Lost and Found

North Dakota. What can I say about North Dakota? Well, the coffee and the meals were big and hot and cheap. The roads were long and strait and hot. I wrote a poem.

Come walk with me, through the stinging nettle fields

down to the swamp with the shopping bag trees

and the rusted cans and the styrofoam pieces.

We'll throw stones and laugh and tell each other

that the needles can't sting us

that the garbage belongs

that we can find beauty in the ugliest places.

The campground had had a flood the year before and many
of the picnic tables never found their way home.

Have you ever seen a place where the tallest point of land is the landfill? We have. And although it's poetic, it still stinks.

We did find a really great park in North Dakota called Turtle River. We went for a long hike through forests and plains and got completely lost. Eventually we made our way out and realized we'd walked most of the park's snowshoeing and mountain-biking trails. For a navigation officer and a self-proclaimed outdoorsman, my sense of direction is questionable.

The REAL outdoorsman

We also tried some new cooking techniques from Paul Tawrell's Camping and Wilderness Survival (which Sonia got for me after I oogled it at a friend's apartment). Breakfast was the theme and bacon and eggs were on the menu. The bacon and eggs were cooked in a paper bag over the hot coals, and the rest of the eggs were cooked in half-onion layer cups. Seems a little bizarre in writing but it was tons of fun and really delicious.


After chatting with some locals in a McDonald's (we were there for the Wi-fi...ok...and the cheeseburgers. Don't judge us) we decided to travel along the northern shore of Lake Superior rather than south. Canada here we come!

Saskatchewan Fields Forever

Here's a brief summary of the next couple of days:

 

The only problem with all these lovely fields and crops was that it didn't exactly do wonders for Mike's allergies. Anyone who's ever tried sneezing while trying to keep your eyes open knows that it's impossible, so we decided against continuing East through Saskatchewan (and more fields) and instead began heading South towards North Dakota.

We stayed in Moose Jaw along the way, and since the campgrounds were full we got a room at Capone's Hideaway.

Oddly enough, there were many Al Capone-themed places in Moose Jaw...

Notice the fancy leopard print couch (there were two of them).

Next stop, the Canada/US border at which we had two of our three cases inspected. But once she saw that we really did only have camping gear with us we carried on to the all-inclusive (they had wifi! and a free shower token per night!) Roughrider campground in Minot.

First group shot of the trip!

More motorcycle wisdom:

#3. Smells are a lot stronger on a motorcycle than in a car, even with a full face helmet. Smells like rain, or cows... No where is this more apparent than in Saskatchewan.

#4. The most motorcycle-friendly hairstyle for long hair is a braid. As glamorous as it may seem to have your hair flying out behind you, I quickly learned that your hair turning into a giant pile of knots is not so glamorous.

Easter Eggs and M&M's

On the road again, heading for Saskatoon and to cross paths for a night with Matt and Morgan! In Vegreville, we passed our first "World's Largest" monument, which Mike was nice enough to pull over long enough for me to take a few pictures:


Then an overnight stop in Vermillion, home of one of the best campgrounds so far. We were welcomed by a very earthy and spiritually aware woman who told us a little of her motorcycle adventures in India. She gave us a list of the best sites which were not yet reserved, so we took our pick. The fire pits had a swiveling stove top which had a grill, flat top, and a food warmer. We were excited to cook for ourselves again and went to the grocer to get something extra special. Steak with fresh herbs (hand-delivered all the way from Nanaimo thanks to Dominique) and grilled mushrooms and onions, coupled with Sidekicks is about as gourmet as it gets on the road. We washed it down with goon (red wine in a box - or a bag in our case) and talked around the fire until late in the night.

Huge campsite! Lots of room for friends.

Oh my, what a nice grill you have.

The next morning we had steak and eggs and coffee and set off east to meet up with Matt and Morgan in Saskatoon. Once we'd arrived at the campground, we rode around looking for something yellow...

We found them!

There was lots of hugging and laughing and storytelling and eating and drinking well into the night. We traded bikes (me on Morgan's road bike, Mike on Matt's fixed-gear, and M&M on the motorcycle) to do a short loop around the campground. We even got to meet Jazzy, Matt and Morgan's newly adopted cat, but sadly she ran away the next morning. I hope she's enjoying Saskatoon, maybe we'll hear from her yet!

My Best Friend's Wedding

Saturday, August 4th was the day of Sarah's wedding. And the reason for our 5 day layover in Edmonton. It was very beautiful and everything went smoothly. But, it being Alberta in August, we had to be sprayed down with Deet between photo shoots just to keep the bugs away long enough to stop swatting the air for a picture. Mike went as my mom's date, which I'm sure she enjoyed very much.

Sarah, Sophie and I have been going to school together since we were 4 years old, so it was very special to get to be a part of the wedding and to be reunited after so much time apart. It was also a reunion for Sophie and Mike, who hadn't seen each other in nearly ten years. And judging by their well-coordinated moves on the dance floor, they got along great!

Tomorrow, I'll be recovering from the festivities, trying not to fall asleep on the bike, while Mike drives us in the direction of Saskatoon. There, we plan on meeting up with Matt and Morgan for another long awaited reunion!