Wisconsin, Part II

One thing I hate to do on road trips is to backtrack or drive a route we've already driven. Sometimes, it has to be done though. On June 22, we drove from Minneapolis to the Milwaukee area on Interstate 94/90, a route that took us through Madison, Wisconsin. Here we are again -- this time, en route to Chicago. It's a complicated back-and-forth itinerary: Minneapolis to Madison to Chicago, back to Madison and back to Minneapolis, picking up various kids along the way for a unique treat next weekend: having Hannah, Charlotte, Josh, Maurissa, Justin and Katie, plus Thomas, Chris, Elissah and Grayson, all together for the first time. Definitely worth all the driving…. but I'm getting ahead of myself.

We left Lutsen yesterday, drove to Duluth for lunch (at our fave Duluth hangout, Amazing Grace bakery), then continued on to Webster, Wisconsin, for an evening with friends, Chuck and Judy Brookshaw. It seems like every time we visit them, it's $1 burger night at the Yellow River Saloon, a deal too good to pass up. We all had a great time.

Judy, John and Chuck dining al fresco in Webster.

Early this morning, we drove to Madison, where we got the oil changed (again), tires rotated, and then, surprise, had this scavenger removed from one of the (new) tires:

Keep your fingers crossed that the patch holds as we approach the 10,000-mile mark on the summer's great adventure. 

In Search of Walleye

First, we go to the outfitters to rent a canoe.

Next, we buy fishing licenses, some gear, Gatorade and jerky and head for Four Mile Lake.

Then, we unload the canoe from the truck and put in with all our gear.

We paddle out. We pass an eagle's nest.

We cast, we reel in. We cast again. We exercise patience.

 A walleye swims by. He bites!

 We take his picture. We let him go. Thanks, Walleye, you made my day.

Cascade River Falls and Grand Marais

Great day of hiking up here on Lake Superior!

We followed the Superior Hiking Trail along the Cascade River, with its impressive water falls and lush forests. Not too much wildlife, but lots of lichen, moss, ferns and wildflowers. And water, of course.

These are only a few of the many varieties of mushrooms that grow wild here. 

The Angry Trout is always a fine place to stop for lunch. On today's menu: salad with grilled lake trout. And local microbrews, of course.

Someone build this cool rock castle by the Coast Guard station in Grand Marais.

The seawall (lake wall?) off Grand Marais with a view of the lighthouse.

North Shore

After a quick stop in Minneapolis, a movie with Thomas, and a peek at baby Grayson, we drove north toward Duluth. On the way: a typical Minnesota dining experience at Bradford Roadhouse Bar & Grill. I couldn't resist sharing the appetizer menu, even though we passed on all these fried Minnesota delicacies.

We're spending a few days at Lutsen Lodge on the north shore of Lake Superior, about an hour south of the Minnesota-Canadian border. It's an grand, old-fashioned timber lodge with stunning lake views, exquisite dining and lots of local hiking, canoeing, fishing and lighthouse viewing. It's raining here today, but frankly, it's great to have a few down days in the midst of such a busy summer -- and a perfect excuse to stay in by the fireplace, work on some post-Missoula rewrites, read the Sunday New York Times (sadly, online) and soak in the two-person jacuzzi bathtub in the bedroom. Here are a few pix.

The view from our window, last night about 9 pm, right before the storm hit.

Poplar River falls runs right by the lodge and empties into Lake Superior. The water is rusty because it is full of iron from the local rocks and soil.

Between downpours, we went on a short hike on the resort property.

We found a miniature frog.

Gypsy Life

No day has really been typical on this trip, but just for fun, I thought I'd recount what we did yesterday, as a way of shedding some light into this gypsy lifestyle we're living. We woke up Wednesday morning in Killdeer, North Dakota, where John had facilitated a meeting of the local ambulance service the evening before. The folks there are really nice. They fed us grilled brats for dinner.

We spent the night in a motel that serves as a temporary home for migrant men who work in the oil fields. Lots of men. Lots of dirt. People living out of their trucks, grilling on their tailgates or eating microwaved dinners. Lots of beer. We left at 7 AM.

Drove a couple of hours. Stopped briefly at the Lewis and Clark Interpretative Center -- yes, we're back on their route along the Missouri. We'd hoped to tour the exhibits there and see the old forts, but we only had time to peak inside and snap a photo.

We continued on to Bismarck, the state capitol, where we had lunch with the state EMS director, Tom Nehring. He's a very pleasant man, and we spoke in depth about the state of ambulance services in rural North Dakota. After lunch we drove on to Fargo, where we stopped to do laundry and email. It was about 7 PM by the time we left Fargo. It wasn't at all like the movie.

About 8 PM, we pulled into Molly Murphy's pub in Fergus Falls. I picked it because it was near the interstate and had good reviews on my phone, plus I like the name Fergus Falls. We drank beer, ate, watched sports on TV and talked about where we might go next.

After dinner, we drove about another hour into Minnesota, where we camped for the night at a rest stop. The bathrooms were clean, but there were a lot of big rigs there. Unfortunately, the one parked next to us was a refrigerator truck that left its loud engines running all night. But we cozied into the teardrop and read for a while and slept most of the night until about 6 AM, when we took off again. Some days are more exciting than others, but even the in-between days are better than working an office job or being at home, where things all too often stay the same. Out here, you never know what might happen. But it might just be laundry.

Catching Up

It's been a while since I posted, in part due to poor Internet service and partly because I'd immersed myself in the Missoula Colony -- a gathering of playwrights in Missoula, Montana, where I had a play presented, attended workshops and readings of other writers' work, networked with theatre peeps from across the USA, and overall had an exciting and supportive experience. Because it's trendy, the weeklong workshop featured only women writers, directors and theatre-makers, so for me, it was doubly inspiring. Plus, I did some great writing while I was there (and imbibed some tasty local brews, too). Good reasons to live in the moment and not blog about it. That said, here's a photo of me with my director and cast of Controlled Burn.

We left Missoula on Monday morning heading east again to arrive by Tuesday afternoon in Killdeer, North Dakota, where John is facilitating a meeting of the local ambulance service, which is challenged by increased call volume due to the influx of people in this oil-rich area. On the way, we stopped for coffee in Miles City, Montana.

And we had lunch on the roadside in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the North Dakota Badlands. 

  I had hoped to see the bison herds, but sadly, like the Montana trout, they eluded me.

However, we did see wild horses on the ridgeline.

As we drove through the Bakken oil reserve, you could see miles of wide-open green farmland that is now being "fracked" and drilled.

Notice the old farmhouse on the left next to the drilling machinery.

On the Blackfoot

This is the view of the Blackfoot River from our campsite. 

Now called Russell Gates Recreation area, it also happens to be the site where Lewis and Clark made camp in July 1806, when they had nowhere to go but east following their arrival at the Pacific. Apparently, they covered 31 miles on the day they camped here, afraid for their safety because of local Indians and grizzlies and worried that their horses would go mad from all the mosquitoes. Fortunately for us, our screen tent and teardrop combination has kept us safe from all intruders. 

We've been camping and fishing for a few days in this remarkably picturesque part of Montana, where the views are jaw-dropping and the trout are, well, elusive. The only fish we've eaten frankly is tuna from a can. That said, the Blackfoot is a stupendous site, running 132 miles from the Continental Divide to the confluence of the Clark Fork River in Missoula. We've fished several places along its banks, as well as on a few of the local lakes.

In true River Runs Through It fashion, John likes to wade when he's fishing.

We caught a couple of small perch in this lake.

Some fishing holes are more remote than others. 

This guy was wondering what we were doing on his road.

We were wondering how he got out of the fenced pasture.

Little Big Horn

En route to Helena, we stopped at Little Big Horn, the site of the historic battle of the Great Sioux War known as Custer's Last Stand. This national park site memorializes the major battle fought on June 25, 1876 between Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians against the US Army. The Indians, led by Sitting Bull, were fighting to preserve their traditional way of life as semi-nomadic buffalo hunters. The Army, led by Gen. George Armstrong Custer and Maj. Marcus Reno, was carrying out the Grant administration's instructions to relocate the Indians to reservations. More than 300 soldiers and some 100 Indian warriors died on the battlefield that day.

My great grand-father Jacob Joseph Simon served in the Ninth Infantry, Company K, in the Indian Wars, and supported the troops that fought here. Family lore tells the story that Jacob was supposed to be at Little Big Horn, but he arrived late. Not exactly true -- his company was stationed at Camp Robinson in Nebraska at this time -- but this historic site still gives me a glimpse into my family's history.

Here's a US Army uniform similar to that which Jacob Simon wore during his service from 1873-1878. Jacob Simon would have worn this uniform when he participated in the Second Powder River Expedition that raided a Sioux Village on the Powder River in 1876. It's a sobering legacy of national strife worth remembering.

Part of the memorial to the Native Americans who fought and died for their freedom.

The names of the soldiers who died here are engraved in this memorial on the top of Last Stand Hill. The bodies are buried beneath it in a mass grave.

Wyoming and Montana

Here we are in my favorite region: the Big Sky country of Wyoming and Montana. The weather is clearing up and we're hoping for several days of driving back roads, camping and fishing before I have to be in Missoula for a week of development on a new play at Missoula Writers' Colony.

The drive westward was head-on into the wind, which meant we had to feed our horses more often. Fortunately, gas in this area is running only about $3.60/gallon.

 The magnificent scenery. I get to take photos while John drives.

Our campsite on the Tongue River Reservoir in Decker, Montana.

Thunder Valley Dragway

After baseball, what could be more American than car racing? After our outing with the Sioux City Explorers, we drove north to catch the IHRA drag racing at Thunder Valley Dragway in Parker, South Dakota. The drag strip sits amidst corns fields and is a bit off the beaten path in a town of about 1,000 people southwest of Sioux Falls. We arrived to find dozens of racers and enthusiasts in RVs, trucks, campers, four-wheelers, and trailers of all sorts camped on site for a weekend of motorized competition.

The drag strip is one-quarter mile asphalt with an incline that slows the cars after they reach the finish. This is a view from behind the starting line. The races featured stock cars, super stock, top fuel and motorcycles. The best performers cover the quarter-mile in under 10 seconds and at speeds of upwards of 150 mph.

A young driver gets ready.

There's a lot of excitement in the line-up lanes as drivers ready their cars.

And they're off...

Check out the black car doing a wheelie at the start.

I walked the back lot incognito.

While John pondered this "greased lightening"oldie.