Through Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ontario

Presently I am in Niagara Falls, about to enter the north-eastern phase of this trip, so here is a re-cap of the mid-west.
Minnesota: My route across Minnesota took me only a few miles north of Iowa. This is the epicenter of agricultural America. The farms were huge with fields of thousands of acres, well kept with never a weed in sight, and carefully maintained with houses, barns, and machinery all in respectable condition, no small feat in today's world of farming. Along with the large herds of cattle, were the omni-present confinement hog buildings with, ahhh, their sweet perfume wafting through the air bringing back such wonderful memories. Though never boring in it's redundancy, southern Minnesota stayed like this until about 50 miles from Wisconsin where the route took us through the Root River Valley. This "bluff" country was carefully turned into a recreational area with 60 miles of bike trails, and a center for gentle river canoeing. At times this area, had an uncanny resemblance to the Alto, Tennessee coves (check the Minn. picture section; those familiar to this part of Tenn. can see this). The Root River Valley led me to LaCrosse, WI and across the Misissippi River.
Wisconsin: The crossing of Wisconsin was a quick 3 day ride. The large flat farms 0f Minnesota turned into smaller hillier farms with dairy farming replacing the beef and pork industry of Minnesota. The route included a beautiful ride through an Amish area; please note the photo of haystacks neatly piled in a field; you just don't see that anymore in the normal world of progressive farming (also note the horse driven carriages). The final Wisc. destination took me to Manitowac where Theron and I would catch a car ferry across Lake Michigan to Luddington, MI.. Manitowac was Wisconsin's maritime center. It was/is the home of great ship building, including world famous Burger Yachts. Ship building, however, was more than yachts; Great Lakes shipping played an essential role in the development of this country's industrial infrastructure starting in the 19th century. Iron ore, coal, agricultural goods were the main part of it, connecting cities such as Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Buffalo, and Duluth. Another important aspect of shipping were the car ferries, dating back to the 1880's. There were no autos to ferry back then, rather it was railroad cars that were being carried in these ships. The S.S. Badger, the car ferry that transported Theron, me and our car still had the remnants of railroad tracks on the car deck, and the Badger was built in the 1950's. Anyway we were off to Michigan and the Eastern Time Zone.
Michigan: Michigan was a fairly quick 3 and a half day trek. If you were isolated from all news for the last 15 years, it wouldn't take long to realize that Michigan was experiencing difficult times. Not that it was horrible to ride through; it was agricultural, for the most part. It was abandoned houses, foreclosed property, empty retail spaces, and bad road conditions that were the main red flags. Life did go on there and I won't dwell on this anymore. Next stop, Canada; get out the passports.
Ontario, Canada: I did not have any idea what to expect from Ontario, that is, would it be crowded and industrial, or more on the rural side? Well fortunately it was the latter. In fact, Ontario was a treat, resembling some of the farmland of Southern Minnesota (including alot of hog facilities). There were more flower gardens adorning the farm houses than anywhere previously seen. There were fields of corn, wheat and soy-beans as before, but also huge fields of cucumbers, asparagas, and potatoes. Also there were orchards of apples and cherries, as well as blueberry/blackberry farms. We were fairly close to Lake Erie and a lot of these fields ran down to the lake....Beautiful! Three days of Ontario, and as fast as you can say Niagara Falls, we were back in the U.S. of A. to here and now, and with 3,000 miles officially under our belt.

Manitowoc, WI to Luddington, MI

Wisconsin: Days 32,33, &34

Thoughts of South Dakota

Before I get started, I want to relay that it has come to my attention that it is not so obvious to all that all the posts are available to review. On the left side of the main page under "blog archive" all my July posts are listed, but my June posts, all 25 of them, are hidden, as are the 2 May posts. To see them click the "July (25)" heading, and all 25 posts will reveal theirselves (same with May (2).) This may come in handy for those new to this site especially my first post (in May) in which I tried to explain why I was doing this. Enough already....
South Dakota surprised me; I wasn't expecting it to be the great ride that it was. I have already mentioned our stay in Rapid City, and what a "jewell of a town" it really was; well South Dakota was gem of a state. The day of leaving Rapid City, carried me to the Badlands. The Badlands reminded me, slightly, of Arches Nat'l Park; a vast array of eroded rock and sand shaped into bizarre towers and dunes, colored by oxidized metals and various minerals. After the Badlands came the Pine Ridge Reservation, obviously not a tourist attraction, but rather, a reservation for the Oglala Sioux. I had looked forward to going through Pine Ridge, probably due to the Ian Frazier books, On the Rez, and The Great Plains. In anycase, it wasn't that Pine Ridge was much different, or any different for the most part, in appearance, it was just that it was a part of the country that represents a history that has been obscured,distorted, and shunned, so that I, and most people will never really know or fully understand it. I am not sure why, but riding through there just felt special. And having mentioned feeling special, it is fun to note that on about 8 to 10 occasions, while going thruogh Pine Ridge cars, sometimes filled front and back with people would honk, cheer and wave their hands at me. Sometimes it was a lone truck who would honk and wave. Throughout this trip people, on the whole, have been freindly and would wave, especially big trucks and motor cycles, but none with the enthusiasm as encountered on the Pine Ridge Reservation. I am not sure why all the fuss, but I think maybe any variation from the drudgery of the norm was due for slight celebration. (I think it might be fair to say that I was not the "norm".)
The land past the Badlands including Pine Ridge was cattle country, open range, and hilly. Hilly, did I say hilly? It was up and down, up and down, and, one-more-time, up and down. The wind was in my face; it was a good thing I wasn't in a hurry or it might have become tedious, which it didn't. Then something interesting happened; I crossed the Missouri River. This changed everything. About 10 miles before the Missouri River I felt humidity for the first time on the whole trip. As I aproached the river I went up and down 3 bigger than usual hills, then crossed the river, went up another hill, and low and behold it was flat. It was as if I had crossed some sort of boundry that separated the "west" from the midwest. The farms were much bigger now, more cultivated ground as opposed to open cattle range, with the equipment all about. Towns now were real towns with businesses, houses, churches, and schools. Before a "town" on the map might have consisted of one building that served as a post office, eatery and a bar, sometimes even having a gas station and convenience store as well.
Well, on into Sioux falls and then into Wisconsin....

Days 28, 29, 30, and 31- Through Southern Minnesota