I left my campground at Medora, ND, and headed toward South Dakota via the Enchanted Highway, a southbound highway that takes travelers past a series of huge roadside sculptures. The weather was dismal — gray, very windy and intermittent rain — but I snapped some quick shots of each of the sculptures as I made my way down the road. I think my favorite piece is the Pheasants on the Prairie.

At the end of the Enchanted Highway is the little town of Regent, ND. I stopped in the Enchanted Highway gift shop and bought myself a t-shirt, and the clerk behind the counter was having trouble getting the cash register to work. She called her boss for help, and a couple of minutes later, a tan man with a big smile bounded in, got the register working, grabbed a soda from the case, and left a quarter on the counter for the soda. After he was out the door, the clerk told me that was Gary Greff, the artist who created all the sculptures along the highway. I wish I’d known! I would have taken his picture and told him how much I had enjoyed his work, but as it was, it was still nice to have met him, however briefly.

The weather cleared as I arrived in Lemmon, SD, home of the Petrified Wood Park. At first glance, I was taken aback. I’ve visited the Petrified Forest in the Painted Desert of Arizona several times, and other areas where petrified wood is preserved in the setting in which it was found, so the sight of all of this petrified wood assembled and cemented into spires and towers and walls kind of shocked me a little. Especially since I know how much petrified wood had been taken out of those natural environments before they were protected with national park or monument status. But after I walked around gawking at the odd grandeur of a city block filled with these sculptures, I ended up taking lots of macro shots of the amazing detail in some of the wood pieces.

A short while later, I arrived at Badlands National Park. It is a great park to drive through, even though there are not a lot of hiking opportunities. I had enough time before sundown to secure a campsite and drive the scenic drive of the park at the best time of day to see it.

First, a mild rant, or maybe just a regret. I should have brought a case of Honest Tea with me on this trip. Not being a soda drinker, it seems to be almost impossible to get good unsweetened or lightly-sweetened iced tea in many parts of the country. Every unsweet tea I’ve had was so bitter, it tasted like it had been in the bottom of a barrel for a month. I’ve been finding Sobe tea to be an acceptable compromise. So I’m a tea snob. Sue me.

Anyway, to pick up where I left off, I woke up in the North Unit of Roosevelt NP, stretched my legs on a little mini-hike, and then started making my way toward the South Unit. Needless to say, I chose a detour so I would not repeat the trauma of the day before. It took me down a long, remote highway to the west of the park, through the Little Missouri National Grasslands, past farm fields and abandoned schoolhouses. I chuckled at the highway exit labeled “Home on the Range” and made my way to the town of Medora, just outside the South Unit of the park. I secured my campsite for the night, and explored the scenic loop drive of Roosevelt NP. From what I understand, this isn’t one of the most popular National Parks in the country, but there’s a lot to enjoy, IMHO. I took some little hikes, saw amazing sweeping views of badland scenery stretching for miles all around, and again saw lots of wildlife. I was even treated to not one, but two rainbows as some rain showers passed through the area.

I treated myself to pizza at a place in Medora and hit the camper for another well-deserved night’s rest.

I woke up to the welcome sight of the sun starting to break through the clouds, so I left Bismarck and started on the road to Roosevelt National Park. So far, I was pretty impressed with North Dakota scenery, even though someone had told me ND was boring. I drove past fields of sunflowers and watched the landscape change from flat to rolling hills, to the occasional butte. I also finally really understood John Deere’s company colors of green and yellow. It’s the color scheme of the farm hills — the crops all glow in the sun in gold and green. My dad worked for John Deere for 40 years, so I was keenly aware that I was now firmly in Deere country. So if you ever see me drinking from my Deere coffee mug or wearing a Deere baseball cap, it’s not hipster irony (as if I were capable of that anyway).

Sunny North Dakota Sunflowers


Buddies

I was enjoying the remote but scenic drive until I turned north onto Rt 85, which is the highway leading to the entrance of the north unit of Roosevelt NP. As I turned onto the highway, I saw a sign saying “Road Work Next 10 Miles.” Okay, no big deal, I thought. A flag man was on the scene indicating that the road went down to a single lane, and they were letting southbound traffic through from the other direction. The road surface had been taken down to a hard packed dirt and gravel surface, so I thought nothing of it as I got in line behind about a dozen other vehicles to take our turn on the single lane.

After about 10 minutes of waiting, we started forward and nothing seemed amiss. But all of a sudden, the packed dirt road surface became two wheel ruts and a huge pile of rough rock and debris in between. Now, for those of you not familiar with a Toyota Prius, it’s not what you would call a high-clearance vehicle. In fact, it’s pretty low-clearance when one is hauling about 450 lbs more than its usual cargo. There was no place to pull over, and if I’d tried, I probably would have gotten stuck. Therre was a slight uphill grade, and it had rained the day before, so I knew that if I stopped, chances were very good that I wouldn’t be able to get moving again. So with a white-knucked death grip on the steering wheel, I kept moving forward at a slow-but-steady pace I hoped would keep me moving, but not kick up anything that would damage the underside of my car. I tried not to freak out at the scraping and clunking sounds coming from under my car. When I finally arrived at the Roosevelt NP visitor center, I checked under the car with a sigh of relief, and took a little while to let the adrenaline stop pumping.

I then found myself a campsite, drove the scenic drive, and took a nice, long hike, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The north unit of Roosevelt is remote, but fairly compact compared to the south unit. The badlands have some very cool areas of detail and pattern to explore with a camera, and there are lots of bison and deer and prairie dogs. The prairie dogs are really fun to watch. I just hung out at one of the pull-offs near the prairie dog town and watched them holler at each other, eat, and run around and play.

After the sun went down, I cooked myself a quick dinner of soup and got a great night’s sleep in my tiny trailer.

Woke up in Bismarck, ND to high winds and rain, so I decided to haunt the local Starbucks and Barnes & Noble to take advantage of wi-fi and downtime so I could do some photo editing and reading. It was actually a nice break from driving!

Upon waking up at my campsite, I discovered that another fundraising meal was in store — pancake breakfast. How could I sit and eat my usual oatmeal while the delicious smell of pancakes and bacon wafted through my campsite? Well, I couldn’t. I paid my $3, had breakfast and left Bemidji, heading down through Itasca State Park, which was nice. I took a short hike, and then continued on the road to North Dakota. For some reason, I was feeling done with Minnesota. Don’t get me wrong, it’s pleasant. Lots of pines and birches. And they’re not kidding about the “10,000 Lakes” thing either — there seemed to be a lake every mile or so. I guess it would have been more interesting to me photographically in another month when the foliage is turning. But as it was, I was kind of anxious to get to North Dakota and the first National Park on my trip. I did a lot of driving that day, and ended up stopping for the night in Bismarck, ND. On a full day of driving, I am really appreciating my new satellite radio (thanks, Jamie!). FYI, Love and Rockets’ version of “Ball of Confusion” is a really good song for waking you up when you’re getting a little weary of the road.

Most of my day was spent driving from Superior, Wisconsin to Bemidji, Minnesota. I found an awesome junkyard along the way, and a friendly guy working there welcomed me in and showed me a car with a tree trunk growing right through the grill. I spent the better part of two hours shooting pictures there — yes, I am a nut. But I swear, the midwest has the best old junk cars! Packards and Nashes and Studebakers, oh my!

A few junkyard shots:

Along the way, I also stopped a few times to capture some interesting little scenes from the highway, like this:

In the evening, I arrived at Bemidji and stayed at the KOA there. My site was right next to the cookhouse (oops, or is that Kookhouse), where they were having a weekly hot dog cookout benefit for a local kids with cancer fund. Yay for cheap dinner, especially in the name of a good cause! I got to check out Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox while in town, too.

I departed Munising, MI, and headed west into Wisconsin. Along the way, I encountered an unexpected sight. A dinosaur, grinning happily and holding a fishing rod and a very large silver fish, over a pond alongside the road. I had discovered Lakenenland. A sign greeted me:

Welcome
See 60+ sculptures I’ve made from Scrap Iron along a trail through the woods. That’s it!

Walk or Drive thru open 24/7 and it’s Free. Have fun! Thanks Tom

Well, you don’t have to invite me twice. I took the loop drive through the sculpture park, and must admit, it’s pretty impressive if only for the sheer volume of work. And clearly the artist/metalworker has skills. Apparently, there are forces in the local township who do not appreciate Lakenenland, so many of the figures scattered along the trails have speech bubbles that say various things about the “township man.” For instance, the large green alligator constructed from rebar says, “I want that township man for lunch! Yum Yum.” I took photos of many of the pieces in the park, so I’ll be sure to add some to my Flickr pages.

I then continued along Rt 2 and encountered the aptly named Da Yoopers Tourist Trap. I wandered around a little bit, but the thing that sticks with me most was the overheard encounter between a 30-something mom and her daughter, a tiny blond doll-faced girl who could not have been older than three:

Mom: Ooh, look at that big rifle! What do you think she’s called? Or he. Because I guess guns are all boys.
Girl: But guns don’t have penises or vaginas, so they can’t be a boy or a girl.

Ah, out of the mouths of babes.

So anyway, back on the road, I thought I might visit the Apostle Islands, but I would have gotten there too late in the day to take one of the boat tours, which I believe is the best way to experience the area, so I continued on to Superior, WI, where I planned to spend the night. Just one problem: I got turned around in some highway construction and ended up in Duluth, just across the river, where for some strange reason the most appealing hotel I found was sold out. So back across the river I went to Superior and checked myself into a Days Inn for my first non-camper night of the trip. By that point, it was late and I was tired, so I ordered some Chinese food and crashed for the night.

Since I haven’t exactly been forthcoming with details, I thought I’d share a brief overview of the first week of my trip…

Day 1
Drove 504 miles from home to Maumee Bay State Park near Toledo, OH. I was anxious to get to the parts of the country I had not visited before, so I pretty much breezed through PA and OH. Camped at Maumee Bay SP, but I got there pretty late, so I didn’t get to see any of the park — just ate dinner and spent my first night in my tiny camper!

Day 2
Drove through the rain from the Toledo area to Empire, Michigan. There were lots of farm markets on Michigan Hwy 31, and it was tempting to stop at all of them, but I settled for one near Kalkaska. In addition to some good fruit for snacking, on impulse I picked up an avocado, and after a couple of days of ripening, it was excellent!

Along the road to Empire, I passed some beautiful sunflower fields:

I had enough time when I got to the Empire area in the evening to check out the Betsie Point Lighthouse in time for a beautiful but windy sunset. My first choice campground (Platte River Campground) was booked up, so I found another campground that initially looked a little sketchy but turned out to be fine.

Late afternoon waves on Lake Michigan near the Betsie Point Lighthouse

Day 3
Explored the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Hiked the Cottonwood Trail and Dunes and walked along a few of the beaches, including the one near my new campground at Platte River.

Some images from Sleeping Bear Dunes:

Early Morning Waves


Sky and Sandbar


Frankfort Lighthouse


Watch Your Step! 450 Foot Drop to Lake Michigan

Day 4
Drove north in Michigan via the “Tunnel of Trees” route to St. Ignace. It’s the smaller, less touristy gateway (compared to Mackinaw City) to Mackinac Island, and I found a campsite at the KOA campground there. Later on I realized that nearby Straits State Park had a very nice campground, too, but I was happy with my choice. Since most of my camping in past years has been of the tent or backpacking variety, I had a bit of campground snobbery. I never thought it was “real” camping if you stayed in a place that had any kind of facilities. But for this length and type of trip, I gotta say, the KOA-type places suit me just fine. Once you get beyond the annoying need to spell everything that would normally start with a “C” with a “K,” the KOA Kampgrounds are generally klean, friendly, and well-appointed. Plus they have wi-fi.

This was the evening I had the aforementioned pastie at Bessie’s. On my way back to the “kampground,” I stopped at a curio shop that had grabbed my attention on the road earlier. To call it a just a curio shop is a bit misleading, perhaps. It’s a big lighthouse-looking building with a tower and a sprawling store beneath it, including one side that looks like a teepee. The exterior of the main entranceway is covered in hundreds of seashells embedded in concrete. Of course I had to stop to get some pictures, even though the light was fading and the store was closing. Well, a very nice lady named Rae who I believe owns the place told me to come on in even though it was past closing time, and we chatted for a while and exchanged travel stories. Eventually, more customers came in, who actually made some purchases, so I guess my keeping her doors open worked out pretty well for her.

With the sky darkening, I made another stop, to photograph the cool retro neon sign for the Four Star Motel, and the owner, Skip, came out to see if I needed anything. We got to talking as well. Turns out he’s deeply into meditation and hatha yoga — he has a yogi and everything. We had a great conversation about life and death, music and spirituality, art, etc. So I must say, I had a warm welcome to Michigan from the locals!

The neon sign at Four Star Motel:

Day 5
Took the ferry from St. Ignace to Mackinac Island. It really is a charming place once you get past the need for a fudge shop on every corner (you think I’m kidding). No cars are allowed on the island, so to get around, you either walk, ride a bike, or ride a horse or horse-driven carriage. Even deliveries are made by horse carriage. The only downside is that sometimes it smells a bit too much like the state fair, but I suppose that’s a small price to pay for a combustion-engine-free environment.

I wandered around on foot for a while and visited the butterfly house, which was a big highlight for me, since I love to photograph butterflies. I spent quite a while there, and met a very nice lady named Pat, who I’m now in touch with on Flickr. She’s very into wildlife photography, something I wish I had more patience for. If and when I ever take a good photo of a wild creature, it’s more likely because of luck than patience.

A few of my favorites from the butterfly house:

Green on Green


Orange Beauty


Eye

After having some lunch while looking out over the water, I rented a bike and rode around the perimeter of the island, and then walked around up Fort Hill, but unfortunately got to the Fort too late for the last admittance. Ate dinner at Millie’s on Main, which surprisingly included a musical backdrop of college radio hits from the 80s, so I was entertained by Peter Murphy and the Cure. Who would have expected that? I stayed on the island until the sun was going down, and took the ferry back to St. Ignace.

Day 6
Had a pancake breakfast at Bentley’s Cafe and drove north, heading toward Sault Ste Marie. I wanted to see if I could check out any big ships coming through the Soo Locks, but no such luck. The schedule showed that there wouldn’t be another ship for about four hours, and I didn’t want to hang around town that long. Still, it was cool to see the Locks, and the weather was turning rainy and windy again, so (after musing on how it is that “Sault” “Sue” “Soo” and “Sioux” are all pronounced the same) I continued on to Munising, MI. I was hoping to camp in one of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore campgrounds, but road construction that restricted access to some parts of the park changed my mind. I found the Wandering Wheels campground, which was a pleasant place to stay. I got to check out Miner’s Beach just in time for some nice early evening light, and lots of wind.

Day 7
Explored Pictured Rocks. I took my time in hiking the Chapel Rock trail, a hike of about 10+ miles. I met some very nice people along the trail, and we took each other’s pictures, so there is photographic evidence on my camera that I was actually in at least one place on this trip. I’m much more comfortable behind a camera than in front of it.

My favorite part of the trail was the Mosquito River point. Fortunately, the name did not prove to be apt at the time of my visit (although I heard that others have not been so lucky). There are some amazing rock formations and patterns to be explored at this part of the shore. Unfortunately, I had to watch my time, since I had reserved a spot on a sunset boat tour of the park. If you ever visit this area, take note that seeing it by water is the way to go. Either take a tour, charter a boat, or paddle out there yourself. This is the best way to see the beautiful rock cliffs that give this park its name. At times I was reminded of places in the desert southwest like Capitol Reef that have amazing desert varnishes streaking the cliff faces. The last part of the boat ride back to Munising was chilly but totally worth it. What a great day!

Scenes from Pictured Rocks:

Coast from Mosquito Point


Pictured Rock Patterns


Arch Glow


Pictured Rocks at Sunset

So, that was my first week! If you’re still reading after all that, I trust I didn’t totally bore you with details! More to come later.