With the van pointed toward Toronto, it was time to boogey around the Great Lakes and knock a whole bunch of states off our list. Some might be wondering why we didn’t cross into Canada through Detroit and there are a few reasons; for starters, we had friends to visit in Niagara Falls, ON anyway so crossing through Buffalo practically had us at their doorstep. Second, we wanted to keep as much of the route to Toronto on American soil as possible because gas is a fraction of the cost ($2.95 a gallon in Buffalo versus $1.30 a litre in London) and of course, we wanted to boost up the tally of states we’ve driven through – duh!

From Milwaukee in the early afternoon, we thought we’d be in the clear for getting through Chicago while avoiding rush hour traffic. Ah, how naïve of us. Because there’s no bypass highway around Chicago, everyone and their brother is crossing through the city. Now, we usually don’t complain much about not having A/C since driving with the windows down makes a pretty decent breeze, but being late July when the temperatures are soaring, the breeze is largely dependent on one thing: you need to actually be moving. Let’s just say that bumper-to-bumper traffic in 30°C/90°F made for a pretty sticky ride.

We had no intentions of stopping in Chicago to explore at all, but we got a nice, slow-moving tour without even having to leave our van! I’ve heard a lot of people liken Toronto to Chicago and we could definitely see why – heck, their bridges must have been designed by the same buffoon who was responsible for Toronto’s crumbling Gardiner Expressway (and another reference from 2012 to illustrate how long this has been going on, just ‘cuz). One thing we noticed was that gas stations in Illinois offer a healthy discount on your fill-up if you get a car wash and man, are these Illinoisans (apparently the proper demonym) taking advantage of that because everyone was rocking a super shiny car. If only we could fit in a touchless car wash…

Once we finally inched our way through the city, we had another moment of naïveté thinking that traffic would now ease up. Little did we know that Indiana is the so-called “Crossroads of America” and it was no joke. Thousands of semis coming from all directions on top of the regular 5PM hustle and bustle we were now right in the thick of. Thankfully things thinned out after the turn-off to Indianapolis and we could breathe again. We cruised into Michigan and touched base at the only Great Lake that neither of us had been to. We squeezed in some shut-eye at a Walmart after a very long day of driving and headed for Ohio the next morning. After clocking in a work day in Toledo – which I might add sounds way too Wild West-y to be in Ohio – we stayed the night at the Harry Hughes Equestrian Centre and relished in the quiet sounds of birds and crickets that made us thankful to not be at another Walmart.

The traffic around Cleveland was practically non-existent, which was refreshing after our drive the day before. As we went through smaller towns and residential areas, we noticed that lots of people in Ohio have these little pond-meets-swimming-pool things that are totally genius. They look like ponds with rocks and gradual depth but they’re filled with vibrant teal waters and some even have diving boards or floating docks, making me question if they’re chlorinated? Plus they’d seemingly easily freeze over in the winter and double as skating rinks. Please shed some light if you know more about these things and if our hypotheses are correct, then tell us why no one else in North America has these?!

We made the very brief voyage through Pennsylvania before heading into the last state on our route, New York. New York marked the 28^th state that we’ve visited on this road trip with Clementine and that was pretty cool. We can easily knock off a bunch of east coast states next summer and hopefully eventually hit all 50 (maybe a little ambitious about Hawaii but one can dream). We stayed in the North Harmony State Forest, which unbeknownst to us, was in the heart of Amish-ville. We often feel old school driving a 30+ year old vehicle among shiny white Sprinters but instantly felt pretty damn modern when a family went by in a horse and buggy.

After packing up and heading to Buffalo, we were on our way back to Canada once again and ready to pay a visit to Toronto, where we lived before starting our van journey, and my (Olivia) hometown. As we mentioned before, returning to Calgary felt like we were coming full circle after driving almost 50 000 kms in three countries but coming back to Toronto was completing an even bigger circle. America was very, very good to us and we’re bummed that we only get six months a year to explore it but as always, we were super stoked to be home.

BLACK CANYON – New River, Arizona

You’ve gotta love waking up in a movie-like desert with Saguaro cactuses taller than you at your doorstep. Lots of wide open space in this BLM area where you can stay a day or even a week.

Everything you need to know here.

EL MORRO – Tinaja, New Mexico

The only National Park Campground we’ve ever seen that’s completely free. Amazing views of El Morro National Monument and you’re only a short drive away from exploring the grounds in the morning.

Everything you need to know here.

PADRE ISLAND – Corpus Christi, Texas

Beware of high tides when camping on Padre Island’s sandy beach. As long as you’re parked far enough back from the shore, this makes for an awesome spot to drive right on the beach and set up camp. Only catch here is that you will have to pay the entrance fee to the National Seashore, BUT it is free with an annual parks pass (which is definitely worth it, I might add).

Everything you need to know here.

LAKE CUSHMAN – Hoodsport, Washington

One spot nestled in the woods at the foot of Mt. Washington with an awesome view of Lake Cushman. Part of the Olympic National Forest and not far from Olympic National Park.

Everything you need to know here.

DIXIE NATIONAL FOREST – Leeds, Utah

Winding desert roads take you up to several campsites overlooking creeks and the nearby town of Leeds. Can’t beat rugged desert camping.

Everything you need to know here.

We only just scratched the surface on the plethora of amazing BLM and National Forest land that America has to offer. Let us know your favourite spots in a comment so we can check ’em out!

The drive further down the Mississippi River into Wisconsin kept those beautiful views coming. This part of the states is really unique and totally underrated as far as scenery goes. We made it to Madison and did a few much-needed errands like an oil change and a visit to the gym before exploring the city a little bit. It took us by surprise how nice it was and how crazy that State Capitol building is. We surely didn’t expect it to be so grand and the city to be so alive (sorry Madison, we doubted you).

The Capitol building has a really cool x-shape and hosts all kinds of cool events on the lawns that take away from the typical stuffy feel of a government building. We were too late to do one of the free tours but if the inside is anything as beautiful as the outside, I’m sure it’s worth the price. University seems to be the main drag in Madison and it was chockfull of young people with backpacks and all the things that come along with that. Also, to Madison’s roster of cool stuff is the fact that architect Frank Lloyd Wright grew up there and has designed a number of classic houses and buildings around town. We didn’t have a ton of spare time but would have loved to tour around checking them out.

We resorted back to the ol’ Walmart game and spent the night plugging our noses from sewage smell at the Monona location. Just to clarify, there’s a sewerage plant nearby so if the wind is blowing in a certain direction, it definitely makes its presence known. We had a decent sleep and woke up the next morning with two things in mind: beer and cheese. We made the pilgrimage to Milwaukee to visit the Pabst Brewery and walk the streets of beer-land. Once we found a place to park, we gathered some change to feed the parking meter and saw that it accepted nickels and dimes. Cheap parking is always an awesome surprise but this was downright comical. Parking in Toronto can be $4-6 per half hour so throwing in a few dimes and parking for an hour felt like a steal. We checked out the Best Place, which is the brewery store and learned that the brewery in Milwaukee no longer actually produces any beer and is in the process of being preserved into a museum and historical place. Walking the streets tells the story of the beginnings of the brewery and how the Best family’s (Best being their last name) beer company evolved into Pabst. Not bad for sidewalk literature.

Driving by the Miller Park was pretty cool, even for non-sports lovers, although the rest of the city was mostly concrete and not the most scenic. We didn’t really have time for scenic anyway since we were on a mission to stock up on some cheese before leaving Wisconsin and we found just the place to do it: The Mars Cheese Castle. South of town in Kenosha is a literal castle filled with God’s gifts to humanity – cheese, cured meats and libations. There’s no denying that cheese is pure magic since every person who walked out of the castle was carrying a very full bag and smiling (albeit their wallets were probably a little thinner). Every cheese under the sun from Wisconsin and other parts of the world were available to take home and some even to sample. We could have spent all day and all of our money there but we picked up a few interesting new cheeses and headed back on the road. With the fridge stocked with beer and cheese, we knew our time in Wisconsin was well spent. We had a couple more Great Lakes to get around before another border crossing into the homeland and the race was on to get back.

Whether it’s through Ontario or through Minnesota, the drive along Lake Superior is pretty spectacular. Granted it’s a huge lake, it’s pretty disorienting since its shoreline looks so much like the ocean. We drove the American side, which is full of cute little cottages and waterfront restaurants with views that will make your jaw drop. We found a spot to camp near Tufte, in the Superior National Forest, where we were surrounded by towering trees and of course, plenty of bugs. As much as I love summer, I detest that it’s synonymous with bug season – guess we can’t win ‘em all.

We continued to hug the “coast” down through Duluth, which is a really cute scenic town filled with beautifully preserved old houses with storybook-like gardens. For some reason I always thought Duluth was a heavily industrial town but the lake views and mature trees definitely trumped any factories to be seen. We made our first American grocery stop after being away for a while and asked ourselves again how people aren’t drunk all the time – we bought a 24 of beer in Kenora, ON for $41 and got the exact same beer in a 30-pack for $12 here. Land of the free, man.

We started making our way closer to the city and stayed a night in a town called Bruno. Despite being in a slightly more open area than the forest, the bugs were even crazier. So much so that I barely slept between being woken up by the sounds of buzzing swarming my head and going full-on Rambo trying to eradicate the problem. Whether I was successful is debatable but at least I managed to catch a few hours of sleep between swatting and bathing myself in peppermint oil. Before hitting the Minneapolis city limits, we spent a night in the Rum River State Forest where, to our luck, the bugs were so bad we had to stay in the van. We roasted while playing cards before a Forest Ranger pulled up and knocked on the window. That’s generally not a very good sign but this guy saw our Alberta license plate and just wanted to chat about his upcoming trip to Canada. To many people, Canada is like a mythical place so we’re always happy to chat with Americans who are genuinely interested in visiting and don’t just rule it out because you can’t carry guns.

We left the woods and headed to the city where we stayed with Justin’s cousin and her family for a few days (yes, Justin has a lot of family scattered throughout North America). We spent a few days drinking, boating and floating among catching up on work and of course, showers. Minneapolis has got a ton of great breweries around town and we did our part to check out several of them. If you ever find yourself thirsty, be sure to check out Uteplis for beer, Sociable Cider Werks for cider and Tattersall for amazing cocktails. On the weekend, we were lucky enough to be in town when Target was putting on an epic fireworks show for the Aquatennial. Yea, I didn’t know what that meant either but in short, it’s a week of events celebrating the lakes of Minneapolis with a huge grand finale party. We’ve both seen some pretty great firework shows in our days, but this one blew all the others out of the water. Basically, it was 30 minutes of solid grand finale-level fireworks. We watched from Nicollet Island and had an awesome view of the explosive colours lighting up the city.

After another top-notch day floating on one of Minnesota’s many beautiful lakes, we left town on a high note and headed toward the town of Red Wing, where the company Red Wing Shoes is based out of. I’m a bit of a nerd for quality heritage apparel so the fact that the factory store also has a (free) museum was pretty awesome. They trace back the history of the boots and how they’ve evolved over the years and even have a massive leather boot that’s fit for a giant. It took ages to make and definitely used more leather than a couch – they call it a size 638 ½. It’s a super cool spot to check out, even if you’re not that interested in boots. Outside of the factory, the town of Red Wing is really pretty and is oozing with character. It’s right on the Mississippi River and has got lots of historical buildings and local vendors selling farm fresh corn and other veggies.

We continued along the Mississippi to another State Forest where we camped a night and prepared for a lot of driving in the coming days. As I mentioned in the last post, the drive through the US from Thunder Bay, ON to Niagara Falls, ON crosses through 8 states. We were one down with seven to go so a good night’s sleep was essential.