Lagniappe and Wild Horses

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

We spent six glorious days in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  After our experiences here, we definitely feel that anything more than this is just plain lagniappe… a Cajun term for an extra gift or bonus.  The weather was perfect, with warm, sunny days and cold nights.  I am also extremely happy to report that my “trigger finger” is now completely satisfied, having shot over 1,200 photos, mostly of wild horses!

We awoke our first morning at the park eager to make the wildlife loop again.  The standoff between the roan and the black had been truly exceptional to watch.  Now we began our quest to find the white stallion and his band.  If you remember, the white stallion was the very first wild horse that I ever photographed.  We discovered him on our first trip to the park in 2010. 

Last year, however, when we found him again, he was injured.  He had a terrible gash on the inside of his left foreleg that appeared to go almost to the bone.  He was limping badly. 

The park was dusting for noxious weeds at the time.  As I was photographing the horses, a chopper rose from a gully, frightening the band.  The stallion turned and gallantly stood to take on this huge metal beast while his boss mare led the band to safety.  Only after the entire band had fled did the wounded stallion turn to save himself.  My heart broke as we watched him limp out of sight. 

We did not find the stallion or his band on our visit last March.  For over a year now, I had wondered if he had survived his injuries.  If he had, would he still be able to lead his band?  Would we find him this trip?

The following two days, we found many old friends.  We found the big red stallion, now leading a small herd of his own.  We saw bison and deer galore… a pair of bull elk, antelope, and a coyote.  

During the days we lolled around the camp, reading and enjoying the warm breeze.  We off-loaded the camper to see how easy it might be on future trips.  One afternoon, one of the young stallions that had made the campground their territory took a dust bath just behind our campsite.

Even the prairie dogs seemed happy to see us and gave us their happy “high five” signal... which I finally captured... albeit on a shaky video!

On our third morning traveling the park loop, we passed Paddock Creek and spied a band of wild horses near the roadside.  One of the horses was white.  David pulled up short so that I could slip out of the truck to determine which band it was.  Within moments, my heart was soaring… it was the white stallion!  He was completely healed and leading his band… and it had increased in size!

The white stallion and his band

I motioned for David to join me.  For the next half hour or so, we were blessed to watch this band interact and graze.  One of the mares moved about twenty yards from the rest of the horses and whinnied.  The white stallion promptly herded her back to the others, nipping her behind.  They grazed along a well-worn path.  Although we had to quietly move several times to stay out of their way, they seemed comfortable with our being near.

This was more than I had even hoped for… a true blessing and gift.  Satisfied and rested, we spent the remainder of our time in the park relishing the downtime, wildlife, changing colors, and the views.

The morning we left the park, the big red stallion offered the comic relief we needed.  We spied him on a hilltop on the road to the Coal Vein trailhead.  David and I climbed a nearby hill and noticed the horse swaying ever so slightly.  On closer inspection, we discovered that his eyes were closed.  He was sleeping and wavered back and forth to keep his balance. 

As we drove out of the park, we agreed that the extra miles had been more than worth the travel time.  We turned now to the last leg of our journey… a visit with David’s mother and sister before we headed back to the Carolinas and on to Orlando.  In three weeks, we will be home.

This park has become our “ending” place, marking the beginning of our journey home.  With the horses and other wildlife, it offers a brilliant finale to our trips.  I think that it also feels that way because of the stars.  Each evening as the stars come out, we gaze at the big dipper as it hangs over the campground… in the exact same place that it hangs over our driveway at home. 

Our thoughts are turning towards home sweet home.  We travel onward now and count our extraordinary blessings.

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A Vacation from our Vacation

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

It felt like a true blessing when we drove into Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  Just between the visitor’s center and the campground, we saw a gaggle of turkeys, bison, and two wild horses.  We arrived just in time to go for an evening round on the wildlife loop. It felt like the hills were welcoming us home. 

As we drove along the loop, we would see wild horse bands in the distance.  It was such fun… David would peer through his binoculars and I through the camera’s long lens, each trying to identify the band first.

We rounded the topside of the loop and were delighted to find old friends… the roan and his band.  We pulled off to watch and take a few photos.  The band seemed restless.  At first we thought that it was because of us, however, we soon discovered another old friend coming out from behind a hill… the black stallion.  He and his band seemed to be grazing in extremely close proximity to the roan.

Over the next half hour, we were privileged to witness these two stallions working out their issues along the park road.  It felt like the roan was taking control.  At first he pawed the ground, shaking his mighty head.  (Below is a video of his pawing… much too close because I had the long distance lens attached to the camera… and also, please excuse the shakiness... I’m still learning!) 

 The black corralled his band away from the fray and led them down the road, stopping about fifty feet from the roan and his band.  The black’s band stood clustered near the guard railing. 

Then the roan made his move, walking closer to the black.  He stopped to smell each pile of poop along the road and added his own on top… a stallion’s way of saying that he is top dog.  The black took offense and sauntered straight toward the roan.  Both stopped about twenty feet from one another, eyes locked and ears straight forward.

After a few moments, each stallion returned to his band.  When the black began approaching again, the roan and his boss mare stood at attention, staring at the black. 

Soon tensions seemed to dissipate, and each band went back to their grazing.  As we watched the roan and his boss mare, they seemed to lovingly touch noses. 

Wow!  

We returned to the campground and set up camp in one of our favorite spots.  The sun set, painting the clouds red, then blue, then gray.  As the stars came out one by one, we toasted the night.  It truly felt like we were on vacation from our vacation.

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Bonafide Crazy

We awoke this morning still questioning which path to take.  We determined that the best option was to find a town and stop for breakfast at a restaurant with internet service.  There we could check the weather forecast for Minnesota’s Boundary Waters.  Hopefully we would find good news.  If so, we could travel back across Minnesota to Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula before heading south.

We stopped in Fort Francis, pulled out the laptops, and settled down for a hot breakfast.  The forecast was not good.  Rain was predicted along the lakes from Wisconsin on through Michigan for the foreseeable future.  The weather in Minnesota looked a bit better but only for the first two days, then it, too, would be engulfed in gray skies and rain.

After traveling the coast for nearly two months, we were tired of rain... and now we were dealing with cold.  If we didn't travel along the Great Lakes, where could we go?  

It had already been on both of our minds… so I checked the long-range forecast for Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota… sunny with warm days and cold nights… but it was 800 miles further west.  It was 800 miles more driving than we wanted to take, particularly if we intended to travel back east, all the way down to Orlando!

We left the restaurant still undecided.  Our border crossing was simple and swift, and it felt so good to be back in the good ole' U.S. of A.  We stopped at the International Falls visitor’s center to see if Minnesota might have more to offer inland than we thought, hoping the weather would improve the further away from the lakes we traveled.  

We were feeling lost and uncertain.  We knew one thing for certain... we didn't want to spend the next two weeks in rain.  We clasped hands and prayed for guidance.  At our “amen,” the skies opened up and rain began to pummel the truck.  Was this our answer… that if we stayed along the lakes that it would continue to rain? 

We had to don slicker suits to dash inside the visitor’s center.  The lady at the counter was ever so kind and helpful but had little information that would help us.  

We walked back to the truck and sat inside in quiet disbelief.  We looked at one another… were we actually going to drive to North Dakota?  “Let’s do it,” David said.

We are, in fact, certifiably crazy people!  North Dakota… here we come!!!

The Weather Takes a Turn

We were disappointed to awake to the drum of rain on the roof late last night.  We had planned to stay at Superior Provencial Park for another day.  The attendant at the visitor’s center confirmed, however, that the weather forecast called for continued rain.  We determined to travel further west, hoping that we would drive beyond the front.

Unfortunately, the rain continued throughout our drive and temperatures plummeted.  We arrived at Pukaskwa National Park early afternoon while it was still misting.  A park ranger drove up behind us at the visitor’s kiosk.  He told us that all the facilities were closed down and the water had been turned off, but we were welcomed to still camp in the park. 

All hope for showers melted with the news.  Then we read the long-range weather forecast for the area that was posted on the bulletin board.  It called for continued rain throughout the next five days.  It also showed the temperatures continuing to drop and that we were in for a hard freeze that night.

The rain stopped long enough that afternoon for us to take a stroll up two trails.  One led us along a ridge.  Then we hiked a bit of the Coastal Trail.  When we reached the beach, we found it to be absolutely lovely.  

Hike along ridge in Pukaskwa National Park

Lake Huron from Pukaskwa National Park

We lamented that the weather had turned so dismal with no end in sight.  Just two days earlier, the high temperature was in the low 80s… now we were wearing three layers of clothing to keep warm.  We struggled with what path to take next.

We broke camp the next morning and headed west, still hoping to drive out of the wet weather.  Intermittent rain and temperatures in the low 40s continued throughout the day.    We drove across the top of Lake Superior and across Thunder Bay, amazed at the beautiful scenery and disheartened that it was too cold and wet to enjoy.

We spent the night at Quetico Provincial Park.  Thankfully they did have showers, however the water was barely warm and the shower rooms were not heated.  When I met David back at the truck, both of us were shivering.

As we hunkered in the camper, we were ever so grateful for the heater.  We talked about our options.  We remembered that snow had driven us out of Canada around this time of year on each of our last two trips.  Our concern now was that the rain and cold might continue if we stayed along the lakes, even State-side on the Upper Peninsula. 

We were running out of ground, so to speak, with two weeks left before we needed to be in Missouri.  We had originally intended to spend at least five days on the Trans-Lab, a week in Quebec, and another week in Ontario.  Our travel plans for Missouri and beyond had already been set in place, and we were looking forward to them. 

Hoping for better weather Stateside, we decided that it was time to go back home.  The question was… where should we go from there??? 

Across the top of Lake Superior

Manitoulin Island ferry ride

Since we had about a half an hour drive to the ferry terminal, we set two alarms to make certain that we made it in line by the required 7:30 a.m. loading time.  The sky was bright and blue, the day warm, and the seas calm… the perfect combination for a ferry ride.

We settled into our seats on the observation deck and enjoyed the view as we passed the various islands along Bruce’s maritime park, including Cove Island and its lighthouse. 

Cove Island Lighthouse

The ferry ride lasted about an hour and a half.  We were surprised to find that the ferry had to cross a narrow channel and make almost a U-turn into a rather shallow-looking harbor.  It was especially interesting after a fellow passenger told us that one of the ferries had run aground earlier in the year.  All was well with our landing, however, and soon we were back on the road.

Manitoulin Island ferry harbor

Manitoulin Island is connected to the mainland by bridge, and we were soon back on terra firma.  We drove through Espanola and Sault St. Marie and up to Ontario’s Lake Superior State Park.  What a lovely setting! 

We chose a campsite right on the water, pulled up our chairs and enjoyed a glorious sunset (of course, after Rox had taken her dip).  

Sunset over Lake Superior

How glorious was this???!!!

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