good thread cant wait for more.

Thanks, Ray!

Well, in an hour or so; starting to close up the house and pack the truck.

As this will be a camping trip, not sure how in-touch I will be.

Wandered along, some on the interstate some on back roads. Now at Ole's Big Game Lounge in Paxton, NE for dinner.

Will go down the road a bit & try to find a campground.

Got pulled over near Keenseburg, CO after I touched the right-hand lane marker. He explained, gave me a verbal to be more careful. No worries, he was right.

A bit apprehensive about this, both traveling during coronas & transition to not working, but I'll figure it out.

Family at the next table has a screaming small child. They're trying at least.

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stayinbg self contained is easy and yu9dont have to go into the koa ones. the state park campgrounds are ususally great and mnay have showers. all the nt. parks have fantastic campgrounds.
you can camp on any nat. forest land free, that has any spot that isnt all natural that isnt posted for no camping.. also they have many campgrounds.
blm land is mostly the same.

the site rv parky has lots of free options. as well as most walmarts, truck stops, cracker barrels, casinos's, etc. all for free for one night.

the only time in years ive stayed at a private one was on the beach at port townsend washington last year. mostly state parks in the pacific northwest and canada.

Quick update. In DSM, visiting with friends. A couple nights in NE state parks and one in IA. I'll try to post pictures later on. Probably what you'd expect, pastoral midwest stuff.

DSM is what. dumb state of minnesota, or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, as per google?

is the corn knee high before the 4th of july

DesMoines

What Mark said. I went to college there and got stuck for several years, and have maintained some friendships.

Depends where you were for the corn. In Eastern CO, it looked pretty sicly. In the midwest where it rains, I'd guess it was knee high or more.

Another quick update. After leaving DSM, mostly followed US 6 and ended up SW of Chicago in Illini State Park.

The next day, contined on US 6 through south Chicago suburbs. Disappointed the route didn't take me by the correctional facility from The Blues Brothers. Then hopped on the interstate, up into Michigan through the rain. Thought it had cleared so got a campsite in Ludington State Park, where it commenced raining.

Not pouring down, just annoying. Quit by morning. Tried to wipe stuff down, but some of it got packed damp.

Continued up to the UP, now in a campground near Iron Mountain. Really annoying pug-like dog in the site next to me, just making constant wheezing sort of noises--not even barking.

Anyway, the damp stuff has been drying, need to go finish setup before dark, have a couple beers, then continue on tomorrow.

Will be in a hotel for a couple days in my hometown, so should have decent enough internet for pictures (though there's nothing really interesting).

OK, now a better update.

The first day, I wandered across Eastern Colorado and Western Nebraska, alternating between interstate and two-lane roads. Eventually found my way to Lake Maloney south of North Platte, NE for the night.



It was a nice little park. A bit noisy; since it was so close to town, people lived out there, and many people were pulling out their boats etc, which meant big pickups coming and going. Not too bad though.

The next morning, I got up and took the back road for a while. Found my way over to Chevyland, USA in Elm Creek.

It's just off I-80; I've seen it for years, meaning to stop (actually did once, but they weren't open that time of year). A metal building with big plate-glass windows; inside are some restored and classic cars.

As I pulled up, an older woman comes out and tells me they're closed.4

"Closed just now, or for good?"

"For good. The owner passed away, and they're figuring out what to do with it."

"Oh, that's too bad. How about if I go look in the windows at least?"

"No, they don't want anyone around at all."

I can't conceive of any way in which my looking through windows could put anything in harm, but I respected what she said and left.

So now disappointed in myself for not taking advantage of it all those times I'd passed by and thought, "well, maybe next time".

Rolled down through Lincoln and into Indian Cave State Park in SE NE. It was quite nice, and only two tents in the campground Unfortunately, the cave wasn't accessible due to storm damage.

Nice views and info of Lewis & Clark's passage through here.



A rain shower sent me to bed early. That combined with being tired from the night before meant I actually slept pretty well.

The next day, wandered around SE NE. Saw the sign for Weeping Water and drove over, since I'd just seen a remake of Inherit the Wind. I thought I remembered it being said that's Brady's hometown. Maybe that was just for the movie; I didn't see any memorial or anything.

Up the road a bit, called my friend in Omaha to see if he'd be up for a quick stop. Unfortunately, he had a telemeeting when I'd be going through. People need to learn to not work so much.

Continued up the Missouri River, came upon another nice overlook



Then crossed into IA and stopped for the night at Black Hawk Lake State Park. Another pleasant little campsite



and park.

The next morning, I rolled down to Des Moines, where I went to college and spent quite a bit of time afterward.

Visited with some people I've stayed in touch with all these years, was nice to catch up with them a little.

That night, stayed in Lake Aquhabi State Park. Saw this.



If you can't tell, that a huge beehive in the trunk of a tree just off the path. A young man at a site across the path yelled out to make sure I know about it.

"Yep, just trying to get a picture."

"I'm allergic to bees, so I'm staying over here."

"Hmmm...why aren't you using a site further away?"

"Well, we already paid for the site and set up."

IDK about bee allergies, so let it go. Another campsite that's a bit noisy due to it being close to town, but a pleasant place.



The following morning, I went through town, seeing the old campus, and wen tup the street where I used to have a house. Going east, mostly stayed on US 6, so poking through the little towns.

Don't recall anything of particular interest, lots of cornfields and gently rolling hills.

Stopped for the night in Illini State Park SW of Chicago. It was pretty good too. Had some rain overnight, so that made getting going in the morning a bit unpleasant, but not the end of the world.

Continued on US 6, which took me through the south suburbs of Chicago. Some areas looked kind of rough (Joliet, Calumet City), others pastoral or generic suburbia. Cut through the corner of Indiana, and turn north into Michigan.

I tried to attend church services there, but it wasn't open and was raining, so I didn't want to hang around.



Beer church seems like something I could get behind.

These signs were all over in Michigan



Seems -EV.

I thought it cleared off enough that camping would be ok again, so I got into Ludington State Park, right on Lake Michigan.



Between more rain coming, and people jabbering around their campsites when the rain cleared off, another not very good night.

Once again, tried to wipe down things in the morning, but still damp when packed up. Got going and went up to the top of Michigan, to the Mackinac Bridge.



Crossed over into the UP, eh.



and turned east on US 2 (on which I'd grown up). Stopped for the night at some campground in Dickinson County.



Dry and (mostly) quiet, another decent night's sleep.

In the morning, tooled along US 2 over to Superior, where I grew up. I'd forgotten about the prevalence of "country bars" up north. Out in the middle of nowhere, no town or anything, there'll be a bar & grill by the side of the road.

Met with some friends and family, doing chores (laundry and oil change this AM) while in town.

The hotel I'm staying at is a little rough. I think it's really transient housing (the sign says weekly rates, the people seem to be a little raggedy, it's worn), but it won't be the end of the world--it's only a couple nights. Plus, there's lots of dive bars within easy walking distance.

Off to do more errands and visit; supposed to connect with a lifelong friend tonight for beers, that will be fun.

weekly rates is the signal.

used to go up just below luddington for a couple weeks in the summer but too humid for me. but they have the best corn for sure.

You're right, I made the reservations online and didn't know that. It's not as if it was a horrible place, just not real nice.

Anyway, ran errands, took my aunt and uncle to lunch, visited another friend, and got a text from my lifelong friends that he was at his parents, would I like to come by?

Haven't seen them for quite a few years. Super nice people, glad he mentioned that, it was great to see his parents again. Then, he and I went for a couple beers. Always nice to catch up with him. He mentioned maybe coming to Denver for a visit sometime; I said the guest room is always open for him if he'd like.

Got back to the hotel about 11:30. About 2:30 the regulars started rolling in, and about 5:30 the people that get up to work start making noise. Nothing terrible, but I'm a very light sleeper. When I got up, it's high 50s, rain/fog. Bleah.

Got on the road, decided to go up north, as I'd never been. First stop was the US Hockey Hall of Fame in Eveleth, MN.



It's pretty small. Has historical exhibits and some stuff about the women's game, but of course, it's largely centered around the 1980 US "Miracle on Ice" team. Was kind of interesting.

Up the road to Orr, where they had a "bog walk" behind the tourist area/town hall. Put a boardwalk through a boggy area and had occasional interpretive signs.



Eventually it came out to this marshy part



Then I continued up to International Falls. Even though Canada is closed, I could go the the end of the road.



I was surprised at how industrial the border crossing is. Frostbite Falls is the only town of any size for hundreds of miles, I thought this would be more of a major crossing.

Here's the gift shop



Funny, I thought it was the first building. Well, first public anyway; there's something that seems like a paper mill or something right at the border.

Then I followed along the Rainy River, which is the border, occasionally stopping for pictures.





Nothing stopping a Canuckistan invasion. We probably need a wall there too.

It was also warm (mid 80s) and very humid. Going along, thinking maybe I should hotel it tonight, but saw Lake Bronson SP. They had a wifi signal near the office, so I reserved a campsite. Got out there, threw a burger on the stove and set up the tent, slapping away at mosquitoes the whole time.

Went for a little walk down the trail, mosquitoes getting worse and worse. The only thing I can compare them to is the Alaskan interior--vicious, and just clouds of them.

First time I've ever abandoned a campsite. I don't know if I'm especially sensitive to mosquitoes, but I just couldn't take it. Didn't even roll up the tent and rainfly properly, just threw them in the truck to GTFO.

As I was leaving, this guy ran across the road in front of me.



Wasn't a very big bear, I don't think full-grown. Continued on and found a hotel in the next town with a friendly dog to play with while getting set up here.

Woke the next morning in the NW corner of MN. Still raining, puttered along the border area into ND.

Saw some turkeys along the way



As I'm a sucker for geographical oddities, I saw on the map that the geographic center of North America was nearby. They have a small monument in Rugby.



Then I noticed something called the "international Peace Garden" up on the border. Headed north to see what that was all about.

On the way up, the truck died. Started chugging, I noticed the battery indicator was on L--uh oh. Got pulled over, called AAA for some help, took out the chair and a book and started waiting here:



Most of North Dakota is similar to that.

Anyway, after an hour and a half, I texted AAA back to ask what's up. Sometime around then, I decided to go in the cab for something, and noticed the dome light was on.

WTH, let's try it. The truck fired up, I was able to limp into town. Found the repair shop, asked if that was something they might be able to help with.

He got his testers out and verified the alternator was bad. Too small a town to have a parts store, so he called somewhere and was able to procure me one, then stick it in the truck. Later that evening, I was back on the road.

Continued on up to the border. Not sure what the Garden was all about--it looked like it might be between the customs stations, and I didn't bring my passport, as Canada is closed. Didn't want to risk a big hassle so turned around.

Found a small park on Pelican Lake to camp for the evening. Decently nice. The Mom next to me decided she needed to make a phone call after dark. Of course, did it through speaker, so she'd talk louder than normal.

Why can't people put that **** away and enjoy nature? Grrr.

Anyway, up the next morning, kept wandering west. Truck seems to be running well.

In W ND, I came upon this:



Sorry Ray.

Then thought of Ray again a little down the road:



Montana, USA! I don't know the laws, but it reminded me of the Utah/Nevada border on US50. Directly on the state line was a casino (actually behind me in that shot).

First glimpse of the mountains



Then just rolled on until late afternoon. Found a campsite in a little town called Malta. Pretty windy, so that might be a problem, but I think it's dying off.

many decades back little malta in the fall when after the crops were in, had the biggest 5 stud game in the world.

route 2 which is what you are on is called the hi-line. as its high in the state and goes across in a straight line sort of. i am at near the other end of it.

Malta seemed like a nice enough town. I got a campsite in one of those "in-town" campgrounds, so went for a walk after eating. Here's the Milk River



Walked into town, had a beer at each of two places. [Surprise! Malta has a bar called "The Mint" (as does every other MT town)].

Up early, started heading west again. Woke up and decided that nearly two weeks on the road is enough, and I might like to be home for the fourth, so at noon I would head back.

Got as far as Browning, so I could see Glacier, but didn't go in (I've been before).



Then headed down I-15. Around the Helena area, there was this nice scenic view of the Missouri.





Then a little while later into Butte for their scenic view, which apparently entails strip mining:



Then just buzzed across I-90 to Billings. Decided to stay inside on my (I hope) last night on the road.

Woke up in Billings. Instead of taking the interstate directly back, went on the back roads. Missed the turn I intended to take, audibled, it all worked out.

Took a state highway from Red Lodge, had some nice views



Upon entering Wyoming, I saw a state patrolman had somebody pulled over going north. Had to have been less than 1 mile from Montana. Leaving Somkey and the Bandit aside, I wonder if they aren't allowed to chase you into another jurisdiction, and it might be smarter to make a run for it.

Anyway, poked along. There's a lot of nothing in Wyoming. Got me to wondering why Wyoming is so empty? Other rural Western states have towns and ranches and evidence of humans--Wyoming, in many places, doesn't, with the exception of the road you're on.



After taking that photo, noticed a sign for Powell. Looked on the map, saw I could avoid Cody (and its presumed July 4 madness), so went that direction. Eventually came upon highway 14 Alt, which went through the Big Horn Mountains.

Really scenic, but not for the faint of heart. Not much in the way of pull outs on the way up, but it was a very steep, winding road. You can't see the road from here, but it started down at the bottom (only more to the right, out of picture).



I kind of wondered why they didn't just make the road go around the mountains, down in the flat part.

Also, that notch in the ridge in the distance made me think of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Not saying that was Hole in the Wall, just made me think of that.

Climbed some more, the truck made it ok. At one point where it was pretty steep and twisty, there was a cow in the other lane, just ambling along. It would've been in the way of downhill travelers. Hope they all had their loads under control and could get stopped.



Up, up, up, finally got to Observation Point, elevation 9430'. As it was the only signed place, I assume that was the summit.



Came down the mountains, also nice scenery. Seemed to be more forested on the east side.



From there, gassed up in Sheridan, buzzed down to Casper. Getting close to Casper, I noticed a thin column of smoke. Hmm, wonder what that is. As I got closer, it thickened up, really black, and the traffic stopped on I25. The fire was just around a curve from where I stopped, couldn't see what was going on.

We waited a bit, I jumped out to stretch while waiting. We're at the bottom of this on ramp; I'm wondering why the police aren't sending us backward up the ramp to get clear.

Walking up there, I notice a strip of dirt and grass about 6' wide separating the on ramp from the street above. No idea if this was a former on ramp that got abandoned, or maybe they've built a new one but aren't ready for traffic yet.

To their credit, they had us going again in only about 15 minutes. Apparently, somebody wrecked their pickup and camper in the northbound lanes. Here's a story if anyone's interested.

From there, cruised down I25. Made one last gas stop in Cheyenne about 6 PM. Coming into town, I thought I might go over to the fireworks stand and get something for the neighborhood. I figured that by 6 PM on July 4, everyone would've gotten all their stuff and I could get in and get out.

Wrong. While fueling, looked over--the line was out the door and down the road. At least 100 people waiting in line. I'm not that interested.

Down by Fort Collins, there were several highway info signs warning people it was illegal to park on the shoulder for the fireworks show. How is that not obvious?

Cruised on home, the neighbors had the fire pit going. Dragged stuff in the house, opened the cooler so people could get a beer if they wanted. The neighbors are fireworks mavens, so we had quite a nice show in the cul-de-sac.

Now starting to get things put away, laundry going, etc. Plan to relax and catch up on yard work/etc.

Not sure if the trip to the Ozarks for friend's son's wedding will happen or not in August. Other than that, no plans.

cool trip. i think troopers can chase you anywhere if they are in pursuit. but will call ahead to the next state to let them know. hard to out run a radio.
can you resize your pictures it takes me ten minutes to load your page each time, i have a slow connection i don tknow how slow it is for others though.

Sorry about the load time. I'm not sure about resizing the pics.

Love the pictures and I am a big fan of camping. Keep the updates coming.

Thanks, HUMBLE. and everyone else. I'm home for at least a while now, puttering around the house & yard.

I think I might have a late summer trip, not sure where. I suspect my friend's son's wedding will be family-only live, so I'll have to figure something else out.

Depending on coronas ofc. Now, I think this trip was a bad idea, looking at how things went in USA#n while I was gone. Fortunately, I think I came through ok. Trying to stay separated for a couple weeks just to be careful.

Was scheduled to go to the Kentucky Derby, but it's being run without fans. The package I bought will supposedly be transferred to next year's running, if things are normal-ish by then.

Getting the itch to travel, but feel as if things aren't settled well enough yet. Hopefully by fall/winter we'll be better and I can head toward the warmth or something.

if you havent done them yet new zealand and austraila are great. ive been to both many times and covered most of the country. their summer is our winter.
easy to get around and camping in every town if you want.

Good ideas, Ray. I've been to both, but NZ was just a few days around Auckland.

If they ever open again, maybe I should go down there, get a campervan, and tool around.

n.z.is very diverse with so much to see. real easy to get around and sparse enough to not have to deal with crowds except for a few places like queenstown.

tasmania which is an island of austraila was my favorite but it does get hot there like aust. proper. one third of it is national parks and has many of the animals that got made extinct on the mainland. and some of the most beautiful spots in the world. like wineglass bay