The Van is Go

South Dakota: a Little House to some big falls

I followed the Missouri River south back into South Dakota to check out the eastern part of the state. My first stop was the site of the memorials and graves of Sacajawea and Sitting Bull in Mobridge. They’re only about 100 ft or so apart overlooking the river in a lovely, secluded spot. The only other think of note in town I saw was a statue of a cowboy riding a walleye, so… interesting mix.

Down the road a ways I made a stop in DeSmet, the town featured in the later Little House on the Prairie books (it is, in fact, the titular Little Town on the Prairie) and while I rolled into town after everything was closed for the day, I did a little self-tour of Laura’s childhood schoolhouse, a replica (or moved or something…, but not the original site) of the schoolhouse she taught at as a teen, the house in town the Wilders lived in and Pa built, and on the way in I drove past a plaque in some farmland that might have been where their homestead was… wasn’t a great place to pull over so I’ll just imagine that was it. It seemed like a nice little town, but really so did most of the town I drove through. They even have little covered wagons on the street signs so that just goes to show how they’ve built a name on this niche. Made me want to go back and reread all the books though I know I’ll be totally disillusioned knowing how they gloss over a lot of hardship and include more than mild racism of the day, but… a snapshot of the time I suppose. Maybe this is a kick in the pants to finally read The Wilder Life which has been on my to read list for a while.

Now, it is pretty apparent by now that I am far too driven by my fascination with silly roadside attractions, and the one I’d been strangely fixated on thanks to stories from my mother’s stories and random lists of oddball spots is the Corn Palace in Mitchell. The day was here! I was unprepared for how integrated into the downtown it was, as I was imagining a large outdoor corn extravaganza more akin to a corn maze farm with a building on it, but this is like a sports arena covered in color by number style corn art. The different shades of each image are made from varieties of corn cobs, stalks, whatever corn stuff works. Each year the exterior is revamped with a new theme, and this year’s was super meta featuring sights of South Dakota, and guess what was prominently featured? The corn palace. Depicted on its own front. Mind blown. I loved looking at all the designs, old photos from years past, the gift shop full of ‘corny’ stuff, and of course taking photos with the array of corn props. Now I need a new sight to look forward to!

Luckily I didn’t have to wait long, because also on the outskirts of town I found a large jackalope, and this one was not butt-burning hot like the Wall Drug one. Double score! Oh so sadly (insert sarcasm here) the Bible themed castle thingy across from the corn palace was closed. Shucks. Sorry, corny jokes just pop into my head. Womp womp.

The next day I visited Chamberlain, where there the giant and beautiful Dignity statue overlooks the Missouri (as well as the highway rest stop), and across the street is a bonus of a weird prairie chicken made of railroad ties and stuff. Also in town I visited the Alka Lakota Sioux museum and cultural center on the St. Joseph’s Indian School campus. I took forever reading every exhibit and sitting in the peaceful medicine wheel garden, and when I left the museum I found that the van was now surrounded by my state neighbors of a MD plate minivan and a PA plate truck. Aloud to the universe I said “where’s your buddy Delaware, huh?” and I must have had some great karma going because not 5 minutes later after getting gas, there it was. My current white whale for months: a pickup truck randomly parked on a residential street with black Delaware plates. I pulled over with a whoop, left the van running and raced back to snap a photo and in the process freaked out the dogs inside and super weirded out the couple in the front seats who seem to have pulled over to eat fast food. They seemed oddly less excited than I was even after I explained what I was doing. Let the games begin anew!!!

Next up was a visit to the Porter Sculpture Park upon suggestion from a college friend and on all the lists of best state whacky sights. Whacky it was. Located in the middle of corn fields and cow pastures, this walk through a path lined with metal sculptures and accompanying poems by the sculptor (the artist was there manning the admission shed- he added “well, I say it’s all by me and the dog. He’s the one with ideas and I’m the one with hands”). It was a mix of impressive and thoroughly disturbing. There were fish skeletons, grim reapers, a nightmare inducing jack in the box, a frog dissection, a thing that seems like how Tim Burton would imagine Calvin and Hobbes, and a weird orgy prelude with a goat maybe? Among many others. The sculptures were much better than the poems. Maybe that quote about the dog makes more sense now…

My last stop in South Dakota was Sioux Falls, which unsurprisingly features a lovely series of waterfalls. While it was closed, I did pop by the U.S.S. South Dakota battleship memorial by a park which features the outline of the ship which was somehow impressively large and smaller than I expected a battleship to look? I tried to track down a food truck that serves Native specialties (okay, I really just wanted some fry bread tacos) but alas it didn’t seem to be open and has no online presence recently updated, but I did walk through a park with a Japanese garden. Full disclosure of you’re ever in Sioux Falls, this is the least Japanese Japanese garden I’ve experienced in the many I’ve visited, but they did have some articles posted on a history board that made it sound like perhaps it was no longer in it’s glory plus the water wasn’t on in the fountains so maybe I caught it at the wrong time to judge.

I kind of love this town’s vibe. There is artwork along the streets downtown, lots of cute restaurants and shops, and I even went to a block party where there were food trucks, trivia, music, all kinds of fun. Plus, the Oscar Meyer wienermobile! Still don’t want to eat a hot dog but that was pretty cool. Good ending for my weeks in South Dakota. Final random thought before leaving here… the whole state really pushes the whole Mount Rushmore thing. Not only were there billboards for attractions there over 200 miles before arriving, it’s the state nickname and on the license plates… what were they known for before this thing was built?? It’s not that old in the grand scheme of things…. I could find out but prefer to wonder.

North Dakota: Theodore Roosevelt Park and more

After my detour around the big rainstorm, I arrived at the Shadehill Reservoir close to the state line where I camped for a few days to regroup and relax. The water wasn’t the best swimming (lots of algae) but I went in anyway, and between that and being a hot sweaty mess this was great incentive to bust out my camp shower for the first time to decent success. Got some beautiful sunsets here, and after finally leaving my little spot I explored the area which is where Hugh Glass, the guy Leo played in the Revenant, got mauled by a bear. It also has a petrified wood park, a little museum with some dino bones and fossils (and dual signage giving both the creationist and scientific explanation of it all, yikes), some history of the people in the area, and some crazy cool metal sculptures by a local artist.

My next destination was Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and my route there took me along the Enchanted Highway- an otherwise super boring stretch of farmland highway made exceptional by huge roadside statues every few miles. The artist thought his town needed a boost to get some more traffic and income, so he built these sculptures leading the way to Regent, ND and then made a castle themed motel as the ‘endpoint’ along with a visitor center complete with silly cutouts outside. What a fun welcome to Peace Garden State!

I had never heard of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, but multiple people suggested it as a destination if I was going to pick one place to visit in the state. This is another region marked by badlands, canyons, gullies, and formations that look like sandcastles. These badlands are greener than those in South Dakota and are home to giant herds of bison, some roaming mountain goats, packs of wild horses, and a herd of longhorn cattle maintained by the park annually as a historical display. And of course, how could I forget, all the prairie dogs. Bison and prairie dogs have a symbiotic relationship so where you find one you’re likely to find another.

Teddy loved this area and it’s where he was first inspired to protect natural lands. He had a ranch out here that helped him get through some personal hardships – you can visit the original site though there’s not much remaining there and you need a better car than I have to get there, but the park service relocated his cabin to a visitor center.

In the larger south section of the park I drove the loop road and checked out all the pretty overlooks, looking out over the prairie, over hundreds of roaming bison rolling in the dirt and chasing one another, and went on a few little hikes long dry riverbeds. I camped in the national grasslands nearby and went for a morning hike for a few miles to an area full of petrified wood. It was cool to see the bark lines and tree rings that have turned stone-like over the years.

The north region of the part is about an hour away and has a road out and back into more badlands with the beautiful Little Missouri River running through, and a number of cool cannonball concretions- mineral deposits in a ball shape that remain after erosion of the surrounding rock. Combined with the many ledges as layers of the hill erode and some remain longer making little tables and outcroppings, it was weird and beautiful.

After leaving the park I drove along the long and winding Lake Sakakawea, a lake on the Missouri River, and spent a day lazing in the water, reading, catching up on old episodes of Jeopardy, the usual. I had a campfire while watching the giant full, glowing orange moon rise. So special.

There must be a lot of fishing in the area because I passed a giant walleye statue in town. Further south along the Missouri I camped another night along the river after driving past miles of varied farmland, oil rigs, and (the best part) acres of sunflower fields. Such happiness to break up the monotonous driving! I’m not sure what I expected from this state but it was a pleasant surprise. Nice (if very conservative) people, peaceful open areas of nature, lots of beauty, and great summer weather. Makes it hard to go back south again, but off I go.

South Dakota: Badlands National Park

Driving east from Rapid City I was treated to one of the most well known rest stop roadside attractions out there- Wall Drug! This reminded me of South of the Border on the east coast with an old west theme rather than a Mexican theme. The billboards for this place range from Montana to Minnesota, and advertise 5 cent coffee, free “ice cold” water, and all sorts of silly things, and an 80′ dinosaur greets you from the highway. I wandered the shops full of junk, browsed the halls lined with old time photos, animal heads and silly fiberglass statue photo ops, and watched some kids waiting anxiously as they taunted an animatronic dinosaur head. Outside I was sorely tempted to run through the water feature and really wanted to take a photo atop a giant jackalope, but in the full sun it was so hot all the kids screamed it was burning their butts so that seemed like a poor choice. So after a quick tour and pit stop, I got my cheap coffee, filled my bottle with that “ice cold” water, shoved a maple donut in my face and continued on to the Badlands National Park.

I had heard how surprisingly beautiful the Badlands were but had no real idea what I was in for. The first overlook after entering the park was, I would later learn not the most spectacular view comparatively, but it was an astounding first sight of this sprawling maze of hills, stripes, canyons, and otherworldly landscape. I may have teared up in awe a little.

The layers of different types of rock, minerals, and sediment are visible and make for something reminiscent of those magic eye pictures that seem all melded and overwhelming visually until you start to see the subtle variations and shadows. I can’t do justice to grasping just how these features were made, but luckily smarter people can. I’m not certain whether it’s encouraged or sanctioned at all but people have created little walking trails up some of the formations off the official boardwalks and sidewalks. The ground on some of these is super crumbly and led to many slips I witnessed and to me sort of sidestep waddling in places to peak through the natural windows but I wasn’t about to venture onto any of the many narrow paths close to the ledges.

Some areas had intense yellows and reds, others the beige with ribbons of color, and in a few areas there were pops of green in valleys or on top of mesas. This is where I spotted many mountain goats in herds or alone, chilling and gobbling grass as the sun rose and set. As afternoon turned into evening a storm system rolled in on two sides and I watched the rain coming down and the lightning striking in the distance, which made for a beautiful show in the darkness on the ridge where I camped along with a long line of other RVs, tents and campers. It was super windy but I was treated to the sunrise over the canyon illuminating the land below, and was greeted by a few goats climbing the steep sides and peeking into the van.

After sunrise I visited the enormous prairie dog town, spotted a few wandering bison, more goat families, and gazed at the hills as the sun crept into the dark reaches of the canyons.

Before leaving the park I did a little quick walk out to a viewpoint over a canyon. I wanted to do a longer one but it was looking like rain and the terrain is supposed to get super slick and tricky when wet, so I passed. Plus it was a humid swamp of gross. Since the one food option in the park was closed- the restaurant due to covid restrictions and the food truck staff just didn’t show that day- I made some egg tacos at a picnic table then stopped at a spot outside the park where the encourage people to feed the prairie dogs peanuts they sell, but I was cheap and thought that they probably shouldn’t be eating that many peanuts anyway, and offered a baby carrot from my lunch. They seemed far more interested in the carrots than the nuts, probably bored from a diet of the same thing every day. I have a feeling that it’s not healthy for them to have any human food but…

I did a drive by of an old homestead with a sod house, and walked through the Minuteman Missile historic site and read up on how we all almost finished off the Earth back in the day- I guess that wasn’t good enough so we had to try the new methods of pandemic and global warming. As I left the museum the threatening rain got close so I decided to take the long way north to my intended camp spot- an extra hour but worth it to not drive into a lightning storm on dirt roads, right?

South Dakota: the Black Hills

My first day crossing from the Black Hills of Wyoming into those of South Dakota was jam packed with sights. After finding my intended route blocked off for a parade (don’t worry, we’ll get back to this), I took a longer and less scenic route to Mount Rushmore via highway rather than byway, but also close enough for a small detour to the geographic center of the US- okay, so the actual spot was calculated to be in a field about 20 miles outside the town of Belle Fourche, but they figured people were more likely to visit if they placed the sight in town so… here we are. Back on the road to Mt. Rushmore, though.

The town of Keystone is like a giant tourist trap with fudge shops (why are there always fudge or taffy shops in these places?), fake old timey saloon storefronts, fake panning for gold, fake anything western you can imagine. Aside from dodging silly people crossing the street in non-crosswalks it was easy to hightail it through here without a stop.

Upon arriving at the actual Mount Rushmore I was dismayed to find there was a fee to park there. It isn’t much- $10 per car- but on the principle that this is a national monument and should be covered by my park pass I got stubborn and refused to go in. Ha! This should surprise no one who knows me. I have no problem paying for extra concessions like tours, excursions or camping, but something about this rubbed me the wrong way since the company has people pretty much over a barrel. Anyway, I found a few highway turnoffs where I could take photos that are probably just as good as what I’d see inside because how much do stone heads change, right? Plus someone else said there was some construction going on. Sorry old white dudes! Your faces were lovely from front view, profile, and far away regardless.

From the monument turnoffs I turned back and took this winding scenic byway through teensy tunnels of rock, around pigtail ramps, and up to overlooks in the black hills. I must have been in full stubborn mode that day (I’ve done fairly well avoiding falling into this not so flattering or useful trait of mine over this trip but we all have our days) because I also decided I was too cheap to pay the state park entrance to go on the famous Needles scenic byway where amazing rock formations grace the hairpin turns on this route toward Custer where I wanted to end up anyway, but alas, I dug my heels in again and turned around, took the same lovely route back to giant head central, and took the highway route to the Crazy Horse Memorial outside Custer. This was a great road to see why the Black Hills are so named, because in direct sun or in shadow the pines really do look almost black covering the hillsides.

This is a private monument site and I had no problem paying in for this one since the fees go toward the ongoing construction, the museum on site, and a Native University. The museum was filled to the brim with native art from around the country, photos, and information on the design, construction and main sculptor. It was a great story all around and made it less evident that the actual memorial viewing only takes a few minutes unless you opt for an extra tour to the bottom of the sculpture. The process of bringing the vision of Crazy Horse on horseback pointing the way forward is still unfinished, but the sculptor’s children and grandchildren are hard at work to this day now that he’s passed. Had I found a campsite nearby I would have returned for the light show at dusk, but alas it was not to be.

The next day I went to Deadwood early in the morning for breakfast and to arrive before they shut down the town road again (the very same I couldn’t pass the day before) for another parade. Along the way I drove through Sturgis, home of of all things motorcycle and overtaken in early August annually with a giant biker gethering multiple people have told me to get out of town as a lady on her own, so my 6:30am drive by was good enough for me. The annual Days of ’76 rodeo was in town in Deadwood so I set up my chair and watched the parade go by then took off to explore the old time town. All I knew about Deadwood was that there’s a show set there and it was something to do with the old west and shootouts. I was basically right on! The main thing they push in town is that it’s the site of Wild Bill Hickok’s murder and grave, along with being an old gold rush town. I walked up to the cemetery where Wild Bill and Calamity Jane are buried next to one another- the story goes that he was killed during a card game in a saloon (I watched a shootout re-enactment at the very saloon which took forever) and later when she was on her deathbed requested to be buried beside him, though some say this was because they were lovers but more say he disliked her and this was her ultimate revenge to torment his soul. Either way a fun story.

While I wasn’t sure it was the best idea in this place where no one social distances or wears masks, I bought a ticket to the afternoon rodeo figuring that it was outside, it was GA so I could move to wherever were the fewest people, there was an evening show so I expected fewer people to opt for the full sun daytime show, and it was fairly cheap so I could leave if it was terrible. Luckily I guessed right and it was fine (side note- I was one of 2 people wearing a mask in the crowd and got some weird looks for sure wherever I went). Going in I was mildly uncomfortable with the idea of a rodeo because I hate the idea of the animals getting hurt and being used for this craziness, as well as the humans maybe being trampled or hurt. This feeling did not go away but it was way more exciting than I anticipated and sucked me in despite not understanding the rules at all.

I spent some time in Rapid City to do errands but took advantage of being here a few evenings to wander the street corners downtown which are adorned with life size (except Taft, they downsized him because the metal would have cost too much- ha!) statues of all the presidents through G.W. Bush. I found 20-something before it got super dark. Also downtown there’s an art alley where people can get approved to do graffiti art, a brewery in an old firehouse, and a haunted hotel where a little girl, a bride, and maybe more (also the hotel Hitchcock and Cary Grant stayed while filming North by Northwest’s Rushmore scenes). I went in and didn’t feel any ghostyness, but at the firehouse pub I sat next to some dude of questionable reliability and sobriety who claims to be an amateur ghost hunter and has experienced the paranormal here, so… you never know.

From Rapid City having showered twice and had an oil change in the van, and stopped outside town at a replica Norwegian Stave church which was pretty and serene. It totally channeled the stave churches I’d seen in Scandinavia and I appreciate the simple, well constructed natural beauty and small detail work. Onward I went south to Hot Springs area where I aimed to visit the Mammoth Site. This museum and active archeological site was once a sink hole where at least 20-something male mammoths met their end and have been excavated over time. You can walk around the site with a good audio or printed guide and see the actual bones, footprints, teeth, and more in place. Super cool!

In Hot Springs I was treated to a beautiful sunset over the stream and waterfall, tasted the natural spring water (gross), and was camped in a parking lot with 3 other vans of travelers like myself. We had a #vanlife party on the sidewalk! Well, by party I mean we all played Uno by lantern light while a homeless man snored on a picnic bench, and toured one another’s rigs. In the morning 3 of the 4 vans decided to take a hike together through nearby Wind Cave National Park- a park I’d never heard of even once until now.

The cave of Wind Cave was closed, but my new van hike pals (a pair of sisters and a guy on his own) found an 11-12 mile hike loop to do which took us past several prairie dog town, past a surprise prairie rattlesnake, beneath some sort of bird who’d caught a still squealing rabbit or something, by a wandering bison who hogged the path, and on a little side trip to peek into a little cave. This required crossing a muddy stream which was… an adventure for some of us. Going one way I leapt over from a rock to the shore, but going back ended up stepping right into the mud. Memorable for sure this way, though, and I have a feeling I’m gonna be a sleeper hit in the background of all their youtube channel videos. Or not.

It was fun to hang out with some people, though I was totally more like their mom than anything offering cut vegetables on our lunch break and providing band aids and moleskin, but I’m kind of happier to be 35 than 23 these days. It doesn’t stop me acting like that age occasionally anyway! Well, back to my solo time and off to the Badlands.

Wyoming: Medicine Wheel and Devil’s Tower

I dipped back into northeastern Wyoming, past many horses and fields and ended up outside Lovell and camped at a beautiful spot overlooking a river and at the foothills of the Big Horn Mountains. I was treated to a lovely sunset and the remote dark skies allowed me to spot the comet for a moment between the clouds along with all the glowing stars.

The sun rose and I with it in order to arrive at the Big Horn Medicine Wheel in the mountains with just a few ranging cows as traffic. This sacred spot to Native Americans at the top of Medicine Mountain is home to an 80 foot wheel of stones that is aligned with the solstice and is a destination for ceremonies, offerings, and prayers. It’s a mile and a half walk each way from the parking lot along the ridge where I passed marmots and pikas but didn’t spot any of the namesake bighorn sheep. I circled the wheel as instructed and left a cool purple stone I found at one of the spokes, then found a bench and just sat for a while taking it all in along with the cool mountain air.

Next stop was further east with a stop at a field where there’s a memorial of a battle where the Indians obliterated an army squad (apparently poorly trained and even more poorly led), then a stop where there’s a larger version on the street corner of the rock, paper scissors sculpture we saw in Santa Fe, until the looming presence of Devil’s Tower emerged on the horizon.

This place is crazy and impressive. It’s hard to fathom the process by which this geometric geology came to be, and I just circled the tower along the path, passed by the many cloth ribbons tied to the trees in offering, and craned my neck upward watching the birds circling the top. A few climbers were coming down for the day- what a cool experience that must be. It felt eerie, sacred, and very special. No aliens in site, though, just a few prairie dogs, chipmunks and lizards keeping the birds company.

I found a great spot to camp out in the Black Hills outside Sundance for the night, then took off into uncharted territory: South Dakota.

Montana: all the rest

The road to Glacier Park from Idaho took me through Missoula, where I spent a day caching up on things like laundry and grocery shopping, and decided to stay over for a night in an actual motel since there were many cheap ones and I could shower (and dye my hair which was in dire need), charge up everything, and stay for dinner of good pizza. Let me say, you get what you pay for. Probably the worst hotel experience of my memory but it got the job done.

Anyway, the next day I was well positioned to head north, along the beautiful Flathead Lake where I stocked up on some cherries grown in one of the many orchards lining the lake, and up past Big Fork to the edges of West Glacier at Columbia Falls, home of the Montana Vortex- a ridiculous roadside attraction claiming to have several spiraling energy areas making people seem to grow and shrink, shifting gravity, all kinds of fun. It was silly but I did come away with a tip to visit the farmer’s market that evening for some live music and food trucks along with the market. I’ve missed events like that.

I found a great camp spot up the forest road by the Hungry Horse Reservoir next to a stream and surrounded by wildflowers and enough downed wood for nightly fires. The reservoir has a huge dam that was cool to walk across, and looked great for boating and swimming and all that fun. It was about 30 minutes from the West Glacier park entrance and served me well as a base while exploring the national park. I think this was the place I’ve spent the longest camped in one place on the road.

After enjoying my time in Glacier I took off along the southern edge of the park, watching the landscape change from green, tree-filled, wet and mountainous on the west side to dry and more prairie-like on the other side of the continental divide. There were very nice rest stops along the way and I took advantage of one to make some quesadillas and watch the trucks go by before arriving in Great Falls. It was still early so I went to a riverside park on the Missouri, and in the evening went to a magical gem on my roadside attraction list: the mermaid bar.

The Sip ‘n Dip Lounge is a teeny dive tiki bar in a motel downtown that utilizes the hotel pool as it’s very own mermaid tank in the evenings. A local member of the Montana Mermaids performs for 4-hour shifts most nights, donning a mermaid tail and performing for patrons who snap photos at the window into the pool. It was a surreal experience. I loved every minute, and I think the mermaid was excited to have someone wave back and clap like a 6 year old at Disney.

Not far outside town is the First People’s Buffalo Jump state park where they have an exhibit about how the Native Americans lured buffalo over the cliff to hunt them. It was all very ingenious, and even cooler to imagine when I walked out to the cliff. It was then that I realized I’d forgotten to go to the shortest river in America while in Great Falls that morning. Bummer.

Next stop on the central Montana tour was Butte where I camped out at the top of the Big Butte and did the little hike up in the morning, drove by a closed brothel museum, visited the gravesite of Evel Knievel, then went on to the Ringing Rocks. The ringing rocks are a formation a few miles into the hills up a rutted dirt road, so I walked the last mile when I saw a giant pothole. I think I could have made it since the rest of the road is fine, but it was a nice walk. These rocks make a bell-like ringing sound when hit, and they even have a bunch of hammers there for people to use. I tried to figure out a tune but it didn’t quite come together. Later on I stopped off in Helena to drive by the state capital and find a place in the downtown square to watch a few speakers in this online conference I was doing that week, and continued on to Bozeman and Big Sky for the night. I spent a little time in this area along north Yellowstone last time I was out here and it was just as beautiful as I remember. I love the vibe of this place, and it was a fun way to leave Montana for now. Back to Wyoming next!

Montana: Glacier

I was super excited to go back to Glacier National Park, despite the fact that the famed Going to the Sun Road was only open for 15 miles and there was only one entrance on the west side of the park open because the eastern entrances, which all lie on reservation land and the tribe decided (smartly) to keep these closed to deter hordes of out of state tourists (such as myself) bring their germs into their community. The last time I visited Glacier two years ago it was kind of the opposite situation- there were forest fires in the center and west side of the park, so only the east side was open… at least this would show me the other half, right? In fact on the previous visit we were supposed to stay in a cabin at Lake McDonald Lodge, which was a fancy splurge for our otherwise camping trip, when the forest fire started to spread, an the morning we were set to arrive we got the call that the lodge area was on fire, so… that was a no go and a major bummer.

Anyway, I rolled into town and found a nice camp spot by the Hungry Horse Reservoir and spent two full days in the park. When I arrived and stopped at a ridiculous roadside attraction (more about this in a later post) I was overjoyed to discover it was my lucky day- just that day almost all of the Going to the Sun Road had reopened! Woot woot! So my whole first day was really devoted to exploring the road and doing a few short hikes along the way.

My mother tells me that this was one of my grandmother’s favorite places on Earth, and I don’t blame her. The little we saw last go round was lovely, but I tend to think that the east side is the winner. The road meanders along Lake McDonald and McDonald Creek, then steeply travels up a zigzag through tunnels, past the Weeping Wall, and to Logan Pass and on to St. Mary Lake to the east of the continental divide.

I stopped at pretty much every other overlook where there was parking available and took five million photos, most of which were overexposed thanks to the lovely sun and thus headed straight to the deleted bin, but what a gorgeous sight those glacial blue creeks, raging waterfalls from the snowmelt, glistening snowcapped peaks, and majestic views were.

After coaxing the van to climb up to Logan Pass, I snagged a parking spot and hiked just about 3/4 of a mile up toward the Hidden Lake overlook because it was mainly covered in snow still. Only a short portion of this trail was open, and the popular Highline Trail nearby was totally closed. This was okay with me since I’d done the Hidden Lake hike (gorgeous though exhausting for the likes of me) previously. What a difference a month makes! Where it had been sunny and dry last time it was slushy and snowy now. Crazy but typical I’m told. I did, however, get to see pretty close some racing big horn sheep and mountain goats around the visitor center which was very cool. Some families with kids of all ages were sliding down the snow on their butts which was hilarious. After a nice lunch of leftover pizza in the parking lot and another unsuccessful scouting for Delaware license plates (seriously, where are you?!?) I continued onward to where the road was closed at St. Mary’s, turned around and decided to stop and take refuge in a parking lot because it started raining a little and I didn’t want to navigate the hairpin turns an inclines in the rain.

Best decision I could have made! Within minutes the rain turned to downpour, and then the downpour turned to hail. Yes, hail in July. Welcome to the mountains in the northernmost place I think I’ve traveled on this trip (I could be wrong and it was Nova Scotia? Not sure an too lazy to look it up). I waited out the weather, took a small nap, and then decided that since I was parked here anyway I should do a little hike to some waterfalls and along the lake. It was only once I’d reached the first falls I realized I’d done parts of this loop before, but it felt good to get some exercise and fresh air after my nap and driving. It was still lovely.

The next day I got up extra early since so many lots had been filled when I arrived at 8am on a Friday I prepared for the crazy a Saturday would bring, and got a spot at the Avalanche Lake trailhead at 7am after leaving my campsite at 5:30. It took that long to go the projected 45 minute drive thanks to the long line entering the park and on the one lane road. Woah! While this is a pretty easy hike it is super beautiful and crowded for a reason. Families can do it, it ends in a gorgeous lake surrounded by waterfalls, and the beginning section leads you through the cedar forest boardwalk trail which is a wonder in itself. So much lovely moss, crazy blue streams, and of course the lake that invites mad photo sessions, myself included.

Afterwards I had a great lunchtime treat of breakfast tacos taking full advantage of a picnic site for water, trash, table, etc. before heading to Rocky Point a little further north along Lake McDonald, which offered beautiful and almost solitary views. The universe sent me a little yellow heart shaped leaf floating over the recognizable multicolored stones as I sat on a log with my feet cooling in the water. Pretty special way to end my time in the park. Love, love, love it here. Each park makes it harder to choose my favorite! Until next time, when hopefully all is normal for a change, Glacier.

Repairs abound

Well, I’ve had the van for a year now, so I was due for some repairs and issues, so of course they all came in a bundle. First off, my sink drain, which I’d fixed once before a month or two ago, came off the sink basin. Perhaps the heat and and all the bumpy roads in Colorado and New Mexico just were a great combo, but in any case it fell off, so I cleaned the old epoxy off, rescored both sides, and re-expoxied it back together. An extra set of hands was a big help holding everything together for the first few minutes. So far all is holding well, so maybe it’ll work out for as long as it did before all this which was more than 8 months so not bad.

All was well until I took the dumpy dirt road north of the Tetons heading to West Yellowstone, which brought out a slow leak in one of my tires, and jiggled everything around enough to do in a few attachments of one of my pegboards, a panel with hooks above my door, and loosened a bolt helping secure my tall shelf unit. So I spent an evening, between swatting bugs, replacing some anchors, screws, etc. Again, so far so good on all the fixing aside from the bolt, which never got quite back to as solid as it once was and I might just need to replace on a larger scale.

Remember that slow tire leak? Well I had hit the air fill at the gas station and all was well for a week before the telltale low pressure light came on again, and the pressure was low enough that I decided to pull the trigger and just change the tire. Now I know how to change a tire in theory but have not had to do so in 15-20 years. So doing so at a campsite that, while pretty level, was on dirt and gravel, did not make for the best surface. I must have placed the jack a little off center or on a rock I didn’t notice because as I got it up and took the tire off, it slowly slid by increments off the support beam (or whatever it’s really called) and it ended up more on the metal under the door, which once it slid far enough that way started to crumple the edge. Luckily just cosmetic and not enough to impact the door, but blegh.

This was not the end of the world, but the tire was off and in the sliding it lowered the corner just enough that I couldn’t get the spare on, and didn’t want to risk jacking it back up more, or lowering it to replace because it might hurt the wheel rotor, so I was stuck, and of course didn’t have service and knew I wouldn’t for at least a few miles so couldn’t call AAA or roadside assistance. Perfect. But happily I was able to flag down a car with a kind older couple taking their doggies out for a pandemic drive, so I borrowed their jack to get it back up and get my own jack back where it needed to be, and get the spare on. As I lowered it back down I found, to my dismay, that the spare was… also flat. Flatter than the original in fact. Which wasn’t evident until weight was on it. So back up went the jack, back on went the half-flat tire, and off to the tire repair shop I went like I probably just should have in the first place. They patched both tires and got me back up and running and laughed with me at the mess and dent.

Last bit of fun comes from the sorry state of my bumper area… You may recall my adventure sliding into a ditch in Maine last fall and having to get towed out, which left my bumper corner (again, no clue what the real term is here) and the plastic thing topping the bumper a loose mess sort of just shoved on to hold together. Duct tape and occasional popping back into place has worked fine until recently, when I had to bust out the super classy high tech zip tie fix. A few days later on the other corner thingy joined the sad state of affairs when I bumped it a little turning around against a dirt pile, so my subtle goal of making the van look unattractive to thieves is complete. Ha!

Maybe I’ll find a shop to make it a little more presentable, but… Hopefully this is the end of my little streak of repairs, though if not all the ridiculous exploits will be coming your way soon.

Idaho: Craters of the Moon, the Sawtooths, and up the Salmon

From Yellowstone I headed as far west as I’ve gone in the van so far, into Idaho for a few more days. My first foray into the Gem State earlier on had been stunning and I was excited to go see more and maybe even eat a potato. Okay, spoiler alert, but I did not eat a potato. I did try to visit the potato museum and eat ice cream in the shape of a baked potato, but it was closed on the day I was nearby. I am happy to report that I purchased a raw potato and finally cooked it in the campfire embers in Montana the other night, so it kind of counts?

Anyway, I took off and made my way to Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, which takes you through fields of hardened lava, to extinct volcanic cones, and so much crazy looking scenery. It was incredibly windy and hot. I walked up to the top of one old volcano and thought I might blow over, but just got super stylish hair. There were splatter cones, too, and one was so deep that there is ice in there still. There are lava tube caves but they were closed off, but I think I get the picture. This landscape is bizarre- the astronauts came here in the 60s to train for the moon. Amazing! Along the way the flat horizon occasionally popped up with a butte here and there, but otherwise just flat, windy, and lava rocks.

North from the land of lava I entered the Sawtooth range and Sun Valley area. Like the name says, these peaks really do resemble a saw blade. The range towers over the river valley, and I stopped for the night outside the town of Ketchum, where I got take out after doing a visit to Hemingway’s memorial and gravesite. After touring his home in Key West this seemed like a fitting town to stop in, plus beautiful scenery! I got a nice campsite up in the hills not far from a natural hot spring, which I soaked in for a very long time the following day. A relaxing way to start the day which ended up being overtaken by tire problems, but that’s another story.

My next destination was Redfish Lake near Stanley, which was totally hopping with boaters, swimming families, and those happy to sit in the sun or by the lodge bar and grill. I did a small hike around by the lake until I found a less populated area with a little beach to hang out by for the afternoon. I overcame the chill and went swimming for a bit, lay in the sun, read, had lunch, and enjoyed the beautiful view. If I’d planned better I would have arrived early, rented a kayak and explored more of the expansive lake area only accessible by boat or foot, but alas I’d been lazy that morning doing housekeeping and chatting on FaceTime in a rare moment of good service.

Following the Salmon River up through the valley, I was treated to lovely views, changing from the more dramatic Sawtooths to the hills and more canyon0like views further north in the Salmon-Challis forest. After one more night in Idaho, I stopped in Salmon for a decent bagel, a little history lesson in the town park exhibit (mainly focusing on industry and atrocities committed upon the Native Americans), and a view of a weird owl full of arrows adorning a main street shop… no idea. Just weird.

Good times, Idaho! Whenever I get back west I plan to stop at the areas further north and south from Washington and Utah, but for now I feel like I saw some of the best of the state.

Wyoming: Yellowstone

I left the Tetons reluctantly, heading north through the National Forest in hopes of stumbling upon a campsite in the stretch between Grand Teton and Yellowstone parks. I was unsuccessful, but stubborn (perhaps persistent is a nicer word, but perhaps less accurate) and thus continued on the rutted, dirt and gravel forest service roads across the border into Idaho (and maybe then Montana- not solid on where the campsite fell in this little corner between the states), where I found a spot at an almost empty campsite by a beautiful stream just on the technical border of Yellowstone- I don’t think you could enter to get anywhere else, but still.

I staked out my spot, paid my $10 at the little box, and went off to explore the few waterfalls up the stream. The first, Cave Falls, were more impressive than those further up. According to the internet search I just did to make sure that was actually the name, it seems that these are the widest waterfalls in the park at over 200 feet across. Cool! I stood with my toes in the cool water just staring for a bit before continuing on, but after these, Bechler Falls were less of a treat. Nice little walk though.

I then returned for a small fire by the stream at my campsite, where I discovered that perhaps a reason no one else was camped here was the billion mosquitoes that attacked relentlessly all night, and invaded my van every time I opened the door to get anything or get in to sleep. Worse even than being there in the swarm was the entire next day when I was attacked while driving by the little creeps that remained in the van. My legs looked like a war zone from bites and scratching for days (still do really). On the upside, the drive took me past meadows and meadows of wildflowers glowing in the sun, so al least there’s that.

The next day I continued on down more fabulous rutted forest roads until arriving on the western side of the park where I did find free camping not far from the entrance which was great for a busy Friday. I staked out my space with the tent, and went off to the park for the afternoon. Hooray!

My first adventure was to hike a little loop past a waterfall and up a hill with beautiful views of some pools. The hike to Mystic Falls was pretty easy aside from a few sections where the dirt made for a few skids down, and pretty empty after the brief portion to the falls where many turned back. The trail began from a boardwalk through biscuit basin, so I wandered around admiring the colorful steaming pools after returning from the hike. I may have walked out of my way through the parking lot looking for Delaware plates. No dice.

I had been to Yellowstone for a few days two summers ago, so I skipped a bunch of places I’d been already in hopes of maximizing my time with new adventures, but because it is the hallmark of the park I did return to Old Faithful just down the road. I arrived with just a short time before the next projected eruption, so I filled my water, bought some postcards and ice cream, and found a spot to watch with enough of a bubble. Boy do the people here not care about social distancing or masks. Even less than in the Tetons! They were all packed together like sardines talking and laughing loudly without a care in the world. Yikes. My 6 feet were unusual, and I kept having to edge further away as more people encroached. In any case, Old Faithful did it’s thing and it was still very cool the second time.

I wandered the boardwalk around the other geysers and pools at the site, and did a short hike up to an observation point and small geyser above the main area. It was weird to look down over Old Faithful’s lodge, parking area and seating which had only 20 minutes ago been packed so full and see it almost deserted. The geyser did not do anything but bubble, but I was more engrossed in having a pebble throwing contest with a toddler from one of the two other groups who had hiked up, and soon returned to my starting point just in time to catch yet another eruption. And it was still cool the third time.

My last stop that evening was to the Grand Prismatic Pool, which I’d seen from above on my last visit from the spectacular viewpoint on the way to Fairy Falls and Imperial Geyser, but hadn’t seen up close. I’ve got to say the view from ground level does not do it justice since you can’t see it’s scope and range of colors, but it was eerily pretty to watch the steam as the sun glinted through. On my drive out of the park I spotted some bison chilling after a long hot day, and caught the spectacular sunset over the river. I love that it stays light out until almost 10pm up here in summer, but it makes for long days!

The next day I wanted to do a hike up a small mountain in an area of the park I hadn’t been to, but the road was closed for construction and the mountain trail closed, too, I learned when I actually stopped at the visitor center this time. While chatting with the park ranger outside the building (which was just before entering the park gates in town), I also was treated to witnessing my first experience in person of argumentative anti-mask idiots in action- a big family entered asking questions and wanting to use the bathroom (which they’d just passed… outside…) and were shocked and angered to learn that masks were required and they had to leave, and even more shocked and angered to learn that this would be the case with any park building once they entered. The kind lady working gave them a few disposable masks so they could at least take turns using the bathroom inside but advised them to, you know, maybe invest in some real ones… They grumpy people half thanked her for the masks while also mumbling that she should have given all of them free masks since it was her “dumb rule”. Oh dear. Many props to you, park lady, I’m sure you deal with it more often than I’d like to think but I admire your plastered on polite face where I’d be eye rolling big time.

Anyway, my plan B recommended by the ranger was a loop from the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone past some paint pots and pools out to a series of lakes. Good call, ranger. It was a nice length, not difficult which made the full sun in parts more bearable. The trailhead took me past a bison guarding the parking lot across the street, through a field of sagebrush and wildflowers, and past bubbling mud and barren earth that looked like something out of a horror or space movie. Super cool. From there it veered into the woods and out to Ribbon Lake, where I had lunch on a log by the water and imagined it would be a beautiful campsite if not for the bugs, then back past Lily Pad lake (well named) and back to the canyon. The trail hugs the canyon edge and offers majestic views, including Artist Point, where you can admire the watercolor-eque shades and glimpse the falls from a distance. So beautiful! Last visit I did the other side of the canyon and did a horseback tour in the area, but this was a great way to round out my experience.

While I could have added in some more adventures, I just took in the drive on my way back to West Yellowstone where I had shelled out for a fancy campground to make use of the showers, but more importantly the pool. Ah, the pool. Yes, full of children, but what a way to cool off after a few sweaty, dusty days. Cooked a bunch of things as prep, emptied and refilled containers to my heart’s content, had access to an outdoor kitchen to wash my dishes. Small luxuries in life.