Hello from a laundromat in Vermont!
I’m not going to do the usual introduction of acknowledging that this blog post is late and probably inadequate to really tell you all about what we have been up to, instead I’ll just lead in with the fact that we have done so much stuff that there has barely been time to stop and think at all.
So we have to pack a full quarter of the country into this post… maybe it will be a two parter.
Our time in STL was a really nice break from the road. We spent the time fixing the bits that were hanging off the rig, both metaphorically and in the case of some of the trim, literally, enjoying a house with all of the mod cons that we have been missing, and friending hard. The big update from our maintenance was that we successfully replaced the cooling unit in the fridge! I still can’t quite believe that we took on something that big, especially considering that we had to do all the work with it lying in the camper (we couldn’t fit it back out through the door), but it is done, and other than some minor hiccups it has been working really well. The other upgrades were the extra air springs to assist the struggling suspension on the back axle. Also since we have been on the road we have replaced one of the dead propane tanks and the regulator and hoses, switched out the two ancient and unyielding vent covers in the camper so now we can dehumidify a little, learned a little more about the bloody right indicator which frequently requires an ever so light punch to get it to work, and a hundred other tiny fixes and fiddles which make up camper life.
It turned out to be a little more of a stay than we had anticipated, but it was worth it. We left the city again, headed north, around mid August. Can we just take a minute to talk about Iowa? I have heard nothing but mildly derogatory statements about how it is all farmland and not interesting at all. Well we have only spent any real time in the east of the state but from what I saw it is an excellent place to be! Every day was spent driving up along the Mississippi exploring thriving little river towns with a great mix of art and heavy freight trains running through them. Every evening we stopped in yet another beautiful state park (seriously nice and cheap camping) shrouded with mist and full of deer, and yes there is a lot of farmland but it is the most bucolic, well maintained rolling countryside that you could care to find yourself in! In short we thought Iowa was lush.
Further north we went, bouncing back and forth across the border between Wisconsin and Minnesota, until we were very nearly into Canada. We to the north shore of Lake Superior to visit our friend Matt, captain of the schooner Hjordis which sails out of Grand Marais. And of course, like with so many other places on this trip, we fell in love with the town. There is just such a cool vibe to the place. It is touristy and a little expensive, but given how short the summer season is that far up you can’t really grudge the prices, but there are a ton of really nice quality galleries, the coffee is good, the harbour is picturesque, and the people are lovely. But what really stole it for us was North House Folk School. Have you ever wanted to know how to build your own canoe? The folk school has a course for that. Want to know how to forge your own short axe? There is a course for that too. Want to learn how to pickle food, or cross stitch, or timber frame,or bake bread, or learn a bunch of sea shanties? This place has got you covered. It is a little campus of buildings set right next to the harbour, and throughout the year experts are brought in to teach skills that together amount to pretty much everything you could possibly need to be able to feed, clothe, house, and care for yourself. It also functions as a center of the community, with potluck pizza nights and evening gatherings. The people who work there are all young and enthusiastic and friendly and we felt totally welcome. Seriously, we can’t say enough good things about the place. Also we got to sail at sunset with Matt and our new friend Thane, and play guitar and tell stories. It was idyllic.
It was with a lot of regret that we left Grand Marais after 3 days, but it was only a short day’s drive down to Duluth and being hosted by another friend! I don’t know what they put in the water up north but everyone is bloody nice! Despite being super rushed with work Ora made time to meet up for dinner, and show us her home and let us use the laundry and shower, and gave us free use of her couch. Again we wish we could have spent a bit longer, but we were as always behind schedule. Duluth is another one of those places where you wouldn’t necessarily visit as a vacation destination but was still a perfectly nice town. It’s pretty industrial but you get a beautiful view of the lake from pretty much everywhere, and there is a close knit atmosphere, plus there are a tonne of good breweries! We also got acquainted with Northern Waters Smokehaus, and are very sad to have left it behind.
It’s probably a good time to talk about how bizarre the great lakes are. We caught ourselves calling Lake Superior the sea on a daily basis. They are even minutely tidal! The geology surrounding them is pretty spectacular too, much to my chagrin the camper is once again full of rocks. We made a stop at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (I almost typed seashore there, again, the lake is SO BIG) and puttered around on a beautiful beach which we had all to ourselves. We also visited a log slide, which was a great rut in a huge sand dune where they used to slide huge logs destined for the timber trade down. We could have thrown ourselves down it too, but making it back up again would have been the workout of a lifetime and it was pretty close to getting dark. Plus there were a load of signs telling us that if we chose to do it the nearest rescue crew was an hour’s drive away and it was going to cost us several hundred dollars to call them out...
After passing through the UP of Michigan and trying their version of a pasty (very different from those of the UK, but still tasty), we took a shortcut through Ontario. Finally getting into Canada felt like quite an achievement, even though we spent less than 24 hours there. Despite that we did fit in a very nice visit to see Dani and Lex and to hit up the original Tim Horton’s in Hamilton, our first quest outside of the US completed! We also availed ourselves of at least 3 other Tim’s stops… we might have a problem. Oh, we also crossed back in to the US at Niagra! What a cool place! It was absolutely lousy with us tourists, but we made the most of it and bought a fridge magnet :)
We then scooted our way through upstate New York. While Zora has long known how pretty central NY can be when it’s not a frozen hellscape, I have only seen it in the dead of winter, so it was a nice experience. Again it is lovely farmland, but land that has been warped and wrinkled and is now a series of super steep hills and valleys. It made for an interesting drive! We stopped into visit Colgate, Zora’s alma mater, and remind ourselves what undergrads look like, it is crazy how much campus has changed in preparation for the bicentennial next year. We also had a great catch up with Zora’s undergraduate advisor Amy for a lovely coffee and a chat. It’s bizarre how often that has happened on this journey, that we have been able to just pop in and catch up, despite the road to getting there being thousands of miles long!
The next few states are kind of a blur. We were in chug on through to Canada mode. Highlights were; getting our first glimpse of the Atlantic (it is so gray and cold looking!), taking an unplanned trip to an NPS site in Maine, Saint Croix Island International Historic Site, and finally cutting our way back down the track to Michael’s house at Otter Cove.
It has been a wild, wonderful, and fast paced period of the adventure!