Onward, soldiers! Wed-Sat -- 7/13-7/16

The two couples pulled out early from our "emergency" campground in Ashland, WI -- friends, Donna and Danny, moving east, me and Jimmy continuing west.  The blasted wind also continued in our faces, but as you see below, the sky had cleared and a bright sun shone down, raising our spirits. We noted trees uprooted and more damage from the storm (last post) along our Lake Superior route, even into Minnesota.

Overlooking Lake Superior. 

We had a sort of loosey-goosey destination in mind, either Duluth or Grand Rapids, MN, nothing really captivating our hearts either way.  As we crossed Saint Louis Bay on Hwy 2 into Duluth, we made an accidental turn (I guess you could call it that), crawling up a steep hill and away from Duluth proper.  That dictated our decision -- Grand Rapids it was, and we'd put in a bunch more miles in the bargain.

I have to say that our spirits sank into the basement as we bumped our way on Hwy 2 from Duluth to Grand Rapids.  The 2-lane road was so bad we wanted to scream, but couldn't because our jaws were clenched.  FIX THE ROADS.  Our attitude wasn't the best when we made it to the county fairgrounds and paid $30 for an electric site on grass, and the rain began, and it didn't get any better.  Our laundry basket was full, and it was raining, so that meant wash clothes.  I'll shorten this by saying we found a laundromat (3rd try) with $5.00 washers and $3.00 dryers.  We blew $21 for three loads, good grief, which we consider VERY STEEP.  But, by gum, we had an empty hamper and clean clothes.  We left Grand Rapids in the morning.

No grass grew under our feet the next day as Tergel made her way from Grand Rapids MN, through Grand Forks, ND and on to Devils Lake, ND.  The entire 275-mile drive was on Hwy 2, which had been transformed into a very nice road.  Our aim was Spirit Lake Casino right on the lake.  Since our last attempt at casino camping ended with the casino being flooded out, we thought we'd try again!  They offered both FHU and electric only sites.  And an indoor pool and hot tub, which was perfect!  

Oh yes, rain was in the forecast.  Dark skies, thunderclaps and rainy weather seem to be ours on this trip ... first time in all our road trips that we've either dodged or been caught in inclement weather.

The silver lining is, of course, a rainbow at the end.

We signed up for three nights, and we found some special things to do!

Uh-oh, bad-bad-Bad! Tues, 7/12/16

The sky was clearing as we left saturated Ontonagon, Michigan.  We weren't in any hurry since we had less than 100 miles to get to the Bad River Casino in Odanah, Wisconsin where we'd meet our friends, Donna and Danny.  They're traveling east from Southern California as we're returning west to Northern California!  Odanah is a bit inland from Lake Superior, a few miles east of Ashland, Wisconsin.  We crossed into the Central Time Zone.

We noticed piles of junk in the above lake as we approached Wakefield, Michigan, located a few miles east of Wisconsin.  Then we noticed throngs of people.  Then we saw why.  Those severe storms that nailed us last night hit here and really hit hard.  Fairly benign-looking sky now!

Till last night, this very large warehouse had a roof on it.  Torn to shreds, it littered the land behind the building and parts were blown into the lake.  Jimmy and I parked Tergel at the street and joined the onlookers.  It was a mess.

Someone had to break out the back window to rescue the man trapped inside this overturned rig. Apparently he wasn't hurt, but I imagine he'd have nightmares for some time! How terrifying! At the street, we saw a sign that said, "Overnight visitors welcome." Thank God we didn't stop here!

We figured a brief twister touched down in this part of town, tho we saw more snapped limbs and downed trees as we traveled along Hwy 2.  Power was out in Wakefield.

The National Guard was on its way, so we left the scene and continued on to Wal-Mart in Ironwood for a few staples.  No hurries, no worries, right?

After first seeing the Wakefield damage, being detoured at the entrance into Wisconsin on Hwy 2 was our second indication that all was not well.  Just an officer and a detour sign, no information.  OK, maybe road work.  We didn't know.  We drove and drove, figuring we'd missed a sign somewhere. Apparently, we were heading SW on Hwy 77, not the way we wanted to go, but every little road north toward Hwy 2 had a sign posted that read, "road closed." 

25 miles later we hit the town of Mellen, passing over the Bad River that was so swollen it nearly engulfed the bridge we were crossing!  The approaches on both sides were flooded. Oh.  The light dawned then.  Last night's bad storms.  I finally tracked down a lady who told me that no way could we get north to Odanah via Hwy 13.  No way could we get to Odanah, period.  All the bridges were washed out and Odanah was isolated, basically an island. Good grief.  Nope, we'd have to drive all the way to Hayward just to get to Ashland! 

We were routed and rerouted.  Every time we thought we'd found a way north to Hwy 2, another detour sign or road closed sign greeted us.  Officers pointed and said, take Co Rd N to Co Rd GC, and ... on and on.  The roads got narrower, and they were not the kind you want to take a fully loaded motor home, towing a car.  We ended up on a logging road, still bumping along ... maybe Co Rd XYZ or PDQ or WTF, I don't remember.  Water covered the road in spots; we saw partial road collapses.  

As frustrating for us as this was, we were still very grateful that we were upright in every sense of the word.  Meanwhile, Donna and I had been texting, so she knew our Bad River Casino reservation was a goner.  They, who had a much further drive than we did, arrived in Ashland and secured spaces for both rigs, while we wandered all over hell's half acre, trying to find a way north to Hwy 2 and Ashland. Further south, we made it to Clam Lake, then west to Cable, and eventually to Hyw 2 at Iron River, 25 miles WEST of where we needed to be.  It was after 5 pm when we arrived at the campground and our friends.

"The Bad River near Odanah rose over 15 feet in six hours, to the third highest level ever, before the automated river level gauge stopped working."

The four of us marveled at the odds of this happening.  Two couples from California, one traveling east, the other heading west and out of all the towns in all of the states in this entire country, we would arrange a meet-up at the Bad River Casino in Odanah, on this date.  Go figure.

Flooding rivers turned Lake Superior shores a yucky blood-red.

The confluence.

We treated ourselves to a delicious dinner out at Deep Water Grille in Ashland,

a reward for perseverance.

Donna and I went for a walk, and it felt good to stretch our legs.  Above and below:  Big difference between one side of the breakwater and the other side!

Well, it was grand to see our fishing friends (we originally met in Livingston, Montana), although we allowed as next time maybe we'll get together in California.  Tomorrow, they'll have to do the grand detour to the east, and we'll continue west.  Oh, did I forget to mention that, to add injury to insult, we endured a 20-mph headwind, with gusts of 30 mph all day?  Maybe the wind will die down for tomorrow's drive.  Maybe pigs will fly.

Ashland, WI and So Dakota 8/22 - 8/25

Ashland WI was a great stop for us, with a very nice city C/G on Lake Superior, a 10-mile loop bike trail, lots of amenities inc. an artesian well, and, of course, the Oredock. Originally constructed in 1916, the Oredock was the largest concrete structure of its kind in the world ... and our C/G lay in its shadow. We didn't know what in the world it was - the thing is huge! Ore-filled train cars would drive onto the dock and drop their load into ore ships below. It's now partially dismantled and inaccessible. We rode the bike loop along the lake and thru the city. Really enjoyed our stay.

 

Ashland Oredock.

 

On my bike under part of it.

 

Enlarge the last photo for neat information about The Big Lake.

 

Jimmy cradled in Paul's hand!

 

South Dakota's fantastic sunflower fields.

  

Early morning deer @ West Whitlock SRA (off the Missouri River).

Into South Dakota with it's golden waves of grain and acre upon acre of bright sunflowers, always facing east. How could anyone feel lousy surrounded by such a display? Watched Mom deer and two fawns browsing early one morning - made a pretty picture.

At random -- 8/22/10

 

Along the Lake Superior Shore.

 

We saw it coming; we were vigilant and caught the odometer on camera at the crucial moment, amazing ourselves. Jimmy's comment ran something like this - Local Newspaper headline: "RV'ing couple ran off the road and crashed in a cornfield. When questioned in the hospital, they responded, We were only trying to take a photo of our odometer."  Haha, Jimmy, not so! I pulled onto a wide shoulder, stopped, and THEN took the photo. We shook hands. And continued on our way. 

When we started this trip, the odometer read 36,732, which means we've put 7,711 miles on the RV since May 13th! 

Somewhere on the Superior shore, we stopped at a farm stand and bought fresh veggies, inc this monument to Cruciferous vegetables: An everlasting cabbage. A tiny leaf off a nearby tree fell on Jimmy's head the moment the camera blinked...!