So… We did a ‘thing’

There we were, sitting in Miramichi NB…. searching for a spot for winter. No dice. Nothing. Nada…The East coast does not do 4 season campgrounds. Which may, in itself be a comment on the winter weather….!!!

So we needed another plan…and the solution turned into something completely off script…….and a Cannonball Run of a drive away.

Starting point, Headquarters Campground, Bay of Fundy National Park

Taking off from Bay of Fundy… The unfolding plan was to take 3 days getting back to Paris…. But once we started, and we were making good time on the road…. It seemed like a better plan to cross Montreal on Sunday evening….

Then.. An even better plan to cross Toronto Sunday night…. So we just kept going… knowing we could rest up for a day in Paris…we pulled in 20 hours later at some ungodly hour……!!

First part of the journey completed…….the second took us across Ontario, Michigan and into Indiana, to just shy of Chicago…!!

Continuing west across Ontario…

….and then crossing in to the US over the Ambassador bridge.

The bridge was horrifying…!!! Construction had it down to two very narrow lanes…..and there is an enormous amount of truck traffic crossing that bridge. The makeshift border control at the other end was so narrow that they had to move the barriers to squeak us through. I think they felt bad after guiding us through cos they were exceptionally helpful processing our visas and putting us back on the road.

Our planned destination was the visitor centre at Indiana Dunes. ( Not Jones….Dunes….try that with a Scottish accent to an American border guard…!!!) Free overnight parking. ( bonus….I nabbed another National park token and badge…….but we will have to do a return trip to the park to actually see it..!!)

Taking off the next morning…all of a sudden it seemed possibly a little foolish to be crossing Chicago at 9 am……but it’s all major highway so how bad could it be…!!!!

After more scary driving with lots of fast moving big trucks….once we reached the edge of the city (it’s a big city..!!) Illinois has some pretty good rest stops…actually so far, travelling in the US, most states have pretty nice rest stops. The road took us across the corner of Wisconsin, and then on up into Minnesota.

Our destination for this leg was a KOA in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Not a bad park, handily located on the west side of the city. By this point we were getting to be pretty tired…!!!

But…onward…….to another KOA in Bismarck, North Dakota. (We drove through Fargo….but no time to stop..!!) A quick grocery stop and an 8 cent per gallon voucher from the campground (woo hoo..!!)

Along the road we spotted signs for Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. Annual pass in hand we pulled off the road and drove in through Medora, North Dakota. We ended up stopping for lunch at the Skyline view parking spot in the park. Another place we definitely have to go back to.

Onward , ever onward. Next stop…a campground titled simply ‘The Park’ in, of all places……Glasgow, Montana.

We simply HAD to unhook to go investigate the town a little…….and visit the local craft brewer….The Busted Knuckle…!!! Pretty good beer actually.

The town of Glasgow, MT (claims to fame being 1. in the middle of absolutely nowhere and 2. the home of the Glasgow Scotties..!!!) piqued our interest for a little bit of a look around..

One more leap across Montana to Shelby, a familiar spot at the Lewis and Clark RV park in Shelby. The long straight roads of Montana had intermittent clouds of first pink, and then yellow grasshoppers……..a new adornment for the front of the truck.

Finally the last little stretch back across the border into Alberta. Crossing back over at Sweetgrass/Coutts to complete the last 15 minutes of the epic drive to ….Milk River, a place with that Hallmark ♥ Movie of the week name.

The object of the journey.

Yes….We bought a house and acreage……..in Milk River, Alberta. This will be our new base of operations. But fear not, the voyages of discovery and hikes into the unknown will continue.

The whole trip……..