Die Groot Trek

About 180 years ago my forefathers, or perhaps I should say foremothers (since it was my mother's people) travelled hundreds of kilometers in search of a better life. This mass migration was an epic historic event in the history of the Afrikaaners and was called 'Die Groot Trek', which can be translated as 'The Big Move' - inventive people, those Afrikaaners. The motivation for this voyage was discontentment under the British rule (my father's people), and a desire for a superior quality of life in greener pastures.

And so, almost two hundred years later, with the blood of the 'Voortrekker' (Afrikaans word for pioneer, it basically means 'forward mover', I know, inventive hey?) flowing through my veins, I too embarked on a 'Groot Trek', a journey of more than 3600 km across a great country to escape Pennsylvanian rule and to search for greener pastures in the distant land of Idaho.

OK, so Pennsylvanian rule wasn't too awful, but hell, not being able to buy more than 12 beers from a bottle shop unless it's a distributor and being forced to shop at three separate venues for wine, beer and food because it's illegal to put (1) food and beer in the same store, (2) food and wine in the same store and (3) wine and beer in the same store, is as good a reason as any to get the hell out of there. But I certainly couldn't count looking for greener pastures as a motivation for my relocation since Pennsylvania is by far the greenest place I have ever seen in my life. Instead the driving force of our 'trek' was my husband's desire to hang out with the largest concentration of nuclear reactors in the world - and our desire to make a better life in spite of that.

And so began the 2000 mile, 9 day journey across Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming and finally Idaho. And here follows the highlights of that expedition.

Chicago, Illinois
Our first endeavour was to get out of Pennsylvania, and manoeuvre through Ohio and Indiana as quickly as humanly possible. We achieved that in 9 hours, arriving at our first stop-over, the eminently magnificent Chicago. We spent 2 and a half days (in a blistering heat-wave) in this astonishing city and that was simply not nearly enough. The outstanding architecture, the lake, the pier, the food, drink, music, culture, shopping, vibrant atmosphere were all truly splendid. The only slight disappointment (for me at least) was that I was unable to swing a visit to the Oprah show, which has been a lifelong dream, but she went and retired before I could get there. (And I thought she loved South Africans). To top off a perfect visit there was a massive fireworks display off Navy Pier, while we were there listening to a band, that would rival any 4th of July display I've seen (and I've seen some pretty awesome ones).

Chicago at night viewed from Navy Pier

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
A short drive up Lake Michigan brought us to our second stop-over, the historic Germanic town, Milwaukee. It also happens to be the home of American beer and thus was an essential point of interest for us. To top it off, Wisconsin is America's dairy (as in cheese everywhere). We did well to hit 2 breweries in our single evening there and sampled cheese to our heart's content. Here too we witnessed a fireworks display above the lake as we stumbled back to our hotel after tasting as many beer samples as we bravely could.

One of many Germanic style buildings on Old World Third Street

Madison, Wisconsin
A quick stop off for lunch was all we could afford, time wise, in Madison but I'm certainly glad we did. The Wisconsin state capital is a lovely place and luckily we arrived while they had their farmer's market (more cheese) surrounding the Capitol Building. It's clean and people seem so happy to live there, and the sky, wow, the sky in Wisconsin is always so artistically dotted with white cloud puffs that it seems, at every minute, like a master piece.

The domed State Capitol building

Minneapolis, Minnesota
After seeing some of the loveliest cities in America I hadn't stored up much anticipation for Minneapolis, I guessed it would be big and dreary, and to tell the truth, since the city's main attraction is 'Mall of America,' I expected to hate it. What a surprise to find such a perfectly maintained, walkable, modern downtown area. On our first night here we witnessed yet another incredible fireworks display above the Mississippi River and we were starting to feel rather self-important with each city welcoming us in such flamboyant style. We went to see a theatre production at the incredible Guthrie Theatre. The show was great but the building blew my mind. It's interesting that Minneapolis has more theatres per capita than anywhere in the U.S with the exception of New York City. We dined on sushi in a swanky Japanese restaurant and we were totally captivated by this glorious city. But seeing that the buildings are all connected by aerial walkway I'm pretty sure its not a place to visit in the winter.

Minneapolis is full of flowers, pavements cafes and those winter walkways

Badlands, South Dakota
I was rather excited to discover that on our intended route lay the Badlands National Park. The 6 National Parks I have visited so far, have all been truly incredible experiences so I was keen to add another to the list. The name, Badlands, entices me so, much like Death Valley. The name was given by the Sioux Indians, who inventively, (they have this in common with the Afrikaaners) named it Bad Land because of the lack of water, rough terrain, scant vegetation and lack of firewood. But even if you try to visualise the most desolate landscape imaginable you will not be prepared for the eerie scene that dramatically awaits you after crossing most of South Dakota's rolling green plains.


Ah, so I wouldn't grow my tomatoes here



Mount Rushmore, South Dakota
What road trip across America would be complete without the quintessential visit to the iconic Mount Rushmore National Memorial. It does not disappoint! In true American style the setting, in the magnificent Black Hills, is idyllic and the highly visible location puts the ostentatious sculpture of America's most beloved leaders on display for hundreds of meters. It's a really exciting drive if you come up Iron Mountain Road because, besides being incredibly scenic, you can see glimpses of the face carvings from about 20 miles away and you keep trying to catch views of it, like kids trying to see the ocean on a trip to the coast.

Georgie, Tommy, Abe and Teddy

Wyoming
Having been in Wyoming before I knew of its immense beauty so I was surprised that the worst scenery of the trip consisted of the flat monotonous grasslands of eastern Wyoming. It's tedious and desolate with uninteresting gas station towns and endless industrial drilling sites with vast nothingness in between. After many hours of this depressing and uninspiring landscape we finally arrived at the beginning of the Rockies. Once we hit the Togwotee Pass I dismissed the bland images of eastern Wyoming and began to marvel at the curvaceous landscape. Nothing can compare though, to when you first catch a glance of the snow-capped Teton peaks as you crest the pass, it just takes your breath away. This is, to me, the most beautiful area of the entire country and I'm awed every time I get to spend time here.

The majestic backdrop of the Teton Mountain Range

Idaho
Once we hit Jackson, a delightful resort town in Western Wyoming we knew we were on the home straight. We took the Teton Pass which is where you cross the border into Idaho and followed the Snake River right into Idaho Falls which is where we'll be based for next 18 odd months of our lives.

Following the Snake River

It's part of the American dream to do such a road trip and although we didn't quite go coast to coast it was an amazing journey, our 'Groot Trek', and another adventure in our American experience.