Ten States


Maine, New Hampshire,Massachusetts
I started Sunday at 8.30am from Campobello. 3hrs later I was just south of Bangor,ME I had a flat tire on the trailer. Good thing was I stopped before it started burning and flying away in pieces. A call to the CAA turned out useless as a Premier RV-membership does not cover a cargo trailer!! But, I managed to fix everything myself. Took off the wheel, unhitched the trailer (I was in a rest area) and found an open tire shop just a few km back to Bangor. 150 Dollars later, I was back and put the tire back on. The delay was a mere 2 hours.


Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana
Driving in the East can best be compared to eating sphagettis. There are hundreds of roads, which on the GPS-screen sure look like a bunch of sphagetti draped on a plate.  Without the GPS I would have been lost and probably been ending up somewhere down in Florida. Also the traffic, man, that is something else. How long ago that I got myself in a Stop-and-Go? I don't remember. It seemd like millions of people were underway in their vehicle and that was the day BEFORE Columbus Day! But the weather was simply phenomenal. Days high was 28C.
Pennsylvania was shrouded in full autumn colours. A true feast for my old eyes.


I kept driving long into the dark hours, then stopped and curled up in the trailer. I made it into Pennsylvania. Next day I started very early before sunrise. Pennsylvania, Ohio, then Indiana. Reaching Elkhart after dark, I spent a night in a Walmart parking lot. Got something which looked like food from Walmart, after that I went to the sleeping compartment in the rear.


Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota
Today's drive was a long one, I think the trip-teller hit the 3500km today. A little bit of showers, than sunshine and a cloudless sky when going through Minnesota. I passed through the last toll road obstacle as well. Must admit I lost the count somewhere in Indiana, but looking into my wallet there are at least a hundred dollars gone missing. :-))


FARGO,North Dakota
Tonight will not be spent in the trailer as the driver needs a clean-up and a full night of sleep. When looking for that Motel 6 I accidentally bypassed it (what was I doing??) and ran myself into a tight spot with no turn-around. Why can't they put up signs with f.ex. NOT OUTLET or NO TRAILERS?  Well, I backed up again and around a tight curve until I eyed a spot (the driveway of a restaurant) where I could turn. Sometimes it pays off to have a few years of experience with trailer driving.


Anyway, I am done. Good night folks. Tomorrow's post will be from Underwood,North Dakota. And yes, i phoned home and all was well.

Duluth and beyond

May 25



A faint light filters through the blinds. Is it morning already? I pull out my watch from under the covers. It is just a quarter past five!! Central Daylight Time it is! Gotto get used to that. 
I could get up and turn on the boiler ....yep lets do it.  A trip to the John and then back to bed. 


Next time I open my eyes it's 6am. We planned to get out early today, so there is no further excuse.
I turn on the furnace too, it's a bit chilly in here. 
Next thing is the coffee pot. Two rolls into the oven, then I can check on my emails. Our Verizon MIFI is working out here, which is pretty surprising given the remote location.


As Bea pops up from the bedroom, the rolls are done and the coffee made. My eyes are still bleary, but the hot coffee helps. 


At 7am we are ready to go. I back out the rig from between the trees and get it down to the Highway.
Traffic is still slow at this hour so I have some time to get the bus up to speed.


Minnesota is beautiful. Endless woods and many, many blue lakes. We stopped at Leech Lake. That lake is huge!! 

Stopping at Leech Lake, Minnesota

At the town of Walker, Hwy 34 comes to an end and we go on Hwy 200, which is in bad conditions. One place road work was going on. Apparently they are putting drain pipes under the road, anyway the passage left to traffic is so narrow and the edges so soft that I am fearing the bus will go over the edge.

yes - these are Dandelions

Finally Hwy 200 comes to an end as well and we turn onto Hwy 2 which leads to the City of Duluth and beyond into Wisconsin. When stopping for a break I am inspecting the bus tires. I have been watching them for a while and getting increasingly worried, especially about the front tires. They show ugly cracks and could delaminate any time. I decide that I have to replace them at first chance.

Bridge from Duluth to Superior

Duluth is an ugly industrial city but a major harbor on lake Superior. The Hwy 2 bridge is closed so we have to go farther into town to go over the Hwy 53 bridge, which gets us into the City of Superior. 

Old warehouse at the harbor

at the tire-shop

When getting off the ramp down from the bridge I see a tire shop down by the harbor. We pull in and ask for service. Turns out they have my big 22.5 Michelins in stock. So we get it done and 90 minutes later we leave with 2 new tires but with 1100 Dollars less in our account. OUCH!!


We are now in Wisconsin. Wisconsin's motto is "The Dairy State", hinting about the major agricultural businesses, the dairy farms. We see a lot more farmland than in Minnesota, but also far-stretched swamp-lands appear along the road. 
It takes only 2 hours to cross the northern part of the state and suddenly we are in Michigan. We notice that fuel prices are much higher than in Wisconsin. Is the state of Michigan more tax- greedy than their neighbors? 


Anyway, east of Bessemer we see a Campground on the left side of the road. Since the day has been a long one we could use a good rest and pull in.


The office is in the main house and inside I meet a lady whose accent seems known to me. So I ask her about it and yes, my feeling was right. She is from the former German city of Danzig (today:Gdansk Poland) Our further conversation is in German mixed in with some English. Inge has left Germany in 1957 and from the walls look the faces of her beautiful daughter and grand kids.


Inge shows us our spot and drives ahead with her golf cart. We park on the huge lawn beside an electric outlet. 
Now we can relax and have another delicious supper.


After supper Bea goes out to catch a few pics from spring flowers. How do you like them?

Read more tomorrow: Back into Canada

A new Day

May 24


As usual, we are up early with breakfast at 7am. We clear up the rig and say our Good Bye's to our friends.

A typical North Dakota Highway 83 with NO traffic. Where is everybody?

It is a cold morning with an even colder wind out of the North-East. The sky is dark grey as we make it out of Underwood and onto Hwy 83 south towards Bismarck.


At Bismarck we are entering the I-94 East and are rolling with 60mph East towards Fargo. Fargo is located right on the border to Minnesota and is quite an important center for North Dakota and western Minnesota.


East of Moorhead we change Highways and go onto Hwy 10. We are in MINNESOTA now, and follow that road until we get to Detroit Lakes. Here we go to the smaller Hwy 34 East. We are now leaving the wide open fields and are getting into more wooded areas. At 4pm we start looking for a place to spend the night. We see many lakes and side roads but no signs pointing to RV-parks. Then a CAMPING sign pops up along the highway and I turn onto the small road north. As we go up that road it appears that there is no camping facilities here. When, after 5 miles the end of pavement is near, we have gotten enough and turn onto a graveled side road to turn around. A truck comes up behind the bus and I get out to ask the driver for directions. The older gentleman has never heard about a campground in this area and thus is of no help. I am wondering what's the purpose of that CAMPING sign at the Highway.


Anyway, we get back to the Hwy 34 and continue eastwards. As we drive we see several more of these CAMPING signs. They are directed towards small side roads which disappear in the woods. We do not take any more chances on them and slowly roll on.


Finally, we see, east of the Hamlet of Snellman, a little rest area high up above the road. I brake up and hesitate. Should I go in here or is it a trap I can't get out of again?
I decide to explore the place by foot and discover an outlet on the other side allowing an exit. So I pull up and park the rig between mighty pine trees. 


Not too bad a place - and free of charge it is too.

High up between the pines in Minnesota

We celebrate the day with juicy pork chops barbecued "to perfection", served with fresh corn and peas. We also have dessert today - a rhubarb cake made by our friends in North Dakota.  


I just wish every day would end like that.

Our route so far -- from Cold Lake into Northern Minnesota

Read more tomorrow: Duluth and beyond