Sep 2008

We’re back ! Not just on the blog, but back in the Lower 48. It’s really nice to be “home” where the main roads are paved, and believe it or not, the prices are lower on nearly everything!

In Edmonton, Alberta we met up with some friends we had made while in Las Vegas last March. Don and Diane also ride so we spent the day doing a circle tour of Edmonton on the bikes. It is a very busy, growing city. Construction is everywhere and the economy is strong. Wages are high but so is the cost of everything. The second day we were on our own so we did some sightseeing. We went to the West Edmonton Mall, the largest in the world. It has 800 stores, 100 restaurants, an indoor water park, an ice rink an amusement park, and 2 hotels! Chris found a place to try out a Segway and discovered they are not as easy as they look!

We then headed south through Calgary on a direct line to get back in the US ASAP. We wanted to be able to use the cell phones again, access the camping networks and enjoy some lower prices. Alberta is mostly rolling plains with all the wheat fields you would ever want to see.
The weather was improving and the driving was finally back on some smooth roads.

We crossed the border at Sweetgrass, Montana and were pulled out to answer a survey and have our fruit checked for place of origin. Took about 15 minutes and no problems. From there it was smooth sailing across Montana, Wyoming and into South Dakota. And we did sometimes "sail" - the wind was unrelenting as you can see from the trees!

The terrain has progressed from mountains (our last view of snow-covered caps) to flat plains that stretch seemingly forever.

There is a good reason The Great Plains have that name. At times, it seems that you can see forever.
It must have been daunting to the pioneers crossing hostile land and not being able to see any end, then to come to the Rocky Mountains! At this point we also began to notice the “presence of man”, even in what we used to think of the “boonies”!

Coming into Rapid City the truck’s temperature gauge gave a little blip toward hot and we could smell antifreeze. YIKES! We checked the fluid level several times but could not see any problem. However, being somewhat gun-shy at this point, we dropped the trailer in the campground and headed for the Ford Dealer so they could look at it and run some diagnostics the next day.

We used that day to see Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Deadwood and Sturgis on the bikes.
When we went to pick up the truck that evening, we found out they had replaced the radiator yet again! (Our 3rd replacement) They said it had a “crimp” in it, causing a leak. The next morning, we were back on the road. (PHEW)

About the time we got to Wisconsin today we realized that the trees were “normal size” again and there was grass growing spontaneously along the road. Tonight we’re in a beautiful campground with those tall trees all around us, and lots of families enjoying the holiday weekend. It feels like what we think of as home.

We plan to be back in Columbus shortly after Labor Day. This will culminate a year- long 21,000 mile trip during which we spent time in 21 states, 3 Canadian provinces, saw many things we had only read about and some things we never did figure out! Along the way we met some extraordinary people, traveled with wonderful new friends, and had some “very interesting” adventures. We learned a lot about the US and Canada, and a lot about ourselves. We hope you enjoyed our story and pictures. All in all it was a hell of a ride!