We left Richmond where we lived and were leisurely driving in our camper van, to Ottawa, Ont., to attend the wedding of the daughter of a long time friend of Ralph’s. Along the way we stopped to visit my mom and relatives in Calgary, Alberta and dear friends of mine in Lumsden, Sask. From there, Donalee and Chuck suggested that we head north a few miles and take a more scenic route east. Anything would be better than driving the Trans Canada Hwy through Saskatchewan. This route turned out to be one of many highlights of the trip that shines brightly in our memories. Rounding the bend as we were driving along a huge lake, we saw a flock of pelicans swimming in the water. Next was an old Anglican granite stone church and native Indian residential school that was extremely impressive. It was time to stop for a coffee and ‘bio break’ and we found this little fishing village, a street with 3 or 4 buildings really, one of them a coffee shop. As we sat there we eavesdropped on the locals delightful conversations. It must have been memorable, because it is usually the food that I talk about. Eventually Hwy 22 joins up with the Trans Canada east of Regina. We highly recommend this detour, as it really did transform our image of the province of Sask.
Somewhere along the line we dipped down into the United States. We stopped at a road side fruit stand and feasted on the most mouth watering juicy strawberries we have ever found. Driving along the south side of the St. Lawrence River, we drove though a hail storm of giant mosquito’s. It was time to stop for the night, so at the next town we asked around for a place to eat. We were directed to a coffee shop on the main street, where Ralph ordered the fish special. It was a gourmet dish that would have been served at the finest of restaurants and I only wished that I had ordered the same.
The campsite we found that night was a scenic location on the banks of the St. Lawrence River. The place was swarming with mosquito’s so we stayed put inside, grateful for the screens on our windows. In the morning we checked out and took pictures of the front of our van. It was covered with mosquito’s, dead of course.
Back into Canada, arriving at Art and Mary’s in Ottawa to help with the preparations for the upcoming wedding. This was the first time I was meeting this wonderful couple that made me feel so welcome as they put me right to work. Mary, a talented crafty person, soon learned that I had no talent in making bows even with a bow making gadget. The reception was held on the front lawn of their house. The garage was transformed into the buffet and bar area. It was a truly remarkable event with neighbors walking by to check it all out. Art and Mary have since moved back to Surrey, BC and remain great friends.
But my story is about the town of Medora, ND, which we magically discovered on our way back home from Ottawa. We were to stop in at my mom’s in Calgary again, to meet up with my Vancouver friends, Fred and Joan, to enjoy the Calgary Stampede. We had dropped down into the States traveling west on highway 28, then highway 2. Looking at the map one day, I got the idea that we should detour south to see Mt. Rushmore. Ralph was insisting that we needed to get to Calgary. Our next check in phone call to my mom, I ran the idea by her. She was all for it and even suggested that we go to see Old Faithful too! I handed the phone to Ralph and she talked him into it.
We took highway 83 south from Minot. ND, then west on interstate 94 at Bismark. The next turn would be highway 85 heading south. Being that it was 4:30 and time to find a place to camp overnight, we decided to go a few miles further than the turn off to the town of Medora. It was a quaint little place. We had supper at a burger joint. The owner asked us if we were going to the amphitheatre! We thought that would be fun, expecting a park ranger giving a talk around a campfire somewhere. So off we went, following his directions – over the railway tracks turning right and going up the hill.
What we saw at the top of the hill was a parking lot with what looked like about 50 tour busses, a 100 RV’s, and a thousand cars or more. There was a tall fence blocking the view of what was to come. We bought our tickets at one of many ticket booth’s and our adventure continued. Ralph was using a cane at the time and along came a golf cart to shuttle him inside. I meet up with him again at the elevator. Then we went on an escalator to get to our seats in this gigantic outdoor amphitheatre built on the hillside of the Black Hills. It was a clear warm night with the stars and the moon decorating the sky. In front of us was a huge stage with buildings on rails that were moved into place during the production. Imagine seeing 3 horses galloping full tilt from the back of the stage to the front, their riders carrying flags from ND, USA, and Canada. National anthems sung and the show begins. It was a musical production with 3 scenes. Between each scene there was entertainment – a comedian, a juggler and a comedy magic act. It was a magnificent evening and we often recommend Medora as a holiday destination point.
Our discoveries continued the next day as we took a horse drawn carriage ride around the town. The tree in the middle of the main street is said to be a ‘hanging tree’. And there were stories of Teddy Roosevelt and his cattle ranch.
We continued on to Mount Rushmore where there was a bus load of teens getting their picture taken by a boy sitting with a pile of camera’s on his left and one by one he would pick one up, take a picture and set it down to his right. It was hilariously funny to watch. We looked at Crazy Horse from afar. Found a wonderful park area with a waterfall and got involved with a missing boy drama. Just as the police arrived, the boy jumped out of a car that had picked him up on the road at the top of the hill that he had climbed up. Needless to say, we were all relieved to see him. The search and rescue group that was on their way were not needed after all.
We parked overnight in a town parking lot in Deadwood, SD, a small western town with casino’s. The next morning we had a ticket on our windshield saying “welcome to Deadwood City. Please use the RV campsite tonight” no fine involved. Then one morning as we were waking up in Sheridan, Wyoming, I heard something about a pancake breakfast and bed races on the local radio station. So off we went to check it out. There was also a parade down the main street. We were told to go to the world famous Kings Saddle and museum tack shop on main street There were pictures of Queen Elizabeth shopping there and many old carriages and stage coaches and more.
We got to see Old Faithful and Yellowstone National Park, then we headed north to Calgary on Highway 89. Again we detoured around to take the scenic route from west to east though the Glacier National Park. Eventually making our way north into Canada and arriving in Calgary to enjoy the Calgary Stampede with Fred and Joan who had already arrived and were staying at my mom’s.
I remember seeing a beautiful lightning storm off to the west as we drove between Lethbridge and Calgary. I also remember wondering why we were passing so many cars. It wasn’t until we were caravanning home with Fred and Joan and Fred came on the CB asking us why we were going so fast! Our speedometer was screwy. We had been speeding the entire trip and maybe ever since the transmission got repaired in Branson on a previous trip where a SAE gear was used instead of a metric gear. We were traveling in miles per hour instead of kilometers per hour. So for the next few miles we would check in with Fred to find out what speed we were going.
There were many other wonderful memorable ‘being in the right place at the right time’ adventures along the way. I am now sitting here wondering if we had been traveling the speed limit, would we have missed some of those wonderful experiences that we had.
We had many more wonderful side trips on this most magnificent holiday travel adventure as we headed back home with Fred and Joan.
By Lynn Keeling
April 4, 2009
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