Travelog

Slowly we slid from northern Manitoba southward, through Riding Mountain Park….. Signs of autumn along the way included spots of color and the seasonal migration of a certain species of garter snake….

We spent a couple of days cleaning up in the small town of Souris, in a nice accommodation near the local Chinese restaurant.  Peacocks (along with the occasional cat) freely roam the downtown area.

We met Murray and Donnie during an evening walk, and they invited us to their home for a nightcap and a visit!

Our route took us by the largest roadside banana on record – near Melita, Manitoba, the so-called Banana Belt of Canada, with temperatures that are (only slightly) warmer than the rest.

Finally we crossed the border back into the US….. and once again, Henry was required to give up some wood – this time, a handsome piece of driftwood that the US customs people feared might harbor the wrong kind of parasitic insect……

We lingered in the Theodore Roosevelt Park in the North Dakota Badlands (more on this in the next post), then entered South Dakota…. hitting Sturgis (the biker hub) to see one of the popular bars and for an ice cream, then checking out Mount Rushmore and the in-progress Crazy Horse memorial.

Lots of bee-keeping in the Dakotas….and Susan Two-Bulls sold Henry on some hand-crafted earrings…..

Have we mentioned that Henry likes rocks?  Lots more in the next post on this subject…. By happy coincidence we stopped at a dive in the town of Interior, South Dakota….

and met Lulu, a bartender/manager/waitress who is a passionate rockhound – happy to show us her collection of the famous Fairburn agates, for which we have been searching mostly fruitlessly for some time.

Amazing!  Fresh inspiration to renew our efforts!

The next post will feature images and video from adventures in rock-hunting, exploring and camping in the Dakotas.

Just now, we are in Nebraska – so often sneered at as boring, but in fact such a refreshing and gorgeous landscape, even from a Holiday Inn window…..