost her mind and common sense and chased the waves, biting  and barking at them. We could not deter her and it was a bit hairy as she was slipping on the slick volcanic rock that had been smoothed by glaciers and a billion or so years of wave action. But Trixie was determined to end the waves. What time and tide could not…

Anyhoo, here are the photos:

On the road to Neys Park. Beautiful Canada. Oh Canada.

Beach meters [metres] from our campsite looking toward the volcano remains that the glacier chopped off some 2 billion years ago. No one remembers it, so it may be a shaky story.

The beach before sunset.

Some of those rocks created by magma/lava. [magma under ground, lava above]

Pretty beach

Large rocks on the beach. Lots o’iron in them. Makes ‘em red.

Jack and his dog. Before she discovered the annoying waves.

The water was sooooooooooooooooooooo clear!

End of the beach where the volcano erupted.

Really, really clear water.

A Few Lingering North Dakota Pix

These were taken September 1 on the trip from Jamestown, ND to Lake Itasca, MN

On the way into Fargo, ND. Probably should see that movie.

Along Interstate 94 in North Dakota

Vast, vast plains of North Dakota

Another photo along the interstate…

More grassland in North Dakota out the window of Worf.

Haystacks in North Dakota

Haystacks seem to be up ahead of us all along the way

Painted Canyon, Teddy Roosevelt National Park. I look a little stand-offish because I miscalculated when I passed Jack the camera to take the photo of me. But thank you Photoshop for putting two photos together

Lake Itasca and the mouth of the mighty Mississippi!

August 31 – September 2: We cross into Minnesota and drive about halfway across the state.

It was the beginning of Labor Day weekend. We were only supposed to stay one night as it was booked up for the rest of the weekend, but we got here early enough and found a site for two nights.

It is right on the Lake! Again we set up the RV and found somewhere to swim. Very hot, very muggy, very full of mosquitoes! We had to drive to the beach, but we found it and dove in. I did 10 laps back and forth between the buoys. It felt great and the water was a bit clearer than Jamestown, ND. Here are the obligatory photos.

Me after swimming laps in Lake Itasca, Minnesota. The Lake is the source of the Mississippi! Or so “they” say.

What a fantastic lake. It sure helped my mosquitoe bites, of which there are many…

Jack attempts the crossing of the mighty Mississippi River.

Jack half way across the mighty Mississip

Jack triumphantly finishes crossing the Mississippi River

Jamestown, North Dakota

August 31, 2011

We only stayed one night, but it was a great place; Jamestown Lake and Marina Campground. A little hot and muggy with hoards of mosquitoes. We keep thinking we are at the end of the hot weather, but it keeps staying hot. We keep thinking the mosquitoes are gone, but they keep swarming us. I am a little tired of the buggers.

We parked and soon set up [we didn't even unhook the Puddle Jumper as we were leaving early the next day], we went to the Jamestown River and swollen reservoir. Here are photos of me swimming!

I am swimming where the sandy beach used to be. Seems the reservoir is a bit swollen from the rains. There were stairs down to the beach, but we just used them to get in the water!

It was so refreshing, if a little murky. The trees in the back are not supposed to be in the water, they are supposed to be on shore.

Seems there are still heavy rains. Our friends; Jim and Marylou live in Vermont, but they escaped the recent floods. Whew!

Tour of Teddy Roosevelt National Park

More Tuesday, August 30: still Gabbie’s birthday!

We were traveling the loop road at the North Dakota Badlands. Below are the photos.

And More…

Yep, more Badlands. I think they are pretty.

More Badlands

The North Dakota Badlands

Crazy formations in the Badlands

That is a Prairie Dog! Crossing the road, we don’t know why. Don’t ask.

Wild horse outside the corral with “tame” horses. Seems it was only there to say hello to just one of the tame ones. Sweet and weird.

Wild Horses! or Feral as “they” refer to them…

Time to wake up!

Tuesday, August 30 [Gabrielle Blachman's birthday, by the way]

After a nice nights sleep with no actual thunderstorm, Trixie woke me up with a single bark, more of a boof. I heard some rustling and looked out my window. Ha! Buffalo!

I dove for my camera and tried to take photos. Looks like they might be moving fast, but actually it was really early in the morning 6:30am and there was not enough light to stop their lumbering.

Turns out it was and entire herd. Had to hold the window open at the same time.

They just kept coming! Trixie was fascinated. So were we.

Buffalo?????!!!!!!! And so unconcerned about the humans.

Later that day on our tour of the park we saw the same herd. This one is trying to hide from us. But I can see him.

These buffalo were less embarassed and were just out in the open! Cars stopped to take photos. Actually the people in the cars took the photos and the buffalo kept eating. It was serene and surreal.

A Little More Montana, then North Dakota

Sunday, August 28 and Monday, August 29

One more photo of the Badlands in Makoshika Park, Montana.

Crazy Landscape, Some Crazy Ideas.

Crazy, Crazy Landscape. Created millions of years ago when the continental plates crashed into each other upwelling layers of history. Top stage is when the Clovis people arrived: 10,000 years ago over a land bridge in Alaska after the last of the dinosaurs [white-ish layer].

Or as the Dinosaur and Fossil Museum folks in Glendive, Montana explain it. “Man was created in 4,004 BC and dinosaurs still existed. Their extinction happened because they were too big for Noah’s Art.” Yep, that’s the skinny. And they are sticking to it.

Last night in Glendive, Montana and the Badlands there.

Driving through more grasslands to get to North Dakota

Driving toward North Dakota

Driving toward North Dakota and into a thunderstorm

Welcome to North Dakota with Worf antenna

Road in North Dakota

North Dakota Sky

Yup. Home On the Range, North Dakota

Driving to our campsite in Teddy Roosevelt National Park; Sunday, August 28

Grassland in TR National Park

Our campsite!

Little Missouri River with Trixie behind our campground

Little Missouri River with threatening clouds, time for a good night sleep

Crochet Project To Keep Sanity. Might be working.

Been crocheting. Made a computer case for my new little mac! Lots of foam rubber for protection and a pocket for my tablet and stylus! Yellow inside, brown outside and a black pocket. Hey, is anyone going to comment, so I know some are reading this blog?

Next stop: Glendive, Montana

Saturday and Sunday, August 27 and 28

Montana is a wiiiiiiiiiiide state. We zipped across Idaho’s panhandle, but Montana is wiiiiiiiide.

Happy to leave Ft. Peck, we drove to Glendive, Montana. Great little RV Park. Unfortunately the pool was without water, but we had electricity so we had AC. Very nice owners who told us about the great places to visit and the lowdown on the Dinosaur Museum. When Jack asked about the museum the owner whispered, “You might not like it there, they show people on earth at the same time as dinosaurs.” Then he winked. Great warning. Think California has a reputation?

Then he told us about a restaurant for dinner that we could walk to. It was great. I had yummy baked salmon. No comparison to Alaska, but then when in Rome [or Glendive] make the best of it.

Next day we went to the Makoshika State Park. Loosely translated from the Lakota Native Americans, Makoshika means land of bad spirits. Sounds like a great place! So off we went in the puddle jumper, newly separated from Worf, the protector.

Here are some photos:

Long way from Pismo Beach. It was as hot and dry as it looked.

More badlands.

Seems years of wind and some water erosion removes softer rock and leaves the harder rock to make really interesting shapes. Not bad, really.

If you look closely at the top of the rock, there is a little bird that walks up these formations like a woodpecker! This area has an amphitheater where Sunday church services are held. Also, Shakespeare plays.

Some scrappy wildflowers!

We sat down beside this spider. He/she was hiding from us and all we could see was the bee wrapped for dinner. A few minutes later, the spider slid down its web, unattached the bundle and took it back up to its hiding place! Guess we were only a threat to its dinner.

Self portrait at the beginning of a hike.

The Badlands. Landscape from Mars? Klingon Empire? A Nightmare?

More Badlands.

And more Badlands.

Crazy landscape of the Badlands in Montana