Yeh, well, so I'm behind with my blog. What's new?
Okay, let's see, we landed in a little public park called Josie Creek Park near Tony, WI. If you don't know where Tony is, it's just up the road from Ladysmith on US Hwy 8. Got it?
We arrived just about dark. It was a bone fide fish camp with about 12 RV sites and maybe that many more tent sites. You cross Josie Creek on a little one-lane steel bridge to get into the park. A lane looped around down toward the boat ramp (that's a "must" for a fish camp, ya know) and circled back up to the bridge. It was a full campground...except for the last one on the loop. So, we nabbed the last one on the loop - J12, it was. But, as I stopped in the lane and prepared to back into the spot, a woman and grown teenager came walking up alongside. I rolled down the window and the woman said, "I can move if you want me to." It turned out, she had the next site (J11, I guess) occupied with her car while she was visiting J10. So, there were actually two open sites. But, I liked J12 so I told her not to worry and we got situated in J12. Then bang!, it was dark. Ditto and I took a walk around the loop where other campers had roaring campfires going. Some were busy drinking beer and telling about the fish that got away that day while others just stared at the flames. I heard a guitar in one camp, but never saw the guitarist.
The next morning I took Ditto for a walk again while Joyce made breakfast. In the daylight, I could see the trash dumpster across from us a ways. There was a white 5 gallon plastic bucket sitting beside the dumpster. It had written "Gus" on the side with black felt tip. It was then I was certain it was a fish camp. Someone couldn't spell "Guts" and where else would you have a bucket for guts...or even gus?
Working our way across Wisconsin, we made it to Mille Lacs Lake in Minnesota. It was my intention to stay at a Passport America park there, but I noticed a military campground just a little further down the road at Ft. Ripley. Ft Ripley is a Minnesota National Guard training camp. The campground was called De Parque Woods (what else?) and was located right on the west bank of the Mississippi River. Actually, the Mississippi was bigger here than I would have guessed seeing as how the headwaters is not too far from here.
Moving on, we hit the road the next morning (Monday morning, 9/21). We traveled Minnesota back roads and finally crossed into North Dakota at Fargo. We went a little further in and made camp a Eggert's Landing on Lake Ashtabula. We had been here before. Back in 2010 in Old Pumpkin. It has been raining cats and dogs when we got there after dark. We grabbed a spot and hunkered down while Old Pumpkin leaked like a sieve. This time, we arrived in the day and found the park almost empty...and dry. Well, it did rain some last night, but not like it did in 2010.
These photos are of the same site, five years apart. The park this time, though, was deserted. The camp host was pulling out as we checked in.
So, we were the only campers in the park. Only us and a young twenty year old summer job park ranger who took a liking to Joyce the second night. Oh, did I mention we stayed there two nights? It was so peaceful and quiet and we had been hitting it hard since leaving New York. So, we spent two nights there.
This catches me up to today...I think. Anyway, we left Eggert's Landing this morning about 11 am. I dumped the waste tanks and topped off the fresh water and we headed out.
The town nearest Eggert's Landing is Valley City. We drove through it going in to the campground and had to drive back through it to get back to the Interstate. We had noted an interesting railroad bridge the first time, so Joyce took a couple of shots of it this morning.
We fueled up in Valley City and headed west. About halfway along the way we managed to get right in the middle of a five truck convoy loaded with big "effing" tanks.
I pulled in behind the third truck back as they were pulling out of a gas station. They were slow getting started so I passed the first one in front of me, but then they all got up speed and we wound up stuck behind the second one. Oh well, they were doing the speed limit and it was interesting watching the oncoming cars and trucks try to dodge the huge extra wide tanks when they met.
The trucks turned off just before we got to Underwood which is near the COE campground where we are tonight. Then we noticed the large fields of coal beds on our right. It turns out Underwood is the location of one of the largest strip coal mining operation in the US, Fallkirk Coal Company. Google them for some interesting info.
So, here we are at Downstream COE campground on Sakakawea Lake in North Dakota. We're about to bed down after a feed. Tomorrow we're off to Minot and Stanley to take a look at the Bakken Shale oil "fields". Being a "boom town" area, we don't want to stay there, just pass through and see if it's as bad as we've been led to believe. We'll take a look then head back down to Parshall Bay on the upper end of Lake Sakakawea for tomorrow night.
Tonight we're in the Michigan U.P. (upper peninsula for those who thought, "Where?"). But, first, today we started out from Campers Cove about 11 am, our usual morning start goal. Initially, I thought we would just continue up the lake shore to the Mackinac Bridge. But, Joyce happened to note there were several ski resorts over on the western shore. Now where we were, a ski resort would not be a likely encounter. It's flat. Very flat here on the eastern shore. Piquing our curiosity, we decided to cut across to the western shore to see what gives. Sure enough, there were "mountains" there. Skiers could probably get up to maybe 15 mph before the slope ended. Anyway, we were not particularly impressed except with the scenery...and the smooth riding highways. Well, they were smooth for a few feet between cracks and potholes.
We hit the Mackinac Bridge about 1 am. With the sun high above, it would have been a beautiful sight except is was drizzling rain or more like driving through a gray cloud. But, it was still a beautiful sight. Joyce got some photos, but they're on her camera...up on the dash...and I'm sitting on the rear seat. Sooo...
We stopped for a quick lunch at a scenic view pullout then headed on down US Hwy 2. We had visited the U.P. in 2010 in old Pumpkin so we don't plan on staying long here this time. So, we stayed on Hwy 2 down to near Escanaba where we veered off a short distance to a quiet little campground named Vagabond Resort on Little Bay de Noc on Lake Michigan. It's not fancy, but I like it here. I might stay...well, maybe not. I've still got to see Rosie and PJ.
We're sitting here watching Rachael Maddow right now. It's the first campsite I've been able to use my "Tailgater" Dish antenna. When the tree count is down or there's a good sized hole located in the right place, I can get Dish TV just like at home. Sometimes you just get tired off campfires, wine and a lawnchair. Yeah, right.
Tomorrow night we'll be somewhere in Wisconsin. I'll be more specific when I know where.
The lake was a bit far to walk to and there were too many trees to see it from Lakeport State Park where we spent the night, so we had to be happy to just know it was there. But, today was different. We made our way up the western shore of Lake Huron on Hwy 25, glimpsing the beauty of the lake as we passed openings between the homes and resorts stretching along the shore. However, it became obvious we needed to move along, so we cut over to I-75 on Hwy 46 halfway up the "thumb". When we hit Bay City, we headed back to the lake shore and traveled up on Hwy 23 toward Alpena. Again, homes and resorts stretching all along between the highway and the shore. But, most were classy places, not the typical run-down vacation homes and cabins. There seemed to be some competition in naming each home. Names like "R Place" and "P, B & J". I wish I could remember more, but I am old, you know. There were lot's of good names though. And the beach itself. We didn't actually walk on the beach, but it was a white clean looking sand without the heavy beat of constant waves rolling in. Not that I don't like the ocean surf, but the lack of a heavy surf makes for a different experience. Plus, you don't come out of the water all salty.
Those of you who enjoy going to the beach (and you know who you are), you might want to consider the western shore of Lake Huron for a change. It's not summer weather here now, but mid-July ought to be fantastic here.
Speaking of the weather, we've been very lucky. Today was in the mid-eighties and nights have been cool, but still warmer than the norm for this part of the country. Looks like we might may continue to luck out on our trip to Idaho. The 10-day looks good from here to Montana. Some rain - maybe, but chilly weather is holding back, so far.
We're staying at another Passport America tonight just inland from Alpena. As is our norm, we've been making this trip without making reservations. It's not been a problem so far. But, we almost had a problem here at Campers Cove. Here it is, September 17th and this place is having a Halloween celebration of some sort the next three weekends. We're nearly a month and a half from Halloween. What the heck?!! The campground was packed and nearly full already on Thursday. It must get crazy tomorrow night. I almost wish we could stay to see what the big deal is. But, we will head on across the Mackinac Bridge tomorrow and try to keep heading west. Besides, I don't think they would have an open spot for us tomorrow.
Okay, I'm behind a day. Yesterday we meandered about Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio. We meandered because I depended on the GPS again. Boy, that thing hasn't a clue where I want to go, but she sure knows where she wants to go. I finally told it to go ahead and use main highways which put us on I-76 close to the end of the day. We settled at a Passport America campground (P,A. is half price) called Rustic Lakes. It was off I-76 a ways out in the middle of Amish country just north of Sullivan if you're counting.
We arrived after office hours and a sign on the door said to check in with "Sue" at the 1st trailer inside the gate. I walked over and had to walk around the trailer as the front of it faced away from the road. The front had a wooden deck about 8' x 12' with a board fence enclosing it - not a railing, but a fence. Shortly I knew why. A noisy black dog a little larger than Ditto came storming out of the open front door just raising hell. Right behind the dog came Sue just raising hell, too. I don't recall the dog's name, but it didn't mind Sue. It kept raising hell. Sue yelled above the din that she would meet me at the office. As I walked back past the end of the deck the dog stuck its head through an opening in the fence, still raising hell. So, I smacked it on the snout. It kept raising hell. Oh, well, I tried.
The campground had a nice little lake about 5 acres in size with a lot of Canada geese so I did not have to worry about picking up Ditto's poop. It catered to mostly seasonal to full-time campers with about a dozen open sites for short-timers like us. They had a nice pool, two shuffleboard courts, three horseshoe pits, a basketball court, volleyball/badminton court and, of course, a fishing lake. It is off season, so there were only a few campers occupied. In fact, I wasn't sure anyone else was there but us and Sue until this morning when some campers strayed out. But, I suspect the campground is a busy place in mid July.
We took a dump (dumped our waste tanks) and filled up with fresh water this morning and headed for Toledo about 80 miles away. This time I set the GPS to use highways so it wouldn't take us so long to get up north. Our goal was a campground about halfway between Ann Arbor and Saginaw. It's difficult to get there without going straight through Toledo, which we did. It wasn't bad since it was midday. We stopped at a rest stop just north of Toledo for lunch and I studied the maps. Our goal was a bit further than I wanted to drive. So, I opted for Lakeport State Park right on Lake Huron shore just above Sarnia. To get there, I had to go right through downtown Detroit on I-75 and I-94. It lured us in. Traffic wasn't too bad...then there was this construction.
We survived. My shoulders and neck muscles were a little drawn, but there is always wine.
Tomorrow we'll continue up the Lake Huron shoreline on Hwy 25, around the "thumb" to Saginaw. Depending on the time and my state when we get there, we'll either look for a campsite nearby or cross the Mackinac Bridge and camp in the UP somewhere. Anyone have a coin?
We left Watkins Glen pretty close to 11 am. Of course, I made a wrong turn the first chance I had. The GPS bitched at me for several miles until I finally got back to a reasonable path to Saegertown, PA. Saegertown was my goal. Once there I planned to do a campground search around the area. We took SH 414 from Watkins Glenn (once the GPS whipped me back on course), caught SH 417 at Gang Mills just southwest of Corning. Speaking of Corning, Corning Glass must own 50% of the town and 80% of the real estate there. Anyway, we stopped at a big K Mart store in Wellsville, NY. The intent was just to eat, but my meds said it was also time for a nap...early, but still time. So, an hour later, I woke up and noticed a Little Caesar's nearby (actually, in the K Mart store). That sounded good and Joyce liked the idea of not having to fix lunch. One large pepperoni later and we continued our way along Hwy 417.
I checked the GPS and it reported 7:15 pm as our arrival time in Saegertown. Neither of us was very interested in traveling that late and since Buckaloons National campground was along the way we decided, "Why not?" We like Buckaloons and there is sure to be an open campsite. There was.
So, supper is done - it was a cold cereal night. The bed is whining something about being lonesome. It's early, going on 9 pm, But, who can deny a poor bed and its calling?
We left Tom's and Julie's this morning about 11 am EDT. We made it a slow poke-along travel day. We went back to Rudy's in Oswego. Joyce just had to have more of those fried clams and I wasn't going to object. They didn't seem to be quite as good as yesterday's, but still were great.
Leaving Rudy's, we gave the GPS its head with instructions to avoid the Interstates, which it did. We went down through Fulton, on to Auburn and down between Cayuga Lake and Seneca Lake to Watkins Glen State Park. We got here about 4 pm and now we're snuggling in. Temperature is about 55-60 degrees out. Should be a good night to sleep with a warm blankie.
Surprisingly, there are several campers here. Here is it Sunday evening and one would expect the weekends to have packed it in and headed home. Check out time is 11 am, so I would assume those that are here will be here all night. And, there were others checking in behind us. So, it is obvious camping season dies slowly up here.
We arrived at Tom's and Julie's on Friday, September 4. It has been a nice visit but, a noisy one. Whitney is here with her three young'uns, Pepper, Kade and sweet little Emree. Pepper and Kade are growing fast and battling it all the way. I mean that in the truest sense. Kade is all boy and pushes Pepper to the limit every chance he gets. It's been a riot, but mostly fun to watch. There were several times I pitied poor Whitney, but she is taking it in stride and has managed not to leave any lasting marks. But, then there is Emree. Emree is the happiest little baby I think I've ever seen. If she is not smiling or cooing you'd better feed her because she's hungry. She was demanding her dinner so often, Whitney said she was getting sore. So, she tried giving Emree her first solid food. Emree took to it like she had been eating solids for weeks. It took no coaxing or even teaching. She gobbled it up beginning with the first spoonful. It was a real treat to watch her eat. And, Whitney got her needed break.
We were there over the Labor Day weekend and Tom, Jr. had a great schedule. He managed to get off Friday through the following Tuesday. Saturday, Chris Koeneman dove up from Boston and spent the night. That Saturday afternoon we all went to the river bridge just up the road. Tom had taken the kids there several days earlier and they had built a dam and channeled the water across a big flat rock to make their own water slide. Tom wanted us to see them in action at the "slide". So, Tom, Chris, Pepper and Kade walked up while the rest of us drove up in Julie's minivan. Julie pulled down the little dirt lane that dead-ended at the river very near the special spot where the "slide" was. There were small saplings and willows along the edge of the river blocking my view, but Julie, sitting in the driver's seat, had a pretty good view of the "slide"...where a guy was squatting with his pants down, obviously taking a crap right in the river, right near the "slide". Julie let out a yell, "He's taking a crap in the river!" or something to that effect. "I can't believe he's doing that!", she said loudly so the guy could hear. Then she inched the car up for a closer look. "I can see his nuts!" Now that's not something Julie expected to come out of her own mouth, but it did. I guess the sight was just too much. With the car noise and some woman shrieking, I guess the guy lost the urge because he jerked up his pants and just sat down on a rock nearby, never once looking our way. After a while he moved to another bigger rock and sat down, still never looking our way. Finally he got up and waded upstream to his two boys who were swimming in a pool there. Tom, Chris and the kids arrived about then. Julie told Tom the story and Tom and the kids waded out to the "slide". Tom looked around and eventually turned to face the guy, now upstream out of my sight. "Is this where you crapped?", Tom yelled at the guy. The guy, of course, denied it so Tom told him Julie had seen him doing it and asked the guy again, "Did you crap here?", Tom asked, pointing at the "slide". I don't recall the exact response Tom said the guy made, but it was a very incriminating response and then he gathered up his boys and trudged to his car and left...still, not once, looking in Julie's direction. But, the water was swift and the water was clear and no crap was to be seen, so the kids played on their "slide" and soaked each other with super duper water guns and the rest of the afternoon went fine.
Ditto and I walked home with Tom and Chris and Pepper and the rest rode back with Julie. On the way back, Pepper made an obvious effort to be on the opposite side of the road as we walked past a small telephone equipment shack. She was a bit frightened of it and Tom explained that a few days earlier when they walked along the road by the shack, he had convinced the kids there was a cranky mean old man named Att that lived there. His name was on the door - "ATT". Pepper just knew the old man would jump out and get her if she disturbed him. At the time, I was holding Pepper's hand while traffic went by on the road. So, I talked Pepper into going over and knocking on the door and running. As we started gingerly across the road, Tom came with us. Pepper knocked real hard and then tried to run, but Tom caught her and said no one had come out...maybe he wasn't home. Tom led Pepper back to the door and lifted her up where she found a peephole in the door and was convinced "Att" was in there peeping out. We all ran.
Chris spent the night and after a nice visit, left Sunday afternoon. Monday was IT day so Tom and I worked on his computers and movie server. Then we tested our work heavily that evening. It passed.
Tuesday...huh! I don't remember what we did Tuesday. Wednesday through Friday Tom went back to work and I mostly just goofed off either with the computers or with the kids my favorite time being when I held Emree...until she got hungry.
Saturday was a dreary day, weather wise. The girls all went to town shopping while us men all stayed home. It was once again movie time. Kade wanted to see his favorite dinosaur movie (some animated thing), so we watched Jurassic Park. Kade decided to do something else.
Saturday night was "feed the missionaries" night, so the two young men on their mission service came to eat taco soup. And eat they did.
This is our last night here. Tomorrow we'll head for Idaho...the long way, no doubt.
