Sept 26th - 28th Chicago to Kadoka

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Passed the 15000 mile mark today. It was a terrible day, weatherwise! We were in a very large weather pattern that circled over us all day. Very strong winds blew heavy rain in Steve's side most of the morning; and then we had some sun. In the late afternoon the rain started again and the wind blew it in on my side. I guess it's good that we shared! When the trees were near the highway, we had to dodge small branches on the road. The leaves were blowing everywhere. The farms here are larger, huge fields of mostly corn, but also a lot of soybeans. Instead of forests there are smaller clumps of trees, and great vistas from the tops of the hills. We drove though the historic town of Galena just before crossing the Mississippi into Iowa.



Galena Illinois est. 1826

We are spending the night in Waterloo, Iowa.



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Wind Farm

 The sky was dark and cloudy when we left Waterloo, so we left the top up. There was a cold wind blowing in my side most of the day, and then the afternoon got nice and sunny and quite warm. Steve did not enjoy the driving; the highway seams were bumpy, construction zones brought it down to 2-way traffic with big trucks passing too close or pushing from behind, and dodging holes. Then we got lost on a detour that was badly marked and without the GPS had no way of finding our way back. We ended up going into Nebraska by mistake at Sioux City, where Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota meet. So within 15 minutes we were in 3 states.

Steve was also bored with the scenery, but I thought it quite picturesque, as I was able to look around and see the details. The farms are immense, mostly corn but also soybeans. We couldn't figure out why the crops were all dried out and dead looking. When we stopped for lunch in a tiny town with one coffee shop it was filled with farmers talking about their crops and tractors and such. So I went to one of the tables and asked them why all the crops were dead. They explained that the corn is used to produce ethanol and has to be dry. They said they don't grow food quality corn here. Producing ethanol does not destroy the protein in the corn so it can still be used to feed cattle. The soybeans are used to produce food oil.

We had some time to ponder what we have learned on this epic journey. Of course there is all the geography, geology, history, anthropology, biology, zoology, botany and all the other "ologies". All that will take a while to sink in. We have learned to do a blog, though we still fight with the layout. We've honed our navigation skills, with and without a GPS. We've learned how to make a very few clothes last till the next laundromat. Though wearing my underwear more than one day is a skill I'd like to  live without. We've learned how to pack and unpack more efficiently, how to fix things that don't work in motel rooms, and how to make ourselves more comfortable in less than ideal conditions. Now all this might sound like not much fun, but it is satisfying to use your adaptability and common sense to make things into an adventure rather than a negative experience. 

  Today-Wednesday was a much better day! We woke up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to a beautiful sunny day, glad that we had taken the top down the night before. Our first stop was Sioux Falls Park right in the city. The falls are a spectacular sight to see! It is not just one waterfall, but a whole series of steps and falls over a large area of the Sioux River. A 7 storey flour mill was built on the river bank in 1879 and some of the ruins are still there as well as the pump house right at the edge of the falls. The water level has obviosly dropped as you can walk out on the water worn rocks to almost the middle of the river.

After a quick stop at AAA for some more detailed maps we left Sioux City- next stop the Mitchell Corn Palace. What an amazing place! It is a large building where they have concerts and basketball games. The outside is decorated each year with different murals all done with corn cobs, cut in half and nailed to the building. Inside the gymnasium is also decorated all around the walls. 

So here we are in South Dakota heading for Kadoka, we live on Kadota and our cat is named Dakota!



Missouri River



The scenery is much the same as yesterday, corn, soybeans, and hay. At least the hills are a little bit rolling. We crossed the Missouri River and the crops changed a bit to red corn and sunflowers, as well as cattle and a lot of hayfields.

Richard and Linde were waiting for us here in Kadoka, South Dakota and we are off to see Rushmore and the Bad Lands tomorrow.

Sept 20th to 25th Elmira to Chicago

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Allegheny Reservoir

This is a very pretty part of the world. Not wild and spectacular like the Maritimes, but more civilized, picturesque, and well maintained. The hills are rolling, and there are lots of lakes, so the road is not straight or boring. We noticed lots of old large cemetaries and realized this area has been inhabited for a long time so they have had a long time to collect bodies. The road passes through rural areas with rolling fields of corn, hay,  and soybeans dotted with little villages of lovely old well maintained houses. As Richard said, each village has it's own character. What amazed us was the size of the lawns! Some of them were at least 3 acres! They were all neatly cut and trimmed with no weeds and very little other landscaping. Not a lot of gardeners here. Just a few foundation plantings around the houses and one or two trees on the lawn. I don't know what they do on the lawns but it must take a lot of time to maintain them.

 We stayed in Ashtabula for the night, and the next morning set off together for the first part of the day. Then at Sandusky we split up, Richard and Linde heading North to Winnepeg while we headed West to Bowling Green for the night. Then on to Deerfield near Chicago to see Mike and Lanky Levy, whom Steve has known since his teen years. And that's a long time.!! Chicago was a nightmare to get through as Deerfield is on the North side, a lot of roads were closed for repairs, and our GPS was acting up. We phoned Garmin once we got to the Levy's to try to upload the updates and after 3 hours on the phone with a tech we realized our unit had packed it in. But what amazing service! Even though the warrentee has expired, they will replace it if we mail it to them and they can return it to a U.S. address.

So we have just spent four lovely days with these great friends, visiting, eating, relaxing, and getting cleaned up and laundry done. Their son, Terry lives with them, so we got to visit with him too. On Friday night their daughter, Angie, her husband, Lance, and their charming grandchildren came for dinner.
Steve was concerned about the handling of the car, and phoned the local car club for contacts. He located a place that could handle old cars and found that they were the Morgan dealer for Illinois. The place was filled with MGs, Triumphs, Healeys and Morgans. We needed another alignment and 16 bolts had to be tightened. The front end was ready to fall off. The roads have been so bad that the car had literally been shaken apart. As well the tires which he had switched from the back  at the last alignment had also been chewed up. Now both back and front tires will need replacing when we get home.

This morning (Monday) rested, clean, and renewed we are setting out on the adventure again, meeting up with Richard and Linde near Mount Rushmore in about 3 days.  

SEPT 17th - 19th Border to Elmira,New York

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Continuing from the border to Skowhegan, Maine was pretty country after we got off  Hwy. 95. The main thing we noticed was that Fall has come. I was sick so we stopped early and I slept all afternoon. The motel was a nice little Mom and Pop business, where the couple did everything from laundry to cooking breakfast. They heated up some soup for me that Steve had brought from a restaurant and asked after me the next morning.



Ferry Landing on East side of Lake Champlain



Sunday the 18th, was more lovely scenery and changing leaves. We stopped at a covered bridge that was built solely for agricultural use. IE: So the farmers could get to their fields. It is built very tall so a load of hay could pass through and have a cattle gate inside the bridge. Because of all the flooding in the area it is the only agricultural bridge that has survived. The ferry across Lake Champlain was short and very pretty with the colours of the changing leaves. We stayed the night in Lake Placid, and the next morning were disappointed to find that there is no public access to the lake itself. The nearby Mirror Lake was pretty though. How many more ways can I say 'beautiful scenery'. The Adirondack Mountains were yet again another gorgeous drive.  

Then in the Finger Lakes area we started to look for a place to sleep. We didn't realize that due to the severe flooding of the Susquehanna River, all the hotels in the area would be full. Not only were the families whose homes were flooded, in the hotels but all the FEMA responders, as well as the contractors come to fix the damages.  It took us over 3 hours and 60 miles of checking every hotel we passed to finally find a bed in Elmira, New York. All the damaged areas were covered in silt. We could see the water line on the trees along the highway and peoples possessions were piled up in front of their houses, waiting to be taken to the dump. 70% of the businesses in one town were shut down due to flood damage. It was very sad.
Anyway, it was our last night together for awhile, so we all went out for a nice Italian dinner. Richard and Linde were heading North for a family visit in Winnepeg, and Steve and I to Chicago to visit our dear friends,  Mike and Lanky.

Sept 13th - 16th Back through the Maritimes

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Bras d'Or



On to our next adventure - The Cabot Trail. More spectacular scenery, winding roads, forests, ocean bays, fishing villages etc. The Trail runs North along the East coast and up through the Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Though we have seen so many beautiful scenes we never tire of it. And the winding roads are what Driving the Dream is all about. 

 

Bras d'Or Channel

The area seems to be very Scottish, as indicated by the names of everything. Also there are a lot of little craft shops and such. We bought a lighthouse in one of them for our pond and I kept it under my legs for the next few days till we could mail it home.




Pleasant Bay on West Coast





We met this group at one of the lookouts; they were about 15 members from an Ontario car club who were dong a tour of the Maritimes.





The day ended up with a stop near Cheticamp, where a man had spent many years building scarecrows near his roadside diner. He used to hold great parties there, apparently. 





Our goal for the night was Baddeck, where we were told they had the best lobster dinner, and it was. The next morning we went to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. I came out of there quite amazed at this man's genius, and that he was involved in much more than the telephone. He also devised a mechanical 'language' to teach to deaf to speak, as well as some airplanes and a hydrofoil to name a few.   



Just another beautiful lighthouse



 Then on to PEI, where we found a great little motel and decided to stay two days for a well needed rest. Richard and Linde went to see Ann of Green Gables cottage. The owner of the motel had a baby racoon that he had rescued and was interviewed by a local TV station. We were able to watch the news clip that night which was interesting as we had met the racoon that day. On Friday we left to drive over Confederation Bridge back to New Brunswick.The Confederation Bridge is one of the world's feats of construction because it has to be resistant to ice bergs. Because of the high winds in the area, the sides are very high so you can't see any view from the bridge. The sides deflect the wind upward, but even so, in high winds trucks and tall motor homes are restricted. This was the case today, so we could see them lined up everywhere on both ends, waiting for the wind to die down.                                       On the New Brunswick side of the bridge we hit 13000 miles, since we left home.   We stayed in Fredericton for the night and had dinner with Phil and Pam Ossinger(MG people) Next morning we went to Hartland, New Brunswick, to see the longest covered bridge in the world - 1282 feet.   We crossed the border into Maine near Houlton on the Sat. the 17th.

Sept 9th -11th Still in Newfoundland

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We left Grand Falls through a wild forested area with lots of lakes (here they are called lakes). When we stopped for lunch near Sandy Lake we were told that there were some large

 

ice bergs in White Bay near Hampdon. So we decided to take a short trip North to see them, but unfortunately they had been blown out of the harbour by the time we got there. We were told that you don't normally see ice bergs this early in the year, but a piece the size of Prince Edward Island had calved off Greenland and these bergs are pieces of that. A lucky and exciting sight for us, but not so good for the environment! Then we doubled back to Hwy 1 again, and off to Gros Morne National Park on the East coast. We stayed in some cabins right on the water at Rocky Harbour, and did some exploring of some of the places the local people suggested. Two of them were Norris Point and Neddy Harbour, which are beautiful tiny harbours on a fiord with towering cliffs around them.  

                                                                      





Neddy Harbour



                                                                           

 



 Saturday we decided that, since we wouldn't be back here for a while we needed to take a couple of extra days to explore the Northern Penninsula of Newfoundland. It's like a finger pointing North toward Labrador with only one highway. The part out of Gros Morne runs along the water and through a lot of little fishing villages. The land is less forested, very marshy, and mostly fairly flat and rocky, but green with grasses and yellow with golden rod.

The people have their gardens along the highway where the road building has scraped away the rocks and there is a bit of top soil. We think they were growing potatoes and rhubarb, as they were miles from any houses, so couldn't be tended very often. Other things we saw at the side of the highway were stacks and stacks of fire wood and lobster traps. No one touches things that belong to someone else. If you cut the wood it belongs to you, and that must be the main heating sourse, as there was so much of it. 

 We got to L'Anse aux Meadows late afternoon and found a very nice B&B, with enough time left to go to the site of the only known Viking settlement in North America. A replica village has been built, complete with inhabitants to answer questions and demonstrate how the people lived there in 1000 AD. And----- that is the only place we saw a moose!!!! After all the warnings and signs and assurances that we would see many moose, he was our only sighting. That evening in the restaurant one of the 'Vikings' from the village was the entertainer. He sang a lot of the same songs we'd heard in Rocky harbour, but not so loud so we could hear the words.



Cornerbrook



On Sunday, after a cooked to order breakfast at the B&B we started back along the highway to Gros Morne Park. Along the way we were very lucky to see a couple of caribou, which is also unusual to see this time of year. Even though we were repeating the route we took to get here it is so beautiful it was a wonderful day. Back trough Gros Morne again and on to Cornerbrook for the night.

 Monday we ambled down to Port aux Basques to catch the shorter ferry to the mainland (only 5 hours), and spent the night in Sydney. The singer on the ferry was so good we bought some of his CDs.