2. Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana

Day 6 - Tuesday, July 25, 2000

Went to sleep quite early last night - even though we had good TV reception. Slept well, and the poodles kept their peace until about 6:30 AM. The temperature during the night dropped to 69F and stayed in the mid-seventies for most of the day.

We were on the road by 8:15 AM, headed for Duluth, MN on US 2. Didn't spend much time on Duluth - took SR 61 north to get out of town. It's supposed to be one of the most scenic roads in Minnesota - oh well, as the saying goes "among the blind, the one-eyed is king."

One very worthwhile stop is Split Rock Lighthouse (state park)

Picked up SR 1 and headed inland to Finlandia, Isabella, and Ely. The International Wolf Center at Ely definitely is worth a visit - one can learn a lot about wolves in under an hour. Ely seems to be a gateway town for the north country - lots of outfitters, artsy-crafty restaurants and gift shops, and bait and tackle stores.

Next - hours on SR 1. Somewhat unspoiled, very little traffic, monotonous to the point of sleep-inducing boredom. Partly cloudy skies turned dark, then rain and thunderstorms. Pouring rain and storm/tornado warnings by the time we got to the Lake Bemidji State Park - our stop for the night.

Set up in the rain. The $18.50 site is quite level and has picnic table, fire ring, and electricity. The bathhouse looks very clean and modern.

Because of the inclement weather, spent the evening in the van, catching up on the journal and watching TV. Was on the road for 8 1/4 hours, drove 325 miles. Bough gasoline north of Duluth for $1.359/gal and averaged 16.9 mpg on the last tank.

Day 7 - Wednesday, July 26, 2000

The weather cleared up during the night, but morning fog lingered until around 11 AM. Decided to change the routing from scenic byways (in Minnesota, this means lots and lots of lakes separated by birch tree forests) to staying on US 71 to Park Rapids, SR 34 to Osage and Detroit Lakes, and then US 10 to Fargo, ND.

If your travels should ever take you to Fargo, be sure to visit the Welcome Center - the facilities are spotless, they are planning to become modem-friendly, and the staff is made up of the most helpful ladies you'll encounter anywhere. I guess they know that 350+ miles of sheer boredom await the westbound traveler on I 94 - and they focus on the tail end, Medora and the Theodore Roosevelt National Park (the Badlands of North Dakota.)

Medora was founded in 1883 by the Marquis de Mores, a wealthy French nobleman who planned to revolutionize the meatpacking industry by slaughtering cattle on the range rather than shipping the live animals to eastern slaughterhouses. Although the venture failed, reminders of his short-lived empire remain in the town he named for his wife.

The Badlands, a natural wildlife preserve, abounds with birds, pronghorns, bighorn sheep, coyotes and bison. We saw several wild horses and large buffalo herds - the buffalos certainly were bigger, and the herds larger, than what we had seen in Yellowstone NP last year.

Spent the night at the Medora campground - owned and operated by the county. The sites are very close together but quite level. $13 without hook-ups. The bathhouse doesn't look like much, but it was clean and the hot water was plentiful. Heavy railroad traffic nearby goes on all night.

Drove 520 miles, including the very scenic park loop road, and was on the road for 9 3/4 hours. Bought gas in Minnesota at $1.529/gal and averaged 16.5 mpg on the last tank.

Day 8 - Thursday, July 27, 2000

Driving through Montana is not exactly an exciting exploration of scenic roads. Stayed on I 94 as far as Glendive, then took SR 200S to Circle, SR 200 to SR 24, visited Fort Peck and the lake, then connected with US 2 at Glasgow. Essentially flat countryside, wheat farms, and the occasional railroad town.

One such town, Havre, has quite a history as a place that the arm of the law didn't reach for a long time. A major fire that levelled much of the town down to the basements, plus summer temperatures regularly above 100F, plus winter temperatures of around minus 30F - all these factors combined to move city life below ground. A guided walking tour takes about an hour and makes for a reasonably pleasant interruption of a long drive. Highlights along the tour include 17 exhibits, including a Chinese laundry, post office, bordello, meat market, bakery, opium den, barber shop and saloon. During prohibition, Havre was, of course, actively involved in bootlegging.

But what made the day memorable was that for the first time in my travels I got kicked out of a campground. Pulled into the Lewis and Clark campground in Shelby, MT and was confronted by eight (I counted them) signs proclaiming that because of the failures of previous visitors with pets, there now was a $2 pet charge for dogs. I thought it was sort of silly to charge me for the sins of others, but OK. Two poodles, $4.00. "Wait a minute," I said logically, "the signs say '$2 for dogs' - so it should be $2, regardless of whether I have one or ten dogs." No deal, and I paid four bucks extra. Then I committed the major crime of parking the van so that the right side doors would open up to the picnic table rather than to the road. This brought the campground owner to the site immediately and I was ordered to turn the van 180 degrees. When I questioned the wisdom and practicality of the layout, I was invited to go back to the office and get a refund. So I did and got my $23 back, drove another 2/10th of a mile, and pulled into the Lake Shel-oole Shelby, MT city park. $12 for a very clean and level site with water and electricity. Clean bathhouse with a good supply of hot water.

Talked with some fellow campers and discovered that eight out of the ten had all been kicked out (or refused a site) at Lewis and Clark Campground - one for such a major infringement as requesting an electric site on which to put up a tent.

Filled up the tank twice, am getting very poor milage - 13.6 mpg to 15.5 mpg. Montana gas prices seem to be between $1.639 and $ 1.759/gal. Encountered very strong headwinds, especially in the afternoon, and also kept the speedometer pretty much around 80 mph. Drove 520 miles.

Next or trip index