One of the things on my "Bucket List" has been to take an RV trip up the east coast of Canada during the fall when the trees were changing colors. The Canadians call the area there "The Maritimes". We have put it off for several years. This year we decided to go for it.
We left the first week of September. This summer there were many forest fires burning all around us. Washington, British Columbia and Montana all had fires near North Idaho. We were fortunate here in North Idaho as the fire season wasn't too bad. The problem though was the smoke. It was extremely thick. There were days when I couldn't even see the lake which is about a football field away from the house. Needless to say, we were anxious to get going and get away from the smoke filled air. We drove through Idaho and all the way through Montana not being able to see anything except maybe a hundred yards up the freeway. We rejoiced when we finally got out of it near the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.
I had never been to the monument before so we decided to spend some time there. There really isn't a lot to see but what there is, is very moving. We attended a talk by one of the rangers who explained how the battle came about. The soldiers were there because they were ordered to move the Native Americans (Indians) out of the area even though there was a treaty signed a few years earlier giving them, the Indians, the land. The treaty was signed before gold was discovered in the black hills which of course meant that the Indians had to go. And the Indians were there because they always had been there and needed to protect their livelihood and families. The end result was the battle which the Indians won, but in the end, they lost the war.
The monument had all been about the Calvary until just a few years ago. It wasn't until recently that it was acknowledged that the Indians weren't really the "bad guys". And, as the ranger pointed out, neither were the soldiers. Now, along with markers showing where individual soldiers fell, there are markers showing were Indians fell as well. And there is a new monument dedicated to the Native American's.
Our next stop was Devil's Tower National Monument. Neither of us had been there before. It is truly a wonder of nature how this rock jets out of the surrounding terrain. No wonder Native Americans have considered it a sacred place since time immemorial. There is a trail that goes around the base. It was the first real test of Mona's left knee since her replacement surgery. She, and it, did surprising well after just a few months.
We both had been to Mt Rushmore in the past. I was just a boy on a trip with my folks to their hometowns in North Dakota. Mona was a young adult during her last visit. We both found it interesting for the technique's, time and energy used to carve out the mountain. For me though it left me with the impression that it was a huge tourist attraction. Mona however was really impressed by it. I tried to get her to pose next to the other Asian girl but she would have none of it.
We didn't plan on stopping at the Badlands National Park but since it was on the way we decided to stop, spend the night and maybe go for a hike. When I went to pay for our camping spot I noticed a red, tear drop trailer (called a t@b) in the distance. Our good friends have a red one. In taking a second look I saw that it was being pulled by a red SUV, like our friends. When I could see a little better I saw a cedar canoe on top. Now that either was our friends, Carol and Barnie, or it is an unbelievable coincidence. On the way over I saw the Idaho license plates. No doubt now. Turns out they were heading back to Idaho after a trip to Nebraska. It was decided that I wouldn't tell Mona and just let them show up. Mona was quizzing me why it took so long to register when they showed up. It was a great surprise and we had a fun evening together.
After driving through South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin we decided to make a short stop at Northern Michigan's Kitch-iti-kipi State Park. The pool in the park is fed by underwater springs. There is a raft on the lake that visitors can use to pull themselves to the middle of the pond for a look at the bottom.
This is a picture of the pond's bottom. The trout were huge! Those black spots in the sand are where some of the springs low up into the pond.
After driving through Michigan and taking a short cut through lower Ontario Canada we stopped at Niagara Falls. I had never been to the falls before and it was way more than what I was expecting. I was just awestruck. Mona treated me to a ride on The Maid of the Mist which took us up to middle of two of the falls. It was like being in a shower spraying water all directions. While I wasn't too excited about stopping at the Falls I'm sure glad we did. It is a huge tourist attraction which normally turns me off but on this day the crowds weren't too bad and the falls were spectacular.
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