Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, MI

Wagner Falls, Munising, MI

Thursday, June 11, 2015, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, MI, 95.4 Miles Today, 807.4 Miles for the Trip

Not to many miles today since we made many stops along the way to see the sights at the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We drove MI 77 to Grand Marais, filled the tanks & headed west on H 58. While this used to be a dirt road, it is now paved.

Our first stop was at Sable Falls with a short hike from the parking lot to the falls. Next was a much longer hike from the parking lot to the Au Sable Light Station. Has a good tour by the ranger stationed there, including a trip to the top of the light. It was interesting to see the old Fresnel lens still at the top of the tower, but replaced by an LED. I also took a couple of photos of the remains of one of the wrecks along the shore of Lake Superior. We stopped for lunch at Kingston Lake, then headed for Munising Tourist Park Campground.

We were lucky to get two full hookup sites next to each other (Site 92 & 93), the last pair left. We needed full hookups because Don & Anne's hot water tank stinks! As soon as we were parked, we took Don's van & headed back to hike to Miners Falls, and Miners Beach to see Miners Castle. After that a drive on MI 94 & 28 to see a couple more waterfalls - Alger Falls & Wagner Falls. Then it was back to the campground, stopping for fudge & Pasties for dinner. A Pasties is sorta like a hand held pot pie. I had chicken, Don & Anne bought beef. Not too bad, although I would have preferred less potato & more chicken.

Many more photos at Today's LakeshoreImages Page.

After dinner Don & Anne flushed the hot water tank of its funky water. While Seven O's in Cicero charged them for dewinterized the trailer, they skipped a couple of things, including getting rid of the antifreeze in the hot water tank. The previous owners must have used a lot of it - no water heater bypass & they used antifreeze rather than blowing out the water lines. That probably required 6 gallons of antifreeze just for the water heater. In any case, after a bit of flushing, it should get better.

Until Tomorrow -

Luce County Park, MI

An Empty Luce County Park

Wednesday, June 10, 2015, Luce County Park, Curtis?, MI, 240.2 Miles Today, 712.0 Miles for the Trip

More interstate driving, but we did cross the Mackinac Bridge, after which we hit US 2 which we plan to follow all the way to North Dakota. The bridge was interesting. We had pretty strong crosswinds on the drive & they had a sign at the start of the bridge that RVs, Trucks, & vehicles pulling trailers need to cross at 20MPH. The scary thing is people were actually doing 20MPH! I did open the window in the middle of the bridge and it was really blowing.

We are heading for Picture Rock, but rather than pushing to get there tonight, we decided to stop at a small County park for the night. I'm not sure what town to use for the campground, each guide gives a different one, but Curtis is the closest on my map. I asked Anne to call the park (there is an advantage to having both a driver & a navigator) to be sure they had space since last night's county park only had a few empty spaces. No problem, other than our trailers, Luce County Park is empty.

It looks like it would be very pleasant during the warmer part of the summer, however it is still very windy, and down to the 60's. The campground host mentioned that the wind is good - it is keeping the mosquitoes away. Have to admit, they are not a problem outside, but I'll not sure I'll spend too much time in a chair on the lawn. Don & Anne tried setting their chairs in the lee of the trailer, and they were back inside in about 5 minutes. I hope it calms down enough to cook dinner. The plan is for Spaghetti & meatballs (and sausage) but it could be soup cooked inside!

Until Tomorrow -

Pinconning, MI

Site 47, Pinioning Park, Pinconning, MI

Tuesday, June 9, 2015, Pinconning Park, Pinconning, MI, 232.3 Miles Today, 471.8 Miles for the Trip

A rather wet night with rain off & on throughout, heavy at times. While it was fairly dry at the door to the trailer, the back end was pretty wet. It stopped by morning, so it wasn't too bad packing up. We were off by 9:00 and headed west towards Michigan. Most of the drive was on Canadian 402 & 401, the equivalent of the US interstates. We even stuck to interstates once we hit the US, stopping for the night at Pinconning, MI.

I'm in site 47, Don & Anne in 48, both electric only sites. Lots of bugs. You have to chase both mosquitos and mayflies away every time you open the door - my RAV4 is full of them.

We spent the afternoon slapping bugs & putting together a dinner of Bubba Burgers, a salad & Virgo Black Beans & Rice.  The only additional photo for the day is one of Don & Anne's Scamp at today's LakeshoreImages page.

Until Tomorrow -

Willow Lake Park, Woodstock, Ontario, Canada

Ready to Go, Oswego, NY

Monday, June 8, 2015, Willow Lake Park, Woodstock, Ontario, CA, 239.5 Miles Today, 239.5 Miles for the Trip

With the last minute packing, breakfast, and "closing down the house", we didn't get going until 9:00. The starting mileage on the RAV4 is 108,983, 57,714 of that towing. As of the start of the trip I've spent 613 days (or should I call that "nights") in the trailer.

The trip across NY on NY 104 wasn't too bad, although the usual slowdown in Rochester. The plan was to cross into Canada at the Lewiston bridge, however we kind of missed a turn, and the next stop was the center of town & the Rainbow Bridge. A 5 - 10 minute wait, but an easy crossing. We did have rain off & on, heavy at times, but light for the most part.

We are set up in two sites next to each other (even facing each other) at the Willow Lake Park in Woodstock, Ontario. A Hydro & Electric site for $45.20 Canadian, with tax. Not a place I would recommend for a long stay, but fine for overnight. There is a fair amount of highway noise, and, since it is on a hill, some jake brakes from trucks. another minor problem - the steep, gravel driveway was fine with the 4 wheel drive RAV4, but they are going to have to do a bit of patching after Don's front wheel drive only Sienna spun on the hill.

Today's photo was taken this morning just as we were ready to leave.  On today's LakeshoreImages post there are two site photos - mine & Don & Anne's.

While the Woodall's Campground Guide states there is WiFi, it must be in the office or broken - nothing on site, and, of course, because we are in Canada, the cost of firing up my Verizon Jetpack is out of the question! I'll post this the next time I find a connection.

Added note - I did find the WiFi - it is at the office.  Fast enough, but very limited coverage.

Until then -

Getting Ready to Leave for Alaska

Theatre Alumni Reunion, 2015

Wednesday, June 3 through Sunday, June 7, 2015, Oswego, NY, 0 Miles, 0 Miles for the Trip

Off on another trip. Like my previous trips, I spent the last couple of days packing. To add to the confusion, I discovered that the repair of my refrigerator wasn't quite as expected. While the replacement of the thermostat did fix the problem on the 120V electric side, now it won't run at all on propane; won't even light. Since there isn't enough time to take it back to the people that did the thermostat replacement (and I wasn't all that happy with their work), I tried Seven O's in Cicero, but they still have a 2 week backlog due to their fire. They suggested calling their other location in Kirkville, and they managed to fit the trailer into their schedule. Hopefully, it will be repaired in time to leave on Monday (obviously I'm starting today's post a bit early).

Another complication is this weekend is the Theatre Department's 5 year reunion weekend. As both an alumni & retired department member, I plan to attend the events. I even have a couple of alumni staying at the house.

The trailer is mostly packed & I'll finish when I get it back. I am taking the RAV4 (fully packed) to the scale at the dump to see where it is at; I'll take the combination on Monday morning before we leave.

The "we" is another difference for this trip. I will be "Caravaning" with a former student & friend Don Guido & his wife Anne for the Alaska part of the trip. They have often joined me on my trips for a week or two, and in 1996 we spent the summer tent camping across the US. This time they purchased a 2010 Scamp 16 so no more wet tents to pack in the morning!

Well, it is Sunday, we all made it through the reunion, the refrigerator is working fine on propane (it started fine for the crew at Seven O's and has been running since.) The house has emptied & we are finalizing our route & first stop. For anyone interested in the Reunion photos, they are here.

Until tomorrow (assuming I can get an internet connection in Canada)