Healeyjet
Explorer
Cruiser Travel 2016-09-14
We are off! Our first trip in the newly built Cruiser (or ************ Rig, as many passers by call it) was weeks before our son's June wedding. That trip was to Overland Expo in Flagstaff. Now this trip is organized in time to return home for the birth of our first Grandchild! My "5 year window" is closing in on us, so we are getting out and getting going! This trip will be far more "urban" than our other trips. We are on our way to Overland Expo East in Asheville, NC. The opportunity to camp on the grounds of the Biltmore Estate was far too much for Annie and I to ignore. Planning was started but this trip would find us away from home for longer than we had ever been. This trip would be 6 weeks and roughly 6,000 miles. We would need to fill our days, especially Annie, as I would be working remotely from the Cruiser for the first three weeks and the last week heading home. We even brought along her sewing machine if she got bored at any time. We plotted out a rough direction but all roads were left open to how we felt that day and what we wanted to see. The route was loosely set each morning but changed many times through the day. This trip report will get far more scenic once we get through this first week.
It is always hectic before you leave for a trip but because we were leaving for a 6 week span from Sept 14 to Oct 31 we had a lot of winter preparation to do in the house and yard. All of our yard work winter prep (yes it gets very cold and snowy here in Western Canada) needed to be done before we left town. As well we decided to put a new set of soffit, facia, and eaves trough on the house in preparation for my installing board and batten siding in spring. We also arranged for an appraisal of the Cruiser so that we could buy the proper amount of vehicle insurance for driving in the USA. As usual, we tired ourselves out so that we were ready for a holiday!!
Annie and I worked at our jobs on Wednesday the 14th in the morning. Thank goodness we prepped and packed the Cruiser in the days before we left. All we needed was the last minute stuff and to get on the road to make it a couple hours down the road to Regina, SK. Annie had just finished up a baby quilt for our nieces new baby so that was the first order of business. We left her downtown home quite late and needed to find our first overnight parking spot. The Legislative Buildings?!! Why not?!! What a beautiful setting and It seemed like no patrol cars where coming around. Perfect.
September 15, Thursday, we woke up early with such a spectacular setting of the Wascana Lake, flower gardens and the impressive historic legislative buildings. By 8 AM we were on the first guided tour of the buildings! We had arranged to meet up with our son between classes at the University of Regina so we blasted over there to have a visit before heading out of town on the Trans Canada Highway to Portage La Prairie for supper with friends. It was so nice to see them and so easy to catch up where we left off. Some friends are just like that, comfortable. We hit the road from the Boston Pizza parking lot to spend the night in Winnipeg.
September 16, Friday, I spent the day in the office with my business partner while Annie hit up Ikea and bought some items for the Cruiser.
September 17, Saturday, we woke up and said our goodbyes to our hosts before we headed over to more friends for a brunch visit. The extra bonus was to have a visit with my friend's parents, who happened to be in town visiting. We overstayed our visit..... But had a great time. We left about 5 and headed out the Trans Canada Highway towards Emo ON. We traveled as far as Falcon Lake and parked for the night.
I spotted this beauty on the side of the road. I had to stop and snap some pictures as we would be in Ames, IA in a couple days visiting friends who own Anything Scout. Anything Scout set the Overland Expo west on fire this spring with their unveiling of their #NewLegend Scout. The New Legend puts a vintage IHC Scout body onto a brand new Jeep JK chassis.
September 18,Sunday, we woke up early and drove through beautiful Lake of the Woods and Canadian Shield country. We timed it perfectly to meet up with a friend and his wife. We had a fantastic visit with them and toured the Cruiser as well. Our host suggested we head towards Lake Superior and follow it south as a scenic route. With that advise we decided to cross the border at International Falls and follow highway 53 and then the 1 East to Ely Minnesota for the night. Ely is canoe country and has a large number of canoe outfitting businesses. We parked downtown in the Catholic Church parking lot across from the church and across the street from a Zup grocery store. Perfect location!
September 19, Monday, I worked as Annie bounced around Ely ( pronounced Eelee) looking in shop windows and grocery shopping. She is always curious to see inside of a church and as a bonus one was open. We left Ely on the only highway out and headed to the edge of Lake Superior. We made our way down the 61 highway to hike a trail at Tettegouche State Park. We did a 2 mile hike parallel to the river to see a falls. Great exercise that we needed. Back in the Cruiser we headed towards Split Rock Lighthouse. Although when we got there the Lighthouse was already closed to visitors we still sneaked into the park for a quick peek of the exterior. We parked ourselves just down the road at the highway turnout that was a lookout for people to enjoy a view of the lighthouse. Annie commented that travelling along the huge body of water was a bit confusing. This one sure felt like an ocean, with a light house and all!
After cooking supper in the Cruiser we read for a while then retired for the night. Annie and I have had many discussions about whether we could live full time in the Cruiser and if so how our lives would look. This particular evening we had pulled into an overlook that had a view of the lighthouse. Annie commented to me "is this who we are now? Those people that have no home and park on the side of the road every night." My thought turned to the lighthouse and I pulled back the blind while laying in bed. The sight that greeted me was utterly amazing. A clear sky and the moon was coming up right behind the lighthouse. The moon reflecting off Lake Superior was utterly amazing. I commented to Annie, "yes, I guess we are those people. The people who get to have different amazing view at any time." I went to sleep that night excited about the morning view we would be treated to. In fact I set an alarm for 5:30 so I could watch the sunrise.
September 20, Tuesday, It was a very early morning as I planned to watch the sunrise from our overlook spot. The sunrise did not disappoint us at all! It was spectacular. The air was chilly but we bundled up and took photos galore. Lots of fun. Off to Duluth were Annie found a nice nice fabric shop, according to their ad! Annie spent lots of time in the shop while I worked in the Cruiser. We quite liked the look of the old town Duluth and plan to go back and spend more time poking around. Maybe even a place to go back to. We headed over to Stillwater MN grabbing supperand had supper at a cajun BBQ join. After letting the sun set on us on the deck we decided to weather the terrible rain that night in Saint Francis of Assisi Catholic Church parking lot, Bayport, MN.
September 21, Wednesday, We had a restless night as it rained so hard that we thought it was hailing . Our phones both received storm warnings with flooding alerts at 2am! We woke up appreciating the well kept beautiful parking location we turned into. We ate breakfast outside in the fresh ,crisp air and noticed that people were arriving at the church and so Annie joined into the morning Mass. The Mass was in the original Spanish style Chapel and then she was invited to coffee and muffins in the greeting area. She had a great time meeting the little group and they sent goodies out the door with her for me as I worked away in the Cruiser. We decided to drive into Red Wing and check out the Redwing Boots that make the boots our son's love to wear. We couldn't find the right size and style that the boys would like from the discount basement. So off we went with empty arms
disappointed. We traveled to Kellogg and parked late in a town hall type parking lot for the night. Not before admiring the huge boot at the Redwing store.
September 22, Thursday, We drove in to Winona, MN to meet with Teak Works 4U. I had contacted them about making a teak mat for our Cruiser bathroom. After we were all measured up and a template drawn we were off. They gave us a sample standard size mat to try out and use until we came back for the full size mat. Customer service like that I love! We made some big miles after that to Waterloo, IA and parked in big box area for the night. We topped up at Walmart and a liquor store. Done for the night.
Just to show that not all days are awesome sunsets and views, here is a shot of one of the days it rained. Luckily for us it was a travel day.
This was our trip so far. One week in.
Much more to come.
Ward
We are off! Our first trip in the newly built Cruiser (or ************ Rig, as many passers by call it) was weeks before our son's June wedding. That trip was to Overland Expo in Flagstaff. Now this trip is organized in time to return home for the birth of our first Grandchild! My "5 year window" is closing in on us, so we are getting out and getting going! This trip will be far more "urban" than our other trips. We are on our way to Overland Expo East in Asheville, NC. The opportunity to camp on the grounds of the Biltmore Estate was far too much for Annie and I to ignore. Planning was started but this trip would find us away from home for longer than we had ever been. This trip would be 6 weeks and roughly 6,000 miles. We would need to fill our days, especially Annie, as I would be working remotely from the Cruiser for the first three weeks and the last week heading home. We even brought along her sewing machine if she got bored at any time. We plotted out a rough direction but all roads were left open to how we felt that day and what we wanted to see. The route was loosely set each morning but changed many times through the day. This trip report will get far more scenic once we get through this first week.
It is always hectic before you leave for a trip but because we were leaving for a 6 week span from Sept 14 to Oct 31 we had a lot of winter preparation to do in the house and yard. All of our yard work winter prep (yes it gets very cold and snowy here in Western Canada) needed to be done before we left town. As well we decided to put a new set of soffit, facia, and eaves trough on the house in preparation for my installing board and batten siding in spring. We also arranged for an appraisal of the Cruiser so that we could buy the proper amount of vehicle insurance for driving in the USA. As usual, we tired ourselves out so that we were ready for a holiday!!
Annie and I worked at our jobs on Wednesday the 14th in the morning. Thank goodness we prepped and packed the Cruiser in the days before we left. All we needed was the last minute stuff and to get on the road to make it a couple hours down the road to Regina, SK. Annie had just finished up a baby quilt for our nieces new baby so that was the first order of business. We left her downtown home quite late and needed to find our first overnight parking spot. The Legislative Buildings?!! Why not?!! What a beautiful setting and It seemed like no patrol cars where coming around. Perfect.
September 15, Thursday, we woke up early with such a spectacular setting of the Wascana Lake, flower gardens and the impressive historic legislative buildings. By 8 AM we were on the first guided tour of the buildings! We had arranged to meet up with our son between classes at the University of Regina so we blasted over there to have a visit before heading out of town on the Trans Canada Highway to Portage La Prairie for supper with friends. It was so nice to see them and so easy to catch up where we left off. Some friends are just like that, comfortable. We hit the road from the Boston Pizza parking lot to spend the night in Winnipeg.
September 16, Friday, I spent the day in the office with my business partner while Annie hit up Ikea and bought some items for the Cruiser.
September 17, Saturday, we woke up and said our goodbyes to our hosts before we headed over to more friends for a brunch visit. The extra bonus was to have a visit with my friend's parents, who happened to be in town visiting. We overstayed our visit..... But had a great time. We left about 5 and headed out the Trans Canada Highway towards Emo ON. We traveled as far as Falcon Lake and parked for the night.
I spotted this beauty on the side of the road. I had to stop and snap some pictures as we would be in Ames, IA in a couple days visiting friends who own Anything Scout. Anything Scout set the Overland Expo west on fire this spring with their unveiling of their #NewLegend Scout. The New Legend puts a vintage IHC Scout body onto a brand new Jeep JK chassis.
September 18,Sunday, we woke up early and drove through beautiful Lake of the Woods and Canadian Shield country. We timed it perfectly to meet up with a friend and his wife. We had a fantastic visit with them and toured the Cruiser as well. Our host suggested we head towards Lake Superior and follow it south as a scenic route. With that advise we decided to cross the border at International Falls and follow highway 53 and then the 1 East to Ely Minnesota for the night. Ely is canoe country and has a large number of canoe outfitting businesses. We parked downtown in the Catholic Church parking lot across from the church and across the street from a Zup grocery store. Perfect location!
September 19, Monday, I worked as Annie bounced around Ely ( pronounced Eelee) looking in shop windows and grocery shopping. She is always curious to see inside of a church and as a bonus one was open. We left Ely on the only highway out and headed to the edge of Lake Superior. We made our way down the 61 highway to hike a trail at Tettegouche State Park. We did a 2 mile hike parallel to the river to see a falls. Great exercise that we needed. Back in the Cruiser we headed towards Split Rock Lighthouse. Although when we got there the Lighthouse was already closed to visitors we still sneaked into the park for a quick peek of the exterior. We parked ourselves just down the road at the highway turnout that was a lookout for people to enjoy a view of the lighthouse. Annie commented that travelling along the huge body of water was a bit confusing. This one sure felt like an ocean, with a light house and all!
After cooking supper in the Cruiser we read for a while then retired for the night. Annie and I have had many discussions about whether we could live full time in the Cruiser and if so how our lives would look. This particular evening we had pulled into an overlook that had a view of the lighthouse. Annie commented to me "is this who we are now? Those people that have no home and park on the side of the road every night." My thought turned to the lighthouse and I pulled back the blind while laying in bed. The sight that greeted me was utterly amazing. A clear sky and the moon was coming up right behind the lighthouse. The moon reflecting off Lake Superior was utterly amazing. I commented to Annie, "yes, I guess we are those people. The people who get to have different amazing view at any time." I went to sleep that night excited about the morning view we would be treated to. In fact I set an alarm for 5:30 so I could watch the sunrise.
September 20, Tuesday, It was a very early morning as I planned to watch the sunrise from our overlook spot. The sunrise did not disappoint us at all! It was spectacular. The air was chilly but we bundled up and took photos galore. Lots of fun. Off to Duluth were Annie found a nice nice fabric shop, according to their ad! Annie spent lots of time in the shop while I worked in the Cruiser. We quite liked the look of the old town Duluth and plan to go back and spend more time poking around. Maybe even a place to go back to. We headed over to Stillwater MN grabbing supperand had supper at a cajun BBQ join. After letting the sun set on us on the deck we decided to weather the terrible rain that night in Saint Francis of Assisi Catholic Church parking lot, Bayport, MN.
September 21, Wednesday, We had a restless night as it rained so hard that we thought it was hailing . Our phones both received storm warnings with flooding alerts at 2am! We woke up appreciating the well kept beautiful parking location we turned into. We ate breakfast outside in the fresh ,crisp air and noticed that people were arriving at the church and so Annie joined into the morning Mass. The Mass was in the original Spanish style Chapel and then she was invited to coffee and muffins in the greeting area. She had a great time meeting the little group and they sent goodies out the door with her for me as I worked away in the Cruiser. We decided to drive into Red Wing and check out the Redwing Boots that make the boots our son's love to wear. We couldn't find the right size and style that the boys would like from the discount basement. So off we went with empty arms
disappointed. We traveled to Kellogg and parked late in a town hall type parking lot for the night. Not before admiring the huge boot at the Redwing store.
September 22, Thursday, We drove in to Winona, MN to meet with Teak Works 4U. I had contacted them about making a teak mat for our Cruiser bathroom. After we were all measured up and a template drawn we were off. They gave us a sample standard size mat to try out and use until we came back for the full size mat. Customer service like that I love! We made some big miles after that to Waterloo, IA and parked in big box area for the night. We topped up at Walmart and a liquor store. Done for the night.
Just to show that not all days are awesome sunsets and views, here is a shot of one of the days it rained. Luckily for us it was a travel day.
This was our trip so far. One week in.
Much more to come.
Ward
