Week 3: Nashville TN to Saskatoon SK

We’ve come a LONG way baby!  Week three and we spent most of it busting out miles trying to make up time and stay on schedule to Alaska.  Schedule? I know – we aren’t supposed to be on a schedule!  But I have a meeting back in DC June 1, so that means we have to get to Anchorage by May 30 at the latest so I can fly back east for the week.  It kind of stinks – we feel like Ewan and Charley in Long Way Down (“I want to ride through all of Africa without stopping, without getting to know the people, or experiencing any of the culture”).  But I think we’ve decided that we’ll make up for it on the way back from AK later this summer by taking LOTS of time coming back through Canada and down to Montana, Idaho and the Northwest for the early fall.

Heading out of Nashville we headed North and stayed at Camp Turkeyville outside of Battle Creek, MI (yes it is really called that!).  Trying to figure out where to stay during this trip has been really difficult – do we go the full-on KOA route (which is kind of like eating at McDonalds when you travel to Paris – pretty cookie-cutter at times) or do we mix it up with some state parks and private campgrounds?  The problem with the state parks is that often they are off the beaten track, and they don’t offer services such as water, sewer, or wifi.  They can be beautiful – but unfortunately because we are working we just can’t be off-grid too often.

Private campgrounds are kind of like Marriott Hotels (sorry Mr. Marriott) – they are very hit or miss.  Many times private campgrounds are mostly filled with “seasonal” campers – these are essentially folks who live full-time in the campground.  And while sometimes seasonal campers are tidy and keep a nice looking site more often than not you feel like you have just stepped into the filming of Deliverance.  I know… I know… that sounds so snotty… but sadly it is true.

Camp Turkeyville was pretty nice for a private campground – the people were wonderful and the facilities were beautiful.  Fred enjoyed it!

After commiserating with the poultry, we kept heading north for one of the highlights of our trip, a concert featuring Alter Bridge (members of Creed and the singer from Slash’s band).  Check them out if you haven’t every heard of them – Myles Kennedy has a rockin’ voice!

We had wanted to see them in DC but we were going to miss them so we decided to make this a stop on our own personal tour!  Did you know that you can still smoke indoors in the Indian-run Casino’s in Michigan?  Neither did we…. yuck!  But the concert venue was intimate, we had great seats, and the band was in fine form.  It was an awesome show!

Duluth, Winnipeg, and Saskatoon rounded out the week and now we are working our way through Saskatchewan and Alberta.  We are really liking Canada (BTW – have you ever noticed how CLEAN it is in Canada?  No litter… anywhere… seriously!  They do need to work on their roads in spots (can you say BUMPY???), the scenery has been serene – flat farm and ranchlands – and the weather has been impeccable

As I write this we are in a campground in Grande Prairie AB (a private campground… it’s only for one night).  Our stress levels are still pretty high because of our travel and work schedules (and a few other challenges we are trying to work out) – so we are still a bit on edge.  But we can’t wait to get to Alaska so we’ll keep pushing on…