Day 86
Thursday September 8, 2016 Medora,
ND Red Trail Campground, site 69
522 miles towing 11.9 mpg
Today is the
first day of our trip home. We didn’t
know where we were going to stay, but was considering Theodore Roosevelt National
Park in North Dakota, near the town of Medora.
We did that last year. Just an
overnight in the campground.
We headed up
US 191 for 80 miles to downtown Bozeman.
We had breakfast at a place called Main Street Over Easy. We used to go there on our last day before
flying home when I used to come out here with my Traverse City buddies. It was nice to be there again, especially
with Marsha. They are known for their
buffalo sausage and is very popular with the locals.
Here’s some
views from US-191 heading up to Bozeman:
We left
Bozeman at 10:00. Took I-90 to Billings
and then I-94 to North Dakota. In
eastern Montana we ran into some severe wind gusts with heavy rain that was
impairing visibility and stability. The
gusts were in excess of 50 mph. The rain
was horizontal and the tumbleweeds were shooting across the highway instead of
tumbling. The wind was hitting us
sideways. I have clamps on the rails
that keep the canoe from slipping sideways.
They were slipping and pushing the canoe to the right of the rails. I stopped in pouring rain by the side of the
interstate to try to retighten them, I was drenched. Got off at the next exit, which was the Miles
City exit, and was able to pull over after a mile or two to retighten the
clamps again and to wait it out.
Fortunately, it stopped. After we
started out again there were still localized storms in the distance and a
rainbow. Eastern Montana is like prairie
and you can see for miles.
Here’s some
I-90 scenery after leaving Bozeman:
Here’s
eastern Montana from I-94:
We passed a
private campground on the way so we checked into that. Was OK.
We just needed a site to sleep and leave in the morning. We ate Subway subs that we bought at the 1st
exit in ND at a Flying J truck stop.
We were able
to hook up cable and watch TV. Something
we haven’t done for a long, long time.
Day 87
Friday, Sept. 9, 2016 Huntersville
State Forest Campground, MN, Shell City Campground
427 miles 11.8
mpg
We studied the map and looked for a target for the day and
decided on a state forest campground in MN.
Left Medora, ND at 07:15.
A short time after getting back on I-94 we came to a visitor center and
scenic lookout for the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Here are some pictures.
Continued on I-94 to Bismark, ND where we ate breakfast at
Perkins. We then continued on I-94 to
Fargo and then into Minnesota. Most of
the trip was flat plains, corn fields, and hay fields across North Dakota.
We took US-10 to
MN-87 to Memahga, MN. From there we took
rural county roads to the campground. It
was a beautiful campground with 14 sites.
We were the only ones there and had the best site. 
 |
| Here's the creek that bounded the campground. |
I grabbed fallen branches and sticks and made us a little
fire. There were signs about not
bringing firewood from the outside. I
had firewood from Yellowstone, but decided to keep it in the truck. We never saw anyone else the whole time we
were there except for a truck driving through with a 4-wheeler on a trailer.
Made burritos for supper.And here's the flower of the day:
 |
| Taken at the Theodore Roosevelt N.P. Visitor Center |
413 miles 11.0 mpg
Because we were going to pass through Wisconsin, Marsha set
up a visit with her youger sister and brother.
We altered our route a little south to arrive in Bowler, WI.
We left the Shell City Campground at 06:15, before
sunrise. Took various back county roads
to get to US-10 and took that all the way to St. Cloud, MN. It was very rural through farmland and small
towns. We chose to avoid I-94 through
Minneapolis as suggested by the GPS. In
St. Cloud we got on MN-95 until the Wisconsin border where it joined US-8. Followed that for 50 miles to US-53 south to
Eau Claire, WI where we picked up WI-29.
Took that all the way to Bowler, WI.
Arrived at Liza’s house at 14:30.
Set up on site 1, the turnaround in her driveway.
Liza made some chili and corn bread for us. Marsha’s brother Gregg came over for a
while. We sat around and watched the
Brewers game.
I posted the Bunsen Peak hike while I was there.
Day 89 Saturday, September 11, 2016 Liza’s House,
site 1
We sat around Liza’s house all day. Liza made a big pot of chicken soup and
Marsha made chicken pot pie. Had pot pie
for lunch and dinner. Liza made the soup
for her friend with cancer.
Worked on the Baker’s Hole blogs.
Watched Packers vs Jaguars.
Packers won. Watched Detroit
Lions vs Indianapolis Cowboys. Lions
won.
Gregg stopped by again and said goodbye for now.
It was good that Marsha could see her younger brother and
sister again.
We have two ways to go home.
Go through Milwaukee and Chicago around the bottom of the lake and then
north to Grand Haven. Or, go north to
Escanaba and continue across the UP, cross the Makinac Bridge and head south to
Grand Haven. The Chicago route is 8 hrs,
the UP route is 12-13 hours.. We will
take the UP route and take two days to do it.
Day 90
Monday September 12, 2016 Hiawatha
National Forest, Brevoort Lake, site 2271 miles 13.0
mpg
Liza got up and left for work at 08:00. Said goodbye for now. We drove to Shawano and had a big breakfast
at Farm Inn on Main. A nice little
restaurant in town Marsha knew about.
Took county roads to US-41 north to the “Welcome to Pure
Michigan” sign in Menominee. Followed
the shoreline of Green Bay to Escanaba on M-35.
In Escanaba, we joined US-2 the rest of the way to Brevoort Lake
Campground in the Hiawatha National Forest.
It’s about 15 miles west of the Mackinac Bridge. Arrived at 16:30. We had a beautiful site
right on the water. Site 2.
Then we took some pictures over the water as the sun
set. There were no clouds in the sky to
enhance it.
 |
| No chipmunk or squirrel pictures. Just these two ducks. No elk pictures either. |
Day 91
Tuesday September 13, 2016 Grand
Haven, MI HOME!291 miles 10.0
mpg
Slept in until 07:00.
Marsha took some sunrise pictures over the lake before we left.
 |
| Sunrise over Brevoort Lake, U.P. |
Had to go to the dump
station to dump our tanks before hitting the road. Left dump station at 07:45. We hit the road with no coffee in our
veins. It wasn’t too far before we would
eat breakfast.
Gassed up at the BP station just before the entrance to I-75
to take us to the bridge. When we crossed
the Mackinac Bridge, an ore boat was approaching from the west.
Stopped at Audie’s in Mackinaw City for breakfast. Then it was pretty much straight home. Took I-75 to US-127 to Houghton Lake where we
picked up M-55 to Lake City and Cadillac.
In Cadillac, we picked up US-131 to Grand Rapids, then onto I-96. Got off at exit 9, M-104 and immediately got
on M-231 to Lincoln street and finally to Home.
Arrived at 14:30.
Everything was fine.
Turned water back on. Plugged in
all the unplugged stuff. The four smoke
detectors were beeping because they needed new batteries. Took care of that annoying scenario. Took the canoe and racks off the truck. Brought all our clothes in from the
Oliver. Turned on the A/C. We are not used to 76o heat and
humidity. I guess with the summer that
Grand Haven had, we were spoiled.
Have a lot of work to do now to prepare for winter.
Final Stats from our
3 month Alaskan adventure:
Total miles driven: 13,206
Total miles towing: 11,413
Non-towing miles: 1,793
I haven’t tallied the cost of the trip yet. The largest cost was fuel. I estimate about 1,340 gallons @ average cost
of $3.50 or about $4,700.
Camping fees averaged about $15 per night in public
campgrounds and $35 in private campgrounds.
No. nights in public campgrounds: 55 Estimated
cost: $825
No. nights in private campgrounds: 34 Estimated
cost: $1,190
Total: 89 Total (est.) $2,015
Groceries are needed it you are home or on the road. However, groceries in Canada and Alaska are
nearly double what we pay back home. At
this time I won’t venture a guess as to what we spent.
Dining out should be considered, too. Breakfast $30, Lunch $50, and dinner
$80-$100.
Another cost is tourist activities like the Skagway &
Whitehorse train ride and the Lulu-Belle out of Valdez. Together, these were about $500 for two
people. The only other similar expense
would be T-shirts, beer glasses, ornaments, etc.
I’m estimating that we spent $9,000 for the 3-month
trip. I have yet to put all my receipts
in Quicken.
