We are finally back in the lower 48 and taking a much needed 6-week reprieve in beautiful Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. After living in 200 square feet for 94 straight days (and, yes, we are still married and talking to each other…LOL), it is nice to be stationary and back in a house with actual rooms!
We are extremely fortunate to have been able to undertake this adventure and so grateful that thus far we have had a safe journey full of incredible sights, memorable experiences and new friendships. Annie Rose has been unloaded, thoroughly cleaned, serviced and is now resting in a storage garage……..until October, for the last leg of our summer adventure!
However, we last left you 1,600 miles ago in breath-taking Banff National Park after navigating around all the forest fires! Since then, we visited 2 more National Parks, saw a wonderful outdoor musical in a quaint western town, found a very unique highway in North Dakota and went from driving 2-lane curvy, mountain roads to multi-lane, mind-numbing, straight-as-an-arrow interstate highways.
So, buckle-in for this leg of our journey……..
Glacier National Park
After leaving Banff National Park, we headed east towards Calgary, Canada where we had originally planned to explore for a couple of days. However, due to our travel delay from the wild fires, we cruised around Calgary and headed directly south to Glacier National Park…..another bucket list National Park to explore.
Known as the Crown of the Continent, Glacier was established in 1910 by President Taft and it became the 10th National Park. The park’s 1,600 square miles of rugged mountains, glacier cut valleys and over 200 crystal lakes can best be experienced by horseback or meandering along any of the 700 miles of trails. Since 90% of Glacier National Park is designated and managed as a wilderness preservation area, there are virtually no roads within the park.
The famed “Going to the Sun” road is the main attraction for visitors wanting to see this incredible wilderness without the effort of camping, backpacking, hiking, etc. This 50 mile, engineering marvel connects the east and west entrances and is a narrow, 2-lane road with numerous scenic pull-offs and access to many of the hiking trails. As you might have guessed, it gets extremely busy and you are limited to the size of your vehicle and you now need a time-metered pass as well.
So, we decided to sit back, relax and enjoy the breathtaking ride along the twisty Going-to-the-Sun road in one of the 33 historic, open-topped Red Buses. They are considered to be the oldest touring fleet of vehicles in the world and we could enjoy the view above as well as those out the windows from the comfort of our seats!
I hope you enjoy our ride through Glacier NP and although the day was filled with wildfire smoke, the views were incredible and the sense of ruggedness humbling.
To top off our Glacier NP visit we were treated to the Northern Lights! It was ironic that we never saw them in Alaska; but, we were able to experience them in Glacier.
Cruising across Montana
After 2 months of winding, steep grade mountain driving we hit ultra flat Montana! Yikes….it was so hard not to doze off during hours of straight-as-an-arrow highway surrounded by golden fields of grain. Needless to say, the gas mileage was awesome!
Click on the video above to experience a 360 degree view!
Medora, ND & Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Theodore Roosevelt National Park was established to recognize Theodore Rosevelt’s role in the U.S. conservation efforts and the importance this area has played for centuries. It is also the only National Park named after a single person. This desolate badland area is known for cattle ranching and in the late 1800’s Rosevelt invested in a cattle ranch called the Maltese Cross.
During his presidency, he would retreat here from Washington and his love for its ruggedness was influential in his conservation efforts. Similar to Glacier National Park, it’s wilderness designation limits human impact and as such there is one scenic road, 100 miles of hiking and horse back trails and backcountry camping from which to enjoy its unique landscape and wildlife.
“The beauty and charm of the wilderness are his for the asking, for the edges of the wilderness lie close beside the beaten roads of the present travel.” – Theodore Roosevelt
At the same time that Roosevelt was exploring and visiting the area the small town of Medora was evolving along the Northern Pacific transcontinental rail line. A French nobleman, Marquis de Mores, had the vision to establish a meat packing plant in the badlands area in order to ship refrigerated meat to Chicago. His venture was not successful, but Medora (named after the Marquis’ wife) survived and today it serves as the entrance to the National Park as well as a quaint vacation destination.
Medora is also home to the Medora Musical which is performed under-the-stars at the Burning Hills Amphitheater. With the badlands as its backdrop, this exquisite family-oriented outdoor production tells the patriotic story of President Rosevelt and the wild west history. It is well worth attending this highly professional performance while exploring the National Park.
The Enchanted Highway
As we meander around our great country with Big Blue and Annie Rose, Susan is constantly scouring her endless resources to find the most out of the ordinary, off-the-beaten-path, kitschy, unique or qwerky things for us to see and/or do. Many of them take us to small, out of the way places which often challenge my finely-honed driving and parking skills as I artfully maneuver 52 ft of truck and trailer to get us there. And this trip was no different……
The Enchanted Highway is a 32 mile road south of I-94 and was the vision of Gary Greff; a self-taught, local artist from Regent, ND. After watching his hometown’s population and economy plummet for decades, he hatched a plan to divert tourists from zooming by on the interstate south to Regent. So he decided to create gigantic, scrap metal sculptures inspired by wildlife and historical figures, including Theodore Rosevelt. Since 1990, he has create 8 themed sculptures along this stretch of road with “Geese in Flight” being recognized in 2002 by Guinness as the world’s largest scrap metal sculpture.
Check out my aerial view to really appreciate the grandness of Gary’s scultpures!
And if you want to find your own “Big Ball of Twine” while you are out and about, try using this app: Atlas Obscura. You will be a mazed at what oddities are in your own backyard! Here are some other oddities Atlas Obscure helped us discover in North Dakota and Wisconsin.
Unique Camping Opportunities
RVing across the country allows you to choose many different types of camping experiences:
- overnight spots along the highway – pull-over, sleep and head out again
- destination RV resorts with pools, golf courses, spas, fitness centers
- wooded State Parks with fire pits, smores, BBQ, hiking/biking trails, lakes
- majestic National Parks where you are emersed in granduer
- remote, challenging to get to places where your rely 100% on your self-contained RV
- lakeside campsites at Army Corp of Engineers campgrounds….after all, they built the lake
Recently, new camping experiences were created by the company Harvest Hosts. Through Harvest Hosts (and their app), you can now overnight at farms, vineyards, orchards, breweries, wineries, museums and even golf courses and churches. There is no charge for staying on their grounds and your RV must be self-contained (ie, have your own water, bathroom, etc). So rather than paying for a campsite, you can support a local business by visiting a farm, buying some wine, touring a museum, enjoying a few brews, etc.
The Alpaca farm we stayed at back in May was through Harvest Hosts and on our last push to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin we decided to find another one. And we were not disappointed! We stayed at 4e Winery, a family-owned/operated establishment in Mapleton, North Dakota. We enjoyed a beautiful, golden sunset on a deck with wine, food and the company of another RVing couple from Florida. And check out our view…….
So, here we are in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin enjoying our residence, the awesome summer weather (aka, cooler than Texas), bratwurst, corn, small town festivals, biking into town, walking along the lake and connecting with family and friends. But, our summer adventure doesn’t end here!
In early October, we head south and will be attending the 2024 Airstream International Rally in Sedalia, Missouri. This will be our first International Rally and there will be 1,300+ shiny Airstreams parked at the Missouri State Fairgrounds. It will be a week of fun, food, entertainment, travel/Airstream seminars, RV vendors, local historic tours and an opportunity to connect with like-minded adventurous Airstreamers.
So……..the Meandering will continue…….