There are few TV shows that have captivated both Alex and I, but one we have both shared a fascination for is Twin Peaks. I would say it is my all-time favorite TV series and it is set in a small town in Washington state. As we started our drive east from Olympic State Park, Alex looked up the “Twin Peaks town” just to see where it was. And much to our delight, it was right on our way just outside of Seattle. It took all of two seconds to agree that we could not pass up this opportunity. Our first stop was to a viewing area to set our eyes on the lodge in the series (The Great Northern) and the waterfall next to it. It is in the intro of the show and every Twin Peaks fan would probably recognize it immediately. The view did not disappoint! We also learned that the diner, one of the central meeting points in the show, is still in operation! Yes, we absolutely ate there – for dinner and breakfast 🙂 We were totally geeking out.
Next on our tour of funny small towns was Leavenworth, Washington – a small Bavarian themed town. How could we miss that? We got there and, wouldn’t you know it, it was basically Frankenmuth with mountains in the background. I loved it! We walked around for a couple of hours, grabbed a coffee, and I bought my new favorite hat. Alex later informed me that the phrase on the hat was grammatically incorrect which made me like it even more.
After Leavenworth, our plans were very loose. Our intention was to drive east through the northern states and avoid interstates in favor of back country roads. We figured there would be more to see that way and, in a way, that turned out to be true. What we ended up seeing a lot of were endless empty roads, farm after farm after farm, miles of oil fields, and small run down towns in between. It was by far the most remote driving I have ever done in the US! As we were in the middle of nowhere most of the time, there were limited options for accommodations. We ended up appreciating the app Hipcamp, which is basically Airbnb for campsites. It allowed us some interesting camping, including a hippie commune hosted by a man named Two Eagles and a farmer’s field in the middle of Montana.
One thing both of us wanted to see while we were in the Dakotas were some badlands. While researching the Badlands National Park, I learned that badlands are actually a landscape, not just the name of a national park. With that, we stumbled upon Theodore Roosevelt National Park – a less frequented area due to its location which essentially solidified our desire to visit. As we drove into the park, we were immediately greeted by a massive free-ranging buffalo – so began my buffalo paranoia.
We made our way to one of the first come, first served campgrounds in the park and basically had our choice of spots. A national park campground in the summer that was not full felt like such a find. We decided to stay for two nights. After setting up camp, we did the scenic drive through the park stopping at all of the viewpoints along the way. What a beautiful landscape! We returned to our campsite to cook up a big, delicious dinner in preparation for our 15 mile hike the following day. That evening, just as I was falling asleep, my buffalo fears materialized. I was startled awake by a deep growl that sounded like it was 10 feet from our tent. I shot up, death-gripped Alex’s shoulder, and tried not to move or breathe as we heard several massive animals cross through our campsite. I don’t think I’ve ever been so paralyzed in fear. They eventually moseyed away and somehow I managed to fall asleep. In the morning, we found their fur all over the trees around our site. Very stressful!
The following day, we did a lovely hike through the badlands and prairies of the national park. It was a truly unique experience, neither of us had hiked in this kind of landscape before. We had beautiful views, enjoyed watching the prairie dogs in the “prairie dog towns”, and got a bit too close for my comfort to more buffalo.
After enjoying a couple of nights at the national park, it was time to get back on the road! We enjoyed more open roads, weird small towns, and interesting landmarks. We couldn’t help but snap a few pics. Our final stop before entering Michigan was at Father Hennepin State Park in Minnesota where we had a quiet campsite and cooked up a delicious ribeye – our favorite road trip camping meal 🙂
We had a couple of nights to spare before our projected arrival date in Frankenmuth. We weren’t sure where to stay, as Michigan state parks are consistently full through the entire summer and last minute bookings are generally unheard of. On a whim, Alex checked the availability at one of our favorite campgrounds on Lake Michigan and they miraculously had 2 nights available at our favorite campsite! We were stoked. We enjoyed our time at the lake relaxing, swimming, eating, then repeating. What a treat!
Wandering Between Meals 
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