In the end, of course, things turned out a little different from our plans. After the first 200 km's through Canada we arrived at the border station to the US in Sarnia. We thought re-entry into the States would be easy as, but no, the officials didn't think so. The young lady from border security was a little suspicious of our 9 month permit for the States. So we were called in , Shorty was searched for whatever and we were interviewed about our trip, our plans and so on. In the end it wasn't more than a nuisance but it still took more than an hour to enter the States again.
We stayed at a small state park close to Port Huron for the night as Shorty needed some maintenance work, oil change and a bit of grease here and there. You all know that I wouldn't trust anybody with such an important job, hence we stopped at the local Walmart for oil and parts and I did the job right there on the car park.
From Port Huron the drive went on small country roads to Bay City, nothing spectacular on the way, some woods initially to be increasingly replaced by farmland. This got worse closer to Mackinac Bridge in the North of the peninsula, a more or less boring ride.
Hmm, I shouldn't have said that, because it got even worse! After crossing into North Michigan we went to a small state park near Tahquamenon Falls, apparently the second biggest waterfall after the Niagara East of the Missouri river or so, don't ask! Anyway, it was nice, not too bad, but we were asking us whether that was worth the extra miles. From here on to a The Lake in the Clouds, another state park West of Tahquamenon. Again, not shabby, but the name is the best part of the lake.
Some interesting people on the road....
However, I shouldn't have complained because the drive was pleasant, certainly not too boring, so what. There's always North Dakota to come!
So, next destination: Apostle Islands at Lake Superior. On the way there we learned that we actually can't visit the Islands as this is pure boating country. Without a boat there is not much to do except walk some shorter walks through the woods and along the beaches which are nice but definitely not that great. On top of that on our approach to Superior the temperature falls from around 26 degrees Celsius near Marquette earlier in the morning to around 8 degrees early afternoon. Not too inviting for a kayak tour on the lake!
We say goodbye to Wisconsin and continue into Minnesota. Again, a mixture of woods and farmland, nothing to report really. I had warned Claudia that this would probably be the most boring part of the trip and so it is. Don't get me wrong, the landscape is sometimes pleasant, sometimes not so much, small , rather boring towns, some seemingly deserted, nothing that I really remember on that stretch of land.
Totally different, however, is North Dakota! This is absolutely the most boring landscape we have seen so far, huge farms and nothing else. They actually have raised the speed limit on the highways to allow people to get through the state faster. That would be the only reason for the higher limit.
Ok, next state: Montana. Quite the opposite of North Dakota. Close the border even North Dakota spits out a little extra for the weary traveller: the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It's here where TR shot his first buffalo in 18.. or so, a landscape that reminds us of Cappadocia in Turkey. The area is a kind of canyon like landscape with eroded hills with rock pillars and all, not bad. Bison ( buffaloes) are roaming free here, interesting colours on the cliffs.
This type of landscape continues into Montana, at least at the start, there is some farmland later. One thing that cannot be missed is that Montana is cowboy country, we actually see two of them with a herd of cows along the highway to our station for the night in Miles City.
The city's highlight of the year apparently is a horse fair earlier in the May, otherwise the small town is .....interesting. Claudia and I go for an orientation walk after the long drive to discover - nothing really. There are one or two pubs or bars, a restaurant and everything seems dead at 6.30 in the evening.
There's actually a development we like really a lot: the further we get North the longer the days are getting. In OZ and in Thailand it got dark usually around 7 or so, now we experience long evenings where it gets dark at 10 or even later. Beautiful!
Bighorn National Recreation Area
Ok, next day on to Billings for 2 new tires after one disintegrated and took its twin with him down the road. Claudia has found a small National Recreation Area with a canyon again, that's where we will stay for the next 3 nights to recover from the long hours of driving. We have to burn some time anyway as both Beartooth Highway into Yellowstone NP and the Going to the Sun Highway through Glacier NP are closed due to snow.
They are doing some great skies here
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