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Wednesday, August 15, 2019

Last year we started our trip to the Great Lakes with skies a dirty yellow-brown in color. Heavy smoke at home from California wild fires filled the Truckee Meadows. As we headed north on US 395 the smoke did not subside. Driving east to Ontario, OR offered no relief. The air quality didn’t improve in McCall, ID when visiting with Jil’s brother and wife. Nope, not even in Whitefish MT did the air clear. We drove I-90 all the way through Montana and North Dakota where we finally found a little relief from the multiple wild fires burning in the Western States in Bismarck. Even there the rising and setting sun was awash with the tinge of smoke.

Well, guess what folks- it’s deja vu all over again! Smoke at home for over a month from multiple California wildfires. When the wind blows the smoke of one fire away it blows the smoke of another into Truckee Meadows. Everyone is pretty much done with the smoke here. As bad as the air quality is here we are much more fortunate than those who have lost homes and loved ones from those horrific fires. We pray for them, the firefighters as well as all first responders who put their lives on the line to save others lives and property.

Okee Dokes- We are headed via a circumnavigation route to again volunteer at the Bonneville Fish Hatchery in Cascade Locks, Oregon. Our friends the Parks are again occupying our place while we are away. We are planning to visit old haunts near the I-5 Corridor in Oregon, then visit relatives in Idaho before we head towards the hatchery where we start our stint on September 1. We left the Reno area on the 12th intending to overnight at the Lassen RV Park, McArthur CA. A phone call notified us of a new wild fire that has cut McArthur off from the south and caused a power blackout and loss of water supply to the entire community. Soooo, we overnight in Hat Creek at the Rancheria RV Park, nice park that is located on the edge of a ponderosa forest. Smoke is not too bad here.

Rancheria RV Park Office

Lake Surrounded by RV’s

The next morning we head northwest on Highway 89 past the town of Burney, then past Burney Falls State Park. We really wanted to stop at the falls but previous experience tells us that turning around 50 feet of hardware near the falls might prove unattainable during the camping high season- so we push on. We stop in the quaint town of McCloud. This town was founded on the lumber trade. The company had its own railroad that delivered lumber products and passengers via it’s own tracks to national rail companies. Although the lumber business had dried up the McCloud railroad still had provided tours as well as dinner trains for several years.

Railroad Now Rail Trail

Garden Art- McCloud, CA

Mt. Shasta Barely Visible

As we walk where the depot used to be we notice- NO DEPOT, not even the hint of a rail. The rail bed is still visible only because of how flat the bed needed to be. The McCloud Railroad locomotives and cars had been sold. I know one engine went to Garibaldi, OR and another back east to Ohio I believe. The third is now part of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad of historic Comstock Lode town Virginia City, NV.

Our next stop was preplanned weeks ago. We have less than a 100 mile drive to Abrams Lake Mobile Home and RV Park located just outside of the town of Mt. Shasta. Even though nothing special it offers about 15 full hookups on closely grouped gravel pads. It’s by no means a “resort”. Heck, most of the RV “resorts” where we’ve stayed aren’t either. We’ve stayed here several times because there are nice wooded areas to walk our mutzos, it’s off the main thoroughfare, quiet and offers some great views of the eleven thousand foot Mt. Shasta that looms nearby. Smoke is moderate through evening masking the great mountain in smokey haze. The morning of August 14 smoke is worse- the mountain that can be seen from 100 miles away is gone!  By the way, the small, privately owned lake is now dry. Shall we now call this place Abrams Mobile Home and RV Park or Abrams Dry Lake Mobile Home and RV Park?

This morning we headed to the next premeditated stopover. We haven’t camped at Valley of the Rogue State Park, Gold Hill OR for a few years. We really like this park as the campground is designed to provide adequate space between sites, and offers walking paths on the banks of the Rogue River. We really like the wide open spaces between camp groupings. So off we go into the wild brownish/yellow wonder!

The farther north we go the heavier the smoke gets. It’s particularly bad in and around Yreka. OK, since we are heading over Siskiyou Pass, the mountains should confine the California smoke to that state??? We crest Siskiyou Summit and head down towards the very smokey town of Ashland OR. Geez, the smoke isn’t any better here!

We were going to take the road less traveled to Valley of the Rogues S.P. but why, we can’t see anything clearly for the smoke. We head straight towards V of the R. on I-5. As we pull into the park the entrance station is closed- at 0945 in the morning! Wow, wonder what time they go to work? We arrive much earlier than the “official” 4pm check in time. Who in the world made a 4pm check in time policy? Geez!- so our site is still occupied. We pull into the gravel events parking lot and wait. An hour and a half later, about noon, our site is ready to occupy so we back in and set up. The Rogue Valley can be hot this time of year and this year is no different. The difference is hot, stagnant, smoke filled air. Yuck!

Folks, we have made online reservations weeks ago for this state park. The signage at the closed entrance station says to pick out a site and register at the kiosk located near the volunteer host campsite. It also says if one has a reservation to display proof in one’s windshield. We do that. Mr. RANGER knock, knock, knocks on the door setting the dual dog alarm off! BE QUIET matzos! Hello! Hi, I’m George, your head Ranger. You need to register at the entrance station ASAP. Why, we are pre registered with online registration. NO, that’s not good enough, you have to register at the entrance station. OK, but it was closed when we arrived. CHECK IN IS AT 4:00pm! and you were early! Sigh, OK I WILL DRIVE BACK THE ONE MILE AT THE POSTED SPEED LIMIT OF 15 MILES AN HOUR TO REGISTER A SECOND TIME EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE OUR INFORMATION ON THE FRIGGIN’ CLIPBOARD THAT’S IN YOUR HAND! Back I go and get a tag to hang on each of my vehicles- neither of which will be checked at the closed entrance station…………

Deja Vu #2- Located two sites down from ours are two volunteer campsites. The volunteers hang out their name plaques in front of their sites. “Bob and Bridget Udall” hangs in front of a familiar Class A coach. Well I’ll be! We volunteered with Bob and Bridget six or seven years ago at Bullard’s Beach State Park on the southern coast of Oregon. What a small world…………….

More of Grants Pass’s Climate

took a little drive down past the town of Rogue River to the larger town of Grants Pass in order to do a little shopping at Fred Meyer. Fred is sorta like Wal Mart but a little more upscale. Fred sells practically anything- and has what we need.

Next we take the mutzos to Riverside Park, a municipal facility on the bank of the Rogue River. Our first Aussie loved to run here so much that with an absence of 2-3 years he would get excited as we drove into the parking lot. Next we took a walk downtown an hour before the stores opened, which is nice since the dogs can adjust to city traffic without causing a ruckus. We’ve included some photos of much of the sidewalk art for your pleasure.

Very Nice Mural on the Napa Auto Parts Building

I know, it’s been a while- a long while actually. Winter here in Reno and the Sierra Nevada Mountains was pretty mild Snow Totals by Month: January- 0″, February- 3.8″. The snow totals on the ski slopes weren’t much better and the climatologists worried. March- 19- the “Big Dump”. The upper slopes of the Sierra were thick with the white stuff. More than 10′ feet of snow at resort level made for happy skiers. Our home received 18″ of snow over 24 hours- wet, heavy snow! Our main water source, Lake Tahoe, was filled to the brim. Rivers overflowed during the spring runoff. All the reservoirs miraculously were filled. Another catastrophe averted……..

We were told by the locals when we moved to Reno that the worst feature of our community was the wind. Yep, it can whistle here with steady winds 20-30 mph or more and gusts can register as high as 70 mph. Howsomeever, SMOKE is the worst by far. We are east of the wonderful state of Kali-fornia and the prevailing winds blow smoke into our fair state. National Weather Service advisory- “SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT UNTIL 6AM PDT MON …PERIODS OF UNHEALTHY AIR QUALITY CONTINUE… SMOKE FROM FIRES IN CALIFORNIA WILL CONTINUE TO POUR INTO THE REGION. AREAS DOWNWIND FROM LARGE FIRES INCLUDING THE CARR FIRE NEAR REDDING, THE MENDOCINO COMPLEX NEAR CLEAR LAKE, THE DONNELL FIRE WEST OF SONORA PASS AND THE FERGUSON AND LIONS FIRES WEST OF MAMMOTH LAKES, WILL EXPERIENCE PERIODS OF POOR AIR QUALITY. * AREAS AT GREATEST RISK FOR UNHEALTHY AIR QUALITY ARE MONO, ALPINE, LASSEN, PLUMAS, SIERRA AND NEVADA COUNTIES”.

When the hills in Kali-fornia burn we know it. Our normal view is of the local Carson Range and Peavine Mountain which range in altitude from 8200′ to over 10,000′. Neither is more than 5 miles from our home. They are magnificent to view every day. This morning they have been hijacked! The smoke obliterates them from sight, with nary a silhouette peaking through the yellow brown smoke. Crap……. Bad for us but there’s a lot of folks who are suffering loss of homes and life from those fires. God bless ‘um.

This spring Jil was hell bent on raising vegetables. She started a couple dozen tomato and cucumber plants from seed. She first tended to the little seedlings inside as the nights were too cold. She moved them out when the weather was just right. She watered the bejesus out of them when the weather was too hot! Alas, she wound up with one cucumber plant (1 fruit so far), and two producing tomato plants. The rest of the plants were consumed by culinary experts- rabbits, squirrels, mice and birdies……. nuts!

Speaking of fauna we’ve had the normal spring proliferation of, yes, squirrels, and the cutest baby quail- and dove, the babies of which look just like their parent in miniature. We’ve had sightings of coyotes and deer within our neighborhood. Nothing unusual there. Folks have photographed bobcats sitting on their back yard fences- that’s somewhat unusual. Occasionally we have sightings of mountain lion but this spring we’ve had numerous sightings in and around our homes. Now that’s getting a little close for those big cats!

Our gardens are in full bloom and look beautiful. It’s easy to take care of our current yard as it’s a tenth of the size of our last one. So now that the garden is beautiful and the house is in ship shape what shall we do with ourselves? Let’s go traveling! Yes!

So this is the plan. We lock the house up mid-August. Our house guests/ house sitters unlock the place about 10 seconds after we leave. Jim and Nancy have stayed at our place a couple of times before while we travel. They used to live a couple of doors down and have many friends in our community. So we have peace of mind that our house is being looked after and they get to visit with friends while we are gone.

Were to go? We are traveling first to a few of our favorite haunts in Oregon then to Idaho to visit Jil’s bro. Then travel back to Oregon in order to volunteer and the Bonneville Fish Hatchery once again with our friends Jim, Connie and Rowdy too!

Until the next post of this blog- Happy Trails!

Sunday October 22, 2017- Travel Day 79

The weather was again cool this morning. Home is 228 mile away. We are going for it! As we travel west Jil asks when are we to reach Winnemucca (7100 souls). I reply “we passed it 20 minutes ago!” Electronic device overdose strikes again as Jil had her head buried in her smart phone. Winnemucca is named after Chief Winnemucca, a local Paiute chief. The chief’s daughter, Sarah wrote the first autobiography in 1883 by an American Indian woman. It has been described as “one of the most enduring ethno-historical books ever written by an American Indian. For you history buffs, Butch Cassidy’s gang robbed the First National Bank of $32,640 in 1900. The area also has a deep Basque sheep herding history which is celebrated by an annual Basque Festival.

We stop in Lovelock (1800 souls) and visit the park with a zillion “love locks”. People are invited to add a padlock to the chains provided to celebrate their love. We travel through the Lahonton Valley which the 1850’s emigrants called the “40 Mile Desert”. This forsaken area not only did not provide fodder for their livestock but had no source of usable water. Next comes Fernley (19,000 souls). This town is another place that did not exist before the Southern Pacific Railroad  built a siding there. Agriculture and ranching helped develop the area with a little help from an irrigation system and drainage system developed in the early 1900’s.

From Fernley Interstate 80 heads towards the Truckee River Canyon towards home. The canyon is full of fall color, something that we missed while in the Midwest. It seems that fall reluctant to come while we were there. Traffic gets a little heavier as we approach Sparks, then downtown Reno. We live five miles west of downtown in the foothills east of the mighty Sierra Nevada Range. A few minutes later we pull up in front of our home.

After ten and a half weeks on the road we come home to friendly neighbors and fair weather. Our home is as we left it thanks to friends who occupy it while we are away. There’s nothing to do but unpack the rig, clean it inside and out and take her to the the RV storage yard. Sounds easy but giving the coach a good scrub takes a couple of days of hard work, and at my age it’s getting a little harder.

We attempt to mouse proof the inside of the coach by removing anything they might like to eat or use to build a nest so almost every item is removed and stored in our house. Try removing almost everything that’s not tied down from your refer, every cabinet, drawer, and closet, then shampoo the carpets, clean the inside of the refer. We also have to winterized the water system, air up the tires and check to make sure all the outside joints are properly caulked so there are no water leaks. The cargo bays are emptied and cleaned, the entire outside of the coach is given a good scrub. Now we can take it to the RV storage yard for the winter or until we travel once again.

Our trip to the Midwest and the Great Lakes was one to remember. We learned a lot from the folks that live there, saw so many things new to us that we already are having difficulty recalling them all. Luckily our cameras recorded the most important images and we refer to them often. This blog is also designed to record our experiences for posterity and as a memory jogger. The last entry will be a recap of our trip.

Saturday, October 21, 2017- Trip Day 78

Friday, October 20, 2017: Weather is coming in- snow producing weather. Fort Bridger is located at 6600 feet so our intent is to get to lower elevation. Doing so we will put some miles between us and the old fort. We planned on traveling as far as Wells, maybe Elko Nevada, but ol’ Mom Nature has other plans for us. She says, I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow yer trailer over! So erring on the side of caution we moved west, but only to Salt Lake City, Utah, a distance of 110 miles.

As we traveled the wind came up and it was pretty stiff. We passed the turnoff to Jordanelle State Park and Park City which is where we’d be right now if the weather was good.

Jordanelle Reservoir/ Park City Utah     

As luck would have it we also encountered a lot of traffic. Now traffic isn’t bad in itself but when everybody and their brother is in a huge hurry and feel that they are more important than anyone else on the road, then traffic gets bad. A big rig driver cut into our lane on a curve and nearly hit us. A bazillion other drivers were tailgating us and each other at 70 mph down a curvy Interstate 80 with high gusty winds. A lot of them couldn’t keep their vehicles in their own lane. Cripes, I didn’t sign on for this, did I?

Red Cliffs/ Crazy Quilt Hillside

Before the mayhem, we did pass a beautiful pastoral valley where Coalville (1200 souls) and Hoytville (600 souls) are located. This is farm and dairy country. The trees had turned golden and the pastures were still green. This is just gorgeous country and the reason we like to travel. As we climb out of the Weber River Valley the rocks and cliffs turn a little more red in color- a sure sign that one is now in Utah. After a very long downhill grade that followed a canyon we flush out onto the Salt Lake Valley. Traffic on the interstate through Salt Lake wasn’t too bad and we arrive at the Salt Lake KOA in one piece.

Mormon Temple/Utah State Capitol/Council Hall circa 1866

Salt Lake City (190,000 souls) has grown a ton since I first visited as a kid. At that time, ya I know, that was a long time ago, over 50 years, the skyline was dominated by the Utah State Capitol Building and the Mormon Temple. No more- they are lost in a sea of high rise buildings. In fact, if you don’t know your way around town you could pass by both. It’s kind of a shame really, as both buildings are really beautiful especially compared to the modern slab sided high rise. We also drove by the Cathedral of Madeleine, the mother Catholic Church of Utah. Council Hall was dedicated in 1866 and replaced the original city hall building which was immediately deemed too small.

Eclectic Paint Job- Hate to Tell Him- Burning Man Is OVER

The population of Salt Lake is somewhat deceiving. This area is much like the coastal area of Southern California in that Salt Lake, Ogden and Provo have grown together creating a metropolis of over 2 million souls, and the highways reflect it. Lots of cars and truck commute on Interstate 15 traveling north and south and Interstate 80 which runs east and west. So the city of Salt Lake feels a lot bigger than it really is. An interesting fact  is that the Salt Lake metropolis and Reno Nevada are the only two major urban areas within the Great Basin.

The Church of the Latter Day Saints is headquartered here in Mormon Square. Many other buildings are associated with the church. After all, the Mormons founded this city back in the 1840’s. They were driven out of Illinois and settled here where they felt they could practice their religion in an isolated location yet still under the sphere of influence of the U.S. government. They didn’t count on the emigrants heading to the gold fields of California which in short order, brought an end to their autonomy as the U.S. Government sent in the Army to ensure the emigrants protection.

Saturday, October 21, 2017: The weatherman lived up to his promise yesterday with wild winds and rain. We’re glad we decided to stop in Salt Lake. This morning is a cool 32 degrees when we leave- burrr! Stark country awaits us west of town. Not much grows in this salty environment.

Early Morning Photo of Great Salt Lake

Heading west on I-80 we skirt the Great Salt Lake, then about 100 miles farther west is the Bonneville Salt Flats. The Bonneville Salt Flats International Speedway hosts timed speed trials for different classifications of vehicles. They are timed over a running mile in one direction, then, to keep them honest, they are timed going the opposite direction. The land speed record was set in 1970 by Gary Gabelich in the rocket engined “Blue Flame” at a mere 622.407 mph but the current record was set by the twin turbofan “Thrust SSC” in 1997 at a sound barrier breaking 763 mph!

Bonneville Salt Flats

Shortly after leaving the salt flats we reach the state of Nevada and there directly across the street from the Welcome to Nevada sign is a big casino. Honestly, ya couldn’t put the building any closer to the state line.

Nevada State Line/Surprise, Surprise- A Casino!

I-80 climbs over a mountain range, then drops down into a valley. Oasis is located there; its a ’50’s style one stop shop that is abandoned. Wells (pop. 1200) is the next town and lies at the intersection of US 93 and I-80. The very prominent Hole-In-The-Wall Peak lies southwest of town. At an elevation of more that 11,000 feet she got more than a dusting of snow from yesterday’s storm. As a matter of fact, many peaks near and far are now snow covered.

Hole-In-The-Wall Peak Near Wells, NV

We stop in Elko for fuel and to stretch. The storm has passed but has left a biting cold wind in it’s wake. Elko has a population of over 18,000 souls making it the largest city for 250 miles in all directions. I fact checked that statement and found Twin Falls Idaho is 164 miles away- it’s populations is 44,000 so maybe Elko’s claim was true at one time but would have to shrink the 250 miles down to about 160 miles.

The eastern portion of northern Nevada is not just flat desert. It is all high desert meaning not one cacti grows here. It’s grass and sagebrush country. It’s mountains and valleys. The Humboldt River runs through it. It’s quite amazing actually and the scenery changes often enough so as not to get boring. Several brand new game bridges are being completed. The bridges allow large animals such as deer, antelope, or elk to pass safely over the interstate. We’ve seen the bridges in many states and Canada, now Nevada.

Game Bridges, a.k.a. Deer Overpass- Interstate 80

We’ve decided to end the day in Battle Mountain at Clark Park Campground. Not much irrigation goes toward growing lawns here in the high desert. The RV park is all gravel, which could be very warm in the summer months but today at 40 something degrees gravel is not a problem. The RV park is nicely laid out. While we had a few moments we toured the town of Battle Mountain (3600 souls) and found it not a thriving place but in the survival mode. It’s primary economic base is gold mining which doesn’t appear to make any of the townspeople wealthy. Who knows how long it has been in this state- I’d guess a long time.

Thursday, October 19, 2017- Trip Day 76

This is our second day at Fort Bridger. We’ve shopping to do and a tour of Fort Bridger State Historic Site which just happens to be located right next door to the RV park. The town of Fort Bridger is so small (390 souls) that the population doesn’t warrant a real grocery store, it has a convenience store. We head off to Lyman (2100 souls) located 5 miles away. One would think that a town that size would have a grocery store but nope, it doesn’t! So……. we double back and head south to Mountain View. Benedict’s Market is a really nice full service market. It even has a real full service hardware department! Some of the vehicles outside depict the values of the locals.

Mountain View, stock feed and Personal Opinion of Tree Huggers

Mountain View is what it says it is. The views of the Wasatch Mountains are stunning. Unfortunately, the view is obscured by a haze of which I don’t know the cause. I borrowed a couple of photos from the internet to give you an idea of how the name came about. We find a great park with nary a soul about so Megan got to go for a run.

After shopping and playing in the park we dropped the groceries off at camp then visited Fort Bridger State Historic Site. The gate to the parking lot was closed, the locals said you can just walk in so we did. No one was there so Megan got to run again and found Groshon Creek. In she goes- Dunk, Dunk, DUNK!  According to literature cooking in grills, dogs on leash (our bad on this one), are welcome but no horses, no alcohol, fireworks, overnight camping or throwing of any objects are permitted.

This location has been important over the years

From the Historic Sites brochure:

“I have established a small fort, with a blacksmith shop and a supply of iron in the road of the emigrants on Black Fork of Green River, which promises fairly…….”. Thus spoke Jim Bridger in a letter he dictated to would-be suppliers in 1843. While that fort would last little more than a decade Bridger’s word would prove prophetic. The location proved to be one of the main hubs of western expansion used by mountain men, Indians, emigrants and Mormon Pioneer, the U.S. Army, Pony Express, Overland Stage and Union Pacific Railroad. Even during the 1900’s The Lincoln Highway, Highway 30 and Interstate 80 crossed in or near Fort Bridger.

Reconstructed Jim Bridger Trading Post

Established in 1843 by Jim Bridger and Louis Vasquez, it was obtained by the Mormons in the 1855 for $8000. The Mormons replaced the stockade fence with a cobblestone wall. The place was evacuated and burned upon the arrival of Johnston’s Army in 1857. It became a military outpost in 1858. The fort was abandoned in 1890 and most of the wooden structures were sold or moved off the grounds. Those that remained fell into disrepair. Eventually groups and individuals took interest in preserving and restoring what remained. In 1933 the property was dedicated as a Wyoming Historical landmark.

There are enough restored and replica buildings to make the Fort interesting. Some old horse drawn equipment is on display in the shed. Signed areas indicate where barracks and officer’s quarters used to stand. The grounds are outstanding even in their fall attire. The prevailing aspen trees a devoid of foliage and the grass is dry and brown. One can imagine how pretty this place is in the spring.

We’ve been on the road a long time, over two and a half months. The weather is getting a little iffy. A little snow is predicted for tomorrow night and daytime temps are to be in the 40’s on Saturday. Even though we are only an hour and a half from places we’d like to visit it’s time to move on.

A row of Aspens on Fort Bridger Grounds

Wednesday, October 18, 2017- Trip Day 

Man, it’ starting to get cold! By the time we picked up outside our hands were freezing! Our destination today is Cheyenne, WY. The drive is easy on I-80 but there’s lots of roadwork causing oncoming traffic to occupy the number one lane westbound. The temporary lanes are well marked so present no problem but the four-lane highway is reduced to two. Pine Bluffs (1200 souls) is the first community just inside state line of Wyoming. The town became the largest cattle shipping point on the Union Pacific Railroad around 1884. We stop and stretch our legs. We traveled 170 miles stopping on occasions to stretch and exercise Mega. The rest stops are not as big rig accommodating as they were behind us so we had to squeeze in with the 16 wheelers.

Pulling into Cheyenne we looked at the KOA Kampground located right next to the interstate. It’s too noisy! We then went over hill and dale for 6 miles to reach the one place we thought would be quieter and a little nicer…….and it would have been but it was CLOSED for the winter! What? So, what to do……. We head to Laramie which is between 40 and 50 miles farther west.

The terrain changes as we head towards Laramie. Relatively flat land turns into rolling hills. The interstate takes advantage of canyons and cuts in the hills which at times look like Black Hills SD country. The main problem we face is wind. Wind warnings indicate gusts to 50 mph and we are feeling it. We slow down to 50 mph.

Highballer Trucks/Signs/Rolling Hills

The terrain changes as we head towards Laramie. Relatively flat land turns into rolling hills, then canyons. The interstate takes advantage of canyons and cuts in the hills which at times look like Black Hills SD country. The main problem we face is wind. Wind warning indicated gusts to 50 mph and we are feeling it. We slow down to 50 mph.

Lincoln Memorial At Rest Stop- Sherman Pass El. 8640’/Snow!

The highballer trucks also slow down, probably to 60 or a little more…….. they were traveling at the speed limit or better at 75 mph. We come to the highest point on Interstate 80 near Buford, Sherman Pass, elevation 8640’. Holy Moly, no wonder there’s big snow patches in the hillsides. The elevation of Sioux City was 1200’, the climb is very gradual. We sure couldn’t tell that we’d “elevated” nearly that much.

We arrived at Laramie KOA in the early afternoon. This KOA probably isn’t any better than the one in Cheyenne. Gravel pads, gravel roads,  both of which need a lot more gravel. The potential for dust is high but so far we are lucky.  We’re surrounded by a couple of old mobile home parks. It’s very close to the interstate so I anticipate a lot of road noise. At least we can get satellite reception in order to watch the MLB playoff games this evening!

This morning we traveled to Fort Bridger WY. We haven’t traveled 280+ miles in one day on the whole trip but none of the RV parks in between Laramie and Fort Bridger appear to be worth stopping. Although no wind warnings were issued for today the first thing we run into is interstate signs warning of wind gusts to 40+ miles per hour. The big rigs slow and so do we. The gusty winds seem to be prevalent in just a few areas along the highway so we slow for those and then resume a little faster pace when the wind subsides.

We stop at Little America (pop 64), a place that was purposely located in a remote location to serve the weary with a hotel, the hungry with a restaurant and fueling station and service shop for big rigs. The complex is quite something!

Entrance to RV Park/ Cows in our back yard

We pulled into Fort Bridger RV Campground just before 1400 hours after 6 hours on the road. We traveled 281 miles today making our two day total in excess of 500 miles. That’s the farthest we’ve traveled in two days the entire trip. We don’t like to travel that far but we survived somehow. More later………….

Monday, October 16, 2017- Trip Day 73

Hall County Courthouse, Grand Island NE

We departed South Sioux City on Sunday heading southwest on US 77, then on US 30. We enjoy driving the byways of America much more than traveling on interstates. We don’t pass towns we drive through them. Most places along the way are very small farm based communities such as Winnebago (775 souls), named after the Indian tribe whose reservation is close by. Every little town we pass through shows a lot of home pride a they are neat as a pin. When we reach Fremont (pop. 23,000) turn onto US 30 and head in a more westerly direction following the Platte River.

As you might surmise the areas that we have driven through is farmland. It appears that the main crop is corn, corn and more corn. The next city we come to is Columbus (22,000 souls), the seat of Platte County. Columbus is a really pretty town. It thrives on agriculture and manufacturing. Finally we enter Grand Island (48,000 souls). Grand Island is just a beautiful city. We’re glad we are here on Sunday as traffic is not bad. The two most outstanding buildings here are the Hall County Courthouse and St. Mary’s Cathedral.

We Stayed in Fort Kearney State Recreation Area last night. The campground is nice and the sites are nicely spaced surrounding a couple of small lakes. It’s not crowded but I was amazed on how many families with school aged kids were here- Sunday afternoon. Maybe there’s no school tomorrow. We are also amazed at the amount of flies are hanging around our coach, especially by the door. We must have inadvertently let in 50 of them suckers!

This morning we visited the Pioneer Museum in Minden. Boy, talk about sensory overload! This place doesn’t look like much from the outside but they have 10 large buildings just crammed full of horse drawn carriages of all types, early motorized vehicle (mostly Fords), old farm equipment horse drawn and motorized.

Displays of early phonographs, art, TV’s, recording devices and small buildings of different types of Plains origin. This place is great!

Tonight we are staying in an RV park in Ogalalla as we decided to travel 150 miles after visiting the Pioneer Museum. An easy 150 miles, a little grocery shopping and we are done for the day.

Saturday, October 14, 2017- Travel Day 71

Sculpture- Larsen Park Sioux City, IA

So, we chickened out. Ma Nature decided to throw us a curve at least according the weather guessers. So instead of heading towards our original destination to the southwest we headed northwest. Just before reaching Omaha we turn towards our new home for a couple of nights, Sioux City IA.

More Larsen Park Photos

After an easy 170 mile drive we pull into Scenic Park Campground which is actually in South Sioux Falls NE across the Missouri River from Sioux Falls IA. This is a municipal campground with nice sites separated by a lot of grass located right on the banks of the big river. Wow, what a spot. The campground is part of a larger sports complex that extends for blocks. A swim complex, soccer fields, ball diamonds and play equipment are available for everyone. Were here for two nights to let the nasty weather go by, so what shall we do?

It turns out yesterday we just chilled, watched the baseball playoffs and walked the dog a bunch of times. Weather was the best we’ve had for a week. This morning we wake up to gloom, gloom and more gloom…… and a little rain. We’re not going to sit in the coach all day so off we went. across the river to Sioux City IA. First, we went to Larsen Park which located on the east bank of the Missouri. We saw the riverboat built in 1932 for the Corps of Engineers and named for Sgt. Clarence Floyd. Sgt. Floyd was the only fatality on the Lewis and Clark expedition. He died of an illness and is buried just south of downtown. A 100-foot obelisk stands at his grave site. There is also a Lewis and Clark interpretive center here. It was closed at the time we visited.

We toured the historic downtown and found a grocery store that catered mostly to Hispanics. No matter, they had most of the items we needed. We next stopped at the Cathedral of the Epiphany. She’s a pretty building but locked up tight. The church is in the same neighborhood as the grocery store so most Masses are in español.

Sometimes it pays to do a little snooping. In this case Jil did her best imitation of Inspector Clouseau and found a real gem right here in Sioux City. Trinity Heights/ Queen of Peace is a dream come true for a Catholic Priest. He envisioned a small Catholic community with beautiful grounds.

Trinity Heights- Queen of Peace

Trinity Heights is built on the previous site of a Catholic College/High School. The schools were razed, a group of 16 condominiums were built and several acres of land were landscaped and decorated in spiritual themes. Amongst them are the Way of the Saints, The Outdoor Cathedral, a Grotto, a shrine to the Unborn Child. At each end of the gardens is a huge statue of the Queen of Peace- St. Mary surrounded by the Mysteries of the Rosary.

At the other end is another huge statue of Jesus- the Sacred Heart of Jesus. A small museum displays an incredible life size wood carving of the Last Supper. The carving was done by Jerry Traufler from 1986 to 1993.

Each figure is individually carved except James and Andrew. Each figure weighs between 200 and 300 pounds, the entire sculpture measures 22’ by 7’. The Disciples faces were modeled after La Mars Iowa residents and the sculptures format is based on Leonardo da Vinci’s painting. If you are ever in Sioux City, IA we highly recommend visiting Trinity Heights.

Wednesday October 11, 2017- Trip Day Number 68

If you were an Iowan would you be so welcoming of these two mugs? 

We’re working on selfie quality- balieve me!

From Pollmiller Park we drove to Coloma IL and camped at Scott Family Park. It’s a so so park, nothing bad and nothing outstanding. We’re here to visit Antique Archealogy of the History Channels fame. You know and love American Pickers right?

We drive across the Mississippi into Le Claire, IA. It’s a quaint town oriented along the west bank of the Big Muddy. Being an off season week day, it’s also very quiet. The stars of Antique Archeology are seldom here. The place is now more of a tourist destination with most of the antiques that the boys pick are now located down in Nashville Tennessee.

We learn that Mike actually owns Antique Archeology, Frank owns his own shop located behind a biker bar in Savannah IL. They are boyhood friends that pick together, buy and sell from their own shops. The other stars of the show, Danielle and Mike’s brother Robbie live locally.

After an enjoyable visit made more enjoyable by the ladies that hold down the cash registers we depart only to find a group of folks gathered around our truck. It seems that a lady lost control of her car and let it slide back into the front of our truck causing some damage. It doesn’t appear to be too bad so we’ll let the insurance company handle it when we get home.

From Le Claire we are heading west. The NOAA Storm Prediction Center has detected potentially severe weather coming our way in the next two days. We…. Are… OUTAHERE!

Unfortunately we have to pass a lot of places worth visiting. Des Moines (203,000 souls) is the capitol of Iowa. We bypass her.  Amana Colonies is a must see. Check out the history of the Amana Colonies here: http://www.amanacolonies.com/history-of-amana. We bypass the colonies. Bummer. Maybe some day we’ll get back this way………… when thunderstorms producing 1.5″ hale and possible tornadoes are not in the forecast.

State Of Iowa Capital Building

Our destination for one night is the Des Moine West KOA. The park is really nice. We wish we could stay more than one night but we must push on. Bad weather, ya know, is not fun especially in an RV!

Des Moines West KOA- first sunshine we’d seen for many days

Wednesday, October 11, 2017- Trip day 68

Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn Statue

We’ve decided to travel up the Great River Road. It’s not just one road but a conglomeration of roads that run parallel to the Mississippi River. The road could be and is on either side of the Big Muddy. As the river is the boundary between many states one could easily travel from one state to another by merely crossing a bridge.

Today we will begin on the Missouri side. We travel all the way to Clarksville, a whole 40 miles, which is actually on the banks of big river and run into a detour- a bridge has been closed due to construction and we are rerouted up a narrow seldom used county road. As we travel I noticed that we have been rerouted almost halfway back to our starting point! Holy Moly! We’d been way better off just taking the four lane US highway to Hannibal. So with the delay of nearly an hour of traveling over hill and dale, winding up the the very US 61 highway we wanted to avoid we arrive at the outskirts of Hannibal Missouri.

We stopped at the visitors center and the gent there gave us a map, directions, and where we could park our 51′ long RV and truck combo downtown. So we follow his instructions only to be blocked by a police officer and his vehicle on the offramp that would have brought us into downtown Hannibal. As we pass we see lots of emergency vehicles at the bottom of the offramp- a crash! Our only choice is to reroute, go across the bridge traversing the Mississippi into Illinois and turn around. We do so then follow the directions of Jil’s “smarty pants” phone. The stinking phone reroutes us right back to the offramp that was closed due to the auto accident!

Well, I”ll have no part of that so I follow the map on the truck’s onboard navigator, without the aid of the navigation system and drive us safely to downtown Hannibal. This town has a population of 18,000 souls but feels much smaller, like maybe 2000 souls.

Old Hannibal was established in 1819 and was important due to it’s access to the Mississippi River. It is a lovely little town that begs to be explored. The ever present rain has subsided to a sprinkle or two. I can’t imagine how crowded this place could be in season. Today the streets are pretty quiet with just a few cars and a few visitors walking downtown- all four blocks of it. The buildings are quiet ornate and well cared for. It’s also the birthplace of Samuel Clemens- a.k.a.  Mark Twain.

His dad was a pretty big mucky muck back in those early days. He was a lawyer, instrumental in establishing a railroad between Hannibal and St. Joseph. We visit both Mark Twain’s birthplace and his dad’s law office building as well as walking the entire town. We are sure glad that we visited Hannibal.

We decide to head north towards our next destination, Le Claire Iowa. We stop at Pollmiller Park Campground in West Point, IA. The ranger Jil spoke to on the phone said we could occupy any site that did not have a reservation tag on it. It’s nothing fancy- and no one is here! There are no reservation tags hanging on the site posts. Literally no one! After we set up a fella comes in and spends an hour picking up nuts off of the ground. I’m not sure what kind of nuts have dropped from that tree but he’s very busy picking them up. He leaves and the rain comes back with a vengeance- including some fierce- and very close thunder and lightning. As the sun sets we have the whole park to ourselves- literally- along with 2.5 inches of rain. We are- ALONE!

Monday October 9, 2017- Trip Day 66

Sunday, October 8th– This day marks our course change towards the barn- our home in Reno. Up until this day we’ve meandered. Now we put our heads down and drive forward with purpose. Well, if you call making 200 miles a day purpose, that is. We plan on driving to St. Louis, then up the Great River Road to LeClaire Iowa and then burn rubber on I-80 towards home. Weather to the west has already caused some early snowstorms and we need to be vigilant of hazardous weather occurring between our location and home.

Today we plan on traveling more miles in one day than we’ve traveled for a long time. Our goal is to escape the remnants Hurricane Nate as it makes its way towards the northeast. We are not completely successful as it rained hard in a very short time last night as 2.3 inches of the wet stuff came down. Sunlight doesn’t come until well after 0700 hours so picking up our gear has to wait. Luckily the heavy rain also holds off until we are picked up and ready to roll. We are off at 0845 hours.

Our route is mostly Interstate highways today so we should be able to make pretty good time- for us. I-75 south to I-64 west and we are heading toward Louisville. Weather is iffy right now but don’t you worry, it will get worse. It starts raining pretty hard, wipers at standard steady wipe now- non of that intermittent stuff. The rain and high humidity make sight seeing impossible- ya just cain’t see mucha anythang! Did I mention that as soon as we crossed the Ohio River from the North that Southern accents in Kentucky became quite noticeable?

We pass through Louisville and it’s still raining hard but at least we can see the iconic Louisville Slugger Bat leaning up against a brick building and can see a lot of bridges that lead back into Jefferson Ohio. Today is not a good day to be out in the weather. It would have been nice to stop, especially since it’s Sunday morning and downtown Louisville should be quiet. We pass a pair of big locks on the river and continue on. The only stops we made were at rest stops to stretch our legs a little. One of them had a huge grassy field just past the visitors center so our Muttzo Megan had herself a romp!

We are at the Vanderburgh 4H Center campground near Evansville Indiana for the night. The rain has subsided- now it’s just warm and muggy. This park has quite the reputation on the web. The office is closed on the weekends, there is no campground host, there is no box containing registration forms nor a place to deposit payment. In fact, we don’t even know what the camping fee is as it varies on the web by as much as 18 dollars! I guess we’ll find out in the morning when the office opens and before we leave. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to sour once again so we will continue our trek towards St. Louis MO.

Monday, October 9- The campground office never opened so we’ll contact them and ask what we owe for the night. As one camper facetiously stated on the internet the park is FREE! We traveled through three states today, Indiana, Illinois, and now in Missouri yet only covered 190 miles. With the time changing to Central from Eastern getting up at 0630 seemed so much more natural getting up at a reasonable time rather than scraping my patootie out of bed way before sunup, that time being after 0700 hours. We were actually on the road before 0800, our customary time to depart as opposed to 0900 hours in Eastern time. I guess our getting up later and departing later had a lot to do with being on the western edge of the Eastern time zone as the sun comes up later there than, say in New York City or Richmond. Weather warnings were in effect as we drive west.

Fog is limiting visibility but it’s not too bad only affecting our view of the landscape. The interstate system is unlike the US highways as they are designed to bypass local towns. This one is no different. We drove off of the highway only once entering the outskirts of Mt. Vernon to purchase fuel. As we approached St. Louis the Illinois landscape turned from rural farmland to urban metropolis. Just before reaching the Mississippi River we see downtown St. Louis and the famous St. Louis Arch. Unfortunately the whole area was darkened by a fog layer so we only saw St. Louis in black and white.

Driving east of town on I-70 now old districts of the big city come into view. We are amazed at how many brick structures appear to be burned out. Jil investigates and states that the structures have been abandoned then burned over a period of many years and the building’s owner’s leave them as they lay. Pretty sad. We pass through now famous Ferguson………… and are saddened by the turmoil that recently occurred there.

Our campground for the night is 370 Lakeside Campground in St. Peters located about 20 miles north and west of downtown St. Louis. It’s a multi use park, the west end being an RV park. The RV park is nicely laid out with lots of space between sites. A lake is within sight and a bike path runs through it. Very nice!

P.S.- This is the mid west. Even though we are well into autumn severe storms are making their presence. One past by us not 20 miles away this evening dropping 1.5 inch hail in downtown Louisville. Yikes!

Saturday October 7, 2017- Travel Day 64

The main reason for traveling to Kentucky is to visit the famed Kentucky Horse Park.  This 1200 acre park lies just to the north of Lexington on green rolling hills. The entire complex is canine friendly except for the museum building and the restaurant. Every other area, barn, arena or venue is dog friendly.

Megan did well and was not bothered at all by the equines- and they didn’t give a rats about her either. The Park includes a Visitor Center, Dressage Complex, the Big Barn where one finds draft horses. The Breed’s Barn houses multiple breeds of horses with some being quite rare. There are Event Stables, the Covered Arena, and the Stadium Jumping Complex.

Man-O-War

Man-O-War is honored and buried here under a monument of his likeness. His stride was 8′ longer than the average thoroughbred at 28′. He only lost one race in 21 when he was boxed in by two riders. His reputation was so great that when he ran the Preakness only one other horse was entered. He and his handler, who love and respected one another, died the same year, 1947.

The Hall of Champions is where several champion horses are kept. A Champion trotter, a pacer and a thoroughbred are brought out of their stables to show them off to the audience. One of the handlers is 91 years old and that gent actually rode Man-O-War before that great racehorse died in 1947!

Gent in Upper Left Photo Rode Man-O-War!

We spent quite a bit of time watching the dressage horses prance around, moseyed through much of the complex of buildings before watching horse and rider, more like horses and riders going through their paces at the Stadium Jumping Complex. We sauntered through the Mounted Police Barn and stopped in the Covered Arena to watch a couple of kids perform tricks on the back of a trotting horse. I spent some time in the International Museum of the Horse as Jil watched our muttzo Megan and I stayed with Megan while Jil spent time in the gift shop.

The Big Barn was the must see place of all places in this complex for Jil. She wanted so to see the big draft horses. She got her wish. Four of them were being readied to pull the horse drawn trolleys as we entered the barn. Other hay burners were in their stalls. These animals are so big yet look so gentle. They just look you right in the eye as if to say “Hey, where’s my carrot, or how ’bout a little scratch behind my ear?”

I must tell you that we were amazed at the amount of horsemen here at the Park. Horses were being led or ridden everywhere going to or coming from on event or another. There had to be hundred of them that we saw and probably that many more not in sight in this big park. The Kentucky Horse Park is a must see if you are ever in the Lexington KY area for sure!

Lexington- A contrast in architecture

Hey, let’s go into downtown Lexington (318,000 souls) while we are this far! Okie Dokey. Lexington is known as the Horse Capitol Of The World and is located in the heart of Bluegrass Country. She is home to the University of Kentucky, two horse race tracks, and the Rupp Arena, the world’s largest basketball-specific arena. We take I-75 several miles south and exit at the “Downtown Lexington” sign………. and immediately run into heavy traffic! Gads! So after just a few miles and many minutes of waiting for a green light only to travel to the very next red light……. repeat that several times if you will…….. we arrive in downtown Lexington. I’ve since read that Lexington traffic is the worst in the state. The old town is just beautiful but way too much traffic to easily slide over and take a few photos. As if someone drew a line in the road the old brick multistory buildings end and the modern glass and steel buildings begin. It’s quite a contrast. We exit stage left……..

We needed to do a little grocery shopping. A Walmart Super Center is close by so that’s where we went. After we took a little cruise into nearby Georgetown (34,000 souls) and are at awe of the beauty of it’s downtown historic district…… and those houses are magnificent! We love old style architecture.

Georgetown, KY

A big storm is coming in that will affect this area. Hurricane Nate is making landfall in the Gulf and a lot of it’s moisture is heading our way………. inches of the wet stuff will fall over the next day or two. Get out the life preservers!

Friday October 6, 2017- Trip Day 62 & 63

Floodwall Mural, Maysville KY

Roll along roll along Kentucky moon
Shed a ray of light on one I love tonight
Roll along roll along Kentucky moon

The above are lyrics written by a fella by the name of Jimmie Rodgers back in 1932. The moon last night was beautiful!

We drove southwest on Ohio 159 then south on US 23 to Portsmouth Ohio (20,000 souls) Thursday. The both roads were far superior than the Amish buggy roads that “miss smarty phone” has picked for us. Portsmouth is located on the Ohio River just east of the mouth of the Scioto River. It was the southern most port on the Ohio and Erie Canal. The city boomed early with major industries that included meat packing. Later a rail yard was added making the Canal less important. By 1916 she was listed as a major industrial center with steel and bricks being the major products.  Population rose to over 40,000 souls in 1930. Since then the steel works has closed and labor outsourcing has caused a decline in jobs. The population has dropped by half.

At Portsmouth we picked up US 52, the Ohio River Byway, and headed west. That title, in my opinion is somewhat of a misnomer. Although the road parallels the Ohio River one only catches glimpses of it now and again. The two lane road is nice for a few miles with 12′ lanes then narrows for many miles to 10′ lanes so once again I have to concentrate on keeping the rig on the road and in my lane. I miss a lot of pretty scenery that way. The population along the way is pretty sparse with just a couple of settlements not worth naming and a number of farms. Near our turnoff we drive through Manchester (pop. 2000), a down and out town. We continue on without stopping. Just before Aberdeen we turn left towards Kentucky.

OMG! We’re staring at a very narrow steel suspension bridge! The Simon Kenton Bridge witha span of 1060 feet, was completed in 1932 when vehicles were a little smaller and narrower. Man, I hope no trucks are coming our way. There is no wiggle room on this bridge. The lane is less than 9′ wide with a high concrete curb on the right. I put the trailer within inches of the center line and can’t see the pavement between the right side of the trailer and the curbing in the side view mirror. We did pass two trucks nearly clicking mirrors as we passed. I find after we settled in for the night that a more modern bridge was built in 2002 and that would have been the one to take……. little did I know……. I just went across the one closest to our destination but the William Harsha bridge is just a couple of miles down the road.

We are now in historic Maysville, KY (9,000 souls), founded in 1784 by Simon Kenton. Had we crossed the newer Harsha bridge we would have missed this beautiful downtown district. We would have also missed driving down some pretty narrow streets dragging our fifth wheel all the way.

Downtown Maysville

Careful observation of semi trucks passing through town gave us a clue to our escape route when the time came. Frontiersmen Simon Kenton and Daniel Boone are amongst the city’s founders. Boone is known for blazing his Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap in the Appalachian Mountains amongst his other accomplishments. Maysville is historically important as a port on the Ohio River.

More Maysville

It exported bourbon whiskey, hemp and tobacco. It was once a center of wrought iron manufacture sending ironwork to decorate the buildings of Cincinnati OH and New Orleans LA. It was also an important stop on the Underground Railroad as the free state of Ohio was just across the river.

From Maysville we head up the hill into much newer Maysville. Lot of new construction and more big box stores and chain restaurants……. and traffic. We push through and now are on our way to Whispering Hills RV Park located in Georgetown, KY. State highway 62 is another E ticket for the driver of a big rig. More rolling hills to negotiate, a very narrow road deck with no shoulder, just a ditch to contend with. The countryside is most beautiful as this is now Kentucky horse farm country. We pass farm after farm with lots of equines out enjoying their pastures. Unfortunately there is no, I mean NO place to pull off of the road to take some pictures. We pull into Whispering Hills RV Park after the driving twice as far as norma ltired but ready to take on another great day tomorrow.

Our Neighbor’s Cheerful Night Lighting

Wednesday October 4, 2017- Trip day 61

She’s Here But Isn’t Going Anywhere This Morning

Today was the day we start heading towards a new state for us, that of Kentucky. On the way are a couple of local and historical sites to see. First of all, the dreaded navigation system on Jil’s phone struck again. Instead of routing us onto the larger highways it decided that we wanted to travel up and down and around on narrow, bumpy Amish carriage roads. While these roads are very pleasant to travel they are not pleasant when towing a 34 foot fifth wheel. We came across several horse and buggies always near the top of a grade. The horses were slowed considerably and visibility of oncoming traffic wasn’t good….. so we wait for the moment we can pass them safely. After 20-30 miles of this routing I’ve had enough and do my own routing which turns out to be on much better roads for towing.

World’s Largest Basket and Retired Basket Shop, Dresden OH

We stop in Dresden (1500 souls), home of the world’s largest basket. It’s really a building at the edge of the downtown district. Dresden has a long history dating back to 1773 when a missionary tried to convert very hostile Shawnee Indians. Later it was an important trading town on the Ohio and Erie Canal. Dresden is also the original home of the Longaberger Company, a manufacturer of hand crafted maple wood baskets.

The canals were built by hand

Historic Roscoe Village is located a few miles south of Dresden in the city of Coshocton (12,000 souls). We walked to the canal boat but it wasn’t running until later so we walked back to the village. Most of the shops in the village were closed for the day- rats! Oh well, it was nice looking at the old buildings that date back to the 1820’s.

Historic Roscoe Village

We drove through Lancaster (pop. 37,000) which, by the way, is a lovely town, on our way to the Lakeside RV Park. The park is located between two lakes but is not our favorite. Sites are a little too close together for our taste and maybe a little too rusty, er, rustic. A lot of folks with their families are living here on a temporary basis and working locally. We’ve seen quite a bit of this lately, young families living in travel trailers.

Lancaster Ohio

Just before sundown a bunch of fellas pull into camp in their own vehicles, get out and chew the fat for about two hours out on the street. I only mention this, not because their socializing was bothersome but to note that these families appear to have been together at this park for quite a while.

Our site right on the lake at Lakeview RV Park

Below is some history of the Ohio and Erie Canal and Historic Roscoe Village for you history buffs:

Agitation for a canal system (1787–1822)

As early as 1787, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had discussed the desirability of a canal linking Lake Erie to the Ohio River as part of a national system of canals. In January 1822, the Ohio Legislature passed acts to fund the canal system. Since canals must generally follow river valleys, it was difficult to design a suitable system. Specifically, the bridging of the Scioto and Miami river valleys required raising the canal to such an elevation that water from neither river could be used as a source. As a result, the canal was divided into two sections.

On July 4, 1825, ground was broken for the canal at Licking Summit near Newark, Ohio. The canals were specified to have a minimum width of 40 feet (12 m) at the top, 26 feet (8 m) at the bottom, and a depth of 4 feet (1.2 m) feet minimum. These limits were often exceeded, and indeed it was cheaper to do so in most cases. For example, it might be cheaper to build one embankment and then let the water fill all the way to a hillside parallel, perhaps hundreds of feet away, rather than build two embankments. Where it made economic sense to do so, such as lock widths or portions of the canal through narrow rock or across aqueducts, the minimum widths were adhered to.

Workers were initially paid $0.30 per day and offered a jigger of whiskey. As work progressed, and where labor was in shortage, workers could make as much as $15 per month. Working on the canal was appealing and attracted many farmers from their land.

On July 3, 1827 the first canal boat on the Ohio and Erie Canal left Akron, traveled through 41 locks and over 3 aqueducts along 37 miles (60 km) of canal, to arrive at Cleveland on July 4. While the average speed of 3 mph (4.8 km/h) may seem slow, canal boats could carry 10 tons of goods and were much more efficient than wagons over rutted trails. During 1832, the Ohio and Erie Canal was completed. The entire canal system was 308 miles (496 km) long with 146 lift locks and a rise of 1,206 feet (368 m). In addition, there were five feeder canals that added 24.8 miles (39.9 km) and 6 additional locks to the system.

After the maximum of the 1850s and a cessation of revenue due to the Civil War during the early 1860s the canal’s expenditures started to outgrow its revenues due to increasing maintenance costs. By 1911, most of the southern portion of the canal had been abandoned. On March 23, 1913, after a winter of record snowfall, storms dumped an abnormally heavy amount of rain on the state, causing extensive flooding. This caused the reservoirs to spill over into the canals, destroying aqueducts, washing out banks, and devastating most of the locks. In Akron, Lock 1 was dynamited to allow backed up floodwater to flow.

Roscoe Village is located in Coshocton, Ohio, United States, is a restored Ohio and Erie Canal town. Roscoe Village was laid out in 1816, Roscoe was originally named Caldersburgh after its founder James Calder. After going bankrupt, the Coshocton merchant moved across the Muskingum River to some land he had somehow managed to retain. Setting up a store and naming the place after himself, Calder reasoned that the rural farmers would much rather do business in Caldersburgh than pay the twenty-five cents for the ferry over to Coshocton.

The transformation of Roscoe from a small, sleepy community into a thriving port along the Ohio and Erie Canal came with the arrival of the canal and the landing of the first canal boat, the Monticello, on August 21, 1830. The Ohio and Erie Canal, which provided cheap transportation for people and goods, granted great economic development for communities along the waterway. With its status as the fourth largest wheat port on the canal, Roscoe’s prosperity ignited a chain of businesses in the area, including a blacksmith, a cooperage, a hotel, a mill, and several stores. State Route 16, which runs parallel to Roscoe today, is the location of the original Ohio and Erie Canal bed. The canal continued to operate until the Great Flood of 1913 and the coming of the railroad after which the once thriving canal port quickly declined.

Tuesday, October 3- Trip Day 60

I’ve no clue as to why the Dundee designation for Evergreen RV Park as it’s located a quarter mile from the village of Mt. Eaton. This park is really nice. Whoever designed this park was an RV’er! Nice large sites are located on a hill. Some leveling is needed front to back but side to side is pretty level.

Huge grass dog run with a corn field behind our rig.

Grass grows between sites. Picnic tables and fire rings at every site. The office has a lot of RV supplies, a few staples and some gifts. The attached laundry room is huge with 20 washing machines and 20 dryers. There’s a large grassy field towards the rear- the dog walk. It’s got to be at least 5 acres in size. At the edge of the grassy field is a corn field, and to the east is a horse and donkey farm.

The beautiful rolling hills and an extension of the dreaded (by Megan) fence!

Ah, the horse farm…….. we walked Megan this evening along the fence line. The horses that were in view earlier were no longer there. Megan stuck her nose down along the fence, yelped and started hauling arse away from that fence! Gosh, we hadn’t seen the electric wire between ground level and about a foot up! We didn’t know what had happened until we spotted the “wire”. I don’t know why that hot wire was mounted down so low other than to keep smaller animals out of the pasture. Megan’s had a few “Megan moments” lately. She didn’t like the ferry ride to Mackinac Island, she hated the ferry ride to Put-In-Bay, she deplored the golf cart ride at the same place. Now she get she gets zapped at our current location……….. no pun intended on the “current”.

We’ve literally driven over hill and dale admiring this beautiful portion of Ohio. We’ve gone to Brewster (2100 souls), Beach City, Dundee, Sugar Creek, Walnut Creek, Berlin, Mt. Hope, Winesburg, Wilmot, and of course Mt. Eaton. Most of these towns are not touristy, which we loved, with the exceptions of Walnut Creek, Berlin and Sugar Creek.

Brewster is the location of the corporate headquarters and shops of the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway, both the historic company and the current regional railroad. The WLE began producing locomotives at its Brewster shops in 1910, and boasted one of the finest steam locomotive producing facilities in the country. It’s also the headquarters for the largest swiss cheese plant in the U.S.

We didn’t expect to see this beautiful Amish Door Inn, Wilmot

We drove through Beach City (pop. 1000) and the village of Dundee, then stopped in Sugar Creek (2100 souls). Sugar Creek is known as the “Little Switzerland of Ohio”. A local fella thought it would be for good tourism to recreate the architecture of a Swiss village on the town’s buildings. I guess he was right as we just missed the Swiss Festival by a week. My mom was born in Switzerland so I was curious. The town is cute. Nevertheless it’s a tourist trap with little to do with the country it represents. It does have one of the world’s largest cuckoo clocks however.

Downtown Sugar Creek

We drove a short distance (seem’s like all towns are just a short distance apart) to Walnut Creek. Holy Smokes, we found the motherload- of tourism! Big Big shopping centers that cater to tourists, a huge farm that does the same.

We drive past those places and enter the village. What the……. there is no downtown to speak of,  just a restaurant that serves Amish style food family style. We continue on to the Yoder’s Amish Home. It’s another place that caters to visitors but is different. Hardly any visitors are here. There is a farm tour, a house tour and a parochial school tour. We learned a lot about the Amish way of life taking the school tour.

We visited Kidron this morning. Kidron was founded in 1819 by Swiss Mennonites who wished to escape persecution and poor farming conditions in their homeland. They were referred to as “Die Stillen im Lande”- the quiet people in the country”. 

From vintage hand tools, to wood burning stoves to a gasoline powered

clothes washer to an $8100 modern electric replica stove!

We heard about a huge hardware store located there, one that caters to the likes of the Amish. Lehman’s Hardware is huge. At least 4 buildings have been incorporated into just one. The store displays many items of farm life from the past and some from the present. It has a huge store of kerosene type lamps, health items, soaps, candy, kids toys, a food court, interior design items……….. and a couple of small sections dedicated to some actual items that one would find in a hardware store. Another tourist trap……. but interesting due to all the antique farm items and retro kitchen appliances on display.

Wood Carvings by Paul Weaver

Also on display at Lehman’s are several wood carvings by an Amish furniture maker by the name of Paul Weaver. As of this date he doesn’t carve for profit, just pleasure. He laminates butternut wood to a maximum of 7″ of depth then starts carving that big block of wood. He doesn’t consider himself an artist. I hope he reconsiders as his work is wonderful.

So we type in “Berlin, OH” into the truck’s onboard navigator. It takes us over hill and dale right through the heart of Amish farms. The road is narrow and not unlike a roller coaster heading up and down some pretty steep hills. One has to be careful cresting these limited visibility hills so as not to run smack dab into a slow-er moving horse and buggy. Slower but not slow- I clocked a couple of those black buggies at 15 mph. But there are slower horse drawn implements that use these country roads….. like a four horse team drawing a hay baler! We had to reroute once due to a road closure, then to Berlin.

Berlin is another touristy town. We are not interested in walking the streets here nor going into the shops, but we did find a big park to let Megan run.

Amish and Mennonite clothing is easily distinguishable from English- us non Amish or Mennonites. Here’s how to do it:

Conservative Mennonites:

Wear prints (solids considered to be fancy), wear cape dresses that button up the back, head coverings are small, often transparent. Little girls don’t wear head coverings until school age and wear their hair in long braids. No wedding bands allowed. Women rarely go barefoot. Men are clean shaven or neatly trimmed beards with or without mustaches. Men wear store bought clothes and button up shirts.

Amish:

Women wear solid color clothes (consider prints to be fancy), wear cape dresses that fasten in the front, head coverings are larger (solid white or black) and are tied under the chin. Little girls wear their hair up. Girls wear black caps until married then wear white. No jewelry of any kind is worn. Both men and women love to go barefoot- some communities will be dressed up in their Sunday best yet go to the meeting barefoot. Men wear beards when they get married and may wear store-bought solid color button up shirts. Shirts may be homemade but pants are all homemade broadfall pants. They are more likely to work off of the farm.

So we’ve found that the Amish and Mennonites are anabaptists (adult baptism). The Amish are offshoots from a larger group that split off in the late 1600’s as a reaction to what one faction saw as liberalized trends. Both believe in values of non- resistance and in some cases plain clothing. Old Order Mennonites or closest to the Amish culturally and also rely on horse and buggy for transportation. They both maintain small labor intensive farms although Amish are more likely to work off of the farm. They both practice social shunning.

The Yoder Name is Everywhere!

The differences come in technology. Old Order Mennonites now allow electricity in the home as well as telephones. They make greater use of tractors as well. Old Order Mennonites worship in meetinghouses while Amish have retained home worship. An offshoot of Amish are the Beachy Amish, a group more like Mennonites as they accept certain technologies, notably the car and computer. “Modern” Mennonites wear modern dress, accept cars, use of the internet and to on to higher education.

So there it is, our visit to Amish country is complete. Tomorrow we will be back on the road.

Monday, October 2, 2017- Trip Day 59

We left Cedarlane RV Park this morning with 107 miles to travel. Almost four hours later we check into Evergreen RV Park in Dundee, MI. We stopped a couple of times, once at a roadside antique shop and once in beautiful downtown (I’m not kidding!) Wooster. I will tell you that we traveled on no less than six different roads- some were highways, some were compacted gravel with the only tracks coming from Amish horse drawn wagons! Terrain changed from mostly flat to rolling hills as we head southeast away from Lake Erie.

Wooster, a town of 24,000 souls is the seat of Wayne County

The State of Ohio has the largest population of Amish people in the U.S. numbering around 59,000 folks. We are here to learn and witness of the Amish way of life. The Amish live in communities of approximately 40 people.

Their kids go to Amish Schools, mixed grade schools. When the student population exceeds 40 kids, they build another school. The Amish don’t have churches per se. They have services at farm houses, rotating services from one farm to another. Every other Sunday they attend services at a neighboring community. That way they stay in touch with their neighbors.

A lady Amish docent at the Yoder Family Farm who travels by buggy 9 miles each way to work explained how the Amish live. She taught school in Amish communities for 30 years. Amish have no electronic communication devices- no cell phones, no TV, no nada. We visited the morning after the massacre in Las Vegas and she was blissfully clueless. They have not motorized farm equipment, no cars, no motorized lawn mowers yet their farms are beautiful. Their main mode of transportation is the horse and buggy, their farm equipment powered by draft horses. If you see a truck or car on their property it belongs to someone else who is visiting, making a delivery, or loading milk, hay or other farm product for market. They will ride in a car, even rent one to travel a long distance but they hire someone to drive them. Jil asked if many Amish kids went to college. The docent looked at us like we were kinda dumb and replied “None. There’s no need for a college education in our way of life.”

We’ll continue the tour tomorrow……….. Until then, be safe my friends……….

We weep and pray for all affected by the Las Vegas Massacre. God Bless Them All…..

September 30, 2017- Travel Day 57

Perry Memorial

We’ve finally left Michigan after a two week cruise through the Upper Peninsula, Lower Peninsula and the banks of Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Erie. We drove through Toledo Ohio with no problem. Unlike Southern California or the San Francisco Bay area suburbia is not so spread out so one is in and out of the city in a relatively short time- 10’s of miles instead of multiples of 10’s. We look back at Toledo and see factory smoke stacks across farm fields of corn. Nice! And not much farther up the road this:

We are staying on Catawba Island at the Cedarlane RV Park. It’s a 500 site park filled mostly with seasonal rigs. People leave their rigs on site during the winter and vacation during the summer. We met a couple from Dayton who vacation in their 5th wheel trailer. We asked if they had stayed at this park long. “No, just 10 years” was the reply. I guess they like it here

We are here to bear witness to Perry’s Victory and International Peace Column, a tribute to Admiral Oliver Perry’s Lake Erie victory over the British fleet in 1813 during the War of 1812. The story is fascinating as Perry’s victory came, literally, against all odds and was thought by many to be the turning point in the war. Read about it here: http://www.historynet.com/war-of-1812-battle-of-lake-erie-oliver-perrys-miraculous-victory.htm.

The Perry Memorial was built in 1915. It stands 352 feet above Lake Erie, making it the tallest national monument in the U.S. Unfortunately, it’s being renovated and the public is denied access. But I’ll tell you it’s one impressive sight!

Voyage to South Bass Island

The column to honor Admiral Perry is located in Put-In-Bay on South Bass Island. We took a ferry ride into 20 mph headwinds to get there. The lake had wind whipped four foot swells at the time and the ride was a little bumpy. Our muttzo wanted none of it. The ferry is mainly a vehicle carrier, we had to ride on the lower deck meant for vehicles because of her presence, and the trip was noisy due to roaring engines, blowing wind and waves breaking over the bow. When we got to the ferry dock on the island she was a mess. But we had another surprise for her.

Little did we know that town was two miles away- we rented a gas engine powered golf cart. She definitely didn’t like that! So with a 90 pound Lab protesting all the way to town riding between the two of us we arrived in the village of Put-In-Bay.

Downtown Put-In-Bay

The town is not like Mackinac Island. Mack is composed of many historical buildings approaching 200 years old, Put-In-Bay is more modern. It’s a tourist town for sure as all the eateries have huge outdoor seating areas. We like it because we got there early. The bars and restaurants are gearing up for the Ohio State football crowd that will arrive a little later. We did have lunch at a bar and grill, Jil had a caesar chicken salad and I had a beer battered walleye fish and chips meal. Boy were they tasty!

We drove around another half hour or so to time the return ferry trip back to Catawba Island. Our timing was much better than we thought. After turning in the golf cart we saw that the ferry was off loading at the dock so we just walked on board. The ride back wasn’t quite as rough but we experienced a lot more roll as the boat and the waves were running perpendicular to one another. Unhappy doggy was beside herself but we maintained some semblance of control over her. We felt bad for her but she needs to learn to suck it up!

Tomorrow we pick up stakes and head towards Amish country. See you there!

Thursday September 28, 2017- Trip Day 55

This campground at Wayne County Fairgrounds has quite a mix of folks. Some are full time RV’rs, some are like us, visitors. And some are here with their entire families which include young kids.

Wayne County Fairgrounds RV Park

The latter campers obviously are here to work. Dad leaves in the morning in his work truck, mom and little kiddies stay here in their home on wheels. Some kids are school age and I don’t really know if they are being home schooled or go off to public school.

Henry Ford, Greenfield, Folks That Ford Revered

Disassembled Ford Model T

A big day is planned. Megan is going to doggie day care where she will get a bath and make new friends at a brand new place to her. While she is being cared for we are going to visit the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Henry Ford’s Greenfield Village, more formally known as the Edison Institute. Ford’s vision was to preserve items of historical interest and portray the American Industrial Revolution.

Ford said of his museum: “I am collecting the history of our people as written into things their hands made and used…. When we are through, we shall have reproduced American life as lived, and that, I think, is the best way of preserving at least a part of our history and tradition..”.

The Kennedy Car/ An Original Copy Of Declaration of Independence

The Rosa Parks Bus/ Chair Lincoln Was Sitting In When Shot @ Ford Theater

The entire complex sits on 260 acres of land located near the Ford Rouge Plant where plant workers are making Ford 150 trucks. One may tour that plant also. The 12 acre indoor museum includes machines that sparked the American Industrial Revolution through mass production, events, articles and items of interest from early American History all the way through the 1970’s.

Greenfield Village was created by Henry Ford to display structures of historical significance in a beautiful town-like setting. It’s really an outdoor living history museum. Horses drawing wagons go clip-clopping by. Various models of Model T Fords transport visitors around the 260 complex.

A steam locomotive pulls passenger cars full of visitors around the perimeter of the park. Docents dressed in period garb do an incredibly good job of explaining and demonstrating what life was like or the workings of antique machinery.

We ate lunch at the vintage 1850’s Eagle Tavern, enjoying pea soup made from a period recipe- it was delicious!

Many of the homes in Greenfield are either the real McCoy or exact replicas of buildings that Ford felt significant. His own house, that of Robert Frost, Luther Burbank’s birthplace, you get the idea. He even brought the Ferris Windmill from Massachusetts which is said to have been built in the 1600’s.

Ford’s close friend and previous employer was Thomas A. Edison. As time passed their friendship grew. They even vacationed together in Florida. As a tribute to Edison, Ford had much of Edison’s factories and shops to Greenfield. I have to say both men were incredible pioneers of the American Industrial Revolution.

The White House in the Lower Photo is Ford’s Place of Birth

Anyhow, enough blabber. I took 360 photos at the museum. I will not share all of them- but plenty of them!

Washington’s Camp Bed/ Famous Underground Conductor Harriet Tubman/

Frederick Douglas

More Photos- Enjoy!

Below: A Few Photos of the Edison Institute

Wednesday, September 27, 2017- Trip Day 54

OK, so we’re not in Detroit nor do we plan on going into downtown Detroit. We are in Belleville at the Wayne County Fairgrounds RV Park, a measly 17 miles from downtown Detroit. As some of you are aware ya takes your chances when it comes to fairground RV Parks. Sometimes they aren’t so nice, this one is. Lots of grass for our muttzo Megan’s walks. The RV sites are grass. The only ding that I can see is the sites are side by side- one utility pedestal is shared by two rigs.

Wayne County Fairgrounds RV Park

So far we have one neighbor so we are sharing the common space between us. So far that’s not a problem as our neighbor is “camping” in a covered utility trailer full of picker junk….. er…… rusty treasure. He’s on his way to Hershey PA to attend their swap meet. By the by, we were here by 1030 hours and the lady in the office did not charge us an early arrival fee!

After setting up and enjoying a tomato soup lunch we took a ride to downtown Belleville (3900 souls). The town was platted in 1847 with the main thoroughfares still used today. Large expanses of woodland were removed to make way for farmland, industry and an increasing population so this town was initially a lumber town.

Contrast: Belleville Lake- Before our arrival and during our visit

There was a need for electrical power so the Huron River was flooded early in 1926 creating Belleville Lake. The town’s claim to fame is the National Strawberry Festival.

It’s still fairly early. Let’s go have a look at Ypsilanti (19,000 souls). For those who are pronunciation impaired, the “Y” in Ypsilanti is pronounce as an “I”, as in ip-si-LAN-tee. It’s named after Demetrios Ypsilantis, a hero in the Greek War of Independence.

The city is only 9 miles west. Originally a trading post established by the French Canuck Gabriel Godfrey in 1809, a permanent settlement was established in 1823. The town played an important role in the auto industry. From 1920 to 1922 Apex Motors produced the “ACE” car. But Preston Tucker whose family owned the Ypsilanti Machine Tool Company, designed and built the prototypes for his Tucker ’48.

1948 Tucker

In 1945 Henry J. Kaiser and Joseph Frazer bought the nearby Willow Run B-24 Liberator bomber plant from Ford Motor Co. and started making Kaiser and Frazer model cars in 1947. The last Kaiser rolled off the assembly line in 1953. General Motors purchased the plant an converted to its Powertrain division. That division shut down in 2010.

Ypsi has an interest political history. In the 1970’s the penalty for the use and sale of marijuana was reduced to $5 via initiative. When a fella was prosecuted for possession 100 pounds of cannabis the defense argued that he should be charged under Ypsilanti’s ordinance. Cooler head prevailed and the judge declared the ordinance invalid.

Interesting signage in Depot Town, Ypsilanti MI

Also in the ’70’s a Muslim native of India was elected to the Ypsi city council, a first in Michigan. In the ’90’s Ypsi adopted a living wage ordinance, and a housing discrimination ban. Driving around town we saw more signs of progressives- black lives matter, sanctuary churches, women’s rights and “resist” signs. I ask resist what or who? Can’t we all just get along?

More Ypsilanti

Can you tell by it’s political history that this progressive little city may also be a college town? Yep- Eastern Michigan University. We head back to camp and settle in for the evening.

Tuesday September 26, 2017- Travel Day 53

Willcommen!

German to English translation: Welcome- It’s hot here today! And boy, is it. It’s as warm as yesterday with temps pushing 90 degrees with 50% humidity. Real feel is 101 degrees. Whew! And to top it off our coach here Pine Ridge Camp Ground, Birch Run is sitting in full sunlight absorbing all the heat ol’ Mister Sun can muster. It’s my fault. I requested a site where our satellite system would work. We arrived at 1030 hours- two hours before check in time. No one was in our site…. so we got scolded again for early check in and charged $5 extra. I said to the lady at the desk that since we would be leaving 3 hours before check out time would we get our 5 bucks back? Notta chance cowboy!

Yesterday we spent the evening in Harrison (2400 souls) at the Hill Top Camp Ground. Harrison was founded as a lumber town, with sawmills located on the shores of Budd Lake.

Hill Top Campground/ Art at Rest Stop

One of the lumber companies donated the land which is now Wilson State Park. The City of Harrison attracts thousands of visitors from throughout the state, with its “twenty lakes in twenty minutes” and large amount of state land for recreational sports. The most popular local events are the Clare County Fair and Frostbite Open Golf Tournament on Budd Lake.

The reason for the German language title is that we are in Frankenmuth Michigan, pop. 4900. The town was founded by German immigrants in 1845 who came from the Province of Franconia in the Kingdom of Bavaria. The name means “Courage of the Franconians”. Today she is also affectionately known as Little Bavaria or Muth.

Zehnders Famous Chicken Dinners Also Served At Bavarian Inn

The nearby villages of Frankenlust, Frankentrost, and Frankenhilf (now known as Richville) further illustrate that the area remained a magnet for other Germans emigrating from the same region. German, and in particular, the Bavarian culture of the town has been preserved and passed down through the generations. The German language is still prevalent in signage and speech. Even today, there are German-speakers residing in the town. The church of St. Lorenz offers monthly services in the German language.

Frankenmuth is Farm Oriented 

The original Frankens would not recognize this place. It’s a very touristy town, the architecture very much that of nuevo Bavaria. Looking at the size of the parking lots, this place receives a lot of visitors. Luckily we’ve come off season and on a weekday so the crowds not so much.

Mural, Plaque, Park Field Haus

Coming into town from the south the first business we see is Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland. And boy, is it! It promotes itself as the worlds largest Christmas Store and I will not dispute it. Bronner’s parking lot can accommodate over 1,000 cars and 50 buses. Some 100,000 lights illuminate Bronner’s half mile long Christmas Lane in the evening. On the Bronner property is a replica of the Oberndorf, Austria, Silent Night Memorial Chapel as a tribute to the Christmas hymn “Silent Night”.

Bronner’s and Replica of Silent Night Chapel

Driving through downtown Frankenmuth is reminiscent of a drive through a Bavarian town- except for the 4 lane main street with American built cars whizzing by. There are lots of stores featuring items not remotely related to Bavaria. Clothing stores, pet supply stores, ice cream stores, popcorn store? Okay, Bavarian style pastry shops and chocolate shops are here too. One can take a ride on a small stern wheeler down the Carr River.

Most Stores Not So German Culture Oriented 

And the town has a whole lot of up scale, very large hotels, inns and I don’t know if one can call anything in town a motel. One of the largest is the Bavarian Inn Lodge, a 360 room, 4 swimming pool, indoor 18 hole miniature golf establishment that features nightly entertainment, 2 gift shops and two restaurants!

Bavarian Inn Lodge

And there are many others. The Zehnder family owns the  and Zehnder’s of Frankenmuth which is famous for it’s all you can eat chicken dinners. The restaurant seats 1500 folks while the Bavarian Inn seats 1200- no wonder the parking lots are so large! By the by, the Zehnders also own Splash Village Hotel and Waterpark, Zehnder’s Marketplace, and maybe even The Fortress, a championship golf course.

Tomorrow we’re moving towards Dearborn Michigan. See you there!

Saturday, September 23, 2017- Travel Day 50

So while our mountains in the Reno area are being hit with blizzard conditions we, in lovely Lake Leelanau Michigan are sweltering. Record highs have created us the last two days. Temperatures in the mid 90’s with 90 percent humidity tapering to 40 percent by sundown makes for some pretty uncomfortable weather. Thank goodness our new air conditioner is keeping up with the heat.

We drove a helter skelter course from our first stop of the morning, Friday September 22nd, the Riverside Tire Company. I visually check our tires, all eight of ‘um, at every stop. I check tire pressures frequently also. Well, one trailer tire looked a little peculiar, no, a lot peculiar as half the tread was worn flat down to the nubb on just half the circumference of the tire. Uh oh. Anyway, The others weren’t in the best condition so Riverside tire ordered four new tires for us and had them the next morning. By 0900 we had packed our bags, gone to the tire store, the new tires were mounted and balanced and back on the coach. Great service and a decent price for the tires at that. Thanks guys!

Back to the craziness of getting back to highway 31. I looked up our route on Google Maps the night before we left and wrote down the directions. I set the destination in the truck’s onboard navigation system. Jil sets our destination on her phone. We can’t go out the easy way because we would have to take the Ironton Ferry across an arm of Charlevoix Lake. Length limit for trailers on the ferry= 16 feet, our trailer is 34 feet. Do you see the same problem here that I see? Anyhow, my hand written directions, the truck’s navigator and Jil’s “smarty” phone do not agree on the route! They don’t agree on any of the roads on our way back to highway 31. Crap! Anyhow I’m trying to ignore all the cyber chatter “When Possible, Make A U-Turn“, or “Turn Left In Three Hundred Feet”. One machine says make a u-turn while simultaneously the other says turn left. Good Grief!

Anyhow, we somehow make it back on to highway 31 and turn south towards Traverse City. And what’s the first thing of interest we see? A big ol’ farm store, that’s what.

We pull in and have a friendly chat with the proprietor who also lives on this family farm. We buy fresh apples and, wait for it,…….. farm fresh pasties! They are precooked by the farmer lady and fresh frozen. We purchased two, one traditional meat, veggies with the traditional rutabaga included, and a breakfast pasty, sort of like a breakfast burrito.

We travel through rolling farm country until we get to the end of Traverse Bay, then swing west through the busier that it ought to be Traverse City for a city of 14,000 souls. She is the seat of Grand Traverse County and the largest of the 21 county northern Michigan region. FYI- the area is the largest producer of tart cherries in the U.S.

Suttons Bay

The route we are taking will lead us around the east and west arms of Traverse Bay and up the west side of the west arm to Suttons Bay where we head inland a few miles to our camp for two nights, the Wild Cherry RV Resort. Confusing I know, but think of it as two fingers sticking up into Lake Michigan.

A Big Wind Event Followed This Cloud Formation

We manage to get through town with nary a scratch but I’ll tell you these Michiganders are crazy fast drivers! The are oblivious to red alert situations- like pedestrians who are already halfway across the street which are totally ignored by oncoming drivers. On the other hand I’ve seen pedestrians walk right out in front of quick moving traffic. We emerge from the city. Luckily for us we find that highway 22 has multiple areas of road construction delaying our arrival by about 30 minutes. No big deal……….

Wild Cherry Resort is absolutely beautiful. The park has two tiers and we have been assigned a site in the lower with a big pond right behind our coach. The sites are wide with grass between them. There’s a treed area across a grassy field where we can run Megan. In other words, a perfect park for us and our Muttzo!

Wild Cherry RV Resort

While here we’ve done some exploring. We’ve gone to Lake Leelanau and its namesake township and to Leland. Lake Leelanau is a large lake on the peninsula that separates the main body of Lake Michigan from Traverse Bay.

Lake Leelanau- St. Mary’s Church & Auditorium

Leland is on the eastern seaboard (lake board?) of Lake Michigan. Leyland on the eastern shore of Michigan and Suttons Bay on the west bank of the West Arm of Traverse Bay are real touristy places- but nice.

Historic Fish Town, Leland Mi

Neither one of their business districts are more than two blocks long. The merchants obviously are catering to the tourist crowd but each are fun to visit.

Downtown Leland, MI

Next we are heading southeast towards Dearborn and Detroit. See you there!

Wednesday, September 20- 21, 2017- Trip Day 48

We moved this morning the grand distance of 60 miles to the shores of Lake Charlevoix. Boy, these French origin words are not hard to pronounce but hard to figure out how to pronounce. Charlevoix is pronounced “Sharl-eh-voy” in case you are interested- it’s pronounced the same even if your not.

Boyne City and Harbor/ Horton Bay General Store

Lake Charlevoix is located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. In itself it is a large lake, the third largest in the state at over 17,000 acres and 52 miles of shoreline. Many sources of water inflow including the Jordan and Boyne Rivers flow and the short outflow travels through Round Lake/Pine River complex into Lake Michigan.

We made reservations at Young State Park for two nights. This park is on the south east shore of Lake Charlevoix about four miles from the town of Boyne. No more than 10 sites were available so I grabbed the one that didn’t require a 100′ long power cord yet might afford satellite reception- site 162.

Our Site- Three out of Four Loops Look Just Like This!

I fully expect the campground to be fairly full when we arrived but the my surprise approximately 30 sites out of 240 are occupied and 25 of those are not within our line of sight! Anyhow, we get set up and have no problem receiving a TV satellite signal.

We drive the short distance to the Boyne City (3700 souls). I could find little on the history of the town other than a few references to logging camps and a railroad. One thing is certain though. Two New Yorkers were the first permanent settlers. Harriet Miller told her husband John that she had a dream about living on a bear shaped lake located west of New York with a cabin on the east end of it. Determined to follow her dream she convinced John to sell their home and set out to find this strange new place. After making their way to Northport they persuaded John Saxon Dixon to take them to the east end of Pine Lake. To their astonishment they found an abandoned cabin there just as Harriet had seen in her dream.

Ironton Ferry- Our Steed’s Fee Was Three Bucks

We had a two night stay here. The first was a travel morning with a sight seeing tour into Boyne in the afternoon. Today we drove around the entire lake. I’ll qualify that by saying part of the drive included an unexpected 250 yard ferry ride. It was either pay $3 for the ferry or burn $10 worth of diesel fuel going back to a connecting road. The ferry ride was relaxing actually. We drove to the town of Charlevoix (2500 souls) which is located at the west end of Lake Charlevoix.

Downtown Charlevoix, The Harbor, Megan Enjoying The Fountain as Jil Looses Her Head

This city is the seat of Charlevoix county. It’s another one of those cookie cutter turn of the century town. You know which ones I mean. Most buildings downtown are two story, the majority of them made of brick. This town is like Boyne as it is built right on the lake shore. It’s a little more touristy however. A farmers market is going on right on a green way on the main drag and a group of motorcyclists are enjoying the downtown shops. Traffic is pretty heavy, especially since road crews have the main road torn up with detours in place.

Really Nice Homes, An Inn And A Drawbridge In Charlevoix

Another thing they have in common is their beautiful homes. Both of these towns remind us of little towns on the eastern seaboard.

We are moving on tomorrow. We plan on staying at the Wild Cherry RV Park near Suttons Bay. See you there!

September 19, 2017- Trip Day 46

Most taxis provide transportation to the Grand Hotel

The reason most folks come to St. Ignace is to catch a ferry to Mackinac Island. We are most folks so this morning we board a Shepler’s Ferry, in this case a high speed double decker passenger boat that may hold as many as 150 passengers. Fair is $26 round trip per person. The wind is blowing and Lake Huron resembles the Pacific Ocean. Four foot seas have been whipped up. It’s a 14 mile round trip. The ferry leaves each port on the half hour this time of year- low season. We get a treat on the way to the island, a side trip to the Straits along with a view of east and west sides of the Mackinac Bridge as we float underneath.

Views of Mackinac Bridge- Left- From Lake Huron, Right- From Lake Michigan

Heading Towards The Bridge/ Coast Guard Vessel

Approaching Mackinac Marina

The ride is remarkably smooth with a following sea to the bridge then directly into the sea as we head toward the island. We are sitting on the bench seat most towards the stern which affords a smoother ride than those that are sitting up near the bow. The boat enters Mackinac Harbor where now the swells are coming in from starboard- the boat rocks side to side as we approach the dock. We brought our Muttzo Megan with. To our knowledge she’s never been on any kind of boat. At first she is very nervous, then settles. Atta girl!

Mackinac Island was a center of fur trade back in the day. As a place of “strategery” Fort Mackinac was built by the British. Two battles were fought here during the War of 1812. Today it’s all about tourism. The Grand Hotel is magnificent. In fact, just to enter the hotel if one is not a guest will cost one 10 bucks.

Beautiful Old Homes Overlooking Bay/ Island House Built Around 1862/ Even The Trash Is Collected By Horse Drawn Wagons

Most of the buildings here are vintage 1800’s. Grand homes dot the island. No motorized vehicles are allowed during the summer months with the exception of electric scooters for the disabled. If you want transportation other than foot power horse drawn taxis are available, bicycles are available for rent or bring your own bike. You can even rent horses and horse drawn buggies! Rules change somewhat in the winter when snowmobiles are allowed.

Post Office/ “Police Only” Bike Rack/ City Hall

Mackinac is liking walking back in time. Beautifully maintained vintage buildings are the norm. We love the clippity clop sound of horses hooves as the taxis pass by. The place is just gorgeous. Even though we are visiting in shoulder season, there are too many people here for our taste.

We spend several hours just strolling along the narrow streets and gawking at the great architecture of years past.

Our ferry ride is a little shorter heading straight back to St. Ignace- no detour to the bridge. We really enjoyed our tour of Mackinac Island. Not to take anything away from Mackinaw City or St. Ignace, who in themselves are a great place to visit, but Mackinac Island is the proverbial icing on the cake.

Livery Sign/ Governor’s “Summer Mansion”/ Windermere Hotel

Tomorrow a new adventure awaits. We are heading to Young State Park in Boyne, MI.

September 18, 2017- Trip Day 45

Star Line Hydro Ferry- Destination Mackinac Island

Anishinaabemowin- the language of the Ojibwe people. Betcha didn’t know that! Unlike many languages this one has not been lost. The University Of Minnesota’s Department of American Indian Studies, University Libraries maintains an extensive Ojibwe language dictionary. The reason I bring this up is a roadside historical marker was in English on one side and Anishinaabemowin on the other.

Language of the Chippewa

We are in St. Ignace on the north shore of the Straits of Mackinac. The Straits connects Lake Michigan with Lake Huron- our third Great Lake this trip. The three mile long Mackinac Bridge connects Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with the Lower Peninsula also known as The Mitt.

Mackinac Bridge Looking Towards Mackinaw City

If one looks at a map of Michigan the area between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron looks like a mitten. Interstate 75 ends in Sault Ste. Marie and runs through St. Ignace. When we left Sault we chose to take secondary roads to our next campground, Lakeshore RV Park Campground locate a couple of miles west of downtown St. Ignace. The route takes us first through farmland with a little dairy thrown in, then through thick cedar forests. Weather resistant cedar is a big industry here. It’s used for roofing shingles, fencing, and outdoor furniture. As usual the route takes us very close to our third Great Lake, Huron, but we see little of it for the trees.

Castle Rock- A “must see” tourist trap

After a pleasant drive the road takes us to a port on Lake Huron- St. Ignace (2400 souls). She is the seat of Mackinac County and gateway to the U.P. for travelers from the Lower Peninsula.  Fully one third of her population identify as Native American. The Mackinac Bands of Chippewa and Ottawa are headquartered here and the Sault St. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians runs a casino just outside of town.

The more we travel the Great Lake Region the more we hear of the Frenchman, Father Jacques Marquette. He founded the St. Ignace Mission in 1671. Earlier he had founded a mission in Saul St. Marie. Marquette was not only a missionary, he was an explorer. He joined Louis Jolliet and departed St. Ignace in 1673 with two canoes and five voyageurs on a voyage to find the Mississippi River.

Voyageurs were sort of the Rambo’s of the fur trade and water transport world. A voyageur hired on a the age of 21 was expected to carry three 90 pound sacks a half mile from one portage to the next. Some could carry five or six! And they didn’t retire until into their sixties. This missionary explorer and Joliette actually found the Mississippi River after following the Fox River out of Green Bay to the Wisconsin River, then to the Mississippi. The followed the Mississippi all the way to the confluence with the Arkansas and would have gone farther but started seeing signs of Spanish influence and turned back.

Father Marquette grew ill and died in 1675 at the age of 38. He was buried where he died near Ludington, MI. At a later date his bones were disinterred and brought to St. Ignace and buried at the mission a place that he truly loved.

September 17, 2017- Day 44

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada As Seen From Aune-Osborn Campground

We are in Sault St. Marie Michigan, a town of 14,000 souls. Across the St. Mary’s River is Sault St. Marie, Ontario Canada, a much larger city of 74,000 souls. Father Jacques Marquette established a mission at what was a Native American village back in 1668 Sault one of the oldest establishments in Michigan. French colonists later set up a fur trading post followed shortly by a settlement as the fur trading business grew.

Our Campsite/Chippewa County Courthouse/ View Towards International Bridge

We are staying at Aune-Osborn Campground located downriver from the Soo Locks and we can view ships passing in both directions. Nothing lies between us and the water but a narrow band of grass.

A Freighter Passes By Aune-Osborn Campground

Before locks were built canoes and cargo had to be portaged around the 21 foot high rapids that connected Lake Superior to Lake Huron. Lake Superior is 21′ higher than Huron, you see. The first lock was built in 1855.

Sault Ste. Marie Is Located In The Narrows In The U.S./Canada Boundary/Soo Locks

The current Soo locks can accommodate a 1000′ long lake freighter. It’s also the world’s busiest canal by tonnage. A great number of freighters passing through the locks carry iron ore. Interestingly, the large lake freighters are landlocked as the Welland Canal that bypasses Niagara Falls is limited to ships longer no than 740′. The freight is transferred from “lakers” to smaller seagoing ships known as “salties”.

Ok, before we set up camp I tried to contact the fella that had ordered the front landing gear motor for our coach. And I tried again, left a message, and even drove to his place of business but no one was there. He is supposed to open at 10 a.m. Down the street a quarter mile is a Walmart so we went over there to wait and do a little shopping. I called again at 11 a.m. and he answered. It took all of one minute to drive back to the shop, and 30 minutes to replace the motor which included time finding it in his dirty, cluttered shop. The shop keeper was a nice guy. He works part time for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources as a seasonal firefighter so we had a little in common to talk about. The nice thing is that he didn’t overcharge and the new motor cured the problem. Thanks fellow firefighter!

Saul Tower and Ship Museum

Back to Sault St. Marie. We went to church this morning at St. Mary’s. The midwest has a lot of beautiful churches and this is certainly one of them. Mass was wonderful. The pastor is an avid gardener and can be frequently found getting his hands dirty on the church grounds. He is also an excellent photographer. We had plans to go up into the 210′ Tower of History but weather came in and it started to rain and blow pretty hard. Not good picture taking weather. The Tower which offers a 360 degree view. It was originally built in 1968 by the Catholic church as a shrine to past missionaries such as Bishop Baraga as part of a master plan. The plan didn’t materialize and the tower was donated to the Sault Historic Sites.

Temperatures have dropped from the 80’s and muggy yesterday to the low 60’s, cloudy and windy this evening. We had a downpour that flooded portions of the campground. That gave us an opportunity to take full advantage of the little laundromat here in camp. No one other than us seemed interested in using the facility which helped us expedite our clothes washing chore.

We’ve watched at least a dozen freighters pass our campground here on St. Mary’s River- from our coaches window!. There have been lots of pleasure boats too. And to top off our visit at Sault a water dropping Super Scooper twin engined seaplane made a few passes, scooping up a tank load of river water and dumping the water upriver. What a treat! I’ve seen the same type of plane scoop water from the Pacific Ocean and dump it on a brush fire in the hills of Malibu, CA.

Tomorrow we head south to the Mackinaw area. See you there!

Our First Sunset For A Long Time!

Saturday September 16, 2017- Travel Day 43

Upper Tahquamenon Falls- Notice the folks on the right hand side of the brink for a perspective of the size of this fall. Color of water is caused by tannin.

Sixteen miles up MI 123 is Tahquamenon Falls State Park. Tahquamenon is an Ojibwa word meaning “dark berry”. The falls is significant not only for its beauty but for its size. The 200 foot wide and fifty foot tall upper falls flows up to 20,000 gallons of water per second.

Scenery around Upper Falls

That makes it the second largest fall east of the Mississippi River second only to Niagara Falls. It doesn’t look as large as it is until one sees people standing beside the brink.

The lower falls splits around an island and is more like a cascade. The scenic beauty of the Yooper Peninsula is wonderful but these two waterfalls are my favorite this far. We celebrate our great fortune by purchasing two waffle cone ice creams. Jil had a mint chocolate chip with the chocolate was in huge chunks, not chips. I, on the other hand, honored Tahquamenon Falls with a dark cherry ice cream cone……. you remember Tahquamenon means “dark berry”, well cherry is not berry- but close enough!

We travel next to Paradise, which is on the north eastern coast of Lake Michigan. Jil wants to go to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. Why, I ask. Because I do, she replies. Never argue with the boss.

Whitefish Point Light Station, circa 1864

Sooooo, we take a left in Paradise and head towards Whitefish Point Light Station and the shipwreck museum. The museum is located on the light house grounds. Several of the original buildings still exist and are meticulously maintained. Four buildings are open for self guided tours with a docent in each. And one has be converted into a B&B.

Notice the Second Story Bridge From Home to Light Tower

Jil wanting to go to the museum turned out to be a very good “want”. The shipwreck museum is small in size but large on explaining the history of shipwrecks both hundreds of years old to modern day. Most were caused by nasty storms that whip up the Great Lakes to ocean proportions. 25 foot seas and 60 knot winds is significant for any vessel.

Museum Pieces/ Center bottom: Original aerobeacon lens 8′ in diameter!

A lot of the ships were torn in two. Records indicate at least 550 ships have gone down, approximately 200 of them off Whitefish Point. The area between here and Munising is known as the Shipwreck Coast. All ships entering or leaving Lake Superior must pass Whitefish Point, making this light the most significant of all. The rest of the tour is through the light keepers house, another home that is used as a gift shop, the boathouse and a small building used as a theater. The crew’s quarters is now a B&B.

Light Keepers House

The light in the lighthouse was lit by oil lanterns and the clockworks that turned the light had to be wound every 2.5 hours. Talk about job security! The light keepers home was attached to the light tower via an enclosed, elevated walk accessed from the second floor. We thoroughly enjoyed the Tahquamenon Falls, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and the grounds of the Whitefish Point Light Station.

We spent the night at the Bay Mills RV Park in Brimley. Bay Mills is on the Chippewa Reservation and associated with the Casino across the street. Tomorrow we have a very loose “appointment” with the owner of Sault RV & Trailer Sales/Service to get our malfunctioning landing gear fixed.

Thursday September 14, 2017- Travel Day 42

Tuesday we left the really really Quietwoods RV Resort ghost town, not because we didn’t enjoy the tranquility but we have more of the Great Lakes region to explore. We head towards Green Bay and up the west shore of Lake Michigan. Our destination is less than 90 miles away- Menominee MI.

On the way we stop in Peshtigo, a small town infamous for a forest fire that burned in and around town back on October 8, 1871 killing 1200 and as many as 2500 souls. We visited the museum dedicated to telling that story. According to accounts the fire swept into town very quickly catching the townsfolk off guard. The ensuing firestorm was said to have had winds reaching 110 mph and flames reached 2000 degrees. People jumped into the frigid Peshtigo River to save themselves and loved ones. Some of those drowned or died from hypothermia. In all 12 communities were destroyed and the land was scored for 1800 square miles. Ironically, it was not the only major fire that occurred on this day in 1871. A fire occurred on the Door Peninsula, the Great Chicago Fire as well as others around Lake Michigan.

Peshtigo MI Fire Museum

Menominee (8500 souls) is located just across the Marinette River from Marinette WI (10,000 souls). Marinette looks like a thriving community, Menominee not as much. One of the locals told me that a lot of businesses are moving from Menominee to Marinette- could it be a tax issue?

Downtown Menominee MI

We stayed at the River Park Campground. Its another well kept municipal park that we’ve had the fortune to find. So many of them along the coast of Lake Superior and now Lake Michigan.

Looking across the river we see four large gray vessels. What the???? The Marinette shipyard is producing naval vessels. They are special ships that are smaller than destroyers that are designed to work in the littoral (close to shore) zone.We explore downtown and vicinity, stay one night and are on our way Wednesday.

Our next destination will be Marquette (20,000 souls) Marquette is the largest town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The land of the Yoopers! Here lies a large population with Finnish heritage, and some German. They have a little different pronunciation of the English language, “der” for “there” and others. Yup is used a lot as well as “you bettcha” and even “Okie Dokey”. They tend to be very friendly people who will talk your ear off- my kind of folks.

St. Pete Cathedral/ Abandoned Ore Dock/ Downtown Marquette

After a Mister Toads Wild Ride through downtown Marquette with a few road work detour caused road closures, a visit to a local business to ask how the hell we are to get to our campground for the night- Visitors Campground, we finally drop anchor. Aaannndd, the front jacks on the RV won’t go down without blowing a fuse. We finally get unhitched after blowing 3 more fuses. Crap! I’ve run out of 30A fuses so I have to find an auto parts store to purchase more…….. just in case. So in order to raise the front of the trailer to get hitched to the truck again the onboard motor won’t do the job. What will is my 6 ton jack but I also need a way to retain the gained elevation the jack affords. I need jack stands.

All of Marquette’s major streets seem to have a road construction detour or closure. The town is not easy to get around in to begin with and now with the closures even more so. I try to avoid the road construction and associated traffic only to find that streets that appear to got through go over the street I want to get to. More crap. The first auto parts place doesn’t have what I need, the second does. Heading back via the “short cut” around downtown just puts me in a 20 minute lane closure delay. More crap.

I usually get up at 0600 to 06300- when daylight wake me up. I get up before the sun appears- and it’s 0730! We are in Eastern Daylight Time, now our fourth time zone. After readying ourselves for the day I proceed to jack up the front of the trailer with the bottle jack, jack stand holding the elevation gained. One side, then the other goes up until the fifth wheel hitch and pin box match. We hitch up without a problem. Now to find a place that can help remedy our problem with the landing gear jacks.

We somehow escape Marquette with nary a scratch and never got twisted around by all of the detours. We head out of highway 41 backtracking to highway 24. We stopped at Munising (2300 souls). This town is very picturesque with a very nice downtown and very clean. A ferry can take you to Grand Isle from here and the town is a jump off point for Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Multiple water falls are in the area. And one can buy home made pasties (short “a” like in “at”)- a local favorite that is a sort of a stew filling in a pastry dough then baked until golden brown. We’ll have to try one!

Downtown Munising, MI

Unfortunately we can’t stay. I’ve found a repair shop in Sault Saint Marie who is willing to help me figure out what’s wrong with the landing gear Saturday. The only town of size within 35 miles of Munising is Seney. During its white pine logging heyday Seney had grown to 3000 souls, today there are 200.

Newberry, MI

We turn left onto Michigan 123 and drive through Newberry (1500 souls). The village is the seat of Luce County and southern gateway to Tahquamenon Falls State Park. Pulling into Kritters North Country Campground we realize we’ve made another good choice to overnight.

September 11, 2017- Travel Day 39

I believe I mentioned how much quieter the campground is compared to our first night on Saturday. Well the place has turned into a veritable ghost town. The only people here are out of towners- all six of us- Jil, our muttzo Megan, myself and 3 others that we know of. This park has 175 sites- about 1/4 of them still have trailers but no vehicles. It’s so quiet it’s spooky. What do they know that we do not. Are we at ground zero? Was it something we said or did? Almost all the people that camp at Quietwoods are locals from around the Green Bay area. They come here on weekends, then go home Sunday afternoon. Some leave their trailers here, most take them with. Like an old camp host once said “Its the Hoover effect. It’s like Sunday afternoon a big Hoover vacuum sucks everybody out of camp”.

The whole purpose of us coming to Door County and the inspiration for the trip to the Great Lakes was to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help located in nearby New Franken.

Our Lady of Good Help Shrine

The shrine sits on peaceful farmland surrounded by- farms. This area was settled by Belgian immigrants. The site preserves the spot where the Queen of Heaven, St. Mary, appeared to a young Belgian immigrant woman named Adele Brise in 1859. The Message of the Blessed Virgin was simple: Teach the Catholic Faith to the children of a people who were losing their faith through neglect. Sister Adele took the message to heart and for thirty-five years dedicated her life to this mission. She would do this by traveling as far as 50 miles on foot up and down the Green Bay Peninsula. It’s quite a story of dedication from a very dedicated woman.

The shrine is the only place in the U.S. that the Vatican has recognized as a legitimate appearance of St. Mary. And Mary appeared not once but three times, the first scared Adele- then it happened the next Sunday. The third appearance Adele asked who the beautiful lady was….. the reply was “I am the Queen of Heaven” and then gave Adele instructions to teach the children. “Teach them what they should know for their salvation”.

We enter the Shrine and one feels a sense of Her presence. As if St. Mary is here. This day also coincides with the 9/11 attacks 16 years ago. Jil and I silently pray for all those who were personally affected by the loss of a loved one, their loved one, and for those who were involved in the search and rescue effort be they civilian or uniformed. We also pray for those who are needy economically and spiritually. We do this not knowing that our life partner has prayed for the same.

Directly below the altar in the chapel is the Shrine. Even if you are not religious this place will feel special. Outside is a small cemetery where Sister Adele is buried and a large beautiful grassy area surrounded by a gravel path. The center of the grassy area are the Stations of the Cross, in one corner is a memorial to September 11, 2001- “We Shall Never Forget”. Signage mentions an old Belgium tradition of building a small shrine on ones’ property and by golly we find one in the front yard of a farmhouse in Brussels. It building measures no larger than 6’x8′. Inside an unlocked door is the shrine. A very old guest book lies under the newer one so that all visitors can look back in time to see who visited , when they visited and from where they hale.

Downtown Green Bay is only 13 miles from New Franken- let’s go! I-41 is elevated so we can see our target- Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers football team.

The people own the Packers team. That came to be in 1922 when the teams finances were on hard times and the Chicago Bears refused to play in Green Bay because they weren’t guaranteed the box office fee of $4000. The cash strapped team realized they had to raise cash somehow so they offered stock at $5 a share- buy 5 shares and a season ticket was included. So the shares are now sold for $250 when offered- which isn’t often. The last sale was for upgrading Lambeau Field. Owning Packer shares offer no season ticket privileges, no dividend, can’t be sold- no nada………. but you can transfer your shares to your kid!

Lambeau is a thriving business. We are there the day after game day. The visitor parking lot is nearly full. Inside the Atrium are shops and several docents offering guided tours. This place is here because all of Green Bay loves the Packers and are proud of their stadium and rightfully so. This place is amazing!

We head back to the ghost town of an RV park and do some wash. Two washers and two dryers in the wash house and they are all ours. Our clothes are washed, dried and folded in no time at all. Tomorrow we’ll travel to the other side of the Green Bay and start heading back towards the U.P.- Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

September 9, 2017- Travel Days 37 & 38

We’re in GREEN BAY!

September 9– Our travel day is only 107 miles. We leave Antigo and head south on Wisconsin 45 to Wittmer where we transition on to the combined east bound highways 45/29. Its a four lane divided highway- the truck lane is a little beat up but serviceable. Our destination for the day is Bay Shore County Park Campground located in Door County- a highly desirable destination. It doesn’t take long to get to the greater Green Bay area. Even with our onboard navigation system on full alert and Jil’s “smarty phone” we have trouble figuring out the proper route. Way too many major “Y’s” in the road in way too short a period of time for my onboard cranial computer to process, especially with both “navigators” yacking at the same time with Jil doing her best to interpret what they are yacking about- but we made it through the maze by golly! Easy peasy- take the 29 to the the south I-41 to the north I-43 to the Wisconsin 57- piece of cake!

We head over the Fox River on I-43 and transition onto Highway 57. Ahhhhh, back in the country. Not so fast there partner! Highway 57 is a 4 lane divided highway- speed limit 65 mph! Not what I was expecting at all. Jil’s “smarty phone” says 2 miles until we reach the turnoff to Bay Shores County Park but the roadside sign states 1 mile. This is not a freeway so one must enter a very short left turn lane and brave oncoming traffic whizzing by at mach 1 while towing a very heavy 5th wheel and attempting to clear 52′ of mass across the highway without getting center punched. We make it safely across the highway onto the county park road- barely!

The campground is located past a very nice play area and boat launch. It’s heavily wooded and the roadway is very narrow. We work our way over to our campsite for two days and- it’s occupied!……. so we head back towards the entrance. The campground host informs us that check out time is 1500 hours- it’s 1000 hours now. That’s a 5 hour wait if  the folks in our site leave on time. Sigh! We decide to park in the day use area and walk the campground. There are non reservable sites available but it’s cold in the woods today. And there are lots of families with unsupervised young children running, riding bikes and just carrying on all over the place. Jil says let’s look down the road for another place to stay. Another sigh……. from me. We’ve paid for two nights at Bay Shore Campground. Oh well, what’s a little cash compared to a happy wife?

Quiet woods South Camping Resort

Jil says that Quietwoods South Camping Resorts has plenty of room for us. Come on up! Sounds good so we head 14 miles up the road just to check the place out. It features a swimming pool/water slide, an arcade, two kids playgrounds……. what could go wrong? We are given the sites available- one is in the woods which is not any better than Bay Shore, and one is right next to a camp with two boys firing off poppers- a no go for our muttzo Megan. But……. there are 8 sights up against the “Pavilion”. We check out the “Pavilion” sites an they are basically not very level grassy overflow sights next to a very large warehouse looking metal clad building. One backs in one’s rig up again the building. Water and power are mounted on the the outside of said building. These sites are OK as 4 of them are away from the one bizillion families with 4 bizillion kids in tow. There are kids everywhere. Two year olds away from inattentive parents. Gads!

Bottom line- we sacrifice $64 worth of campsite reservation fees for a $70 two, make that three ($105) night stay at not-so Quietwoods Resort. I don’t mind kids having fun, playing and squealing with joy but now its after 9:00 at night, dark and the squealing continues and their parents are partying.  I can handle it- I must! A new source of noise is coming from directly behind us from inside the “pavilion”. Someone has decided that work must be done now, during quiet time inside the building. First the loud radio echoes inside the large, mostly empty structure permeating the area directly outside, then circular saw sounds, now banging like plywood is being stacked. So much for “Quietwoods”! Crap……………. Most of these folks with kids in tow will be gone tomorrow- I hope!

September 10- We attend Sunday Mass at St. Mary and St. Joseph Church. Parishioners filled the church and the Mass was beautiful. The color of the interior of the church reminds me of wheat. It’s understated beauty. The church’s cemetery is located on church grounds as is a grotto. The building is located on a corner lot literally surrounded by farms. The nearest town, Brussels, is 2 miles away. The farm across the street has young calves individually sequestered in small pens with “huts” for shelter. As I understand it the calves are separated at birth to facilitate their management. Farmers can better determine the health of the calf if separated from others.

Mass at St. Mary and St. Joseph Church- 50% of Parishiners Wearing Packer Garb

We are in the land of Cheeseheads and the Greenbay Packers are playing at home today. Bets are off as to when all those families at the campground will pack up and head home. Our guess is most will be home by game time.

Sturgeon Bay/ Potawatomi State Park

We are off exploring. The native Wisconsin lady across the road from us warns of heavy traffic on the highway- most of it heading south, we are going north to explore Little Sturgeon Bay, Sturgeon Bay, Egg Harbor and Fish Creek.

Egg Harbor

All are beautiful and well worth the visit. The least commercialized, i.e. touristy of the bunch is Sturgeon Bay. It’s a working port with a lake freighter sized dry dock facility. The bridges over the water are all draw bridges indicating large ships pass through- and low bridges.

Little Sturgeon Bay

Fish Creek

We had a good time visiting Door County. Door County got it’s name for the dangerous passage between the tip of the peninsula and Washington Island. It was said to be so dangerous that the passage was named “Death’s Door”. Hence Door County. By the way, when we returned from our tour of the west side, the Green Bay side, it was if a huge vacuum had sucked all the campers out of Quietwoods. Even the folks that have seasonal setups across the street from us are gone. Now it really is quiet woods by golly!

See the reason for all the banging, clanging and loud radio music below-

September 8-9, 2017- Travel Days #36 & 37

Typical Silo Construction in Minnesota and Wisconsin

We pulled up stakes this morning and we’re on the road by 0800 hours. We travel east and transition onto US 2 as we travel through Ashland and eventually on to US 51 at Hurley (1700 souls), the seat of Iron County WI. Hurley originally was a company town serving miners and lumbermen alike. It is located directly across the Montreal River from Ironwood, MI. It is said that as the town became more populated the number of bars and saloons reached 75 in a two block area. The town became so popular that the beautiful- and large (100 room), Burton House was erected in 1865. Many prominent people stayed there including President Grover Cleveland.

Burton House, Hurley, WI

We pass through Mercer (1700 souls) who distinguishes itself as the Loon Capital of the World– and maybe it is. The countryside from Mercer south is changing and is reminiscent of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes. We are surrounded by lakes, many many lakes. Manitowish is a wide spot in the road and the turnoff to Manitowish Waters (pop. 550) which is best known for its chain of lakes. It’s also somewhat famous for the event that took place at the Little Bohemia Lodge (still active). The FBI in a botched raid attempting to capture John Dillinger and his gang . One civilian was accidentally killed along with 2 CCC workers who were mistaken for gang members by the FBI. One agent was killed by Baby Face Nelson in the short gunfight. Dillinger escaped. Bullet holes from the encounter in the walls of the lodge have been preserved as well as the clothes Dillinger left behind in his haste to escape.

Little Bohemia Lodge

Woodruff (2400 souls) and Minocqua (4300 souls)are two towns that have grown together making an actual city by golly. Big box stores and all. It also is very pretty. Minocqua sits on what appears to be a peninsula formed by Minocqua Lake and Kawaguesaga Lake. The scenery is spectacular and so are some of the million dollar lakeside mansions.

Kawaguesaga Lake Home/ City of Minocqua

We bypass Tomahawk (3400 souls) as it is located just off the highway. Its on the Wisconsin River, a river popular with kayakers and canoers. We head east on WI 64 to Antigo through farm country.

Antigo (8200 souls) is the seat of Langlade County. The town was founded in 1876 by Francis Delegalise and his friend George Echart. It’s the center for a farming and lumbering district. Its manufacturers consist principally of lumber and finished wood products, agricultural products and byproducts include dairy, potatoes, fur, shoes, and fertilizer. Antigo sits on a plateau about 1500′ above sea level. The fertility of the “Antigo Flats” attracted many settlers. Today the Antigo Silt Loam soil is the state soil of Wisconsin.

I did not know this (I know what your thinkin’): Besides farming and timber products Antigo is the home of Sheldons, Inc.- home of the world renowned Mepps fishing lure company. The company is advertising a need for squirrel tails to make certain kinds of fishing lures and are willing to pay up to 22 cents a piece for prime condition tails- this, for you squirrel hunters…….

Our home for the night is Antigo Lake Campground. The park is run by the city and just a couple of blocks from downtown. A park, Antigo Lake and baseball fields lie on it perimeter. Tonight we enjoyed a bunch of young fellas play slow pitch softball.

18 Wheeler? Nah, Count ’em- More like 36 Plus the 5th wheel= 37 wheels!

September 7, 2017- Travel days- Travel Days 34 & 35

We drove through Duluth during rush hour traffic. There most have been 30 cars on the road! Gads! Anyway, traffic was pretty light. We head east over St. Louis Bay on US 2 and land in Vis…… er……. Wisconsin leaving Minni-sooota behind. The city of Superior (27,000 souls) is directly across the river from Duluth. Wisconsin greets us with a friggin’ detour. OK, I hope its well marked- and it is. We slide over to Highway 53 after driving a bit through downtown and are on our way. Highway 53 parallels the coast. We pass shipping docks and lake ship museums- and one big mansion. The mansion was completed in 1891, home of lumber and mining magnet Martin Pattison.

Over the Bridge, Past the Mansion, Farm Country, Over Hill

Early area history- Back in the 1600’s through early 1800’s the Brule- St. Croix River Portage provided a means for trappers and traders to travel from Lake Superior to as far as the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi. Paddle upstream on the Brule and take a short portage to the St. Croix on the other side of the continental divide= travel downstream forever. Easy peasy!

Sights From Thompson West End Campground

We turn off on country highway 13. Not many settlements, just farms, small dairy farms mostly. We love country like this. We parallel the east shore of Lake Superior and can’t see it for the trees. We finally get a glimpse of the North Shore of Minnesota across the lake. The first community we come to is Port Wing (164 souls), 55 miles from Superior. Herbster (104 souls and 5500 square miles!) is next. We reach Cornucopia (pop. 98). This little town is the western gateway to Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and our turnoff to Washburn. 20 miles later we arrive.

Beautiful Homes in Bayfield

Washburn (2100 souls) is not as touristy as Bayfield, which we like. It’s also not as pretty. It has none of the old mansions nor the quaint downtown district. But it does have two of the nicest municipal campgrounds we’ve seen- Thompson West End and Municipal. Both are lovely. Municipal is in pines, Thompson is more open and a little better suited for big rigs. The whole park is mowed grass. We can see the lake from every window in our living room and it is a two minute walk to the beach. It’s also better suited for setting up our portable satellite dish, which has turned out to be nice to have access to TV. We are at Thompson for two nights.

We took a 13 mile drive to Bayfield (530 souls). Boy, is that place pretty as the community is built on a hillside overlooking a small bay. It is the main gateway to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Tour boats take folks out to the many islands for a little sightseeing. Ferries transport passengers and motorized equipment to Madeline Island. Madeline is the only island  in the Apostles with residences and a Wisconsin State Park to boot.

More Sights in Bayfield

We also toured the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center in Ashland. It’s a great place to learn about the geology and human history of the Great Lakes. Ashland (8200 souls) is a nice town located about 10 miles east of Washburn near the head of Chequamegon Bay. The port shipped iron ore to the Rust Belt but no more.

It seems that more than one community has a black eye around this Great Lake. Probably no different than any other I suppose.

I’ve read about this more than once so here goes. During WWI those of German, and even Finnish descent were eyed with suspicion as German sympathizers. Those under the eye of suspicion by a group called the Knights of Liberty were tarred and feathered. Although some of the “knights” were identified none were ever convicted. In fact the “sympathizers” mostly refused to identify their attackers. So there it is………

We have thoroughly enjoyed this part of Wisconsin. Jil has reminded me of the movie Ground Hog Day, repeating at every new campground/location that this is her favorite place on the whole trip. In reality, she’s probably correct in a way. Each place offers something new and wonderful to explore- a new “favorite place”!

Tomorrow we leave Lake Superior and head towards Green Bay. See you there!

Monday, September 4 & 5 2017- Travel days #32 and 33

Downtown Duluth

September 4: We might not be the sharpest pencil in the box but we do learn from past experience. Google maps recommends retracing our route back to the North Shore Highway, Highway 61 via State Route 1- the bing bang boom highway that jarred our fillings loose. Nope, not doing that. We chose to head west southwest on combined highway 191/SR 1 out of town to Peyla where SR 1 goes west and 191 heads south. We will then take US 53 to Duluth a distance of just over 100 miles.

Things start off swimmingly- no traffic and the road is smoooooth. About 5 miles out of Ely the road changes. The road maintenance crew is straightening out the old road- a plus. They let the existing road turn to crap- a minus. The road is bad for about 10 miles then again is smooooooth! Yes!

All goes well. We pass through Soudan (450 souls) which is home to Soudan Underground Mine State Park  The U. of Minnesota has and underground laboratory inside the mine and both are open for tours. Next is Tower (pop. 500) which is named for Charlemagne Tower and owes it’s establishment to the Soudan Mine. It is known for two facts- it’s the oldest city in the Arrowhead region and on February 2, 1996 the temperature dropped to -60 degrees, making it the lowest temperature ever recorded in the U.S. east of the Great Plains.

Laurentian Divide Rest Stop

We merge on to US highway 53 and head south. Just north of the Four Cities area (Virginia, Eveleth, Iron Junction, and Gilbert) we encounter an interesting rest stop named for the Laurentian Divide, a rare three- way continental divide. Water falling here in the Giants Range may flow either north into icy Hudson Bay, east into the Atlantic Ocean, or south into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, Eveleth MN

Eveleth (3700 souls) was platted in 1893. Iron ore was discovered beneath the village site so the village was moved to its present location. Most folks wouldn’t know the Eveleth is home to the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. I sure didn’t. We land at our park for two nights, Buffalo Campground 10 miles south of Duluth.

Buffalo Valley Campground, Duluth MN

The park has a full blown restaurant, 3 softball fields and sand volleyball courts. It holds all kinds of softball and volleyball tourneys throughout the summer. The campground is nice, some sites are deeply shaded and some not as much. The locals state that it’s been a cool and wet summer……..

September 5: This is visit Duluth morning. It’s a pleasant morning as of yet to threaten rain. Duluth (86,000 souls) is a major port city, accessible to ocean going vessels. She shares the harbor with Superior, WI and together are the Great Lakes largest port.

The Duluth MN/ Superior WI Port

At the turn of the 20th century the port was booming. The population contained more millionaires than New York City. We chose to first visit Canal Park located on the waterfront downtown. The park is interesting in that it’s not a park in the common sense but a bustling commercial area with great looking buildings and interesting businesses.

Canal Park

The Lakewalk paved walking trail lies between the park and the lakeshore. Dual lighthouses stand sentry duty on either side of the canal entrance. Nearby is the Aerial Lift Bridge. Originally designed as a transporter bridge in 1905 the bridge was converted to a vertical lift bridge in 1930.

Canal Leading to Port/ Guardian Lighthouses/ Aerial Lift Bridge

Leaving Canal Park we spot this huge brick tower. Under it lies the old Central School Building. Traveling north we pass many more older buildings. Seems like brick is used almost exclusively in the construction of commercial buildings here. Downtown is clean and tidy.

Downtown Duluth

We stop at Lief Erickson Park to literally smell the roses blooming there. Just up the street is a nice grocery store- we go in and make purchases to restock our shelves. We cruise a few residential streets admiring the lovely old homes. We head home to enjoy some warmth and avoid the inevitable rain showers. It’s time for lunch. We eat at the Buffalo House restaurant located steps from our RV- and the food is good!

Sights in and Around Erickson Park

Tomorrow we will travel through a portion of Wisconsin to the U.P.- the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Striking Flora at Buffalo Valley Campground

September 3, 2017 Travel Days 29, 30 & 31    Current Location: Ely, Minnesota

I’ve lost this entire blog post!….  AGAIN! How frustrating…..Two hours to write it (I am a slow composer), 45 minutes to download the photos- GONE!…….Continuing on…….

We only have 107 miles to travel today. We couldn’t find site availability anywhere on Lake Superior that accepted reservations so we opt for Ely, MN. Ely is located in another desirable location as we will soon find out. We travel south towards Highway 1. What’s that, a detour. This should present no problem as two semi tanker trucks come whizzing back onto the highway.

God said “You Nevadans really appreciated my creations here at the Great Lakes. Enjoy your ride to Ely!” But the Devil says “Not so fast! Here’s a little strife fer ‘ya!” The Devil throws up a 22 mile long dirt detour in our path. Crap! OK, we can still do 35 mph without stressing us or our equipment. So what that some oncoming traffic insists on driving right down the middle of the road! Zowie! We emerge from the detour in Finland. FINLAND? Is this a trick Mr. Devil? No, we are in Finland Minnesota. Whew!

Stony River Cafe Located In Isabella, MN

God said “You’ve done well dealing with the Devil. I will pave the road to Ely for you and provide beautiful trees, hills and lakes for your pleasure”.  Thank you Lord! Well, the Devil overheard the Lord and made the paved road so full of potholes, bumps and dips that we thought we would break or the truck and trailer would break. We travel at less than 35 mph on this posted 50 mph road passing Murphy City (which consists of a fella’s farm) and Isabella (a wide spot in the road). We overheard this from the Devil as we bumped our way along- “Hee HEE hee hee!”

The Lord was kind to us for the last 5 miles or so into Ely (3400 souls) and smoothed the road. Today Ely is a gateway to the popular Boundary Waters Canoe Area-lakes that are interconnected by waterways. We’ve seen more canoes here than autos I think. A lot of them are brought in on car top carriers but the majority are supplied by the local outfitters- lots and lots of outfitters who take people into the Boundary for several day canoe trips.

Back in the 1880’s iron ore was discovered near what would become the town of Ely. The Pioneer and Chandler mines were the first mines followed by several more. The mines produce ore rich in nitrogen and low in phosphorus, a very rich ore known as Vermillion Lump. The ore was shipped to Two Harbors on Lake Superior where it as shipped East. The Pioneer was the deepest mine in the world at the time at 1700′. Eventually all the mines were connected by tunnels. By the 1960’s the mines were done and the water that had been pumped from the shafts and tunnels filled causing their collapse. Miner’s Lake located in Ely is a result of such a collapse. One old timer stated “There would be no Ely without the mines”.

Ely Is Located In The Vermillion Range/ Pioneer Mine

Arrowhead RV Resort is a nice grassy park with well spaced sites conveniently located at the edge of town- but it is not a Resort. There is no industry standard as to what qualifies a park as a Resort. Arrowhead offers full hookups, a clean office/laundry/restroom building and lots of grass. Megan likes the grass field!

Our Site at the Arrowhead RV Resort

We visited several places over the last few days. We visited Fall Lake. Winton is on it’s shores.

Fall Lake and Eclectic Winton

We visited Garden Lake where I snapped the photo of the couple who were fishing. We enjoyed the National Bear Center and the International Wolf Center which were quite comprehensive and extremely interesting.

International Wolf Center

We also visited the Dorothy Molter Museum. Dorothy was born in 1907, her mom died when she was seven. Dad couldn’t handle six kids by himself so he put them in an orphanage. Remarried in 1919 he reunited his family.

North American Bear Center

As an adult she fell in love with the outdoors helping Bill Bergland run his resort located on Knife Island during the summer, then full time. Bill appreciated her so much that he left her the Isle of Pines Resort in 1948. Dorothy ran the resort 38 years until 1986. She is remembered for her home made root beer but more so for her kindness, generosity, and willingness to help others. Don’t you all wish we all could be remembered for the same?

A Look Around Ely, MN

Tomorrow we travel another relatively short distance to the Buffalo Valley Campground in Duluth. We will not be traveling on the same highways, electing to see new territory. We’ll see what the Devil has to say about that!

August 31, 2017 Travel Days #27 & 28

Early Morning Sunlight- Lake Superior

Travel day #27 was indeed a travel day. We left Pokegama COE campground at 0800 hours. The night before I’d Google Mapped our route- US hwy 2  through Grand Rapids to  state hwy 169 to Higgins. Then travel a few other county roads that eventually spit us out at Silver Bay on the north shore of Lake Superior. Easy peasy. I put our destination in the truck’s onboard navigator fully expecting it to agree with Google Maps route. Wrongo cowboy! So rather than screw around trying to reroute the onboard navigator we submit to her commands and stay on US 2. This route is 23 miles longer and takes us through Duluth.

Floodwood, MN

There are not many towns on this route. We travel a while and attempt to pull into a poorly marked rest stop, overshooting the entrance. We turn around, enter the rest stop and park. We are in the metropolis of Floodwood (520 souls). Before the town was established back in the fur trading days of the late 1600’s and 1700’s the Savannah Portage was major transportation route to access the fur rich upper Mississippi Valley. In the late 1800’s Floodwood was established as a townsite and lumber became a big business. The logging industry died out in the 1920’s so dairy farming took over. Today many in the workforce travel either to Duluth or Grand Rapids for employment. Some work in the local peat bogs and some still have dairy farms. The town is surrounded by the East Savannah, Floodwood, and St. Louis Rivers.

There may have been a few more villages on the way to Duluth but we sure didn’t see them. As we merge onto I-35 north we get our first look at Lake Superior, Then drive through the industrial section of Duluth, then downtown and merge onto highway 61. We continue through one of the most beautiful and obviously affluent lakeside neighborhoods, then more rural countryside.

The only community of size thus far on the North Shore is Two Harbors (3700 souls), the seat of Lake County.

Middle Gooseberry Falls

The town has Gooseberry Falls State Park, Tettegouche State Park and the Split Rock Lighthouse State Park within a half hour’s driving distance. We stop at Gooseberry Falls to admire this wonder of nature. We pass a little place named Castle Danger and several bays named Silver and Beaver, and two more state parks. We arrive at Grand Marais Campground around 1400 hours and settle in. A little later we head a short ways into town and do some snooping and shopping.

Grand Marais

Travel Day 28 is an exploration day. Lake Superior is a cold (40 degrees), clear, 1330′ deep lake. It holds more water than all the other four Great Lakes combined. She is 380 miles long at her longest point and 180 miles wide. What is impressive is looking out over the lake at the horizon, seeing not a thing but water, with the curvature of the earth readily visible- like standing on the beach look out over the Pacific Ocean. Man, she’s a beeg one! You betcha!

Let’s head up to Grand Portage. Grand Portage is located at the point where a major canoe fur trade route left the Great Lakes. It was so named because of a huge 9 mile portage where canoes and equipment are carried overland. The French, then the British established trade with the Native Americans. The fur trade wained in the early 1800’s as the British withdrew to Canada.

On the way we stop at Judge C.R. Magney state park to walk a trail then continue to Grand Portage (565 souls). It lies entirely within the Grand Portage Indian Reservation. The Ojibwe a.k.a the Chippewa people have the Grand Portage Lodge and Casino with attached RV park, a fueling station/mini mart as sources of income. The Grand Portage National Monument helps draw in tourists.

Grand Portage National Monument

We visit the national monument where volunteers dressed in period garb offer insight into the life of the traders, trappers and Indians who met here 200 years ago. During periods of heavy trading in the summer, this place could have as many as 1500 folks gathered. The Indians liked that as they had goods to trade and made much wampum feeding everyone.

On the way back to camp we stop at the Naniboujou Lodge and Restaurant for a bit of lunch. The Lodge in incredible. Originally conceived in 1927 as an exclusive members only club located on 3500 acres of land. It was to include a golf course, a 150 room lodge, tennis courts and a bath house. The cost was to between $350k and $500k. That’s a lot of money for 1927! The prestigious charger members included former world boxing champion Jack Dempsey, the infamous pro baseball player Babe Ruth and Ring Lardner, a New York newspaper man. The original clubhouse included 24 sleeping rooms, a 20′ high stone fireplace that weighs 200 tons, and the wondrously painted 30’x80′ main room. It’s painted in Cree Indian symbols over the 20′ high domed ceiling that resembles a canoe. The stock market crash of 1929 pretty much ended the dream. The lodge ownership passed to hotel chains to private parties, the current being the Ramsey’s who live on site. It is quite amazing that this place has been preserved as well as it has. In fact, the main room, now dining room has the original paint, never having been repainted. And it looks as good as it did 88 years ago!. By the by- our lunch was delicious. Jil had a wonderful mixed green salad with grilled chicken. I had the catch of the day- white fish with a side of delicious cole slaw. A shout out to my friend Shirley who stated that the white fish meals in this area are the best- and she is right!

Interior of Naniboujou Lodge Dining Room

Naniboujou Lodge and Restaurant

We got back to our campground. We relaxed, then Megan went for her first swim in the harbor. Tomorrow we’ll head out to Arrowhead RV Resort in Ely, MN.

Wednesday, August 30, 2017- Travel Days 24-26

I spent a couple of hours writing this post, the text disappeared somehow and all that remained was the photos. So I’ll try this once again.

We traveled less than 100 miles from Buffalo River State Park to Itasca State Park. Jil’s “smart phone” calls out the route: East on hwy 10, northeast on hwy 34, north on 37, east on 58 to east 44 to east 41. Then the “smarty pants” phone makes a call to turn too late. Crap! Oh well, I’ll just drive down the road and find a place to turn around. What’s that ahead? It’s highway 71 which will lead us to Itasca’s park entrance. Gosh, that was easy. All we really had to do was take highway 10 east to the 71 and head north! At least the route we took avoided almost all semblance of civilization except for some beautiful farms and a couple of ranches. The only town being Detroit Lakes (8000 souls) which we past in the beginning and Two Inlets near the end- which is not really a town but a gateway to several recreational lakes. The only place Jil wanted to visit was Park Rapids which has become the gateway city of Itasca State Park.

Itasca is the oldest of the Minnesota state parks. The park was established in 1891 to save the region from logging. It is also the headwaters of the Mississippi River- the reason we visit. The park is heavily forested and the campground is nice. Electricity is offered at many sites but not water or sewer.. A dump station and fresh water are available.

Narrow, twisting access roads with big tree branches overhanging the road make maneuvering our 51′ combo a little challenging. The park is very popular as it offers many amenities such as cabins, a lodge, multiple campgrounds and of course, the headwaters of the Mississippi River.

From Lake Itasca we traveled again on highway 71 to US 2 all the way to Grand Rapids MN, not the more well known Grand Rapids, MI. Grand Rapids is a town of just over 10,000 folks. We pass Cass Lake (770 souls) , once a mighty lumber town of 2100, the town now relies more on tourism and recreational activities. Its the headquarters of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe and Leech Lake Band of Ojibwa. We stretch our legs the rest stop that overlooks Cass Lake. What a great stop!

Cass Lake as Seen From The Cass Rest Stop

An interesting place we past through between Cass Lake and Grand Rapids is the little burg of Ball Club. As we roll into town I see the sign announcing “Ball Club”. I thought it a very large sign just to give directions to the local ball club, and in what sport might that club specialize? Well, Ball Club is a town of 340 souls named after a type of Native American lacrosse stick. Who knew?

We pass a few other towns, and not so towns but wide spots in the road that happen to have a couple of human built structures. No info on those small places on the internet.

We pull into our home for two nights- Pokegama COE campground. It’s located adjacent to the Pokegama Dam. The original dam was built in the 1880s to provide flood control, navigation and drinking water. It was rebuilt at the turn of the 20th century. What a beautiful beautiful place to camp.

The campground is all mowed grass, the site pads are gravel. Trees provide a canopy of shade……. and our site is located no more than 50′ from the Mississippi River!

OK, so the downfall of camping in the beautiful state parks and the COE campground is- no laundromat. We have accumulated a weeks worth of soiled clothing and are presently wearing our last pair of clean chonies. The laundromat that was recommended is not cheap. $6.75 for one washer- two needed. Dryers $3.00 a pop times two, eventually three since two drying cycles wasn’t enough to dry all of our clothes. So $22.50 later we leave with clean clothes.

Grand Rapids was the end of the line for river boats. It’s  three mile long rapids prevented further upstream navigation. The rapids are now drowned by a dam built to support the Blandin Paper Mill. And the Pokegama dam kind of finished off large vessel navigation until one reaches Pokegama Lake. Grand Rapids is the seat of Itasca County. She has just over 10,000 souls living here. If we had more time we’d explore the area more thoroughly.

Tomorrow we head to our first Great Lake- Lake Superior. See you there!

Saturday August 26, 2017- Trip Days #22 & 23

Yesterday we traveled 115 miles to Buffalo River State Park. We are now in our second new to us state- Minnesota. As we cruised east the hills got a little smaller and the northern plains became more evident. Again we see large fields of crops, a checkerboard of corn, sunflowers, maybe some wheat and alfalfa. We travel quite a distance without seeing cows, then spot one that had gotten past the barbed wire fencing and was laying on the side of the road. We are used to seeing raccoons, deer, even porcupines and armadillos in the South but hardly ever cows.

As the terrain flattens out more water is evident. Hobart Lake is in the path of the interstate so the interstate goes through it. Many of the towns along our path are several miles away, too far away to visit. Valley City (6800 souls) is one of the larger cities located near the interstate and is the seat of Barnes County. It’s known as the City of Bridges due to the numerous bridges crossing the Sheyenne River. One of particular interest is the Hi-Line Bridge. When built in 1906 it was the longest railroad bridge for its height in the world at 3860′ long and 162′ above the river. The bridge is in use today.

Tower City is named for Charlemagne Tower, a railroad official. 250 folks live there, surrounded by large farms and ranches. We pass Casselton and arrive on the outskirts of Fargo. Buffalo State Park, named for the Buffalo that wintered here, is located on Highway 10 across the Red River approximately 15 miles east of Fargo in the state of Minnesota. It’s a very nice park with mowed grass in between sites, a large swimming pond, many nature trails and of course, the Buffalo River. This makes three great campgrounds in a row that offer more than a place to lay our weary heads for the night.

Prairie (upper left)  Swimming pond drained (swamp drained?) (lower right) on Monday

World Famous Fargo Theater

Today we head back into visit Fargo. The city is the most populous in the state at 121,000 souls. Downtown is turn of the 20th century brick with newer structures to its south. She is also the seat of Cass County. Nearby towns are West Fargo, Moorhead and Dilworth Minnesota. North Dakota State calls Fargo home. She is named after Northern Pacific Railway Director and Wells Fargo Company founder William Fargo. The area started to flourish after the arrive of the railroad and became known as “The Gateway to the West”.

St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Fargo

Does anyone remember the movie Fargo? It’s described as a black comedy crime film that starred Frances Dormant as a pregnant police chief and William Macy as the desperate car salesman. Macy hires two guys to kidnap his wife in order to extort a healthy ransom from his father in law. It’s a very complicated story that begins in Minneapolis and doesn’t end until a lot of bad guys commit heinous crimes against innocent and not so innocent folks. Remember the wood chipper scene?……

THE Wood Chipper from the Movie Fargo

On the way back to camp we stop at the Hjemskomst (don’t ask me how to pronounce that!) Heritage Center. We didn’t go inside choosing instead to walk the grassy grounds. Behind the main building is the replica of the Hopperstad Stave Church located in Norway.

There’s a turkey lurking’ in front of ya Jil!

Weather here has been cool with a touch of rainy mist from clouds that hug the ground like fog. No blue skies today. Still, it’s been a great place to visit. We’ve met some nice locals, at least they are more local than ourselves. The cool weather has made our numerous walks through native bottomlands along the Buffalo River a real treat. Together with the adjacent Bluestem Prairie Scientific and Natural Area it protects one of the largest and highest quality prairie remnants in Minnesota. There’s lots of wild critters- 200 species in all from moose to plains pocket mice as well as hundreds of bird species.

Tomorrow we’ll travel to the headwaters of the mighty Mississippi- Itasca State Park.

August 24, 2017 Trip Day 20 & 21

We stayed put yesterday in order to visit Mandan and Bismarck and the rest of Ft. Abe Lincoln State Park. Why travel when we are parked in one of the most beautiful campgrounds ever!

Mandan (21,000 souls) lies on the west bank of the Missouri River across from the state capital of Bismarck. She is the seat of Morton County. The city was founded in 1879, named for the indigenous Mandans who lived on the banks of Missouri River. The town is not unlike most we have traveled through- the Catholic influence is very noticeable. Mandan has multiple Catholic churches.

Touching Tribute To Dad From His Kids/ Mandan Church

We drive across the Missouri to the state capital of Bismarck. The original capitol building burned in 1930. In it’s place the “High Rise Of The Prairie” was built- all 21 stories of it. The grounds are large and nicely landscaped. We cruise around the town admiring how clean it is and how nice the houses are kept. We also visit the Cathedral District- the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit is what the district is named for.

For you history buffs: “From 1872 to 1887 Bismarck was an important transportation center and Missouri River port. Freight was hauled to Bismarck from the East by the Northern Pacific Railroad. Until a railroad bridge across the Missouri was completed October 21, 1882, the railroad terminated at the east side of the river and resumed on the west side. During the winter, trains crossed the ice on specially built track and during the summer, they were ferried across. A line called the River Landing Spur ran down to the steamboat warehouse so that freight from the railroad could be transferred to steamboats for shipping via the Missouri River. The river connected St. Louis, Missouri, Fort Benton, Montana, and ports in between.”

Back at the Fort- the Mandan lived in villages that consisted of many round earthen lodges. They were considered a very friendly people. The Slant Indian Village here in the park was abandoned due to the outbreak of of white man’s disease- smallpox. William Clark visited this location on his way back to Missouri in 1805.

Fort Lincoln was Lieutenant George Armstrong Custer’s home base. This is where he and the 7th Calvary began their ill- fated expedition to round up the Sioux Indians. The visitors center has the largest collection of Mandan Indian relics in existence. Many artifacts and photos are on display and is a must-see.

Today we packed up and headed to Jamestown, ND. We are staying at the municipal campground of Lakeside by the Jamestown Reservoir. The grounds are nice, the park is great, catering not only to campers but picnickers and boaters. We arrive at St. James Cathedral just in time for Mass followed by Adoration.

St. James Basilica/ County Courthouse

We next drive through town and are pleased that this town is like all the others we’ve visited in North Dakota. The locals show a lot of civic pride- the homes are well maintained, the streets are clean and free of debris. This town is also heavily influence by the Catholic ethic.

The last place we visit is the Pioneer Village. It consists of small structures emulating what a pioneer town would look like. The Village also is home to the National Buffalo Museum. A genuine real live white buffalo lives there- and so does the world’s largest buffalo!

Tomorrow we travel to Buffalo River State Park. See you there!

August 22, 2017- Travel Day #19

We are in no hurry to pack up and hit the road this morning. After all we are only traveling a hundred miles……. So off we go before 0800 hours. Man, it seems that we cannot sleep in no matter what. Heading eastbound on I-94 we pass Gladstone.

A planned stop is in the little town of Richardson (pop. 520). The town was founded in 1883 and is home for Assumption Abbey. The Abbey was founded 10 years later by a Swiss Benedictine monk. St. Mary’s Catholic Church is on Abbey grounds and is shared by the monks with the community. We walked the grounds, then entered through a door marked “Information”. We are astounded that we are in the bowel of the abbey.

She meets a Benedictine that has 60 years of service as a monk. We find that he is 81 years old and very spry. He invites us to look around and wander around to our heart’s content. Wow! Another monk opens up the small gift shop for us. As Jil is cleaning the contents off of every shelf to purchase for gifts, the monk tells us that the grounds consist of 2000 acres, most are rented to farmers, many products in the gift shop are hand made here at the Abbey. Several books were written by the Abbey’s monks. Only 28 monks remain at the Abbey so they don’t have a beef herd anymore.

When approaching Hebron we see a sign. “Fort Sourkraut Next Exit”. Fort Saurkraut? Ya gotta be kiddin’ me. No, they are serious. Fort Saurkraut was raised in three days by settlers interested in saving their hides from Indian attack. The fort was built out of sod with (stolen) railroad ties for roof support. It was then surrounded by barbed wire in the hopes that it would deter the rumored attack. The Indians never planned on attacking the settlement, the attack never came. Fort Saurkraut (so ya think there were a lot of Germans in this town?) is the only sod fort ever built in North Dakota. The fort was recreated a few years ago by dedicated farmers in the hope that “If we build it, they will come”. I don’t know how that worked out for them………

Hebron (940 souls), on the other hand is known as “brick city” for its brick factory. It is also the nations top producer of canola, dry peas, certain wheat, dry beans, sunflowers, barley, honey and sweet crude. Not bad for a small town, eh?

Glen Ullin (800 souls) is another town founded in 1883 along the Northern Pacific Railroad in the Curlew Valley. She is on of many farming communities that sprang up along the railroad route. Then we are back in New England passing the town of New Salem also founded in 1883.

We exit the interstate at Mandan. Mandan at 21,000 folks (8th largest in the state) was founded in 1879. She is the seat of Morton County. Her main industry is oil- a Tesoro refinery pumps out 71,000 barrels of sweet crude oil a day. Mandan lies on the west bank of the Missouri directly across from the state capital, Bismarck. We turn south and head for our encampment for two nights Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park.

Fort Lincoln is a treasure of history. This is the place where General Custer assembled the Seventh Calvary and lead them to annihilation at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. His house has been recreated as well as troop barracks and a lookout post way up on a hill that offers a 360 degree view of the surrounding area. The campground is nicely treed with a large mowed grass infield separating loops. We love it here!

August 21, 2017- Travel Day #18

Sigh…… We stopped in Dickinson, a city of 23,000 souls and the seat of Stark County (haven’t seen so many seats since Dodger Stadium) for two nights for a reason- the Eclipse. We didn’t want to be on the road during the eclipse even though the sun would be only 80% covered by the moon here- most eclipses, if there is such a word, will be much farther south. We’ve heard many places are experiencing a population explosion just for this one event. We hope we didn’t make a mistake by staying put one extra day.

So we do a little research and find an interesting sounding place, the Enchanted Highway. The Enchanted Highway is a collection of the world’s largest scrap metal sculptures constructed at intervals along a 32-mile stretch of two-lane highway in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of North Dakota. I type in the closest town to the highway into the onboard navigation system, start up the perfect tow vehicle and we are off. I immediately flip out the “navigator” as I turn left down a country road instead of heading towards the interstate. “Make a U-turn at your earliest convenience!” Nah, we continue on the country road. More protests from the “navigator”. Shush!

We travel over hill and dale passing beautiful farms. Some grow cattle fodder, others sunflowers. Acres and acres of sunflowers. The asphalt road turns to oiled, then to dirt. We make a right and head towards the interstate where we catch another asphalt road that heads towards the burg of Gladstone.

At the I-94 overpass we see the first huge metal sculpture- that of a flock of geese. A little background- a young artist fella by the name of Gary Greff wanted to enhance the lives of the folks in his hometown of Regent. So how better to do that than do what farmers are good at- welding. He helped them create art one welding bead at a time. So Gary and 3 dozen farmers built the sculptures that depict local life we see today.

We continue down this road all the way to Regent stopping at each sculpture as we go. The countryside is beautiful and the huge sculptures are amazing- both a must see.

Several miles down the Enchanted Highway we see a few tree, which usually means civilization- and a church steeple rising above them. What the???? Lefor is almost a ghost town with only 60 inhabitants. It used to have a post office (closed in 2002), a bank- closed during the great depression. What still exists is a few inhabited homes lining dirt streets- and St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Church, circa 1929. Mass is still held there……

Sculpture on right got the blue ribbon! (just kidding, OK?)

We finish the tour in Regent. Not a lot in town. Not even a coffee shop that we saw. But it did have a nice two diamond ball park that just begged for a mutzo to enjoy. Megan ran around like crazy. She’s used to being off leash once in a while and this was it. This is where we saw as much of the eclipse as God offered. We viewed the sun with approximately 80% of it covered by the moon. Lighting was a little eerie……….

Yes, we did drive through New England…………….. (North Dakota)

We headed back to the barn from Regent. The drive to the Enchanted Highway, the highway itself and the road home put us in at 80 miles. That’s enough driving for one day. Tomorrow we travel to Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park in Mandan, ND.

August 21, 2017- Trip Day 19

We’ve never been to North Dakota- have you? We left Miles City KOA and headed east, er west then east to I-94. Couldn’t cruise through town as a low bridge would put our 5v’er in the hurt locker. It’s just over 100 miles to the new-to-us state of North Dakota. Terrain consists of rolling grass covered  hills that sometimes turn angry- badlands angry. Of course down by the Yellowstone River green farmlands abound.

Not long after we hit the road we come to Terry, Montana. Terry (600 souls) is the seat of Prairie County. The town was named after General Alfred Terry, a commander of  an 1876 expedition in relation to General Custer’s campaign against Native Americans. One of it’s world famous events is the Terry Yippee BBQ. Never heard of it? Neither have I….. The Terry Badlands Wilderness Study Area also attracts a lot of visitors.

Glendive (pop. 4900) is another county seat, that of Dawson. It is just one of many towns established by Northern Pacific Railway. The town is an agricultural and ranching hub of eastern Montana. Makoshika State Park is located nearby. It’s a large 10,000 acre park that features badlands and fossils of the tyrannosaurus Rex. Our time following the Yellowstone River comes to an end here as the river continues northeast and we east.

Thirty eight miles later we see a big Welcome to North Dakota sign.

On The Road To Medora, ND

Yippee, We made it! We crest the hill and head down into more hills, more badlands. Some of the hills are severely eroded. In stark contrast others are just normal looking grass covered hills. We soon pull into Medora.

Whatcha doin’? Oh, just walking’ our goat!

Medora had a population of 112 souls in 2010. It’s, gads, the seat of Billings County- and the only incorporated town in that county! This town was also founded by the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1883. Geez, how many towns have we been to or through that were founded by the NPR? It is known for the Medora Musical making it one of the most popular attractions in the state. President Roosevelt visited there in 1903. He felt that he had helped stop the bickering in the West as he was greeted warmly by folks far and wide. He stated that his only regret was that he couldn’t spend 3 hours visiting with the locals.

President Theodore Roosevelt visited the area in 1883 to hunt bison. He immediately fell in love with the area’s ruggedness. He eventually purchased 3 ranches around the area. The entrance to the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park is in the center of town. It offers a small, busy visitors center. The road into the park is not too good and there’s no place to drop the trailer. We bypass the people crush at the park in favor of visiting the Painted Hills overlook.

Painted Hills Visitors Center

The overlook stands on an “unstable” cliff. A father had talked his teenage son into climbing the rail fence to better pose him for a photo while mom looked on. The son pointed out the sign below. Dad said “How bad can it be? They let us stand on this side of the fence don’t they?” WOW!

Off we go. We are spending a couple of nights in Dickinson, ND. Not sure what we’ll do but we are a little road weary- and the smoke from wildfires in the West has greatly diminished.

August 19, 2017- Trip Day #17

We left Billings this morning. We are not in a hurry but we still pulled out at 0800 hours. I couldn’t screw up our route today as we only need to travel east on I-90 to I-94 and head towards North Dakota. If I miss that junction we’d wind up in Wyoming or South Dakota! All goes as planned as we swing northeast on the 94.

Our first impression of the territory around us is that it is rugged. Almost badlands rugged. We pass the Pompey’s Pillar National Monument turnoff as I have second thoughts of visiting that historical location.

The monument was used as one of William Clarks navigational landmarks during the Lewis and Clark Expedition back in 1806. He even inscribed the rock and that inscription is preserved today. Bad decision on my part. Unfortunately the signage to most places does not include mileage anymore. Pompeys Pillar was less than 2 miles from the interstate….. crap!

We travel from badlands to prairie, back to very eroded hills, to prairie following the Yellowstone River all the while. A rest stop sign enlightens us to the importance of this area. William Clark stopped at the convergence of the Yellowstone and Bighorn Rivers to camp and reconnoiter on his way back from the Pacific Ocean in 1806. A year later a fella named Manuel Lisa established a trading post at the same location- the first building in what is now the state of Montana. Lisa sent John Coulter out to contact the Indians to let them know that he would trade for furs. In Coulters quest for Indians he discovered what is now Yellowstone National Park.

We continue on and stop in a town known as Forsyth. Ya never know what you’ll find in a small town and we found that it is the seat of Rosebud County…. and its celebrating an event that requires blocking the main drag.

No problem- we maneuver around the back side and wind up at the county courthouse. The courthouse was built in 1914 with a budget of $125,000 but went over budget by $40,000. The county refused to pay the contractor the extra cash, the contractor locked himself inside the courthouse. That all came to an end when the court awarded the contractor what was due him. By the way, the town looks like its had better days.

We continue heading towards North Dakota. Our destination is Miles City, MT. On a mowed field we spy pronghorns grazing in field stubble. We pull into Miles City before noon, our second seat.

Miles City is the seat of Custer County and is obviously more prosperous than Forsyth. The place is named for General Nelson Miles who is credited with the subjugation of the remaining “uncontrolled” Native Americans in the 1880’s. According to Miles his larger problem was the sellers of spirits to his troops so he kicked them out of camp- but they just moved a short ways from the fort and established what is now Miles City.

Miles City is home to the infamous Range Riders Museum. According to the Miles City Visitors Guide 2009 edition, “The Range Riders Museum captures the essence of area ranches, railroads, Indian villages, Fort Keogh and all the things that make south-eastern Montana special and historical.” And that it does. If you have a spare couple of hours to do the museum justice, drop on in.

We overnight in the Miles City KOA. Nothing fancy but all necessary amenities are offered. Even a very small swimming pool. It’s located on the south side of town near the confluence of the Tongue and Yellowstone Rivers. We are under cottonwood trees to block the hot sun. This park could be really nice if the grass wasn’t browned out and the pads gravel renewed.

Tomorrow we head to new territory- North Dakota and the town of Dickinson.

August 18, 2017- Trip Day 16

We were up early this morning in anticipation of a 250 mile travel day. 250 miles isn’t that far but we were hellbent on keeping the mileage down to 200 or less. We are on our way at 0730 hours. Adios Lincoln RV Park and Helena!

We jump on Interstate 15 southbound intending to travel to Butte, catch Interstate 90 East and head towards Billings. What could go wrong? I’ve Google Mapped the route twice…… all is well. Just past Helena Jil says “I’m sure glad we’re only going 198 miles today!” Gulp!!! I reply “More like 248.” We are both wrong. One of the shortests routes is around 230 miles. It traverses over hill and dale down country roads- our kind of road. The other routes are around 250 miles, also following country roads. How-some-ever, I chose the interstate routes for sheer speed of travel……. the only thing I forgot was to change the routing on Google Maps………. sigh……. this route is at least 50 miles farther!

For You, Bernice!

For You, Bernice!

Building A Dam Above Butte                       Butte, Montana

Oh well, we are committed to the interstates. We pass Montana City (2700 souls), our last chance, unbeknownst to us, to reroute and head down towards Butte. Butte is Montana’s fifth largest city at 34000 souls and is the seat of Silver Bow County. The area is home to some of the richest copper mines in the country. One such famous mine is the Anaconda. We chose to bypass Butte and head east on I-90.

Pulling the grade to Homestake Pass we see a fellow traveler has laid his sport utility and Airstream trailer on their sides. Emergency services are on the scene. We pray that they are OK. We grunt over the Continental Divide at Homestake Pass (elevation 6329). Water now flows towards the Mississippi. We pass a few small burgs, namely Whitehall, Pipestone and Caldwell in the Jefferson River Valley. The entire population of Jefferson County numbers 11,000 souls. We are on our way to Three Forks.

Three Forks State Park is a historically significant area. The confluence of the Madison, Jefferson and Gallatin Rivers form the Missouri River, the longest single river in North America as well as the major portion of the Missouri-Mississippi River system from Three Forks to the Mississippi Delta. The rivers were named after President Jefferson, Secretary of State Madison and Treasury Secretary Gallatin by Merriweather Lewis. Sacajawea, the Corp of Discovery Indian guide is from this area. Lewis and Clark reached the confluence on July 28th, 1805.

We pass a number of small ranching communities and reach Bozeman (37000 souls), fourth largest in the state) the seat of Gallatin County. The town is named after John Bozeman, who opened the Bozeman Trail in 1863. Nelson Story successfully drove 1000 head of cattle into Paradise Valley, just east of Bozeman in 1866. He later donated the land to the state for the establishment of Montana State University- Bozeman.

We finally reach the Yellowstone River Valley at Livington (pop. 7000). Livingston is the seat of Park County. This ranching and railroading towns founding is a direct result of the Northern Pacific Railroad. From here we will follow the Yellowstone all the way to Billings.

We stop in Big Timber but not before seeing the sign “Crazy Mountains”. The name Crazy Mountains is said to be a shortened form of the name “Crazy Woman Mountains” given them, in compliment to their original Crow name, after a woman who went insane and lived in them after her family was killed in the westward settlement movement. Big Timber (1600 souls) takes its name from Big Timber Creek, so named by William Clark for the big cottonwood trees, is a good stop for us. There is a little coffee shop right on the main highway that also sharpens chainsaw blades. We stop and purchase two coffees and a delicious slice of spice cake. We are fresh out of chainsaw blades………

We pass at least five more small farming communities before reaching Billings and the Billings Village RV Park, our stop for the night. Billings is the largest city in the state at 166,000 souls with a trade area of 1/2 a million. Billings ,originally founded as a railroad town, is the seat of Yellowstone County. The city avoided the economic downturn due to the proximity of the Bakken oil development in eastern Montana and western North Dakota, the largest oil discovery in American history, as well as the Heath shale oil discovery just north of town. Billings also boasts more hotel accommodations than any area within a five state radius. As a result it hosts many conventions, concerts and sporting events. Within a 100 mile radius lies attractions such as Pompey’s Pillar, Pictograph Cave, Chief Plenty Coups State Park, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Red Lodge Mountain Resort, and the infamous Beartooth Highway to Yellowstone National Park. Whew!

Night All. I’m tired………….

Thursday, August 17, 2017- Trip Days 14&15

Yesterday, August 16th was a pleasant trip day. We took our time and really didn’t travel that far. I-90 follows the Clark Fork River for a long way. It was in our view quite often except when the canyons broadened out into valleys. We passed many ranches on the way. Most didn’t look too large, more like family operations.

We drove past Drummond, a town of 300 souls, and stop in Gold Creek or Goldcreek. I’ve seen it spelled both ways. Interesting fact-the community Gold Creek (Goldcreek?) doesn’t exist on the internet even though it has a post office- but the creek there is historical. The first recorded gold found in Montana was found here in 1862 but not enough to make it commercially viable. What the creek lacks in gold the community makes up with the Dinnerbell, a combination deli and bakery, store and restaurant. Popular at the Dinnerbell is the Mennonite family style dinner  that starts off with a prayer on Thursdays. To partake in the fried chicken or meat loaf, vegetable, salad, fresh homemade rolls and homemade pies one must have a reservation!

On the advice of a friend we overshoot the turnoff to Helena in order to visit Grant-Kohrs Ranch located in Deer Lodge (3100 souls). The working cattle ranch is run 24/7 by National Park Service employees, Rangers and volunteers. Johnny Grant first owned the ranch and lived in what he called a leather lodge (teepee) that he got from an Indian in exchange for a horse. Conrad Kohrs opened a butcher shop. Grant build a 4000 square foot house in 1862 and 5000 square feet was added to that home by Kohrs in 1890. Augusta Kohrs salvaged the bug ridden house in a “war of extermination”. Over time she acquired the finest things in life, luxurious furnishings, Pershian rugs, the finest china. The ranch house is open to the public as are the grounds. When we visited a volunteer fella had a chuck wagon on display and offered us cowboy coffee he had made over the campfire. A blacksmith was busy making andirons in the blacksmith shop. And Miles, a volunteer cowboy was mounted on Fox, a quarter horse who lives on the ranch. We enjoyed the information that the knowledgeable volunteers and Rangers shared, and the ranch is beautiful.

We backtrack to Garrison and turn towards Helena on highway 12 this time following the Little Blackfoot River. Eventually we leave the river and go over 6100′ McDonald Pass  which is on the continental divide. Great views would have been had looking down towards Helena Valley but again- thick smoke!

We are staying at Lincoln Road RV Park just north of town. Not the prettiest park but it has full hookups, a laundry and is fairly quiet. We took the rest of the afternoon off, taking time to run down to Hauser Lake and Lake Helena.

Megan snuck in a few dunks in Hauser and fetched a couple of sticks. She is definitely on report as mutzos are allowed “on leash” only!

Today, August 17th, we headed into town to visit the Montana State Capital, downtown Helena and the Cathedral of St. Helena. Helena (28,000 souls) doubles as the state capital and the seat of Lewis and Clark County. It was established as a very successful gold camp in the 1860’s. Over 3.6 billion dollars worth of gold were mined in 20 years. Helena became one of the richest cities in the U.S. and that wealth contributed to the city’s prominent abundant Victorian architecture.

The capitol building is as magnificent as any you will see. Walking through the hallways it was fairly obvious that the legislature was out of session as there were no security folks around. The colorful history of the Helena Valley and the city are a good read.

Next we visit the magnificent Cathedral of St. Helena. She was constructed at the beginning of the 20th century. It is fashioned after the Votive Church of the Sacred Heart in Vienna, Austria. The statues and altars are carved from the purist Carrara marble, and genuine gold leaf decorates the sanctuary.

The pews are hand carved oak. The special lighting fixtures are hand-forged bronze. The spires outside soar 230 feet above street level. We are in awe of this beautiful cathedral.

Downtown Helena is interesting. Some of the streets follow the original layout of the old gold mining days where the roads meandered around mining claims and followed the gulch. The downtown area has a two block long pedestrian mall in amongst the old stone and brick multistory buildings.

It’s a pretty downtown as downtowns go. The surrounding residential neighborhoods are tree lined beauties. Many of the Victorian era homes still survive. The strangest building architecturally is the Community Civic Center building.

Construction began in 1919 as the Western District Algeria Shrine Temple. The building, which resembles a mosque is the Moorish Revival style, was purchased by the city after the 1935 earthquake. Today civic events are held in the auditorium as well as housing county offices.

1800’s One Room School House/ Modern Man’s Attempt to Build Same

Tomorrow we saddle up and head towards Billings.

August 15, 2017- Travel Day 13

Yesterday we motored down to Bretz RV in Missoula. On the way we stopped at St. Ignatius Mission in a town named after same.

The mission was built in the early 1890’s. 58 of its murals were painted by a monk that was there as a cook. The mission is beautiful. While there we met the Franciscan Priest assigned there. He’s new with 3 months of service there but he has served in Iraq. He was very knowledgeable of the places we wanted to visit. He recommended visiting the Cathedral in downtown Missoula as its artwork is just as fascinating as that of St. Ignatius.

The 133 miles went by quickly and before long we are backed in to an overnight spot at Bretz RV, Missoula. The dealer offers electrical power and water- the essentials. I check in to the service department as a “sandwich” job with no appointment. The service manager stated that we could be waiting to have our new air conditioner installed until Friday. Yikes! Today is Monday!

We decide to go exploring. The rig is closed up into the travel position and power disconnected so the in the slim to non chance the service guys move the rig into a service bay nothing will restrict them from doing so. Traffic is horrible on Reserve Street (US 93).  We head towards downtown. Traffic is horrible!

We reach downtown and head towards the St. Francis Xavier Church. The church was built about the same time as St. Ingatius. It also has a large collection of hand painted pictures. So beautiful. We spend some time at a park walking Megan, then head back. THE 5TH WHEEL IS GONE! Yippee! The Bretz boys are working on her!

OK, we have to cool our heels for a few hours…… what to do? We head to the Rocky Mountain Elk Center located just a couple of miles north. The center contains large, relatively new buildings. The largest states that it is for the use of volunteers. Another large- but not as large- building is where the visitors center is located. The public area is not terribly large. The displays are mostly of stuffed elk with a smattering of other species. Some history going back to Lewis and Clark is present. Outside a “nature trail” with minimal signage explains what one is viewing. The nature trail, in my opinion is a fizzle. We take one last look around  at the opulence of the structures compared to what is actually presented to the public and figure….. giant government grant!

Next we head east and wonder around the University of Montana, Missoula.

We head east on I-90 and visit Bonner and Milltown just to kill time. Bonner is interesting in that it’s an old company town. They are easy to distinguish as the houses look the same. It’s now 4 pm.

We are tired of driving. We head back to Bretz………. and….. the rig is ready to pick up! Yeah!!! We pay our bill and thank the service people profusely for squeezing us in and spitting us out this afternoon. We hook up and head towards Jim and Mary’s RV Park.

Jim and Mary’s RV Park is located a few miles back on US 93. The park is highly recommended and now we know why. It is a well treed, well maintained park- a real beauty. We set up and relax. It’s been a long day and we deserve a little time to kick back.

August 14, 2017- Travel Days 9-12

We arrived in the Whitefish area last Friday and spent the rest of that day setting up camp, wrestling the satellite dish aiming ritual to a successful standstill, and relaxing. Glacier Peaks Storage and RV Park is a no nonsense park. No real extra amenities here, just full hookups and the shade of tall conifers. The park is easy to find if you know what to look for…. 😉

This is What to Look For!

Saturday we joined Jil’s sister’s family down at their cabin near Rollins on Flathead Lake. Their abode used to be part of a Methodist camp that featured several small cabins that stepped down a hillside towards the lake. Most of the cabins have been upgraded to make them more comfortable. A sandy beach with a boat dock is shared by all of the homeowners. Two boats, a bunch of kayaks, a stand up style paddle board, all with assorted safety paraphernalia are close at hand. Two Quik Shades offer relief from the very warm sun. We meet the in-laws, and their kids. The group totals about 14 folks. The kids go swimming, kayaking and exploring while some of the adults just yack. After several hours Jil and I take our leave.

Kim and Dave’s Grandkids               Jil (Eva) and Kim (Zaza)

We are hungry but don’t find a shady place where we can leave our muttzo in the truck. We look for a place where we can take out food. We are not successful until we reach the little village of Somers. Somers Bay Cafe is willing to accommodate us. I order two burgers, one with a side of fries, the other onion rings. Only one order for one person is ahead of mine so this should be quick. I occupy myself by walking around the small cafe admiring the photos of old time Somers back when it had a thriving lumber company. Today the village is just a nice place to visit if one is looking for a place that serves good food that happens to be right next to a wonderful hardware store. Which by the way, are the only two businesses in the old downtown district. I won’t count the mom-and-pop store-turned-casino a block down the street. The hamburgers come out after an extraordinarily long wait (didn’t seem long, it was really, really long!). They are scrumptious, as are the fries and onion rings- well worth waiting for. Mission accomplished- we are full!

Somers Bay Cafe/ Old Barn Near Downtown Somers

It’s Saturday, our tummies are full and it’s hot, in excess of 90 degrees. We look forward to relaxing in our nice, cool RV. Ugh, it’s hotter inside the coach than out! The A/C has failed. What to do? Aha! Call the many area mobile RV repair folks. I call one- “leave a message”. I call the next- “leave a message”! I call the third- “leave a message”! Ai Caramba. So I went out and bought a fancy hazza gazza of a floor fan to move solar heated air around and around inside the coach…… it helped but is not the same as refrigerated air.

Sunday the heat breaks- Thank You Lord! Rain clouds come in cooling the afternoon air to the mid 70’s. It rains some off and on. We drive around the Whitefish area exploring, unknown to us, territory. We visit Whitefish State Park on Whitefish Lake. It’s beautiful but the sites are too small for our trailer. At least the smoke has lifted some…….

We drive out US 93 to a horse farm and spend time admiring several of the majestic animals.

Monday Morning- no calls from “mobile RV repair guys”. I call each of them again. One finally calls back and said he’s booked for 10 days. Another calls and says he’s out of town for 10 days. Phooey! The one that was advertised as “called back promptly and does excellent work” never did call back. I call two local RV service centers and neither are a help- no time to effect repair/replace of A/C unit and/or no A/C unit available for 10 days. The last mobile repair guy calls back but I beat him to the punch. I’ve located the right A/C unit in Missoula, which was not easy to do, and we have an appointment to have it installed on a “we’ll squeeze you in when we can” basis at Bretz RV. Hah!…… this could be a several day ordeal. At least they say we can stay in our RV and offer power and water.

We spent the rest of the day with Jil’s sister Kim. Her family, grandkids, grandpa and some of the parents were out sheering sheep at a sheep ranch. Or maybe they were just going to watch them being sheered? Either way, Kim and Jil parallel talked about two different subjects simultaneously and completely understood what the other was saying. I sat there amazed as most guys would. We said our goodbyes, see you soon’s and gave each other a hug. It was a nice visit with nice folks.

We didn’t visit nearby Glacier National Park this trip- too many people and couldn’t see the glaciers for the smoke. Business in the local towns is down due to low visibility.

A Peak in Glacier National Park; Going To The Sun Road

Tonight we picked up what was not needed for the night and cleaned inside the coach in preparation for an early getaway tomorrow morning. We have an appointment to keep in Missoula at Bretz RV to have our new A/C unit installed and can’t be late! Hope they can complete the job tomorrow…… fingers crossed!

August 11- August 14, 2017- Travel Days 9-12

We are spending the next four nights in and around Whitefish. We drove through downtown Kalispell to Glacier Peaks RV Park which is actually just west of downtown Columbia Falls. We are close to three local burgs, Kalispell, Whitefish and Columbia Falls and the mighty Flathead Lake here. Jil’s sister Kim, her hubby Dave and her son Dillon, Kim’s grandkids Maci and Flynn all live in Whitefish, a town of 6300 souls. Whitefish is popular with US citizens as well as Canucks as Whitefish is a short 60 miles from the border. Whitefish offers downhill skiing on Big Mountain, riding snowmobiles through the forest and ice skating in the winter, water sports and fishing on the Whitefish River and beautiful Whitefish Lake in the summer.

Whitefish developed around the Great Northern Railroad. Originally called Stumptown due to the abundant timber that needed to be cleared to build the town and the railroad. As the lumber industry became less important the tourist industry rose to what it is today. The historic Whitefish Depot saw 68,000 people embark and disembark in 2006. US Highway 93 is the main thoroughfare; during peak season that rode is bumper to bumper with traffic.

Kalispell, Salish for “flat land above the (Flathead) lake” is the seat of Flathead County and is the most populous city in the county. The Micropolitan Statistical Area reports a population of over 93,000 souls. Besides being a commercial hub to northwest Montana, Kalispell serves as the gateway to Whitefish Mountain Ski Resort, Glacier National Park, many golf courses and of course, Flathead Lake.

A Little Kalispell Whimsy in Upper Photos

Columbia Falls (4600 souls) is northeast of Kalispell. US Highway 2 runs through it as does the Flathead River. The Montana Veterans Home is located here. If you like to “recreate” this is the place. Swimming, hiking, visiting Glacier N.P., river raft trips and camping are available in the summer. Winter activities include dog sledding, cross country skiing, snowmobiling, ice skating and ice fishing are all available.

August 11, 2017- Trip Day #9

We bid adieu to the lovely Powell Campground and travel east to the summit of Lolo Pass on our way to the Bitterroot Valley.

We also say goodbye to Idaho at that point and enter Montana. The road on the east side of Lolo pass is much smoother, wider and a more gentle slope as it follows Lolo Creek down towards the town of Lolo. We pass numerous ranches and more than a few fire camps and fire drop points. We meet momma moose standing on one side of the highway looking towards the other. She’s waiting for her baby. The few motorists stop and wait for baby to catch up. Then they disappear into the woods. We are still on the path that Lewis and Clark took in 1805 but I think we have it much easier than they. No paved roads for them and no gigantor home on wheels either!

Speaking of the Nez Perce and the ongoing saga with the US Calvary……. the eastern slope of the Bitterroots down the highway 12 corridor is rich in the history of 1877. The peace loving Nez Perce attempted to evade the US Calvary, and they do a darned good job of it. The US forces determined that the Indians were headed down to the Bitterroot Valley via well worn Indian trails. In his infinite wisdom, the commander ordered his troops to build a fort/barricade in a rather large meadow. He intended to block the Nez Perce escape but the Indians got wind of it and just went around the fortress. ‘Nuf said!

At Lolo we turn north on US 93 skirting downtown Missoula. After several miles we turn west onto I-90 where we rejoin US 93. The road takes us through some hill country then to a large plain. We pass through quaint Arlee (600 souls), named after Salish Chief Alee. No the chief’s name is not misspelled as the Salish alphabet has no “r”. Native Salish is spoken in Arlee. The town hosts a popular Pow Wow and rodeo during the July 4th weekend.

Next comes St. Ignatius (840 souls). This town is located on the Flathead Indian Reservation. Not surprisingly, 40% of the population is Native American. St. Ignatius Mission, founded in 1854 by Father Pierre-Jean De Smet is located on the edge

of town. According to literature, the most exceptional feature is the 58 murals painted by Brother Joseph Carignano, an untrained artist who worked at the mission as a cook. We plan to visit the mission on our way back towards Missoula at a later date.

Above photos taken from same location; 2015 on left, 2017 on right

We now travel north through the beautiful (except for thick wildfire smoke) Mission Valley, the Mission Mountains to our right are all but invisible due to said smoke. Ronan (1800 souls) is also on the Flathead Indian Reservation, in the Mission Valley and 12 miles south of Flathead Lake. Native Americans make up 33% of its population. It serves as the agricultural hub of Mission Valley.

Our travel through the beautiful Mission Valley is disappointing and only because of the dense smoke. The beautiful views that we’ve seen in past travels are reduced to brown silhouettes of almost everything including the mountains. Crap! But as Jil says, “You get what you get when you travel”- or something like that.

Polson lies on the southern shore of immense Flathead Lake (4400 souls), also is located in the Mission Valley, is the seat of Lake County and yes, is on the Flathead Indian Reservation, phew! It’s interesting to note that the White Eyes outnumber the First People nearly 5 to 1 here. Could it be that the Flatheads have an aversion to White Man’s politics?

We skirt the western banks of the Flathead Lake, the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. It is the remnant of a massive glacial damned lake, Lake Missoula. To give one a comparison to LARGE lakes it is only slightly larger than Lake Tahoe and contains a significantly less volume of water.

The first town we come to Big Arm (131 souls), then Elmo, a small village (140 souls) comprised mainly of First Nation folks. It’s noted for its delicious Flathead cherries and hosting the Standing Arrow Pow Wow. Next is Dayton (pop. 95)- a wonderful place to launch one’s sailboat in order to explore Wildhorse Island State Park. Rollins (183 souls) is a few miles up the road. It offers wonderful beaches, the nice Rollins Restaurant and RV Park with Boat Docks (best burgers on the lake!). In front of the RV park is M&S Meats & Sausage. The shop is well known for its buffalo meats and sausage as well as more traditional products.

Lakeside, a resort community, is the largest on the west shore of Flathead Lake- and the most commercial. It has increased 600 folks since 2010, now with 2600 souls. It lies in Flathead County. The median family income here is more than four times greater than that of Elmo!

The last village on the lake on the way to Kalispell, Whitefish, Columbia Falls and Glacier National Park is Somers. Somers population has doubled in less than 20 years to 1100 souls. The downtown district consists of a hardware store and the Somers Bay Cafe…… period. A few blocks down in a mainly residential area is a small casino (looks like a converted corner market) and a couple of churches. Somers is a sleepy little community today but has not always been:

In 1909, the Industrial Worker, a newspaper published out of Seattle by the Industrial Workers of the World, described Somers thus:^[2]

The nearest approach to hell on earth is at Somers, Mont. The principal industry at Somers is sawing railroad ties for Jim Hill. Jimmy owns everything around Somers including the water, docks, sawmills, county roads, and all the land that the town is situated on. Jimmy also owns the United States postoffice and nearly all the judges and lawyers in Flathead county.

— F. W. Heslewood

August 10, 2017- Trip Day #8

We left McCall and headed northwest on Highway 55. We’ve been on Mountain Time since we left Vale, Oregon. We assumed that once in the more eastern state of Idaho that we would stay in the Pacific Time Zone. Whoa, cowboy! Not so fast there pardner! We now know it’s true that the southern part of Idaho is in the Mountain Time Zone, the northern Idaho is in Pacific Time. So as we turn on highway 95 and head north towards Riggins, a town of 420 souls, we are still on Mountain time.

North of Riggins, right across the Salmon River Bridge we are back in the Pacific time zone! What the hey! So begins the strange time……zone!

Riggins is nestled deep in a canyon at the confluence of the Salmon and Little Salmon Rivers at 1800′ in elevation. As Riggins is the northwestern most town in the Mountain time zone, US-95 is the only highway for the state that connects the panhandle to the south. The town claims to be Idaho’s Whitewater Capital and well it could be. Rafting, kayaking are very popular as are fishing and hunting. The Seven Devil’s Mountains and Hell’s Canyon National Recreation area close by.

We pass a couple of small burgs following the ever beautiful and ever deepening Salmon Canyon where the river twists and turns flowing lazily, then a flurry of whitewater. Before climbing out of the canyon we pass White Bird. The town of 91 folks is named after the Nez Perce chief that lead his people to the first fight and a significant defeat of the U.S. Army in 1877. The entire area is like traveling through an American history museum. Signage is mostly dedicated to the Nez Perce people, how they lived and how the U.S. tried to remove them from their homeland so that the west could be settled by emigrants, miners and others. It’s interesting to note that before the army, the settlers and the miners made their presence the Native Americans and fur trappers and traders got along well together.

US-95 climbs the 2100 vertical feet out of Salmon Canyon onto the Camas Prairie. Native Americans coveted the camas plant root as food.

The Nez Perce depended on the root for sustenance. The women would dig up the camas bulbs using elkhorn tied to wood digging sticks. After being cleaned the bulbs were piled on a bed of grass on hot stones and place over a fire pit and steamed. Once cooked they were dried. The extensive cooking broke down a good portion of the starch content to sugar, producing a sweet potato- like flavor. The story goes when the Corp of Discovery, i.e., Lewis and Clark Expedition arrived gaunt and starving, the Nez Perce offered them camas root to eat. The root didn’t agree with the guts of most of the men and caused them a lot of grief for an extended period of time.

On the prairie is Grangeville (3100 souls). Grangeville is the seat of Idaho County. The city appears to be a farming community (large silos appear from a distance) but farming is #4  here. Construction is #1 with retail and manufacturing numbers 2 & 3. A railroad ran to it until 2000 but proved not profitable and was discontinued. It’s a pleasant little town with nice residents. It’s also where we leave US 95 in favor of highway 13.

Highway 13 leads us east down into a steep canyon to the south fork of the Clearwater River, then north following the river valley through Harpster, Stites to Kooskia. From Kooskia (pronounced Kooskee) we turn east onto highway 12 into the Bitterroots and follow the Clearwater River upstream to Lowell. At Lowell the confluence of the Lochsa and Selway Rivers form the middle fork of the Clearwater.

Our destination for the day is Powell Campground. Powell is a nice US National Forest campground that offers electrical power in its RV sites. At 3700 feet the camp is deep in the forest and beautiful. Lochsa Lodge is nearby. We’ll spend the night here.

August 10, 2017- More Photos, Hopefully Less Blabber

Since arriving in McCall we’ve traveled around a little. We drove south through a portion of Long Valley to Donelly, historic Roseberry, Donnelly and Tamarack Resort Village. We’ve met with Rob and Kathy every day for a good yack session. And we’ve driven to Ponderosa State Park’s North Shore where Megan went for a dip. In between we’ve done some grocery shopping, RV fixin’, truck washin’, and BBQing. Need I mention the multiple daily walks with Megan?

The one place I want to mention more than any is Tamarack Resort Village, the first new ski resort built in 23 years. History: After a few name changes and sputters construction began in 2003 with the first ski lift operating in 2004 with a total of 62 ski runs, 7 chair lifts, two golf courses planned. A large multi-story lodge was built and work started on a large inn. A lot of this multi million dollar project (closer to $1.5 billion) was financed through the sale of residential properties within the resort. The existing homes are gorgeous, by the way. The majority owners filed for bankruptcy in 2008, Tamarack was closed to the public. However, the golf course stayed open. More than rumor has it that the developer Jean-Pierre somebody absconded with the funds and fled to Europe somewhere. A lot of large buildings currently sit in decaying condition, the exteriors only wrapped in Tyvek, a material used for weatherproofing underlayment, not an exterior finish. Apparently a bunch of homeowners are trying to revive the resort to protect their investment and I hope they do. Finished, Tamarack is a world class resort.

We are traveling to Montana via highway 12 over Lolo Pass- the same route that Lewis and Clark took to the Pacific Ocean in 1805. It should be beautiful following the Clearwater River, then the Lochsa. We are staying at Powell Campground, an unusual US National Forest campground in that each RV site has electrical power.

August 7, 2017- Trip DAYS 4, 5, &6

McCall, a town of 2900 souls, is a beautiful mountain town located on the southern shore of Payette Lake. At 5000′ in elevation the area is rift with conifers. A nearby state park is named after them- Ponderosa State Park. Originally a logging community whose last mill closed in 1978 McCall is now a tourist destination. 100 miles to the south in the warm Surprise Valley lies Boise whose population seeks water skiing, wake boarding, sailboating, camping and other summer outdoor activities offered in the McCall area. The resort town is also popular in the winter offering alpine skiing and its popular Winter Carnival.

Aerial Photo McCall & Payette Lake

The only problem I see with McCall is actually what keeps it thriving- the throng of people! It’s population can triple or quadruple during busy months. Highway 55 is a two lane road that leads from Boise through downtown McCall. The speed limit is posted at 25 mph. There is side traffic and frequent pedestrian crossings that fill with inattentive pedestrians. There are two signaled intersections and neither one of them are downtown. There is so much traffic it is almost impossible to merge onto highway 55 from a parking lot. Other than that, I love the place- before 0800 in the morning (before traffic builds)!

Large Crowds on Small Beaches

Jil and I are staying at the McCall RV Resort. It’s location is ideal. Close to town, off the beaten path, right next to McCall airport. Not a gripe, but aircraft engines definitely lack mufflers. Most of them take off fairly early in the morning leaving the rest of the day quiet. Once in a blue moon a private jet will take off. I’ve never had a private jet sound like it’s flying right through my RV! Anyhow, the resort is located on the Payette River. The grounds are manicured grass and beautiful flower beds. It has a large lodge/office the sites are large with grass and trees in between the pads. The work- campers and regular employees always have a smile on their face. We love it and they love it.

We’ve met with Rob and Kathy, Jil’s brother and sister in law a few times. Lots of reminiscing and catching up on current family happenings. Last night we went out to dinner at the Shore Lodge, an upscale place for sure with a great location right on Payette Lake. Good food and beautiful views had by all!

Shore Lodge

A SHORTER TRAVEL DAY

August 5, 2017- Day 3

I’ve made a little change to the look of this blog. Can you detect the difference from previous blogs?

The Vale Trails RV Park is a basic park on the edge of Vale. It’s within walking distance of downtown. There are some long term campers here but about half are short term and overnighters. The road adjacent to the park carries quite a bit of traffic but its not unbearable. This morning at dawn the Harleys fire up. Man, they sound close! Well they are! Four bikers came in last night and tent camped 150 feet away. Of course if you own one of those ungodly noisy bikes one must fire them up a half hour before departing and let them idle. However, if you can’t hear their motors idling one must gun the engine everyone and then. God, how I love those Harleys! The bikers all departed before 0730.

Downtown Ontario, Oregon

We packed up, hitched up and walked the dog before heading out by 0800 hours. Our route will take us into Ontario, Oregon where we will head up highway 95 to New Meadows, Idaho, then to highway 55 to McCall and our destination for a few days. Ontario is a snap to drive through this time of morning. Our problem arises when the truck’s onboard navigation system recommends a route that seems to take us out of our way. Jil looks up the directions on her “smart” phone which seem to be more direct. We are guided by Jil’s “smart” phone. Truck navigation reroutes in response. Truck and “smartie” systems again don’t jive. I ignore both of their recommendations. Truck and “smartie” go nuts. I’ve been in Ontario before and remember the best route for our 53′ length and 12.5′ of height. Both systems issue warnings of misdirection- “Danger Will Robinson, Danger”! Ah fooey with you guys I tell them. I’ve got it now…. RELAX!

Historic Weiser Train Depot

Navigating through Ontario presents no problems and we merge onto highway 95 and soon are back out into the country. Traffic is light as we drive by fields of corn and sorghum. Crossing the Snake River bring us to the State of Idaho. The town of Weiser (pronounced Weezer), a town of 5000 souls lies on its banks. No one knows who the town was named for but one Weiser was a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the other a trapper-turned-miner. Weiser is the seat of Washington County and is known for its area orchards, farms and livestock. The town was founded in anticipation of the opening of Olds Ferry across from Farewell Bend in 1861.

Pythian Building, Weiser

From Weiser the road takes us through bottom land, up over tall hills down to more bottom land. That scenario repeats itself several times. We come to the crest of one hill to find a roadside sign stating “Low Visibility Area Ahead”. Yep, that meant cold smoke had settled into the valley below. We pass through tiny Midvale, then not quite as small Cambridge (325 souls), which is the second largest town in Washington County behind Weiser. Cambridge is host to the Washington County Fair and Rodeo which is in full swing as we pass through.

The Sorta Famous Bucky’s Cafe

More farmland, a narrow steep walled canyon which the Weiser River runs through, and more rolling hills before we reach the seat of Adams County. Council (830 souls) was mourning the loss of one of their finest in Iraq when we passed through two years ago. He left a wife and and infant child. So sad. This time we stop at the ranger station and find Smoke Jumpers! The men and women are deep into their morning exercise routine- 200 pushups, 100 burpees, 200 sit ups, 1 thousand pull ups, 40 mile sprints. OK, I exaggerate a wee bit, but they were working up a sweat. I asked one if they had fought fire. The reply- “not yet, but we are getting ready”. Go with God, my friends, and be safe.

Two Block Long Downtown Council

OK, now we are heading uphill into pine country following the Weiser River canyon for miles. It’s really pretty up here. We pass a few cabins and the Tamarack Lumber Mill. The mill is situated on both sides of highway 95. The mill prides itself in the fact that only 1% of a log ends up unusable waste. That, to me, is incredible. A few miles past the mill is New Meadows, a community of just less than 500 souls. It is located at the intersection of US. 95 and Idaho State 55. The town hosts the last surviving Pacific and Idaho Northern depot, a significant cultural and historical resource, listed on the National Register of Historical Places. Without the P.I.N. railroad New Meadows would arguably not exist.

The area around New Meadow is an outdoorsman’s heaven. Hunting, fishing, alpine skiing and off roading are close by. To the north lies Riggins- the Gateway to the Salmon River. Travel east and one can visit Payette Lake and the lakeside community of McCall. We travel over Idaho 55 past ranch land then up a steep, narrow canyon. Reaching the crest the road takes us to the very popular resort town of McCall. Traffic is heavy on its two lane main street as the town of 3000 swells to 10,000 at times. This might be one of those times!

Our layover here includes a 5 night stay at the super nice McCall RV Resort. Jil’s brother and sister in law live in town. The last time we visited was two years ago. We have a lot of catching up to do. So two and a half days of travel brings us to the first of three planned visits.

And the smoke from all of the wildfires lingers on…………………..

Lakeview, Oregon to Vale, Oregon

We are awakened by the sound of MOOOooooo, MOOOoooo. The cattle are not in camp but close. The only thing that needs picking up outside is the power cord and a couple of leveling blocks, inside everything is stowed for travel. We are off at 0730 hours.

We drive by several cows, one with a yearling calf. The ones closest to the gravel road seemed perturbed that we have the audacity to want to drive past them. After a little “coaxing” they relent and move farther away allowing us to pass. We drive back to highway 140, then to north US 395 to continue our journey towards Idaho.

We had hoped to outrun the immense cloud of smoke being produced by multiple wildfires but that hope was dashed at the highway 31 and US 395 junction in Valley Falls. A big flashing sign with the words “Entering Active Fire Area” in bold greets us. Crap! It doesn’t specify that the road is closed nor how far up the road the fire may be. We decide to push on towards Riley and highway 20 knowing that we may have to turn back. Oh well, it’s only 95 miles to Riley. If we have to turn back we really don’t have an alternate route without going several hundred miles out of our way. What have we got to lose?

We skirt Lake Abert, a very large, very shallow alkali lake. Next comes the metropolis of Wagontire, named after local Wagontire Mountain. From 1986 to 1997 Wagontire was home to just two people, the Warners. The complex consists of a gas station, a motel, cafe, RV park, general store and of course, an airport which is on the other side of the road. When pilots land they had to taxi across US 395 to fuel up! As far as I can tell, the community is still owned by two folks. We stop at a roadside rest where we talk to a fella who has first hand knowledge of the nearby wildfire. He states that the fire doesn’t pose a problem right now, that firefighters have set up a base camp in Riley and we might run into fire companies staged along side the road. We see lots of smoke and a few areas of actively burning brush in the distance as we travel north.

Reaching Riley the firefighters base camp is clearly visible in a large pasture. It’s not a big camp, or at least not many firefighters are in camp. We turn east onto Oregon Highway 20 and travel towards Burns. The fire is behind us but more smoke lies ahead.

Firefighters Base Camp in Riley

Burns (pop. 2800) is the seat of Harney County, ninth largest county in the U.S. at 10,000 square miles. 60% of the county’s population lives in Burns and nearby Hines (1600 souls). Cattle ranching and alfalfa farming are important to this area, so are annual events like the migratory bird festival, county fair and a county music jamboree.

Downtown Burns & Locals unappreciative of the Bundys

So in a little over two hours we travel the remaining 113 miles to Vale, Oregon. Much of the road follows the Malheur River which flows through gorges, canyons and valleys on it’s way to the confluence with the Snake River.

Vale, Oregon, 1900 souls, is the seat of Malhuer County. The town lies at the confluence of  the Malheur River and Bully Creek and the intersection of highways 20 and 26. The community was the first stop in Oregon on the Oregon Trail, celebrated by multiple murals painted on the town’s buildings. Farming, sales, production and product moving are its main businesses.

We will stay overnight in Vale at the Vale Trail RV Park after a travel day of 277 miles. Smoke update- still plenty of it! Ugh!

August, 2011

Jil and I have long histories of visiting wonderful places on this God given earth. Before we met Jil traveled, mainly by air to parts of Europe, Israel and numerous ski resorts located in the U.S.A. and Canada.

She had never been camping, you see. I had never left the U.S., nor flown for that matter (except in fire department helicopters), choosing instead to travel our great country with the aid of almost every type of mobile shelter known to man.

I introduced Jil to camping by taking her on short trips in my very old but functional 1973 Revcon 25′ class A motorhome. Jil fell in love with camping, but the old rig not so much. It was soon replaced with a travel trailer.

Constantly having to step over two large dogs lying on the very limited floor space of the travel trailer lead to a costly but welcome upgrade- a new truck to tow a new, more comfortable double slide 5th wheel. We wore that combination out and purchased  our second 5th wheel, a triple slide Heartland Big Country 3250TS, then a new truck to pull it up to Alaska and back. Three slides and we still step over the dogs! Oh well.

We started RVing in a Class A motorhome and will probably end our adventures in another one. Our rolling stock consists of a four slide Tiffin Allegro Red that’s short enough to be accepted into most state parks and a Subaru Forester toad. For our preferred method of travel it is ideal. We like to travel relatively short distances and only stay a couple of days in any one place. Set up for the motorhome is much quicker and more simple than a trailer and every convenience is inside our rolling home. One of the downfalls of towing a trailer in hot weather is no A/C running while in transit. That’s not a factor in the motorhome as we can run the A/C units with our generator as we travel.

The events of 9/11/2001 have soured us on air travel. We now travel almost exclusively with Jil as the copilot/navigator and moi as the pilot of 25,000 pounds worth of rolling stock. Scenic byways and country roads are preferred over interstate highways. We were both raised in large urban communities so visiting small towns is a treat. We like to meet those small town folk and visit the places they call home.