Only 350 miles to Tomah!

Our Walmart campground was safe and secure last night.  It was definitely the right price…free!  However, not very quiet.  Even though there was a sign that read… “No Trucks”… there were trucks with their engines running all night.  Then... somewhere in the distance, there was a motorcycle race going on for a while.  Then there was the normal vehicle noise you hear coming and going at a Walmart parking lot.  Other than that…we slept pretty well.  We were up early and on the road for the last 350 miles of our trip.  We were so happy we were up early, otherwise, we would have missed this stunning sunrise.  No matter what time we had gotten up…I don’t think we would have missed the upright car stuck in the ground. 

Still wondering…”WHY?”

  It’s early and it’s Saturday…so going through Minneapolis shouldn’t be too bad.  We were surprised at the amount of traffic when we were taking the bypass.  The traffic was moving well; but then our GPS kept telling us to get off of 94.  Well, we found out why…bridge out!  I don’t think we ever have taken a detour to get to a detour that will take you to another detour to get back on your route.  It was crazy!!!  Then in the midst of one of those messes, was a dead deer and a car with its whole front grill smashed in.  We had lost a hubcap somewhere along the way; but we’re not even going to take up issue with that 

after seeing that driver’s problems!

 A short while later, we were crossing the Minnesota border into Wisconsin.  In less than two hours we will be home.  We both survived a month of travel, 24 hours a day,  in a 31 foot motor home... together.  Vacations are great; but it’s always nice to return home and get back to your normal life again.  I think we will be staying local for a while, since in the last 3 months we have driven south to the tip of Key West to the northwest coastline, fishing village of Homer in Alaska.  We saw some wonderful sites and met some interesting people in those 

12,000 miles or so…with unlimited memories.

                 Lots of rain while we were gone...  

                          and the day returned.

                     Lots of tall grass to cut!

      Lots of pretty flowers waiting for our return.

      Lots of thoughts for our next journey.

Searched at the U.S. border! (Friday the 31st)

Little did we know when we woke up in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan…we would be in Fergus Falls, Minnesota 10 hours later and 620 miles closer to home.  All but 150 miles were on two lane highways with extreme, windy conditions.  

A very long and 

exhausting journey today.

             Unfortunately, Bill had to be watching things on his side of the road...while I was watching things in the fields on my side of the road.....

We viewed more wide-open spaces of oil fields and crop fields of Saskatchewan.  Then we came across some coal fields that really made a mess of the environment.  Saskatchewan is also the world’s leader in reserves of potash. 95% of potash is used for fertilizers and the 

remaining 5% used in soaps. 

After heading south for awhile, we came to the gates for the entrance to the United States.  They asked some questions as usual; but this time we had to get out and they entered the motor home and looked around.  They even checked inside a few cupboards.  I knew they were going to be suspicious of us the moment they saw

 I didn’t make the bed neatly that morning. 

They did smile..I didn't think it was the appropriate time for a selfie with them.  They raised the gate and we were on 

our way into North Dakota.

...and we did as we were back in the U.S.A.

The Northern part of North Dakota is beautiful.  They must have had ample amounts of rain because all the rolling hills are such healthy shades of green.  I noticed small landslides on some of the grassy hillsides along the highway.  I saw these in different parts of Canada too.  Usually, landslides occur where there are steep slopes or mountains made of rocks.  The landslides, we saw, were grass covered dirt or fill.  I read that when the hills get over saturated by rain, it causes the dirt to slide down.  

Some slides can be pretty big.

             Tonight we are staying at the Walmart campground in Fergus Falls, MN  Actually...it is in their parking lot.   It is the cheap campground we use when traveling long hours and really don’t need the amenities of a nice campground.  Most Walmarts welcome overnight parking for motor homes and trailers because they know you will go inside their store and spend money.  It’s feels safe to stay since other campers become your neighbors.  Besides...the cameras on the light poles increase our feelings of security.  

Up early tomorrow and “On Wisconsin!”  

Only 350 miles…a cake walk! (ummm....cake sounds good right now...it's just a short walk to Walmart.)

Mysterious blue domes in Saskatchewan (Thursday the 30th)

This picture of the sun was mesmerizing as we started out this morning for Saskatoon in Saskatchewan.  The photo doesn’t do it justice; but it gives you a glimpse of this orange ball in the sky.  There was smoke in the sky from the wildfires in the area again. The smoke in the air acts as a filter, scattering the shorter wavelengths like blue light and leaves behind the longer wavelengths of the colors like orange and red. The view may have been pleasing to the eyes; but I’m sure that smoke has not been good for the lungs.

As we entered the province of Saskatchewan, we noticed that farm fields and oil fields… just got bigger.  Oil tanks line the horizon and train tracks wait to carry the hundreds of oil cars to their destinations.  Thousands of acres of land with idle machinery... waiting for the right moment to plant their leading crops of wheat, oats, flax, and alfalfa.  

Grain silos empty, 

waiting to feel full again.

 In some of the crop fields, we saw some mysterious, blue, plastic domes.  The domes looked like they were placed evenly apart; but at some distance.  We didn’t know what they could be so I googled it and found the answer.  They are shelters for the alfalfa leaf-cutter bees!  These bees build their nests out of alfalfa leaves. Leaf-cutter bees are the bee of choice when it comes to pollinating alfalfa.  One shelter is used for every 4-5 acres.  That was a mystery... 

I was glad I could solve.

After traveling over 7,000 miles… we thought this would have happen sooner than our last 1,000 miles.  A chip in our windshield from a rock!  It was kind of funny because when it happened…neither Bill nor I said very much.  It was almost like we expected it... since the last two times we went to Alaska we came home 

with chipped windshields. 

Glad we kept our low deductible.

Not much of a mystery going on in these pictures; 

but of interest to me. 

                            Wooden bridge and train track.

                                                              Oh...I agree!

                                  Some memories of the past...

Traveling on a fairly straight highway that goes through a flat prairie for about 8 hours was enough for both of us.  We decided to end our journey east at Saskatoon and head south to Moose Jaw.  The highway is a two lane that will eventually take us to the border of the U.S. into North Dakota.  It will take a little longer; but we need to see some different scenery.  Also….gas will be a lot cheaper!   

               We were excited to see a curve in the road!

                                              Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

      Sounds pretty fancy...any place with full services is fancy to us.  However, when they say the WiFi isn't strong...that means it doesn't work!

Great White North bugs on our windshield!

The majestic mountains are now behind us.  Sad to see them go as we head southeast… into the prairie land of British Columbia.  My favorite color…green…is spread out all over in front of us, as we cruise down a smoother highway.  It’s amazing how much faster you can get places when you can put that cruise control on.

We reached Dawson Creek, which means the end of the Alaskan Highway.  Actually, it’s the beginning if you’re going north because it is where the highway started construction in 1942.  We have seen the sites in the past; but this site I saw in the back end of a truck…will also stick in my memory bank.  I was snapping his picture and the dog turned around as if to say… “if you’re going to take a picture of me…get my best side.”

Bill washes the front windows of the motor home every time we fill up with Canadian gas, which can be as high as $4.56 a gallon. Within a half hour… the windshield was splattered with a numerous variety of Canadian bugs! The rest of the photos I’m sharing will be seen through the bodies of unfortunate bugs of the Great White North.  

Days ago, when we were in the mountain, we had haze as a result of smoke from fires or sand blowing around or just plain fog. We are now in the plains of Canada and still see a haze on the horizon.  We think it is due to all the dust from the side roads.  As far as we have seen, only the main highways & streets in town are paved.  I guess the sand mine down the road from our house…

could be worse!

After the Alaskan Highway, we took Highway #2 towards Alberta.  There are so many industries along that highway that include oil, forestry, and sand mining.  With that said…there has to be a means of transportation.  There are trucks everywhere moving these products to market.  

So no cruising through here, especially when we came upon this truck transporting something that took up both sides of the highway! We were on a 4 lane highway and they drove it on the other two lanes for awhile so we could get through.  Then there was more gigantic cargo coming from the other way!   How do you even plan to move something like that through a good-sized town?

Oxymoron?

Shorter day today, only 340 miles…with about 1,500 to go until we see the tall grass of our Tomah home.  We’re camping about 100 miles west of Edmonton, outside the town of Whitecourt.  It’s hot; but we're not complaining because we have full services and our air conditioning is working fine. Oh…and we each have a bag of peanut M&M’s too.  Awww…life is good!

Share size; but no sharing here.

Heading home

This is what it looks like at 11 0’clock at night in Alaska… when you can’t sleep.  Both Bill and I had a restless night.  Too many hours on the road, over-tired and thinking about heading home.

I guess we didn’t learn our lesson because we ended up driving 541 miles today.  When the road home has to be the same route for the majority of the miles, you tend to move a little faster.  However, the construction and lumber and oil tankers slowed us down somewhat.   That’s alright because it gave us a chance to see the views from the other side of the highway.

The lakes and streams, with the turquoise water, has to be posted again from the other side of the highway too.  No matter what angle the camera was pointed, the photos of these were spectacular. 

I mentioned on the way up that Canada clears back both sides of the roads of trees and bushes.  The newly cut grass that goes on for miles and miles… makes you feel like you’re driving down a parkway.  It’s so beautiful.   The bears were out in numbers today… grazing on the, green sprouts of spring grass along the highway.  They were too interested in filling their empty, winter bellies to notice some tourists gawking at them.  As we traveled on, we saw other wildlife enjoying the sweet grasses along the highway too.

Just heard on the news that Homer, AK had an 5.8 earthquake on the 27th., yesterday!   The epicenter was 60 miles away, so I guess it wasn’t too noticeable.  Besides, it was at 2:52 in the morning.  We were just there on the 22^nd!  We were in a 6.0 earthquake years ago while vacationing in Yellowstone.  That was a scary experience.  I’m not sure that camping on a little peninsula of land in Homer would have been the safest place to be… during an earthquake.  

    There are two reasons why we left for Alaska in early May.  Both pictures explain both reasons, I think.  After Memorial Day…the stream of camping vehicles start heading north and... the bugs aren’t far behind!