June – July 2023 Crater Lake We visited Crater Lake on June 20th, one day before the offical start of summer. Surprise! We arrived to find a fresh dusting of snow and frosty temperatures to match. A clear, bright blue sky made the water look dark navy blue. Crater is the deepest and purest lake in the U.S. This mountaintop lake was once a volcano. An eruption 7,700 years ago created the crater and set the stage for this 2,000…
Mid-July to Mid-August 2022 From Whitefish, Montana, we headed east into North Dakota. We stopped in Rugby, which is the geographical center of North America. It seems odd that this small town holds this distinction, but it does. In the 1880s, this was a junction stop on the Great Northern Railway. Today, it’s the Pierce County seat and home to about 2,500 people, but the cairn marking its location may be the biggest attraction. We camped on Devil’s Lake at…
Late July 2021 South Dakota We drove Interstate 90 from South Dakota’s western border to its eastern border with Minnesota. It’s almost a straight line, and it’s the most direct route across the state. We paused in Wall to visit the famous Wall Drug Store. For Easterners who might not know, Wall Drug is very much like South Carolina’s South of the Border. It’s a several block-long tourist trap where you can purchase anything from gold jewelry to moccasins. Busloads…