West Trip log 1
We're driving to Banff from Ontario, 3000km on the road, which means 3 days of driving... Right now I'm at a campsite in North Dakota that has wireless Internet. I'll insert photos when I get back home like 3 weeks from now.
Day 1 started at 7:45am. Crossed the border yesterday from Sarnia, took about half an hour, being the weekend, and not Detroit or Buffalo XD
We drove north in Michigan. Saw Lake Superior. I was able to take a dip in the water at a roadside beach. The water was surprisingly warm (I think this was at 5pmish), and really really clean. The sand was also very soft. With that, I've seen all the Great Lakes. Drove across Michigan and stayed in Maquette, a small town on Lake Superior.
Started driving at 7am this morning (which meant I got up at 6 X.x ). Drove across Michigan and the tip of Wisconsin, approximately along Superior. It was really boring. The scene reminds me of the way to Algonquin, nothing but trees and more trees. We passed by Duluth, which was an industrial and port city; it reminds me of when we went to New York, before we got into the city from New Jersey. There was also construction everywhere, not very good memory of the place.
Then we went across the width of Minnesota. More boring scenery, I think I was asleep for the most of it. Either that, or absorbed into the world of Pokemon Ranger XD
When we neared North Dakota, the land flattened out into the prairies. Farmlands as far as the eye can see. My mom read from the travel brochure that the population of North Dakota was about 600,000, which is just slightly bigger than Hamilton, wow. But no wonder, the houses are really really sparse, and from the maps, even the biggest city is pretty tiny.
We passed by a lot of what looked like little lakes. I thought maybe they were planting something in the water, since most of the lakes had some kind of grassy plants (like cattails, but without the head things) in them, with only bits of water showing [insert image here]. I've been trying to figure out what plants they are, and if it's some kind of agriculture plant (like rice, which grows in water). But looking at the places we passed on Google map satellite, the area is riddled with teeny water holes and lakes (presumably left by glaciers). So I guess those were just wild water holes and not actually planted agriculture.
Saw lots of cattle, probably the biggest herds I've seen. Also saw a herd of (domesticated) moose (or is it elk?) grazing, and a couple of llamas. I don't think I've seen a rock in North Dakota yet XD. Also saw a giant wind farm way off in the distance. There must've been about 50 turbines. They were pretty far in the distance though, so I only got a kind of crappy photo of it [insert image here]
We passed by Rugby, North Dakota, which is apparently the geographical center of North America. Actually Google says it's 15km from Rugby, but close enough I guess. There was a sign when entering the town, and apparently a totem thing. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of that sign, nor did we have time to stop to see the totem...
Camping out here tonight. Need to get up early tomorrow again and head out on the road. We're crossing the border into Saskatchewan (I'm a bit sad I'm missing Manitoba), and I think we'll be in Banff by tomorrow night.
I don't know when I'll get Internet access again, so I dunno when I'm gonna post the log. I'll try to write stuff on paper so I don't forget
Day 1 started at 7:45am. Crossed the border yesterday from Sarnia, took about half an hour, being the weekend, and not Detroit or Buffalo XD
We drove north in Michigan. Saw Lake Superior. I was able to take a dip in the water at a roadside beach. The water was surprisingly warm (I think this was at 5pmish), and really really clean. The sand was also very soft. With that, I've seen all the Great Lakes. Drove across Michigan and stayed in Maquette, a small town on Lake Superior.
Started driving at 7am this morning (which meant I got up at 6 X.x ). Drove across Michigan and the tip of Wisconsin, approximately along Superior. It was really boring. The scene reminds me of the way to Algonquin, nothing but trees and more trees. We passed by Duluth, which was an industrial and port city; it reminds me of when we went to New York, before we got into the city from New Jersey. There was also construction everywhere, not very good memory of the place.
Then we went across the width of Minnesota. More boring scenery, I think I was asleep for the most of it. Either that, or absorbed into the world of Pokemon Ranger XD
When we neared North Dakota, the land flattened out into the prairies. Farmlands as far as the eye can see. My mom read from the travel brochure that the population of North Dakota was about 600,000, which is just slightly bigger than Hamilton, wow. But no wonder, the houses are really really sparse, and from the maps, even the biggest city is pretty tiny.
We passed by a lot of what looked like little lakes. I thought maybe they were planting something in the water, since most of the lakes had some kind of grassy plants (like cattails, but without the head things) in them, with only bits of water showing [insert image here]. I've been trying to figure out what plants they are, and if it's some kind of agriculture plant (like rice, which grows in water). But looking at the places we passed on Google map satellite, the area is riddled with teeny water holes and lakes (presumably left by glaciers). So I guess those were just wild water holes and not actually planted agriculture.
Saw lots of cattle, probably the biggest herds I've seen. Also saw a herd of (domesticated) moose (or is it elk?) grazing, and a couple of llamas. I don't think I've seen a rock in North Dakota yet XD. Also saw a giant wind farm way off in the distance. There must've been about 50 turbines. They were pretty far in the distance though, so I only got a kind of crappy photo of it [insert image here]
We passed by Rugby, North Dakota, which is apparently the geographical center of North America. Actually Google says it's 15km from Rugby, but close enough I guess. There was a sign when entering the town, and apparently a totem thing. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of that sign, nor did we have time to stop to see the totem...
Camping out here tonight. Need to get up early tomorrow again and head out on the road. We're crossing the border into Saskatchewan (I'm a bit sad I'm missing Manitoba), and I think we'll be in Banff by tomorrow night.
I don't know when I'll get Internet access again, so I dunno when I'm gonna post the log. I'll try to write stuff on paper so I don't forget