Across the Plains to the Alaska Highway

This last leg before the great adventure, the Alaska Highway, took us from central Minnesota through North Dakota, across the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, and finally to Dawson Creek in Alberta, the location of mile 0 of the Alaska Highway. In order to reserve more time for travelling  the Alaska

Highway, we made the entire 1,417 miles (2.270 km) in four days, with overnight stops in Devils Lake (North Dakota), Saskatoon (Saskatchewan), and Edmonton (Alberta). Although almost all of the topography is pretty flat, the landscape was quite interesting and much less boring than we expected. It was also much greener than what we experienced when we crossed the Great Plains in Kansas and Texas two years ago.



 

In Grand Forks, ND, we had to buy four new tires for our trailer.

We stayed in Devils Lake State Park, one of the most beautiful campgrounds with large and very private campsites in beautiful nature.


Devils Lake in North Dakota

Another thing we didn't expect was the large amount of canola fields in North Dakota. They were all in full bloom at this time of the year.

 

 Another kind of greetings from the North: Huge mosquito swarms

A foretaste of what to expect in Alaska?

 

The very next day we bought a mosquito tent - we want to be prepared for Alaska!

  

 

USA-Canada border control

 

Liberal highway transport regulations in Canada

A fully assembled chemical plant!



Entering Edmonton - not very welcoming

 

 

 

Buffalo herds east of Edmonton



 

 The landscape in Saskatchewan and Alberta was dominated by canola too -  fields of yellow as far as one could see. Thanks to biodiesel!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi

From Mackinac Island and Lake Huron, our trip led us further west across Wisconsin and along the Lakes Michigan and Superior, and from there across Minnesota to the headwaters of the Mississippi.



Summer fun at our campground in Eagle River, Wisconsin





Our second Wisconsin campground, in Iron River, close to Lake Superior

Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world (by surface area; by total water volume surpassed only by the Aral lake in Siberia). The combined water volume of the 4 other Great Lakes (Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario) is less than 75% of Lake Superior!

Here, we took a 3 hour boat cruise across the Apostle Islands, a group of 21 islands in the southwestern corner of Lake Superior that are administered by the National Park Service as a National Seashore.
One of the islands, Devil Island, consists of so extremely soft and brittle sedimentary rock that wind and water have been able to erode huge caves and caverns just above the water level

Sunset over one of the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior

Located in the southwestern corner of Lake Superior is Duluth, the westernmost seaport accessible for oceangoing vessels. 2,300 miles away from the Atlantic ocean, Duluth serves as a major freight hub, connecting America's Midwest to the East Coast.

Going west from Duluth across northern Minnesota, we crossed the upper Mississippi for the first time.

The Mississippi, about 80 miles downstream from its headwaters

Our next overnight stop was in a beautiful campground in Lake Itasca State Park. The water exiting this lake is defined as the headwaters of the Mississippi.

We had lots of fun renting three kayaks and paddling across the lake to the actual headwaters.

Not many people can say that they walked across the Mississippi!


 

Mackinac Island, Michigan

Now with Silke on board, or first destination was Mackinac Island, located close to the strait that connects Lake Michigan with Lake Huron and divides Michigan's Upper Peninsula from the Lower Peninsula. This small island has been a popular tourist attraction since the second half of the 19. century. Almost all of it is protected as a National Historic Landmark and as a State Park. Since 1898, all motor vehicles (except emergency vehicles) are strictly prohibited - also for the locals. All transportation is by bicycle or horse carriage.
Since 1957, one of the longest suspension bridges in the world connects the upper and the lower peninsulas. It is longer than Golden Gate (measured as the total length of the bridge) and as impressive a view.

Mackinac Bridge, total length 26,370 ft or 8 km

We stayed in a campground in Straits State Park, right across Mackinac island, and spent almost a day on the island. It was a Saturday and the island was packed with tourists, but by walking away from the beaten paths, we still enjoyed the 19. century ambiance, the scenery, and the laid-back way of life that comes with the total lack of cars and motor bikes.



Main Street on Mackinac Island. Notice that the absence of motorized traffic doesn't mean there's no pollution!

Everything is hauled by 1, 2 or 3 HP instead of 375!

USPS at work

Even the new washer/dryer combo comes with 2 HP

 



Mackinac Island also boasts a Victorian-style Grand Hotel, opened in 1887:

The hotel claims to have the longest front porch in the world



A Grand Hotel comes with a decent limo service, of course...



 







On our Way..

The first week is over, and this is my first chance to write a post, because cell phone coverage and internet were non-existent in the national park and state parks we have been camping so far.
Coming from Hilton Head, Ben and I drove past Charlotte straight to Shenandoah National Park, located in the middle of the famous Blue Ridge Mountains, where we stayed for three nights in the Big Meadow Campground, next to the main road that traverses the park from north to south for about 100 miles.

Just 5 minutes away from home, and we're sitting in the traffic. Can't wait to get away!

Big Meadows is located on a high plateau at about 3,500 ft elevation.

We spent the days with hiking in this wonderful national park, and for the first time Ben wasn't complaining, but genuinely enjoying the hikes. He is growing up!

Hiking a foggy morning

They are really blue, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and not just on photo pictures!



Wildlife right next to the campsite. Notice the antenna at the deer's neck? Something we never saw in the West! (Maybe a reminder that Washington, DC, is only 75 miles away?)

From Shenandoah, we drove across Pennsylvania and Ohio towards Detroit.



West Branch State Park in Ohio



Rustic campsite right next to the lake

 

Our campsite right at the shores of Sugarloaf Lake in Waterloo Recreation Area

We are currently staying in the Waterloo Recreation Area east of Ann Arbor, a lovely, relatively large area with over 30 named and countless unnamed lakes and ponds.




Yesterday, we took a plant tour of Ford's truck assembly plant in Dearborn, right at the place where Henry Ford established his legendary manufacturing with the first moving assembly line in the world. Another part of his efficiency-optimizing philosophy was to avoid dependency from suppliers by making everything in his own plant, including rolled, forged, and cast steel starting from ore and coal, and even his own glass for the windows starting from sand. I guess if they had used plastics at the time, he would have build his own oil refinery, polymerization, and molding plants!

Ford Dearborn plant with the old steel manufacturing and processing units in the background

O course, the present-day operation does not include this kind of bottom-up integration anymore - it would be so inefficient that Ford cars would probably cost twice as much as they do. The tour of the assembly line, however, was very interesting, although it comprised only about a third of the overall assembly operations. No photo taking allowed, unfortunately!

Tomorrow, Silke will join us and we'll start the next leg of our trip - across Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota towards South Dakota and into Canada.






 

Just 8 more days...

... and we'll be en route to Alaska! The first leg will bring us from Hilton Head to Detroit, one week and a little under 1,000 miles. I'll be travelling just with Ben, and Silke is going to join us in Detroit a week later. Highlight of this first week is a long weekend in the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Another small, but important detail will be to find a place where we can watch the World Cup final on 7/13!

The next few days will be busy with last preparations, although the technical equipment should be ready. Here are two pics showing some of the additions I mentioned in the previous post.

3 new solar panels on top of the RV. In the background 2 poles with 2 WiFi and 1 cell phone antennas. When in motion, the poles with the antennas are being retracted.

 

Electronic equipment in the baggage compartment: 2,000W inverter (bottom right), 200W inverter (top), solar controller, and 2 breaker boxes

Getting Ready for Alaska

The next big trip is getting closer and closer ... from Hilton Head to Alaska and back. Departure is scheduled for July 9, and return sometime in the second half of September. Over 10,000 miles for the round trip, and because of school and job constraints we'll have no more than about 11 weeks. Here is a map with the route:



Markers: F: Hilton Head, SC; B: Anchorage, AK; E: Calgary, AB/Canada

 We'll take the northern route up and the southern route back.

Needless to say, like 2 years ago, I spent several weeks with preparing our fifth wheel for the trip. The most important one was the installation of 3 large solar panels with a combined nominal power of 700 watts to alleviate the need for electrical power from RV parks. With our large holding tanks for fresh and waste water, we should now be able to live up to 7 consecutive days without the need for campgrounds with hook-ups. I did the entire installation all by myself, including the electric and electronic components, thereby not only saving about $2,000, but also acquiring the knowledge and expertise to accomplish even major repairs without outside help.

Other additions include a second, smaller inverter to power gadgets like laptop chargers or screens, a directional WiFi antenna and a new cell phone antenna, and a new rearview camera that wirelessly transmits views from the back window of the trailer to the in-dash screen of the truck.

Less than 5 weeks to go ... stay tuned!