U.S.A. - Homeward Bound

Friday July 29, 2011

Today we drove a very long distance until we arrived in Sault St. Marie and then decided to cross the border into the U.S.A. On our way over, we had to cross a massive bridge that separated the States from Canada. From the top of that bridge you could see these huge locks that allow the big ships to move from Lake Huron to Lake Superior. It was neat to see them because we saw the same kind of locks in Ottawa but they were much, much smaller.

Once we started driving we realized how much better the highways were. Finally we stopped in Marquette, Michigan, and stayed in a motel where we went for a swim in their pool.

Saturday July 30, 2011

I have never in my life been in such a thunderstorm! We were simply driving along, well dad was driving and I was mostly sleeping, when I looked up and saw some dark, pitch black clouds ahead. Great… It was not too bad when the rain first started, then it got to the point where we had to pull over because we couldn’t see ten feet in front of the car. Thunder and lightning was flashing all around us. I felt a little bad for the people on Harleys in front of us. Soon enough though, the storm passed and was replaced with blistering sun and humid heat! Man, we have had such amazing weather! The American prairies are not very different from the Canadian ones. They are flat, golden, flat, green, flat, pretty, and flat. Later today we crossed Wisconsin, then Minnesota, and finally entered North Dakota. We stopped for the night in another motel in a place called Devil's Lake.

Sunday July 31, 2011

You know, I think the longer we stay on this trip, the more interesting things become! When we were getting ready to leave this morning, Dad was checking out the car and I watched some biker guys from Illinois getting ready to leave. One big bald guy was putting sunscreen all over himself when he turned and looked at me. He had big raccoon eyes because his face was sunburned except for where his sunglasses had been. I had to look away so he didn't see me laughing. Then later around ten in the morning, we were pulled over by a trooper and told that we were speeding!!! OH MY GOSH! It was so… strange yet embarrassing at the same time! I would have hidden behind my sunglasses but I seemed to have lost them so I settled with absorbing myself in one of my i-pod’s apps! Boy was my Dad ever polite! He used so many "sirs" which was funny because the trooper looked 15. Allegedly we had been going twenty miles over the speed limit. After 12 minutes, the cop came back to our car and said he was just going to give my dad a verbal warning. Wow was he ever happy. Things however, did NOT improve. It was even hotter than yesterday, 38 degrees Celsius! While driving through the prairies we were able to see all the damage that flooding had done to farm buildings in Minot, North Dakota. Most of them were still under water! Along the road there were tons of oil donkeys. There were several huge derricks that were being used to drill for oil and gas. Natural gas was being burnt off right outside of the towers.

We saw mountains again for the first time this afternoon. I sure missed them. We stopped for the night in a place called Havre, Montana, in yet another motel and had a dinner of salad and bread with cream cheese. Yum! Tomorrow I get to go shopping for some western boots to wear when riding. Home is just a couple of days away now.