Back to the USA... just

On a cool drizzly morning, we took one last dip in Cyprus Lake before packing up camp and leaving the Bruce Peninsula National Park, Ontario. It was a short drive to Tobermory to catch the ferry bound for Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron. The largest freshwater island in the world, Manitoulin is a continuation of the 900km Niagara escarpment – a ridge formed by an ancient coral reef that stretches from Niagara, through southern Ontario and the Bruce Peninsula, into Lake Huron.

Manitoulin turned out to be an attractive enough place - a rolling green landscape, studded with yet more lakes. Unfortunately for us however, it seems every retiree and holiday-maker in Canada agrees! Virtually every inch of shore-line was taken up with private properties - the second homes of the well-to-do rather crowded out the casual visitor.

Nonetheless, an invigorating hike that entailed scaling ladders up cliff-faces - the spine of the escarpment - and squeezing through rock crevices took us to the highest point on the island. Here we inched out as far as we dared onto lofty rock ledges to look out over the expanse of Lake Huron to mainland Canada, while eagles surfed the thermals around and below us.

Having returned to the mainland via the bridge at Little current, we skirted the north shore of Lake Huron, with little to divert us save the odd swim and small town museum along the way.

We crossed back into the USA from Canada at Sault St. Marie, Ontario, which turned out to be somewhat more eventful than planned. The queue of cars for the border crossing was short. We pulled up to the booth when our turn was due, only to be met by a stony-faced border guard who eyed us from the get-go with deep suspicion. He took our passports and driving documents and slammed his window shut. He must have been calling in the heavies, as moments later, two additional, equally humourless, border guards came to escort us from our car. There they asked us to leave the van unlocked (presumably so they could search it if necessary) and follow them into the Dept of Homeland Security building. After a 20 minute grilling while examining every document in our possession, they could find no reason to stop us, so reluctantly letting us pass with the customary “have a nice day”. The Canadians are so much nicer.

After our nerve-racking experience at the border, we spent a soothing afternoon watching the 1200ft Great Lakes cargo ships pass through the giant locks in Sault St. Marie, Michigan.

Equally soothing was our next port-of-call – a town aptly named Paradise, on the southern shore of Lake Superior. Here we hiked around the Tahquemenon Falls, which are allegedly brown due to tannins leaching from the surrounding peatlands, not as we suspected, because they are made of Coca-Cola.

Our route then took us along the coast to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, at the town of Munising, where the sandstone cliffs display more stripes than Ronald McDonald's shirt. After that, we were into some frankly rather dull territory through Wisconsin and Minnesota. Indeed, these states look rather like the Fens! We have travelled on through the last couple of days, with few stops and many miles between them.

After 600 miles or so, we arrived at the village of Pipestone in the south west corner of Minnesota. It is a sacred Indian site where the stone is mined to make their ceremonial smoking pipes (the clue's in the name of the village!). We had a go at sawing and forming a pipe ourselves in the visitors' centre but we decided to leave it to the experts...

Our next stop is the Badlands National Park in South Dakota, which is where the interesting stuff should really begin...

On the road

The general plan after setting up the van in NJ is to hot-foot it west. Most of the places we really want to spend time at are in the west (Yellowstone, the Canyons, the Colorado Parks, California etc etc) and we have toured in the east previously. Hence, we figured we'd get out west pronto - well before the parks begin to close in Sept.

Sat 12th July - We rose early to get an early start on the road (well, not that early - 8am is the earliest we've got up so far on this trip!) . A couple of hours' fannying about later, after a hefty breakfast (and one false-start), we waved farewell to Grandma and Grandpa. We were sad to go as we'd had an awesome two weeks of R & R (mainly eating!) with the Gramps.


We headed north through NJ to the Delaware Water Gap Recreation Area on the border with Pennsylvania. It's a area of woods around the Delaware River valley. We spent 2 nights there, doing some easy hikes to see waterfalls, and swimming in the river.

Mon 14th July - Taking Route 6 through northern Pennsylvania was a treat we had little expected. To be truthful, we had thought that this easternmost leg of our journey would be fairly dull. Much to our pleasant surprise however, we found ourselves driving through the quite beautiful Pocono Mountain and Endless Mountain ranges.

We stopped the night near the pleasant rural town of Wellsboro, in Colton State Park, which encompasses the Pine Creek Gorge, aka. the "Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania". Having seen the frankly mediocre "Niagara of Pennsylvania" in the Delaware Water Gap, we truthfully expected little from the "Grand Canyon". Well, although I'm sure it's nothing like the really Grand Canyon, it was nonetheless thoroughly impressive. The cool, high forests were a welcome refuge from the heat and humidity of the lowlands. We took a hike into the gorge and paddled in the refreshing creek at the bottom.

Tues 15th July - Continuing on Route 6, we arrived in the Allegheny National Forest. What can I say - another stunner! These parks are just completely different from anything I've seen in the UK, or even Europe. The vast forests and lakes are an endless playground to explore.


We stayed 2 nights at one of the state-run campgrounds. I just can't emphasise enough how fantastic these grounds are, this one being possibly the best we have ever seen. Our camping plot was about the size of the plot our 3-bed semi house in Bourne sits on! Not only that, but it had its own little beach onto the vast Allegheny Reservoir. Besides that, you get your own picnic table and area to build your campfire (that's standard for state campgrounds). Moreover, the parks are so quiet - there were other campers, but probably totalling 100 people in about 50 square miles! Renting a canoe allowed us to explore the lake - finding hidden coves to beach and go for a swim. Heaven.


Thurs 17th July - Yesterday was a day of motoring - through the drab indusrial north of New York State, and southern Ontario. 300 miles later, we arrived at the base of the Bruce Penninsula, which juts out into Lake Huron. We found a lovely spot to camp by the Georgian Bay coast before completing the final 60 miles up to the delightful town of Tobermory today. A swim in Georgian Bay and a boat cruise around the surrounding islands gave us the lie of the land (and lake), before exploration on foot commences tomorrow.

We have wheels

Saturday 28th June - Having left the UK on a cool, hazy afternoon, it was something of a shock to step out of the airport in Newark, New Jersey straight into a wall of heat and stifling humidity. Having spent the last two summers in the UK, we had forgotten what a hot summer's evening felt like! Thankfully though, it has since cooled somewhat and thunderstorms have broken the back of the humidity.

Having done the essential British thing of describing the weather, we can now get on with the rest of the story! Using Jen's grandparents' house in New Jersey as a base, our first task in the States was to find a vehicle to take us from NJ to San Francisco, a journey that we will make over the course 5 months. And in true Pateman style, said vehicle should be a van, in which we shall camp.

Our internet research before leaving home had revealed that hiring a van for that period would cost upwards of $8000 (4000 Sterling - I write on my Grandpa's computer, which appears not to have a pound sign... my stiff upper lip quivers at the revelation!). So our mission was to buy and licence a vehicle for less than that figure...

At breakfast on our first morning in NJ, a scan of the local papers uncovered a candidate just a few miles away - a privately listed green and gold Chevrolet Astro van, up for $3495. So off we all went, Jen, Andy, Grandma and Grandpa (I think the gramps were curious to see what we crazy kids were up to!). On arrival, the van looked reasonable. Opening the sliding door, her delightful green leather interior was perhaps on the rough side - plenty of stuffing coming out of the seats etc. However, it was really the way the van listed to starboard when Andy struck her up that suggested we might do well to look elsewhere!

So on day two it was on to used car dealers (just Jen and Andy now - the Gramps were now thoroughly satisfied that we were indeed, bonkers). Here, every car in our kind of price range is sold "as is"; with no warranty at all. First we saw a green, white and rust coloured 1989 Dodge Ram campervan. Much to the dealer's poorly-feigned surprise, it didn't even start. Moreover, when Jen opened the side door it fell off and nearly hit her in the face... perhaps not, hey?

The rest of the day was spent visiting every used car lot in a 15 mile radius (this being America, that's lots of lots!). Due to the rise in petrol prices over here, people are not buying cars right now. They are particularly not buying big and old ones, so the dealers were pushing every form of immense and ancient gas guzzler you can imagine on us! I would be lying if I said we weren't tempted to get something bigger than we had originally intended, for a bargain price... we really loved the ma-hoo-sive converted Dodge Ram vans! However, at 10 miles to the gallon, common sense (and tight-waddishness) prevailed, and we walked away from the thirstiest of the beasties.

Late in the day, we pulled onto the forecourt of "Marlboro Motors". They had a 1996 two-tone "gray" Chevy Astro van which, on inspection, we decided was the vee-hicle for us. It had 4 new "tires" and was very tidy despite having a bumper that wasnt quite attached. With a mere 176,000 miles on the clock, we beat him down from $2400 to $1675 and the deal was done!

The next step was insuring the van and getting our license plates (in the US, it's basically the driver, not the vehicle that has the license plates). It would seem that this is a feat never previously attempted by foreigners. Nobody - not insurance brokers, not the vehicle licensing agency - could tell us whether, and how, foreigners could licence and insure a vehicle in the State of New Jersey. Well, after many a phone call and plenty of paper pushing, we scaled mount bureaucracy and obtained a pair of shiny new licence plates! (Our success was perhaps largely due to the fact that we rocked up at the vehicle licensing agency minutes before they were due to close for the 4th of July holiday weekend. They would have given us 10 sets of licence plates, if that's what it would take to remove us from their office!)

With some adjustments to the interior, "Grayham" as he has become known, has now been converted from a passsenger van into a camper van. Andy doctored the rear seats so that they now form a bed, while Jen made curtains on a sewing machine lent by a kindly neighbour. Having had a sevice with Grandpa's trusted mechanic, Grayham, Andy and Jen are ready to hit the road....

Next time, we go west - life is peaceful there...