Scamp Tramp-Long Way for a Little Camper

I Just got back from a 3500 mile trip to pick up my camper in Backus, Minnesota.  I Went with Richie Acevedo-my main-man in a pinch.  He was the only friend one who would go without conditions (it was not the sort of trip many folks are interested in undertaking!) and Richard is the kind of guy who is able to weather the inevitable storms of long distance travel.  He is sometimes difficult to deal with but most of the time he is the guy you want with you when the shit hits the fan. 

Day 1-From home to just outside Chicago. I picked Rich up in Yonkers before dawn.    It was a Long, long day ~850 miles.  Our mood was good.  The miles flew bye until we hit the rain in Chi town.  The traffic in the city was fierce and Rich, who was behind the wheel and decided he wanted to go sightseeing, took a detour.  We got to see downtown Chicago but I was just too tired to appreciate it.    No desire to sightsee.  I think Rich thought this was gonna be more tourist-like.  I am mostly business. We spent the night in a Holiday Inn motel.  I was happy just to lay my head on a pillow. 

Day 2- Chicago to the “Twin Cities” Minneapolis / St. Paul.  Surprise!! Rich has a friend in Minneapolis.  Went to visit Richie’s friend Hector and Hector's family at their home in the suburbs.  If I’d known about the diversion I might not have eaten the huge meal Richard bought for us just before we stopped to visit Hector’s!  I sat at their dining room table while they served up a gigantic Puerto Rican feast.  I couldn’t begin to do it justice.  Hector’s dad (or father-in-law?) told me the story of his life including a detailed rendering of his work experience.  I was so full and exhausted that I kept nodding off.  He maintained the narrative and poked me in the shoulder at intervals so I would not doze-bless him!  We checked into another Holiday Inn and I passed out.  Richie went out “partying” with Hector and the entire Puerto Rican population of  Minneapolis / St. Paul.  All three of them enjoyed the evening. 

Day 3- Minneapolis to Backus, Minnesota and into the maw of Canada... 

Minnesota is unexpectedly beautiful.  We are both impressed.  Cross the Mississippi and run with it for a while. The muddy river on one side and lush forests, vacation homes and thick green hills on the other.  I’ve always wondered why people settled anywhere but New York, Philadelphia or Florida-now I know.  My favorite place was Red Wing, Minnesota.  It’s a real town that is so perfect that it could have been built by the crew who built Disney World.  It is also the home of Red Wing boots.  Great boots!

About 10:00am we pulled up at the Scamp factory in Backus.  This experience belongs in its own story.  Suffice it to say we picked up trailer and continued toward Canada.

By the time we left the factory we were already tired and we stopped a few minutes at a beautiful campground about 40 miles north of Backus.  Stream running through, showers, and warm level campsites--perfect!  But we chose to push on to a campground we were told about that was supposedly wonderful and just over on the Canadian side.  That was the biggest mistake of the trip!  We were to find little comfort or convenience in the hundreds of miles to come, once we’d crossed the Canadian border.  They should have a sign over the border check-point that says, “Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here”.

Border Crossing at International Falls.  Rich argues with the Mounties about using his driver’s license to cross…I have an enhanced drivers license which is no problem.  He is adamant about not producing his passport, though in the end that is what he had to do.  Just to prove who’s boss the Police search the car and the Scamp.  They have an abbreviated sense of humor up there in the Northland, and they just don’t appreciate Richards Caribbean wit.  After International Falls (and the campground we were told about that was closed for the season!) we found no place to camp, no stores, and no gas.  We drove on and finally camped that night in the woods at the perimeter of a vacant fishing camp.  The temperature dropped and Richie tossed and turned and snorted until about 2:00am when we decided to just “book” and hit the road again.  The Kings Highway was mostly a good, two lane road, but deserted except for pulp trucks hauling logs.  We came to one section of the road that was gravel and that was when the gasoline warning light came on.  At that point I thought we were never going to get back to civilization.  Finally, after having driven close to 200 miles without seeing one hint of commercial civilization we rolled into a gas station on fumes in Kakabek Falls on Hywy 17. 

Day 4-  From the camp along the Kings Highway (Rt 11/17) on to Thunder Bay and Sault Saint Marie.  This was a day of easy driving and magnificent views of the hills and Lake Superior.  Just before sunset, exhausted once again, we found a decrepit pine paneled motel in the First Nation Reservation.  It was manned by an English owner with a limp and his wife who he called “Mother”.  As old and rundown and mismatched as it was the room was warm and comfortable. We were the only patrons at the restaurant attached to the motel.  There was no way to tell if the food was any good.  Rich ate the chicken.  My fish and chips was dripping in oil and almost inedible.  Rich tipped them 50% anyway and pissed me off.  He got his “reward” for the ridiculous tip the next day when he was horribly ill.  “No good deed will go unpunished!”

Day 5- Though the trip through Canada was almost the exact same mileage as the one through the states (from whence we came) it was much, much slower and seemed interminable.  The final leg through Sudbury, Perry Sound to about 90 km’s outside Toronto was tiring.  We found a Day’s Inn that looked to have been built with close-out purchases from Home Depot-cheap and not very well designed.  We went out and had a decent meal in a chain steak house.  It was a fitful night and about 1:00 am Richie turned on the TV and brought me out of a deep sleep.  I tossed and turned the rest of the night.  Morning came and I couldn’t find my keys.  Luckily I’d brought two sets.  I was ready-as I am at some point in all of my travels-to be home again.    

Day 6- cross into US at Niagara Falls into Buffalo and home.  We stopped at the “Falls” for 45 seconds, just long enough to snap 6 pictures.  The town held no attraction for me.  It looked like post cards of the strip in Las Vegas.  By this time even Richie is no longer feeling like a tourist.  At the border crossing Rich tries his drivers license routine again!  The U.S. Customs was having none of it and after Rich finally fishes out his passport they let us through easily. God Bless America!  We drive down rt. 17 through the Catskills.  Nice to be on familiar ground.  Our mood is good.  Happy to be near home.  At my house Richard’s wife Haddie met us and Lizzy made a wonderful meal. 

Day 7- clean up the CRV Honda and my luggage, etc.  Found my keys and Richards Passport.