Yearn to Wander

BC Ferry Wake - Good-by for Now

After we left the rain in Vancouver and Seattle, the weather was changeable. Snow followed us across the Cascades. But the Eastern Washington desert was warm and sunny. We met snow again as we crossed Northern Idaho and Western Montana, especially in the passes. From Eastern Montana to Chicago we had typical Great Plains Spring weather, much to the delight of locals in South Dakota, where snow had only recently melted.

In Eastern Montana we got tired of the Interstate, so we dropped down to US 12. Then we took a closer look at the scenery and stopped in small towns along the way.

South Dakota was particularly interesting. The locals told us the soil had just reappeared after a long, hard winter. So, as we traveled from west to east, we watched the soil quality and crops change. Hay was the major crop in the West where the climate is drier and the soil less productive. The crop mix shifted to mostly corn, sunflowers, and others as we approached the eastern side of the state. Those changes illustrated the shift from Western ranching to Midwestern agriculture. Near the middle of the state, two imaginary lines signaled these shifts, too. The 100th Meridian divides the dry and wet climes of North America. Nearby the time zones change from Mountain to Central.

One constant though was the frozen ground holding snow melt in the roadside ditches. Ducks galore made good use of these temporary ponds. I saw many that we'd seen in BC, and some new ones: Ruddy Ducks and Shovelers.

Minnesota came next, and Wisconsin followed. It is always pretty and feels like home. We spent a nice spring evening in Eau Claire, where we enjoyed the newly rejuvenated riverwalk, a nice new feature in many cities and towns.

Another journey had come to an end.