Water Witch

What a difference state lines make. From the lush green crops and grass in North Dakota and Minnesota to the brown, crunchy groundcover in southern Wisconsin.  Over the miles, the “elephant eye” corn shrivelled to knee high yellow stalks.  After experiencing the record rainfall in the west while we were there, we are now witnessing the results of the record drought around the Great Lakes.

Guess I should have come home sooner. The rain that wouldn’t leave us alone along the west coast must have just sucked all the moisture away from the east. Since it followed me all that way, surely it would have followed me home.

The population also changes dramatically over those state lines.  Once we hit Illinois the traffic was heavier, the cities larger, and the people not quite as friendly nor as trusting.  We had bought fresh corn from a roadside stand in Minnesota, on the honour system. Nobody was at the stand, just a box to put the money in and a sign saying how much.  The regional park where we stayed on the St. Croix River was clean and very well tended, and our neighbors in the campground were friendly. Yet despite the Illinois State Park having signs everywhere reminding us that alcohol was prohibited, we picked up at least a full case of beer bottles in the bushes around the trailer.  This particular campground was very noisy, but not because of the drunken campers.  Instead it was the few cicadas in the trees that could put boxes full of crickets to shame. 

 But while the campground wasn’t the best, the hiking trails of the park were superb.  Wide trails meandered in and around canyons that had been eroded from the sandstone hills along the Illinois River.

We walked along the river and looked up at the canyon walls, and then climbed a few hundred stairs to the top of the bluffs, and looked down into them.

We left Illinois early in the day, giving Chicago a wide berth and just scratching the top of Indiana before landing in Michigan. The fields around us were still dry, even though there were lots of small lakes all around, and rain clouds in the sky. This was our last American campground for this trip, and it was lovely, with large, open sites.  Our spot was near a shallow lake that was crowded with waterlilies, herons, and a friendly family of swans.  Oh yeah, and bass boats, too, pushing through the weeds in search of the big one.  Fishing was the one thing hubby didn’t get to do on this foray into the States. But he doesn’t stop talking about how long he has before trout season closes in Ontario.

We hit a new record crossing the border back into Canada.  This time we were only asked two questions, how long did we stay and the value of goods we brought back. A quick “bye”, and we were gone. You just never know what you are going to encounter at the border.  Crossing into the States at North Dakota was the first time customs agents had entered our trailer for a quick look around. It was a small crossing, and not very busy, so we didn’t even have to pull over. Just opened up where we sat so they could go inside. Not that we had much. We had just spent some weeks at our daughter’s place and so our food stash was depleted. Why pick up more when we were heading for farm country? The fresh stuff was ahead of us.

So now we are where we started 9 months ago to the day, at CanAm RV in London. After more than 20,000 kms  it’s time to get things looked at on the trailer, and future plans for it decided. It was “too big” when we started, but now we don’t know where we would put stuff if we went any smaller. So it might just be a matter of fixing and refurbishing what we have.

And making sure it’s waterproof. 

W

Weather or Not

I'll bet there’s a long lineup for the job of weather forecaster in Saskatchewan.  It’s a bonus career, kinda like a teenager testing mattresses as a day job. If you look out the window, you can see the weather that will be there tomorrow. Forget about the dog that ran away 4 days ago, see that tornado in Kansas?

You can also guarantee that there will be strong winds that day, the only question is, from which direction? There’s a 25% chance of getting that right. Try matching that forecasting in Ontario.  The flat land and encircling horizon also gives a heart-stopping show when lightning storms decide to move in from the outer fringes.  You can see it coming for miles, and can predict when to move inside. At least, I did. The local residents all went outside to watch. Looking surprised when I offered to watch from the window. And across the room.

After following the Pacific coast and enjoying the delights of the glacial Rockies, I found there was a shortage of natural water in the southern part of our prairie province. Man-made ponds, easily identified by their precise rectangular shapes, are found on most homesteads but lakes are in short supply. But the pleasure one gets from watching waves ripple and dance with sunlight is not gone. Wheat fields in the constant wind have the same mesmerizing effect. The changing green on the crops as the wind creates ripples is exactly like the movement of the water on a lake. And I’ve been told that the rustle of the young wheat, or the rattle when it's golden and ripe, is as soothing as the rush of waves on a shore.

This rural peace is shattered by the now common sights of oil rigs, looking like big grasshoppers bobbing up and down in the fields, sucking blood from under the earth. This is the new skyline of Saskatchewan, replacing the iconic sight of wooden grain silos, which are becoming rare and seen only in the smaller communities. And is in dramatic contrast to North Dakota, where the wind turbines are king. Hard to say which is the greater evil.

Moving out of Saskatchewan and into North Dakota was a financial decision. With gas over the border averaging 90 cents a litre and campgrounds at half the cost, poor retirees on a fixed income can scarcely afford to be patriotic. The border agents don’t seem to care when we come and go, and since our plans are to stay in Ontario for the winter we figured we could get away with an extra trip into capitalism.

In North Dakota, the flat horizon changed subtly, with rivers branching out creating crowsfeet on the landscape and buttes sticking up like headless shoulders. It became cattle country with wheat only in the flat river valleys. Pronghorn antelope were replaced by an occasional deer, and small herds of buffalo protected by fences.

We visited the Buffalo Museum, and found it very sad that these animals that had once roamed in herds of thousands were reduced so dramatically by the introduction of Europeans and their guns.  Invasive species, indeed.

Our home in North Dakota was outside of Valley City, also known as the city of bridges.

We did a walk-about around town, enjoying the smaller bridges that the people are so proud of.  This  one is a footbridge leading to the State Teacher's College. It was repaired and reinforced in the '60s when a student tried to drive over it in his parents' car.

Not only are there several pretty road and foot bridges over the winding Sheyenne River inside the town, but because it is in a deep valley, the railroad built a bridge right over top of it!

Unfortunately, we were driving. Even with all the bridges in town, there was only one road up to the campgrounds. And it was under construction - or destruction, depending on how you look at it.

As a result, we did not do a lot of other sightseeing in the area. The one place we did stop at was called Frontier Village. Hubby got himself a new leather Stetson and we watched a stagecoach roll by.

After dragging the Airstream back through the mud of construction, we crossed the state border into the farmlands of Minnesota.  Corn, sunflowers, all kinds of crops spread out on both sides of the highway.  Even the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are surrounded by fields instead of suburbs. We stayed on the far east side of the state, right beside the St. Croix River that flows down from the nose of Lake Superior and marks the border with Wisconsin.

Again, our campground was bordered by cornfields – to the delight of the doe and two fawns that visited on an early morning. We also saw dozens of wild turkeys and a peregrine falcon family. A very peaceful spot indeed that we decide to extend our stay for a few days.

Perfect to enjoy the hot and sunny weather we're having.

W