The first few days

We’re off. Sunday morning, 9am, and we are on the road. The bookend days for this Alaskan trip were June 18 and August 27^th.  Yesterday (June 18) was the 1^st birthday party for our grandson Jax and August 27^th will be our granddaughter Myna’s 1^st birthday party. That gives us about nine weeks to reach Alaska and see the sights on our bucket list.

Ever hear of the 330 rule? It’s easy to keep going down the highway too long so some campers try to stick to a rule to stop for the evening after 330 miles or 3:30 in the afternoon. The obvious reason is simply not to over-do the driving...slow down and enjoy the trip. As they say, rules are meant to be broken and we will hightail it westbound at least until we get past some of the midwest scenery that we are used to seeing.

The first day we pounded out a little over 700 miles across Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and a good chunk of Minnesota. Traffic through Chicago and Minneapolis was tough but glad to get those towns behind us on Sunday instead of battling the weekday fiasco. Anyway, we landed at a campground in Clearwater, MN.

A week or two before we left I contacted a friend who I'd worked with and we planned a quick stop. Vicki lives near Grand Forks and she invited us to stop by her gorgeous home for lunch. Thanks Vicki, it was a great lunch and it was wonderful to catch up on what’s happening in our lives.

After a couple hour layover, we jumped in our little tin can and headed west on US Hwy 2. OK, a short geography lesson. There is a short portion of U.S. Route 2 that goes between Rouses Point, N.Y. to Houlton, MA at the Canadian border. The longer portion crosses the northern portion of the lower 48 from St. Ignace, MI to Everett, WA. A distance of almost 1,800 miles. The route took us past farms with cattle, lots of corn, soybeans and wheat. Even a canola. Ever see canola grow? It has a bright yellow flower and we caught it at a great time. Huge fields of yellow flowers. Oh, and we saw the sugar beet museum. The Red River Valley of Minnesota and North Dakota has lots of sugar beets. I have a soft spot for sugar beets since it was one of the first crops I worked with when I started my career with BASF. 25 tons of beets per acre at 18% sugar content makes a lot of sugar cubes!!!

Some of the best rest area facilities...

Be sure to read the rest area rules.

I wonder if the folks across the Dakota’s and Montana ever get used to wind. Dang, 30 MPH head winds sure do cut down on fuel mileage. We can only hope mother nature gives us a nice tail wind on our way home in a few weeks. 

Remember the 330 rule? Busted it again, but it was OK because on Thursday morning we entered Glacier National Park and snagged a first-come-first-served camp site in St. Mary’s campground.  THAT is where our Alaska trip gets the official start!