ODYSSEY MAP

We now have a map of our entire ODYSSEY route thanks to Denise Roberts from my work.  If you click on the words "ODYSSEY MAP" below, the address should come up.  Then just click on the link and you will see a wonderful map.  The map lists places we visited and some of our activities.
THANKS so much Denise!

ODYSSEY MAP

August 8, 2010 - We're Home!

August 4, 2010  We left Butte and headed for Couer d'Alene, Idaho.  The drive was interesting in that we experienced a couple of different types of topography.  We drove through more prairie, then through a section of mesa, much like parts of Arizona that we have experienced, and we also had some mountain (hills really) terrain.  Once we got to Missoula, we were tracing, in reverse direction, our Summer trip of last year when we drove out to Missoula and into Glacier National Park.

It was a long day on the road and we pulled into Couer d'Alene RV Resort in Post Falls, Idaho.  Post Falls is just west of Couer d'Alene.  We spent 3 nights there just relaxing and reflecting on our trip and I went golfing one day.  We didn't do the touring bit because last year we spent time in Couer d'Alene and Spokane, so we choose to relax.

August 7, 2010   We continued our journey westward across the width of Washington, stopping at the Tulalip
Casino in Marysville, Washington.  This casino is a stop over for many RVers and they even have a parking lot designated for RVs.

Driving across Washington we passed over Lake Wanapum which is the dam lake on the Columbia River.

The view of the Lake is very impressive and in the distance you can see the bridge were Hwy. 90 passes over it.

As we approached the Cascade Mountains it began to drizzle and rain off and on.  I was concerned about driving over the Snoqualmie Pass because from the West it is quite a climb.  What I didn't realize is driving East to West you approach the Pass and you are already at about 2500 ft. so the Pass it not that big a deal.

On our entire journey we only saw 3 major accidents, and 2 of them were on our second to last day as we drove through Seattle.  One of them happened just ahead of us, as three cars piled into each other and on the slick road, it was all I could do to get my skidding truck and RV stopped in time.  It was interesting that as we approched home, the rain began.

We arrived home in the morning of August 8 and were welcomed by the grandkids and family.  It was odd to be home, as being travellers for 4 months had begun to feel like our normal lifestyle.  However, both of us agree that we could not RV full time, as many people do.  This trip was really an odyssey for us as every day brought new experiences and places.  Now we have experience certain areas, we know where we would like to some day return, and that may be some of our future trips.  The truck and RV performed wonderfully and the trip served to strengthen the relationship between Laurie and I.  It truly was the trip of a life time; an ODYSSEY to be sure.

2010 Odyssey Summary:

* 4 months

* 16 weeks + 2 days

* 114 days

* 22,105 kilometers

* 13,735 miles

* 33 states

* 5 provinces

* Fuel: $3,750 (24% of expenses)

* RV Sites $3700 (23% of expenses)

* Groceries $2,500 (15% of expenses)

Now, what will our next dream be!!!

Slight Change in Plans

My last Blog indicated that we would be heading toward Great Falls, Montana, and then north to Calgary and return through BC.  Well, we had a slight change in plans.  After an in-depth executive meeting, our truck and RV were given orders to "stay the course", meaning, continue on Hwy 94 through Montana (Hwy 94 becomes Hwy 90), cut across the neck of Idaho, travel through Washington to the Pacific Ocean at Seattle, and then turn north and head home.  Once we get to Missoula, we will be retracing our trip of last Summer into Montana, only going in the opposite direction.  Our decision was based on the fact that we love Montana, things are so much cheaper in the United States, and we are following an awesome highway.

Upon leaving Minneapolis, Minnesota we wanted to get across the "prairies" as quickly as possible.  Therefor we put in 3 solid days of driving


This picture is typical of the Western part of Minnesota, most of North Dakota, and Montana, along Hwy 94.






July 31: Minneapolis to Jamestown, North Dakota   530 kms
Aug 1 : Jamestown, ND to Forsyth, Montana          666 kms
Aug. 2: Forsyth, MT to Butte, MT                           525 kms

After we passed Billings, MT we were quite excited to finally see mountains on the horizon.  It has been months since we have seen, what us Westerners call "mountains".  The only unfortunate part about being in the mountains is that we had to cross a mountain pass and our truck really had to work hard to get us to the summit.  That is the first of numerous summits that we will have in our way to the Pacific Ocean.

We were glad to make it to Butte, Montana (pronounce it as you will??) were we stayed in a KOA for a couple of nights.  In the late 1800s Butte was a major copper mining town and they called it the "Richest Hill on Earth".  Many a fortune was made in this town and miners flocked there to seek work.  The Historic Butte is built on a side of a hill, because that is were the mines were and were the workers wanted to live.

This picture is taken from the top of the hill with a view of old Butte and a mine tower (black) in the foreground.  The towers were used to lift men and materials down into the mines.

Much of the Historic town has been well preserved and it is a beehive of tourist and commercial activity.  There are numerous mansions and historic sites for tourist to visit.  Laurie and I went for lunch in the old "Metal Bank of Butte" which has been rejuvenated as a Sports Bar and Restaurant.  This vault door and frame took a team of 28 horses hours to haul up the hill to the bank when it was under construction.  It did strike me as odd to have the old town built on the side of the hill instead of down in the valley were you will find most towns.

Observation:  * Since we arrived on the Gulf Coast months ago we watch the local news cast, usually at 6pm.  On almost all occassions, the weather portion of the news is named to reflect extreme weather conditions; Storm Watch,  Weather Alert, Severe Storm Tracker, etc.  That is because in the late afternoon it is common for a weather system to create severe thunderstorm conditions including flash flooding.  In Vancouver, we have such calm weather conditions in comparison.

Heading West

July 29, 2010 

We left Two Rivers, WI and headed northwest toward Green Bay.  One of our lasting impressions of Wisconsin and Illinois is that the coast line along the Great Lakes would be a wonderful place to come back and explore in more detail.  There are lots of cozy little towns, nice green space, lots of outdoor recreation, and the coast is beautiful.

We drove up to Green Bay and of course I insisted that we go by Lambeau Field.  If you know anything about NFL Football, Green Bay is steeped in tradition.  The old Lambeau Field has been redone but they still have the statue of Vince Lombardi and Cruly Lambeau out front.  When we arrived there were many people going into the stadium for what they call a "Shareholders Meeting".  I don't know if they really are shareholders or just season ticket holders, but they estimate 15,000 people were going to attend.  People were coming out with Packer souvenirs and t-shirts so I tried to walk right in like I owned the place but they caught me at the door because I didn't have a ticket.

After a couple of hours in Green Bay we headed for Minneapolis, Minnesota.  We found a nice KOA campsite northwest of town which was convenient to the freeway.  I went into town and did a driving tour prior to attending the Twins/ Seattle Mariners game.  I learned that the Mississippi River starts about 200 miles north of Minneapolis and it runs right through town, separating Minneapolis and St. Paul, the twin cities.  They have a lock on the river to allow marine navigation.  Minneapolis was famous for (other than the location of Mary Tyler Moore Show)being a "milling" city.  They have old mills that are in ruins and they have made them into museums.

You can see from the picture that they have built a new structure right into the old mill ruins and it is now a museum.  I wonder what architect and engineer put their name to that project as it looks rather fragile to me.

Of course, my friend Larry Bloom would argue that Minneapolis is famous as the home of the Minnesota Vikings football team. Yes Larry, this is the "Mall of America Stadium".  For those who don't know, it is an identical stadium to BC Place in Vancouver, only some would argue that they have a better football team.

This bizzar building is in St. Paul.  I got this shot while I was driving along West Riverway Drive on the Minnesota side of the Mississippe River.  I didn't have time to go over and investigate but it does make for an unusual picture.

As I said earlier, I went to the Twins ball game.  After driving around Minneapolis for over 2 hours, I found a parking place for the truck near Target Field.  I thought I would go and pick up a ticket and then head to a bar to mix with the locals and talk some baseball.  What I learned from the ticket window was that all Twins games this season are a sell-out and the only hope for a ticket was to stand in line for the last minute release of some tickets.  I was in line for 2 and a half hours....now my wife will tell you, I am one of the worst people when it comes to queing up for anything.  Half an hour before game time, I got a ticket and had a great time.  Justin Morneau of the Twins, who is from New Westminster, BC, did not play because of injury.  Twins won 5-3.

July 31, 2010  After 2 nights we left Minneapolis and began a "B-line" to head west.  We are following Hwy 94, and tonight we are overnighting in a small town called Jamestown, North Dakota.  In the morning we will continue our journey westward.  We hope to travel 500-600 kms per day until we get to Great Falls, Montana.  From there we will probably turn north to head for Calgary and Hwy 1, the Trans Canada Hwy.

Around the Bottom of the Great Lakes

July 23, 2010


When we planned to start heading back west we had to make a decision on whether to go north through Canada, or South through the USA to get around the Great Lakes. By my calculations, it was virtually the same distance. We talked it over and decided to go south primarily because looking at the map, there are many more interesting towns, our costs would be considerably less, and we still had some US dollars that we had set aside for our Odyssey.

We left Niagara Falls and headed toward the Windsor/Detroit border crossing. About 30 kms from Windsor we saw a black wall in the sky, and we were headed straight toward it. It started to rain, and then pour, like I have never seen before. All the cars and trucks put on their 4-way flashers and eventually we had to pull over because it was just too dangerous. We waited for about 10 minutes and then the cars in front of us decided to pull out and give it a try and we fell in behind them. Most of the time I was just following tail lights as it was coming down in sheets. By the time we got to Windsor, the rain had stopped and the sun came out. We headed over the Ambassador Bridge that led us into Detroit. The Customs officials wanted to look inside our RV so I gave them the keys. Luckily, Laurie had packed what fruit and vegetables we had left into a cooler bag and we had it in the truck. We showed them the bag and they confiscated a couple of items and we were off. Then we hit a toll booth….apparently it cost $8 to drive over the Ambassador Bridge, a nice welcome to the good old US of A.

Click on picture for an enlargement.  This is the view out the door of the RV during the flood.

We drove along Hwy 94 until just east of Ann Arbour, Michigan and we pulled over for fuel. We saw a sign for a campground and headed there. The Detroit/Greenfield Campground looked like a nice place, but the ground was very damp, presumably from the same storm system we had experienced. They assigned us a site and we set up for the night. Well, another severe thunderstorm hit and it began to pour again. What we discovered was that we were the low area of our portion of the campsite. Before long, our entire campsite was under 3-4 inches of water, our outdoor carpet was ruined and water was flowing under our RV. What we found out by watching the weather report on the news was that a major thunderstorm system was headed for the very area we were travelling through for the next few days.

July 24, 2010 One night was enough!!! In the morning we packed up, removing as much mud as possible from our lawn chairs and our blocking under the RV, and we hit the road, headed for Chicago. Again, we drove through another thunderstorm, but this one was not quite as severe as the day before.

The sun was shining as we pulled in to the Yogi Bear Campsite in Gary, Indiana, about 45 miles from Chicago. There was puddling around this campsite as well, but we were not stuck in the low area. That night, another thunderstorm hit and we had more rain. The next morning we discovered that this campsite is a happening place. They are celebrating Christmas in July, so many of the permanent sites have Christmas decorations out, they had a BBQ, they had 2 rock bands playing until 11pm, and they had a group of army enthusiasts who had military paraphernalia; jeeps, trucks, rifles and they were shooting off rounds across the lake that is there.

I called the Chicago Cubs ticket office and got a ticket for a game at Wrigley Field. It was quite an experience for me to watch a game in old Wrigley Field. I arrived at the park over 3 hours prior to the game and there was already a huge crowd, and lots of excitement on the streets.

One of the interesting features of Wrigley is that the buildings across the street from the outfield bleachers have installed their own bleachers on top of their buildings. The view is not bad as Wrigley has fairly low outfield bleachers, and of course, the price is right…free! Tickets for Wrigley are very difficult to get but because I only needed one, I was able to purchase one.


These buildings are across the street from Wrigley.

July 26,2010 We left the Chicago area and headed north into Wisconsin. We were very glad to get out of Illinois because they go crazy with road tolls. Travelling just over 200 kms, we were stopped 5 times and paid a total of $14 in tolls. We followed Hwy.43 up the side of Lake Michigan to a small town called Two Rivers not far from Green Bay. Our campsite was in a marina/RV park that is located right on the water. Once we got parked, Laurie tried to open our kitchen slide-out but it would come out properly. I climbed under the RV and checked the slide drive mechanism and found out that there was a sheered off bolt. After going to a couple of places, I found the bolt I needed and made the repair. Hopefully it will hold.

After that inconvenience, we finally got to relax and we sat and watched the small boats come in and out of the harbor. The Coast Guard station is right across the channel from us so we got to watch them doing various exercises. It’s a neat little place!

A beautiful moon over the entrance to the harbour at Two Rivers.






We have started, and plan to continue, to put more miles on between stops as we make our way back home.  We are planning on being home by the August 7 & 8 weekend, but we will see what happens.

Montreal and a Blitz through Ontario

Sunday, July 18, 2010 We left Quebec City and drove down Hwy. 20 to the Camping Allouette just East of Montreal. It was time to get the truck serviced so we decided to do it in Montreal. We arrived on a Sunday so I wasn’t able to book an appointment until Monday morning. The first dealership I called said that they had an opening in 10 days and I said no thanks. The second one I called booked us for Tuesday morning. Monday would have been our chosen day to tour Montreal but it was raining so we had a peaceful day reading, doing laundry and recharging our batteries. Tuesday morning I took the truck in for an oil change and lube, and I asked about the cost of changing the fuel filter. The technician said it would be $165 with the filter costing $35. and a charge of $130 for labour. I started to ask some questions and the guy soon realized that I know a few things about changing the fuel filter and servicing the truck (it’s one of my hobbies) and he quickly reduced the cost by $60. I hate taking my vehicles into a dealership for servicing because it is ridiculously expensive.

That afternoon we drove in to Montreal and did some tourist things. Montreal has some really neat districts and we found one in the area of Mont Royal and Saint Denis streets. We just strolled the streets and found a nice little sidewalk café (Maurices/Fanny Chocolatier) and stopped for lunch. People watching was very interesting as we saw many unique and eccentric outfits, and many of the women were

dressed to the “nines”. We also drove up to Mont Royal, which is a Stanley Park like setting in the middle of town with great views of Montreal. We drove around Olympic village and saw the infamous Olympic Stadium, which is a ridiculous design for a stadium, no wonder it cost Canadian so much money!

July 21, 2010 This was moving day! We drove from Montreal to Niagara Falls, Ontario, around 800 kms in total. We followed the “401” most of the way down, passing through Bowmanville, Toronto, Hamilton and down to Niagara Falls. We stopped in Bowmanville for tourist information and a photo opt, primarily because Laurie’s maiden name is Bowman….we had a laugh! Laurie didn’t have a desire to visit Toronto and I have been there many times on Softball business, so we blew through town. Along the Hwy. through Hamilton they have a sign that says “The boyhood home of Larry Bloom”, who knew?

We checked into Scott’s Trailer Park which is only 3 miles from The Falls. The neighbourhood was a little sketchy, as there is a 24 hours a day massage parlour across the street, and a “Gentlemen’s” club that has a sign “Girls, Girls, Girls”. Actually, the park is quite nice, but there are not that many campers here. We headed to “The Falls” and what a magnificent site (on our “Bucket List”). The size and dimensions of the Falls are incredible. Niagara Falls and American Falls are all located in

the same area and they are a wonder of the world. The volume of water dumping out of the Great Lakes and downstream into the St. Lawrence River is on a scale that you have to see to believe. As you look at the American Falls, you see the Buffalo, NY skyline in the distance.

On the Canadian side there are huge hotels right above the Falls that are designed to maximize the number of rooms that look down on to the Falls. An interesting observation that we discussed is that the place did not seem to be that busy and it appeared to have a lot more capacity for more tourists.

On the Road to Quebec

July 11, 2010 We lefty Fundy National Park and headed north through Moncton to the Confederation Bridge that leads to PEI. It was raining so all we could see is this giant bridge that disappeared into the fog of Northumberland Strait. The Bridge is 13 kms long and there is no charge to go to PEI, but you pay when you leave the island. The cost is $42.50 for a vehicle, and then $7 per axle if you are pulling a trailer. So our cost was $56.50 which seems reasonable to me. We stayed just outside of Charlottetown at Brackley Beach at a campground called Vacationland. They were promoting the fact that they had won an award for being a high level campground, but I don’t agree with that rating. Some of the sites, including ours, were tiny; their debit machine did not work, only one dryer in the laundry worked, both of the pay phones were out of order, the washrooms were full of dead bugs and so on. I question the rating system used.

Charlottetown, PEI

Confederation House where delegates drafted our Constitution.

The island was hopping with tourists and there was a major music festival taking place over the weekend including a performance by Taylor Swift. Then on the Monday, Regis and Kelly were doing their show from Charlottetown and it created quite a bit of excitement, and I might say, a lot of good press for PEI. We took a drive into Charlottetown and walked around the old part of town and it was very nice. The next day I played Glasgow Hills Golf Course and it had great views of the rolling hills and of the water. My impression of PEI is that it has a slower pace of life, with nice rolling hills, farms that are very well kept, beautiful beaches, potatoes, and a lot of very nice golf courses. It really is a place to relax. After 3 nights we decided to head out and I made a major mistake hooking up the RV. I had plugged in the wiring to the truck and then not thinking, I decided to move the truck over a little to line up the hitch. When I moved forward, I tore the wiring harness out of the RV. Big mistake!! So instead of hitting the road, I found an RV shop and we sat around in the rain for over 2 hours before a technician could reconnect our wiring. What a start to the day.

We decide not to travel to Newfoundland or Nova Scotia, as we want to be back home by August 10 and we would need a couple more weeks to see those Provinces. So we headed back through Moncton, NB and travelled all the way to Fredericton, NB. We found a Wal Mart and crashed in their parking lot for the night. Next morning we hit the road early, following Hwy 2 along the border of Maine, through Edmundston, NB, crossing into Quebec, down the St. Lawrence River to Quebec City. We checked into the Quebec City KOA which is just across the bridge from Quebec City. Along our route in Quebec we drove through very fertile land with many farms on the banks of the St. Lawrence, and many small towns that are very recognizable with their distinct church steeples.

Beautiful, romantic Quebec City!

The next day (July 16) we drove into Quebec City and did a walking tour (with Hooch) through the “Old Town” high above the St. Lawrence River.

The area around the Hotel Frontenac is beautiful, high above “Lower Town” and the St. Lawrence River; the buildings of the Old Town have been restored and are functional for commercial enterprise with apartments above. There are many narrow streets and sidewalk cafes. I had travelled to Quebec City on business about 25 years ago and since then I have promoted it as the most romantic city in Canada. As a result of that impression, I have always told Laurie that I would like to have lunch with her at a sidewalk café in Quebec City. Now I can stroke another item off of my “Bucket List”

Montnegamy Falls just outside of Quebec City.

I went golfing at Golf Stastny which is a course owned by retired NHL player Marion Stastny.  I had the opportunity to play with a French Canadian who could speak English.  A couple of things that he told me that were weird; for 2 weeks every July there is a Construction Holiday.  Basically construction shuts down for 2 weeks, in the middle of the Summer.  Summer is when the weather is good and construction should be rocking....it is particularly an important time for the paving industry who needs good weather to lay pavement.  The second thing he told me is that all leases for accomodations expire on the same day, July 1 each year.  That means that all leases must be renegotiated, or people will be moving.  Imagine the demand for moving trucks???