Cinco de Mayo

Ole! It finally stopped raining. I spent the night in Calgary as you know. In the morning I visited local Nikkon Fast Lube to change the oil in FJ Cruiser. Right next to it was Starbucks so I grabbed a latte while oil was changed. I filled up on gasoline and took off for Canadian Rockies. I stopped by little cute town Canmore and continued off to Banff. In Banff I had lunch in the Irish place where waitress tried to jiff me for $5 change. There goes her tip!

Ride from Banff to Jasper was simply spectacular. Number of peeks, valleys, canyons, glaciers, elks, birds, lakes and rivers I have seen, wow. In 150 mile drive from Banff to Jasper I stopped probably about 40 times, which made my trip longer than I expected. Even with all the stops, when I pulled into Jasper, I had another 2h of daylight so I decided to continue to Hinton, which was another hour north towards Dawson Creek. Here I am reporting at the end of week one. It went by really quickly.

I am also releasing Google Map for week 1. This map might have some items out of order but I am sure you will get the general feeling for the progress I have made in the first week of travels.

Two rainy days

Thursday and Friday were just brutal weather wise. It all started out with rain in Missoula, MT. I turned on CB radio and forecast called for 2-4" of snow in the mountains heading north to Kalispell, MT. Ride was good and FJ Cruiser handled well over the mountains. I had coffee break in Kalispell and moved on towards West Glacier. Again, my timing was off, since road through the Glacier NP is closed until mid-June. Yey!!! So, I drove around the park, and on the Shelby, MT. This part of Montana is washed with heavy gusty winds.

Next morning, while still raining, I crossed into Canada. Alberta here I come. And, it was just like Montana, except flatter, with gustier winds, lower speed limits, more expensive gas and well that Canadian feeling to it :) I reached DPP (Dinosaur Provincial Park) and pleasantly surprised I was not the only person there. Two rednecks from Montana were just as surprised to see City Slicker. Nice thing is that I was able to drive inside of the park. It reminded me of the South Dakota Badlands (DPP is part of Canadian Badlands), except it looked a little different with all the rain, I don't know how else to explain it. It looked like it was eroding right in front my eyes. Another thing I noticed about Alberta is abundant wild life.

Drumheller was short ride north. This is the place hosting largest Dinosaur. You can actually climb inside of it to a platform within the mouth of the Rex and look outside. I got there too late (story of my early trip, early-late-late-early, timing I have to work on), so I snapped picture and drove off into the sunset, towards Calgary. Before you go off into the sunset, check out that photo. FJ can fit into one T-Rex's foot, and it is not the optical illusion, I measured it.

I finished off the night with dinner at Big T's Smokehouse.

Yellowstone... ... ... Not!

In the morning as I headed out towards Yellowstone, from Cody, I noticed shiny sign, East entrance to Yellowstone opens 5/4 call # for further information. So, I called and true enough, road opens in two days. So, I decided to skip Yellowstone and head to Belgrade, MT via some scenic roads. I found Chief Joseph Scenic Byway which would probably offer some nice views. As I took turn onto Byway, another sign popped into view. Oh yeah, Route 212 from the end of Chief Joseph Scenic Byway towards Red Lodge is closed. Along the way to Red Lodge with different route I encountered another two road closures, through which I had to take some good old country roads as detour.

It was midmorning by now and I did not eat breakfast, and along the road came Bearcreek. Little miner's town mostly deserted. Along the road towards Bearcreek I saw signed posted for "World Famous Banana Cream Pie", so I decided to end my hunger with some pie. I entered Hungry Bear Bakery, and met with very nice Midwestern lady. She served with the pie and some coffee. As I ate we started up the conversation (my accent was the kick-off point), and I came to learn that her husband's family came to Montana in late 1880-ties from Montenegro. Last name Kotaric, quickly got turned into simpler version Kotar. She explained to me that in late 1940-ties Bearcreek was booming with over 5,000 residents as mining town. Since then is twiddled down to mere 200+. I was kind of hungry so I had another piece, this time I had coconut cream pie. With pies gone, it was time for me to get back on the road. I said farewell to Dawna Kotar and Bearcreek, MT.

Red Lodge was not what I expected and I was filled up on the good homemade pies, so I continued on to Belgrade via I-90. In Belgrade, I visited the Yellowstone - Harley Davidson store and bought some souvenirs, again (I visited this store first time in 2003, on my way to Chicago, from San Francisco). While, buying some parts at Napa store, I asked clerk for lunch suggestion. He asked for direction I was headed into, and suggested place called Sir Scott’s Oasis Steakhouse and Lounge in Manhattan, MT, 9 miles west of Belgrade. If the road ever takes you this part of the country, stop by the place. Food I had was great. Can anyone guess what Finger Steaks are? After lunch I headed west to Missoula, where I am writing you from. Tomorrow, I am headed towards Glacier National Park, MT.

Mt. Rushmore vs. Crazy Horse

From Rapid City I headed south towards Mt. Rushmore. Since I was up little early, breakfast in Keystone, SD sounded like a good idea. Little after 9am I entered Gatzon Borglum Museum in Keystone. I was glad I did. The mp3 guided tour through the museum was enlightening. Like everything else in life, even decisions of which presidents were to be included were political. Gee I think I am onto something here. Ha, ha! After the short ride I parked and entered Mount Rushmore National Memorial. It was amazing sight. I even got a shot of goat.

Next stop was Crazy Horse Memorial, a memorial to all Native American Indian Tribes. When the memorial is finished it will be grand. Whole Mt. Rushmore will be able to fit within the head of the Crazy Horse’s head. Crazy Horse was infamous War Chief. The memorial is solely funded by private parties, ticket and souvenir sales and the Elders have repeatedly refused Federal funding.

I had lunch at Iron Horse Inn in Deadwood. Anyone watching HBO series? I got to see the movie in the chamber of commerce and they made a point that real Deadwood was not as vulgar. Yeah, right! I also stopped by Kevin Costner's place "The Midnight Star", if anyone cares.

Driving down Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway coming from Deadwood/Lead area is easy and relaxing since it is all down the canyon. From Spearfish I took I-90 to Buffalo, WY, and then scenic Route 16 to Cody, WY. Powder River Pass on Route 16 is at 9666 feet. Still some snow-dirt patches left.

Badlands, SD

This afternoon I arrived at the Badlands National Park in South Dakota. After I paid $15 entrance fee (good for 7 days, go figure, who is going to hang around for 7 days, unless you are camping I guess?), I entered the park. I was not sure what to expect, I've heard about Badlands, SD, but I was not prepared for it. It seems today was one of the windier days in the spring. Road through the park, Route 240 or Badlands Loop Road, takes you along the edge of the Wall (60 miles long across), many times going through passes between Lower and Upper plates. For more details see Badlands National Park - NPS site.

I have taken many pictures, I am attaching only few here, rest I am adding to the PicasaWeb album.

Looks like a dog?	Map of Badlands
Aidan's guy working on the rocks	FJ against backdrop of Badlands

Again, I was surprised by the natural beauty, different rock formations, colors, birds and trees.

Day in Chicago

I got to spend some time with my old friends, Nik and Vesna and their dog Max. They are not old per say, I just know them for very long time. Nik I know since high-school. Like always walking Max has become a routine for us. Today, Nik and I took Max to Michigan Lake shore. Weather was in the high 80-ties and clear. Probably one of the best days Chicago will see whole year-round. We took many pictures of Max, I am attaching one to this post. Nik will send me shots from his camera, right Nik!

While waiting for Burek, traditional Balkan cheese and meat pies, we walked around the neighborhood and I am attaching a picture we took from one of the establishments around the corner. Goes without saying we did not make any inquiries at the joint :)

Well, it is almost 4pm and it is time for me to hit the road. Thank you Nik and Vesna for yet another wonderful day in Chicago.

On the road to Chicago

From start to finish, 824.2 miles. I made 4 stops, to fill up on the gasoline, some food and other things you do when you stop while traveling ;-) Each stop was about 15-20 minutes long, or short. All in all it was an interesting drive. East coast is densely populated and it shows on the roads.

Here is the list of some interesting things I have seen, or that happened on the road to Chicago:
- I hit 14 construction sites on route 80. One on entrance to Ohio Turnpike was parking lot for about 30 minutes. Dead stop. It gave me chance to turn on my CB radio and listen in to the truckers talk about what is the problem. They also mentioned four-wheelers many times, and never in a nice way :( It turned out that 3 trucks blocked off lanes across to prevent four-wheelers from squeezing through.
- I noticed only 15 roadkills which is remarkable for such a dense traffic.
- 9 highway patrolmen spotted, with 4 cars pulled over. At one point I spotted 3 HPs together. Apparently, one broke down and other two were protecting it.
- My dad called to wish me safe trip. Nice, very nice.
- Interesting truck pulling other 3 trucks, see picture attached.

My cousins, Aidan and Katarina gave me before I left, a toy each to take along with me on the road. Aidan, gave me one of his "guys" and Katarina gave me a little red-head doll. You will see them many times during this trip. Let me know if you have any funny suggestions on taking pictures with them, and keep it clean, kids will be reading and watching this :)

As you can see I am keeping track of cops, pull-overs, roadkills and construction sites. What else could I track during this trip? By the way, mosquitoes and any other kind of insect hitting my windshield counting, is right out.