Glamping Days

The plan for today was to spend a couple of hours across the border in British Columbia to have a look at the trailer. Well, I forgot to pack my passport, so had to cancel that. With more free time on my hands than planned, I drove up Mt Baker, about 100 mile loop trip with some beautiful varied scenery. Around here in the valley, it still looks like late summer/early fall with lots of cows, vineyards, & blueberry farms.  On the mountain slopes, fall is in full swing, & the rainy climate results in cool moss-covered trees. And the mountain tops look like winter has already started.   Sometimes, the unplanned adventures are the best ones. 😊

After 5 longish drive days, & with 2 busy days coming up, today was planned to be a time to rest a bit & get my head in the game for tomorrow. I'll have just an hour tomorrow to check out everything about my new trailer to be sure it's what was ordered.  So today, I drove just the last 50 miles to Sumas, WA, the little border town where the trailer will be delivered on Tuesday. The only "hotel" in town is 9 rooms above a burger joint. It has one permanent resident who hangs out by the fireplace in the restaurant...

When starting this little blog, my idea was to post 1, or at most 2, pics per day. Today, I just couldn't pare them down to just 1 or 2.  eastern WA countryside the tiny & quite modest town of Bridgeport has about 2 dozen of these chainsaw carvings lining the main street In 1978, Manny & I spent our honeymoon camping (in a pup tent) & exploring from Montreal to Vancouver. We then made a quick trip back east via the northern tier states. While driving through the Cascade Mountains on I-90, we added a drive on the North Cascades Scenic Byway to our bucket list. Today, I finally drove that route, & it did not disappoint. 

Today found me driving from Billings, MT, to just past Spokane, WA - last long drive of the trip. The scenery in Montana is quite rugged, & I was surprised to see so much fall color; It's mostly the yellows of aspen & larch, but some of it was pretty striking against the dark evergreens. And some spots were pretty warm in the low 50s, though other areas were still below 40 at mid-day.   

Today, I drove from Fargo, ND, to Billings, MT, & found the day pretty interesting. While finishing breakfast at 6:30, a tv show devoted strictly to local agricultural issues came on - huh, who knew that such a thing exists? Then, while driving westward, I experienced the longest sunrise in my memory. There was a big bank of clouds along the eastern/southeastern horizon, but it was clear above & to the west. For nearly 2 hours, the sun kept poking through the clouds in little shafts here & there, but overall the landscape was in the shadow of the clouds, until the sun finally rose up over the cloud bank; it was beginning to feel like the day would never start. Outside of New Salem, ND, was a huge cow, a sort of town mascot, just hanging out on a ridge. A little further along the interstate was what was billed as the world's largest metal sculpture - a number of birds on something that reminded me of a giant dream catcher. I love such roadside attractions. Theodore Rosev

Drove from the west side of Chicago to west side of Fargo, ND, today. Since yesterday's drive was only about 470 miles, I pushed a bit today & logged about 640.  The beautiful fall color around Chicago soon gave way to the late fall remnants in northwestern IL & across WI. Past Minneapolis, the trees looked almost winter-bare, but the day was gloriously sunny & brisk. Every second or third exit in WI had a local cheese shop advertised, & I saw a herd of bison along the interstate before crossing into MN. Wanting to make some good time today, the only real stop I made was for this roadside marker in central WI, which was pretty interesting. A short walk from the hotel this evening took me to a nice little Thai restaurant for dinner. 

Drove to Chicago today & found my favorite daughter snuggling with her cat; son-in-law & other two cats are here too.  Was a beautiful drive across Ohio where the temp hit 80* for a bit. Rain moved in for the last 3 hours, & rush hour through Chicago wasn't the best plan, but got here safe & sound.

Last day at home for about 3 weeks. Enjoying the glorious sunshine & beautiful trees all around. It will look like winter on my return in about 3 weeks.  Planning to drive to Chicago tomorrow on the first leg of the trip. Looking like there will be some wintry weather in Montana on the way home, so I might be testing out the theory that the water tanks & water lines are good down to 20* without freezing - hadn't planned on testing this out quite so soon. Well, I do want some adventure! Off now to pack clothes & such.

Last week, I installed the cover on my truck bed & had the 5th wheel hitch installed. Today, I packed up all of the items that will see me through my first trip with my Escape 5.0, which I've named "Our Glamper". The "our" is a hat tip to Manny, who was originally scheduled to take this adventure with me, & "glamper" is a play on the word "glamping" (glamorous camping). The little fiberglass trailer I'll be picking up next week will be quite glamorous compared to the tenting we did in our younger years.