Road Trip to Oregon - Heading back home

Eastern Oregon

The road trip back from Oregon was designed to be 5 days (the outbound trip was 6). One less day translated into about 100 more miles more each day. The difference between 5 and 6 days is noticeable. There's also something about going home where you just want to get home 💖 Link to video.

Said goodbye to Jill and Ellie, who was heading off to the first day of school, on September 1. There are only a few routes to cross eastern Oregon and I have taken most (if not all) already so this was familiar territory - long and not much to take in. 

The first day goal was Boise, Idaho. A word to the wise on crossing eastern Oregon - there are NO rest areas, and therefore, no facilities! Once again, I had to make my own "accommodations."

We did not make it into Boise (had stopped at the capitol on a previous road trip) but opted to stay in Meridian, a very suburban town on the Interstate.

Day 2 destination was Bozeman, Montana, which meant driving nearly the full length of Idaho. This day was a no Interstate day. Drove by Craters of the Moon National Monument. I stopped here on a previous road trip. It is an incredible geological area.

Lunch at Idaho Falls falls park.

We stopped in Idaho Falls for lunch. I had driven by Idaho Falls but not stopped before. The falls are really cool - instead of dropping off perpendicular to the flow of the river, the falls cut through the river lengthwise. There was a critical incident occurring at the falls when we arrived with 3 different sheriff's rescue watercraft involved 😰

A long portion of the route to Bozeman through Idaho was primarily along the Madison River. There are some really fancy "cabins" along the river and I saw several people fishing (fancy boats), too.

I'd like to spend more time in Bozeman. It has a funky, cool vibe even though the motel we stayed in was on the skanky side. Motels should not have upholstered LazyBoy recliners!

Day 3 destination was Spearfish, South Dakota with a stop at Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. This day required Interstate driving but this is a beautiful section along the Yellowstone River (have done this section before).

Devils Tower National Monument did not disappoint. I took way too many photos. I loved the indigenous sacred narrative that I read on one of the viewpoints (a photo is included in the video and shared here).

Day 4 started with a drive through Spearfish Scenic Canyon into the Black Hills. This was probably the most difficult day for Maggie. I'm not sure if the curvy road, the elevation changes, or simply being done with traveling was the cause for a protracted complaint (loud meowing) episode.

The goal on Day 4 was to drive through Badlands National Park. After much struggle with GPS-based driving apps, I got to Badlands National Park South Unit, which is entirely in Tribal Trust land under the Ogala Sioux Tribe. Approaching the Badlands from this direction provides a very, very dramatic view and unfortunately neither the photos nor the video capture it.

To get to the Badlands, required a beautiful tour through the Black Hills including Lead and Deadwood, South Dakota. Interesting coincidence: I stopped briefly at the Sanford Lab Homestake visitor center in Lead, SD and just heard that they may have discovered dark matter.

The goal on Day 4 was Sioux Falls, SD. To get there after the Badlands and NOT go to Interstate 90 required more back-country roads than I had anticipated (yes, gravel roads). But it was also beautiful and very much greener than I thought even with temperatures reaching 102 degrees!

I had been to Sioux Falls before and after a day of endless driving and sightseeing, the goal was mostly rest before heading home on Day 5.

If you made it this far, here is link to the video montage.

Link to Part 1 of this road trip - westbound.

Link to Part 2 of this road trip - Ashland and Illinois River cabin.

Road Trip to Oregon - Oregon

Will hopefully make this a short post. This is Part 2 of road trip to Oregon with Maggie.

The story can be told by the video because this was a short journey of breathtaking vistas and casual down times.

We had a day in Ashland to gather camping supplies and catch up with Steve. Steve, Jill and I were part of the stage management team on The Guthrie's ground-breaking "History Cycle" back in 1990. We had not all seen each other in the interim.

The camping adventure was to a cabin on private property in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. The drive was less than two hours from Ashland. The cabin is situated just yards from a bend in the Illinois River that creates a private beach and swimming hole.

I'll let the video tell the rest of the story. Click here.

Link to Part 1 - road trip west to Oregon.

Road Trip to Oregon - Westbound

Road trip to Oregon (Part 1 of 3) to go camping with Jill, Ellie and a friend from a long time ago, Steve. Decided to make the drive a 6-day adventure to provide time to stop and explore along the way. This amount of time meant I did not have to use Interstate highways with the exception of a short section through Montana (because there really isn't any other way over the mountains). Here is link to video montage.

 

Day 1 Wednesday, August 19: Minneapolis, MN to Aberdeen, SD through Montevideo and Ortonville, MN (288.1 miles)

• MN 7 to US 12 into South Dakota
• Prairie
• Big Stone Wildlife Refuge
• Aberdeen has a small Main Street downtown with some redevelopment

North Shore Camping - Temperance River State Park

Lake Superior at Temperance River State Park

Made a short camping trip (Monday-Wednesday) with friends up the North Shore of Lake Superior to Temperance River State Park. With fire and drought conditions, we weren't sure what to expect but we ended up with beautiful weather and a much cooler time than the heat and humidity of the Twin Cities.

Click here for short video montage.

There were some milky skies from wildfire smoke but not so bad that we felt it. Not good star observing but a near full moon made up for the lack of starry nights.

Temperance River State Park camping facilities are nice with showers, bathrooms, vault toilets, and a dish washing station. The upper campsite is very close to Highway 61 with truck noise which rules out a return stay for me. I don't need that kind of man-made noise while I am camping.

Temperance River

On the other hand, the hike along the Temperance River gorge is amazing. There are waterfalls that rush through narrow passages. The well-maintained hiking path is fantastic with viewing spots along this dramatic stretch of northern Minnesota.

We went to Coho Cafe in Tofte three times! (secret treat - they have ice cream!)

The highlight of the trip for me was the near full moon reflecting off an incredibly still Lake Superior. The smoky sky made for an orangy-yellow moon creating a stunning effect in the sky and on the water.

Reupholstered Ikea POANG Series chair

Ikea Poang Series chair that was going to be thrown away. Reupholstered by friend Kathy. The most difficult part of the project was putting it all back together.

Kathy sewed a cover for the original fabric which has padding (batten) already sewn into it. We had to align the grommets in the original fabric to where they should be on the new fabric cover. Then after inserting the metal frame, align the holes in the frame with the grommets and holes in the new fabric and then inserting the additional foam for the back and seat.

The foam would not go in because it clung to the fabric padding and as you pushed it through, the holes would get out of alignment. After almost 2 hours, we got it close enough for me to take home to assemble to wood frame.

Before

After

Another hour of fidgeting with the alignment of the holes and the dang thing was together and secure. I don't think it will ever be coming apart again 🤨

Biking-Camping West Central Minnesota

Pearson's Century Farm, Litchfield, MN

This year's annual summer biking-camping adventure with Bud was to west-central Minnesota. Short cut to video montage.

We were kinda in the middle of a triangle drawn from Wilmar to Litchfield to Hutchinson. This was another HipCamp site on a farm with goats, a cow, a burrow, chickens, and lots of cats.

The drive out on Monday was less than 2 hours. To be honest, the farm is in the middle of nowhere. Acres and acres of farmland were everywhere around. There are basically two crops: soybeans and versions of corn. That's it! The acreage of these two crops goes on and on and on. There are patches of trees (mostly oak) and lakes or ponds generously sprinkled in.

The "camp" is on Pearson's Century Farm. I forgot to let the owner, Travis, know when we were arriving, but he quickly responded to my text to let us know where the campsite was located. If we had been paying closer attention, we would have seen the "Campsite" signs.

We've gotten pretty efficient on setting up our campsite, so we were done in a few minutes. I should mention that most of Minnesota, including where we were, was under an excessive heat warning. We discussed not going at all but were glad we did. At least we were out of the urban heat island and fortunately had a very shady campsite.

Bike transport

I searched AllTrails to find a paved biking trail that would be mostly shaded. We knew driving to bike trails was in our future. We drove to Wilmar, MN to ride the Glacial Lakes Trail to Spicer, MN - 14 miles ride trip.

Back at campsite Monday evening for dinner of hamburgers, corn on the cob and baked beans. After dinner was a short walk to the sunset meadow.

Tuesday morning, we had a big breakfast in camp before driving to Hutchinson (Hutch to the locals) for a trek on the Luce Line Trail. We got about halfway to Winsted before we ran into trail re-construction and turned around. 

Back in Hutchinson (they go big on their parks), we cooled off at the Dairy Queen before heading west bound for a few more miles. The heat was intense this year, so our rides were shorter than on previous adventures.

The need to cool off was high so we found a local public beach in order to get into some water. Lake Manuella has a nice sandy bottom with warm water, but it felt so good to get wet (that wasn't sweat).

Dinner Tuesday evening was in Litchfield next to Lake Ripley but too hot to sit outside. It might sound counter-intuitive, but a campfire Tuesday night kept the mosquitoes away for a while.

Back to Minneapolis Wednesday just in time for the worst wildfire smoke ever! Looking at the maps, the wildfire smoke was even worse just where we left so the timing was perfect.

Memorable sights: sandhill cranes; lots of pelicans; beautiful lakes and ponds; huge acres of soybeans and corn; majestic oak trees; amazing bird songs in the early mornings; Hutchinson park system.

Video montage.

Wisconsin Mississippi Bluffs (Dianne and Bob's)

 We were treated to a spectacular sunset. Here is the sunset sequence...

We were also treated to delicious food, games, and fun stories.

The pickleball tournament finished with Bud as the big winner (including a trophy). An ankle dip in the pool was much needed to cool off from the heat.

Pepin Pava Pool