Thursday Aug 18, 2022 - Today was our last border crossing. It's always something, and today it was our basil that we've had with us for the last month and a half. The border agent acted like he might get "the horticulturist" but then said he'd let us go. It was only a 3 hour drive to Glacier NP and I was so sad to cross the border and have to put away the Milepost which has been sitting on my lap since we crossed into Canada for the first time on June 1. What a great book, with so much info. It told us EVERYTHING we needed. I was skeptical about using it at first, but we spent so much time without service that it was really needed for the trip. Can't wait to see what updated version I will be buying for our next trip to Alaska! We decided we wanted to drive the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier. If you want to drive it between 6AM to 4PM you need an advanced ticket. Since we didn't know when we'd be getting to Glacier we decided we'd just plan to drive the road after 4:00. It was a beautiful drive, but just a little underwhelming after what we've seen recently with Jasper/Lake Louise and the Icefields. I'm excited that Tiny is able to do the drive (your vehicle has to be under 21 feet and less than 8 feet wide, including side view mirrors). After we reached the other side of Glacier we started our drive to Livingston, MT to visit with my cousin Jerry. We stayed the night at a Walmart in Polson, MT at the base of Flathead Lake. What a beautiful drive along Flathead!
I'm going to miss my best friend
lots of farmland in Alberta
My favorite "castle cookies" are on sale at Walmart. I can only find this brand in Canada.
The views south of Calgary
last border crossing
Views from the Going-to-the-Sun road
Logan Pass Visitor Center. Glacier NP is much more crowded in Aug than in May last time we were here!
driving right by the weeping wall
the views were pretty, but a little bit hazy from a fire in the area
We stopped near Lake McDonald for dinner (leftover salmon)
Lake McDonald
We got to Flathead Lake at sunset
Polson Walmart for the night
views of Flathead lake from the parking lot
Friday, Aug 19, 2022 - It was a 4.5 hr drive from Polson to Livingston, MT where my cousin Jerry lives. We stopped there for a quick visit with him and his wife Nina and their daughter Brandie. Last time we were in Livingston they were working on their new house, so we were happy to get to see the finished product. After pizza dinner and catching up with them we drove another hour and a half to Laurel MT to our third night in a row at a Walmart. We had stopped at a campground on the way, which was completely full, since it is a Friday night in August. Walmarts always work in a pinch.
we need to clean the bugs from the windshield, my pics from the car look all smudgy, but love the MT mountains
Jerry & Nina
the mountains on the way out of Livingston
Saturday Aug 20, 2022 - This morning we celebrated Kev's birthday with the kids. We all made brunch over a zoom call and caught up. We found a nice little park in Laurel, on the Yellowstone River, so we could enjoy the views while we had breakfast with everyone. After brunch we drove 4.5 hours to Devils Tower. We weren't sure we would be able to find a campsite inside the monument since it's the weekend but thought we'd try anyway. Luckily for us Belle Fourche River Campground had lots of spots available, with great views of Devils Tower.
brunch and carrot cake for Kev's b-day
our campsite at Belle Fourche River
view for the night
a sunset walk
Sunday August 21, 2022 - From Devil's Tower it's only an hour drive to Sturgis, since we've driven by so many times we thought that today we'd stop and walk around town and grab lunch. The motorcycle rally was almost 2 weeks ago, so it was a pretty sleepy little town, full of bars and t-shirt shops. Next it was a stop at Wall Drug (we hadn't been there since our SD trip with the girls 18 or so years ago). And then it was a short drive to one of our favorite spots to camp, right outside the Pinnacles Entrance to the Badlands NP on "the Wall". We actually camped here exactly one year ago, on our way to California for Elaine & Ian's wedding.
It's a 3 mile round trip hike to the monument, so we decided to hike it before we head out
We could see Tiny from our hike
We're getting close
Outside the campground we found The Wind Circle Sculpture by Japanese artist Junkyu Muto
The Knuckle Saloon
At least he's not ending up in jail like my wheel of misfortune
downtown Sturgis
Wall Drug
Free ice water, which Wall Drug advertises for miles
Tonight's view
Kevin’s drone video of our view
Monday Aug 22, 2022 - We drove through the Badlands and stopped for a quick walk on the Castle Trail. We started the walk thinking we would walk for an hour and then an hour on the way back, but it was really really hot, so we only did an hour total walk. Tonight is our last night on this trip when we're not sleeping in someone's driveway, so I didn't want our last night to be in a parking lot. I found a wild camping spot on iOverlander that was 6 hrs from the Badlands. It was about a half an hour off the highway, but I decided it was worth it for our last night. As we were driving to the spot a few miles in, the road turned to gravel and we had 7 miles of gravel until we got there. Luckily the bad road didn't deter us, since we've seen a lot of gravel roads on the trip. The camping spot was great and we enjoyed hanging out next to the little lake all evening watching the swallows.
We did an hour hike on the Castle Trail
it was sunny and hot
Our campsite for the night
the spot was outside of Pisgah, Iowa on state land, not a campground but there was room for a few campers. As we went to bed, another car drove up and shared the spot with us.
Tacos for dinner
sunset over the lake
Tuesday, Aug 23, 2022 - Today it was a 4 hour drive to Jim & Jeanene's in Overland Park, KS. We're lucky enough to get to see them a third time this year! We went out to dinner with their daughter Michelle and then spent the evening playing games, drinking margaritas and eating birthday cake (Jeanene remembered that Kevin's b-day is tomorrow!) It was very untypical for me, but I didn't take ANY pics from our fun evening with the Brakes.
the morning view
Iowa corn
Wednesday Aug 24, 2022 - We were happy that we got to meet Jim & Jeanene's almost 1 yr old grandson, Taron before we left them to drive the 3 yrs to Springfield, MO. It seemed like the perfect spot to be for Kevin's actual birthday, since he shares his birthday with Aunt Gerry & Uncle Gene's anniversary. Aunt Gerry made a delicious dinner (which included birthday cupcakes...wow is Kevin spoiled, I think he's been celebrating this birthday for months) We had a really great evening with G & G reminiscing about this crazy wonderful trip. I'm looking forward to doing that every time we see them. We are beyond grateful that we were able to take this trip with them...how lucky are we? We loved getting to see their favorite spots and it was fun to be able to add some new spots to their favorites.
A stop for lunch and a walk on the Katy Trail in MO
Picnic at the start of the Katy Trail in Clinton, MO
Reunited! Cheers to our GREAT adventure!
Happy Birthday cupcakes
Looks just like him
Mirabelle is happy to be home
Tiny and Lep are reunited
Good byes...until our next trip??
Friday Aug 26, 2022 - We're headed to our last stop on the trip...a few days in the country with Bob and Deb and Chuck
Deb's got lots of tomatoes and Kevin is really happy about that
fishing on the Bourbeuse
Bass NOT salmon
Casey's here for the weekend
A visit to Onondaga Cave
the "lily pads"
Deb's garden at sunset
