Road Trip 2012: Part II

As I mentioned in my previous post, Tim and I recently returned from a road trip across the country. We spent a majority of our time camping, hiking, and exploring national parks. We did our best to avoid main highways, opting for scenic backroads instead. If you ever find yourself planning a road trip, I highly suggest taking the less traveled roads. We encountered solitude, beautiful stretches of country, and quirky little towns.

My last post ended with a photograph of Tim and I posing with the Green Giant statue in Blue Earth, MN. Once we left Minnesota, we headed for Madison, WI and stayed with our friend for a few days. Madison has some incredible vegan food (we had pizza, cupcakes, and tasty sandwiches)!

Cupcakes from Bloom Bake Shop near Madison, WI

After we left Madison, we headed for Milwaukee, WI to attend a family wedding. I can sum Milwaukee up with six words: huge vegan pancakes and ice cream.

Huge vegan pancakes (and French toast and smoothies) from the Riverwest Co-op Cafe

Tasty vegan milkshakes and ice cream cones from Babe’s in Milwaukee, WI (thank you, Kelly, for the tip!)

Next stop? Erie, PA! My younger sister got married so we stayed with my family for a week. I was in charge of making the cupcakes (all vegan!!) for the wedding. I spent a hefty chunk of time whipping up four dozen (it was a small wedding) cupcakes: chocolate with peanut butter frosting, chocolate ganache drizzle, and chopped salted peanuts; carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and toasted coconut.

And then? We hit the road once again. Our first stop was Niagara Falls in Canada. We had both been before, but it had been many, many years.

We spent the afternoon people-watching and then had lunch in St. Catharine’s, at Rise Above Bakery & Cafe. I had a lentil burger and Tim had pizza. We both had doughnuts (maple and cookies-n-cream). They were some of the best doughnuts ever, seriously.

Tim yawning on the shores of beautiful Lake Superior, near the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Our campsite in this area was two feet from a swimming beach on Lake Superior. We even jumped in the water a few times! It was so clear and clean; I was delighted!

Grand Sable Dunes – Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox – Bemidji, MN

We waded through the headwaters of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca State Park (MN)

Hale Bay people somewhere in North Dakota

Windy day at the geographical center of North America in Rugby, ND

Hiking in Theodore Roosevelt National Park (North Dakota)

Bison in Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Massive field of sunflowers in North Dakota

Wild Goose Island – Glacier National Park

Poor jump timing at Ptarmigan Lake – Glacier National Park

Iceberg Lake – Glacier National Park

Beargrass on the Iceberg Lake trail – Glacier National Park

Hiking the Grinnell Glacier trail – Glacier National Park

Grinnell Lake – Glacier National Park

Looking over the Continental Divide on the Dawson Pass trail – Glacier National Park

My best attempt at photographing a grizzly bear cub – Glacier National Park

Tim crossing a huge swing bridge over the Kootenai River

And then, eventually, we were back in Portland. But, I shall leave you with one more photograph:

Tim and I posing with Pierre the Pantsless Voyageur. I won’t tell you what we saw…

And that’s it! I am still sifting through a ton of photographs, so there may be a follow-up post of outtakes. I hope you all enjoyed the highlights!