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Kids & Family

Road Trip: Part Four (Finale)

The final leg home.


How will a self-proclaimed non-camper, camp her way to the Black Hills? Find out in my four part blog.

The same morning comes as many other mornings before. We have a rhythm now, and we do our tasks in quiet movements with efficiency. Our next stop is to Wyoming, Devil’s Tower. I only know of it because of the movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

When we get here, it is something to see. Straight distinct columns run up and down the enormous stone structure, they are streaked grey and green. The top is indeed as flat as a landing pad, miniature trees poke out at its base once in a great while. Even tinier humans can be seen climbing up it, their climbing ropes look as delicate as silk webs. We all speculate about what it looks like on top.

We walk around the entire tower, resting frequently as our children’s legs tire. I image what it must have been like to come upon it for the first time as the Native Americans had, I too would have deemed it a cathedral of sorts, planned meetings there of the utmost importance.

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For the first time, I encourage my husband to stay on the road for as long as possible. With any luck, we will be spending only two more nights in a campground before landing in Duluth. Today the sky is empty, frosty ribbons of clouds lightly streak the expanse here and there.

We make it to Duluth in two nights. We park the camper in the front lawn of relatives, another home base while we see the Tall Ships. I anticipate taking a shower in a residential bathroom with a sense of grateful luxury; No flies! No spiders! Nor any other general nastiness.

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The Tall Ships Festival is something my husband and I both look forward to. Nine sailing ships are anchored in the Duluth harbor, the crews come from all over the nation, some from other countries. The weather is very cold, even for Duluth, and it is raining. But that doesn’t deter us from standing in lines to climb aboard these wooden beasts.

I have never seen ships like this. I have a flashback to the movie, Goonies. The labyrinth of ropes strung from the masts look impossibly complicated, they touch the bottom of a grey sky in a perfect pinpoint, the sails are tightly rolled, asleep in neat horizontal spars.

For dinner, we go to a charming Italian restaurant. I look bedraggled but don’t care. I heartily eat bread dipped in good olive oil and balsamic vinegar, drink a Cabernet that fills my mouth with flavors of dark fruits and tobacco, then eat a caprese salad. I thank my husband profusely, he smiles.

We make it back to Fridley, safe and sound. There is talk about what kind of camper we would buy, but it is more of a game really. I certainly enjoyed many parts of our trip, but I can’t say I have become a convert to this kind of vacation.

My friends ask me if I would do it again. I think the better question is; what did I get out of it. Time with my family, a lesson in living out of my comfort zone, seeing parts of our country I would not have otherwise. Being exposed to the singular grid of car travel; the curious intersections of time, of place, and of persons, all crisscrossing in unexpected patterns.

What I will remember most about this trip, won’t be the landscapes (though they were breathtaking), nor seeing my children experience this adventure (though it was a privilege). What I will remember most, what was at the heart of this trip for me, was my dear husband. And listening to his mantra turned prayer; sometimes in whispers, sometimes in exuberance, but always with reverence: This is just magical.

SIDE TRACKS: some behind the blog misadventures.

1) In the Bad Lands, our son rolled off a trail and onto two pear cactus! Poor guy. 2) Somewhere between Bismarck and Fargo the trailer blew a tire. Fortunately, there was a spare. 3) I am prone to getting car sick. Easily. 4) We ate hot dogs and hamburgers so often, by the end of our trip, I was ready to eat the grass along the side of the road with the cows. 5) I brought a jug of Infinite Black (cold pressed coffee) along from Fridley Dunn Bros, and it saved my mornings. 6) We didn’t reserve one campsite. We chose to see where we landed and take our chances. This only proved to be a problem once. OK, maybe twice. 7) I also enjoy photography. I took some amazing pictures of our kids in the Bad Lands: but had the camera on the wrong setting. They were all garbage.

For some spectacular photos of the Tall Ships Festival, check out this link from MPR News: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/07/26/human-interest/tall-ships-duluth

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