Through the “I” States Once More

We departed the Thousand Trails park in Batesville questioning whether we will ever return here again. I expect we will, but we can also choose from two other Thousand Trails parks not a far distance away on either side of this one. We'll see. We continued our trek across the dreaded “I” states: Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. We have nothing against any of these states, but the topography is rather bland and boring, and we have passed this way many times before. The most interesting features are the wind mill farms: hundreds of them sprouting across the plains.

To break up the day we had a lunch date planned in Champaign IL with a high school classmate of mine. I have only seen Bill a few times since we graduated from high school in Morganton NC; the last time about three years ago when we were passing through the area. We met bill at the Cracker Barrel just off I-74 in Champaign and had a very nice visit, talking mainly about his family and our travels. After lunch we continued westward across Illinois and into Iowa. We stopped for the night at the Walmart Supercenter in Mason City Iowa, where bought groceries and fuel. We pumped 104 gallons of diesel at $3.599 per gal, perhaps the cheapest fuel we will find on this trip.
 

The next morning we drove about 30 miles to Forest City Iowa, the home of Winnebago for a factory tour. Winnebago Industries has a long history in the RV business. They began producing travel trailers in 1958 and produced their first motor home in 1966. Their products initially were very inexpensive compared to their competitors and the company thrived. Today “Winnebago” and “motor home” are synonymous for many people. Currently Winnebago manufactures motor homes, with about a dozen models ranging from about $100,000-$400,000.

The tour was very fun and interesting. Our tour guide was a long-time former employee and knew most of the folks on the production lines. The factory building were rather old, but the production techniques were modern and innovative. The most impressive part for me was the automated system that delivered components to different parts of the production lines. Various components, such as air conditioners, furnaces, water heater, roof vents, etc. are transported via an elaborate automated system of overhead conveyors and elevators to the point on the production line where they would be installed in the unit. Very cool. Winnebago also manufactures many of their parts including metal framing, cabinets, body and wall panels and upholstered parts, keeping quality control up and costs down. They also produce a number of these products for other customers. After the tour we spent a while in their museum which documents describes the history of the company and its founder. There is a campground on site that has electrical hook ups where guests can spend the night at no charge, whether or not they own Winnebago products. They also had about a half dozen display models there for viewing. 

 

After the tour we zigged north into Minnesota where we picked up I-90. We continued westbound on I-90 until we entered South Dakota at Sioux Falls. We went into town at Mitchell SD to visit the famous Mitchell Corn Palace. The Mitchell Corn Palace is a city auditorium that is decorated inside and out with murals made of different colored corn, depicting historical themes. The original Corn Palace was built in 1892 as a tourist attraction and to highlight the rich soils and to encourage farmers to the relocate to the area. In 1905 the Corn Palace was rebuilt with a larger version as part of the town's bid to become the State capitol (they lost). In 1921 the palace was rebuilt for a final time with a larger structure. There are lots of puns associated with the Corn Palace. I signed the guest register with the comment “Shucks!” There is a “Corncession” stand and the mascot is named “Cornelius”.

We are parked for the night at the Cabela's store in Mitchell. Cabela's is the most RV-friendly store I have every visited. This particular store had a dedicated RV parking area on the far side from the main parking area. It had ~50 long, wide painted RV parking spaces. There was a dump station, kennel and corral for visitors' use. They really do want you to spend the night there. We shopped for an hour or so before hitting the sack.

We are finding it hard to sleep late in the mornings. The sun is setting after 9:00, but rising before 5:30.  With summer solstice almost 2 weeks away, it will only get worse ... but we'll adjust.

Dissapointed in Indiana

We departed Tamarack under clear blue skies and headed north on the West Virginia Turnpike towards Charleston. Beyond Charleston we continued into Ohio and eventually skirted the north side of Cincinnati. From there we entered Indiana and arrived at our camp at Thousand Trail Indian Lakes near Batesville.

Dorcas and I have been members of Thousand Trails for over 6 years. Our membership allows us to stay at any park in the system for up to two weeks at a time for no fee. We often stay at Indian Lakes because it is on the way to Minnesota and because Dorcas likes the hairdresser that works in the salon in the park. Actually there are two other very nice Thousand Trails parks close to our route within a few hours of this one, but Goldilocks says we have to stop here. Unfortunately, Thousand Trails has made some changes that negatively affect the experience. Previously, Thousand Trails only admitted members into the parks, all of whom paid dearly for that exclusive privilege. In an effort to increase revenue, they now also admit the public at large. They also rent their sites on an annual basis, with the effect that less overall camp sites and a small number of the most desirable sites, are available to travelling members. In Batesville there is a pipeline construction project on-going nearby, and all the full hook-up sites were filled with the so-called “pipeliners”. They have also leased or sold a significant number of sites in a very desirable section to KOA. Not only could we not find a full hook-up site, we had difficulty finding a dry level site at all. Eventually we did find a dry grassy site in Phase III and set up for our two night stay. If things don't improve here we will start staying at one of the other Thousand Trails parks, haircut be damned!

Another irritating aspect of our ride through Indiana is their silly-ass diesel pricing practices. On the surface it would seem that diesel is cheaper than gasoline. Sweet!. But nay, it is not so. Fuel depots post the “exempt” diesel price, meaning the price that exempt truckers pay. Apparently they pay their road tax on some other basis than a tax added to the fuel, thus a lower price at the pump. Joe Blow (AKA Myron) pulls up to the island, pumps 120 gallons, then goes in and finds the price is 40 cents more per gallon than the posted price. CRAP!!! We actually learned this many years ago and always boycott diesel stations in Indiana. We have a 135 gallon tank and have a lot of flexibility where we buy fuel.

The "I's" Have It (deja vu all over again)

Day Two was virtually identical to our travel day on June 30, 2008. On that day, we departed a Thousand Trails park, and zoomed across all the "I" states, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa and stayed overnight at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Coralville, IA. You can read about that day, three years ago, here. The only difference is, we started at a Thousand Trails in Ohio instead of Indiana. What more can we say...it's deja vu all over again.

This morning, we slept in a bit. Myron needed to put air in one of the rear coach tires because he neglected to check the pressures before leaving home. It sure is handy having an on-board air system. Matilda and I took a short walk around the park and decided it would be a nice place for a longer stay. We stopped for breakfast at the 73 Grill, a sports bar we spotted on our way in. Our timing was perfect since they only serve breakfast Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Our expectations for breakfast were not high since there were more TVs tuned to ESPN than there were breakfast patrons and the six foot high beer cooler was longer than our coach. We ordered our usual coffee, eggs, bacon and hash browns (what are grits?) and were pleasantly surprised how delicious everything was. When we return to this Thousand Trails we will definitely check out their signature "Fat Boy" burger and get a brew.

The drive was uneventful and unremarkable (see link above). The weather continued to be clear and crisp, beautiful driving weather. The rivers and creeks were swollen and muddy from recent storms. Ironically, Iowa River and Cedar River had experienced devastating floods when we visited this area three years ago.

Matilda has recently adopted a new travel habit. Previously, as soon as we started the coach, Matilda would go to the back and bed down in the far rear corner of the bedroom. We would not see or hear from her until we made a stop. Lately, she has changed her favorite travel position. Matilda has been hanging out up front with us. She moves between the entry door stair well to under the driver's seat and steering column. Basically, she lays under or on Myron's feet while he is driving. It's OK as long as she stays left of the steering column, against the outside wall, but it gets tricky when she moves between Myron's feet and the pedals. We enjoy her company and having her up front, but we need to work on training her to stay in a "good place".

Today we had our first "breakdown" of the trip. The latch on the refrigerator door broke, allowing the door to swing wide open. We duct taped the door shut so the milk and eggs would not fall onto the floor, but that proved inconvenient due to Myron's frequent requests for "cool ones" LOL. We then removed the duct tape and secured the door with a bungee cord strung from the door handle to the stove top. This proved to be a better temporary fix. We were discouraged about easily finding a replacement part. Myron had known the latch was failing and had tried to located the piece in FL, but no one had it in stock. However, we saw an RV place off the interstate, R & S Sales and Service in Mahomet, IL. We exited, pulled into the place and viola! they had the latch we needed. Within in minutes, Myron had the new part installed, and we were back on our way.  The cool beverages were happy once again.

On the Road en el Cinco de Mayo

We got up early to do final packing and preparations for our great Alaska adventure. We went through our usual check list before going on a long trip: setting lights, turning off appliances, adjusting thermostats, turning off well pump and water heater, locking doors and securing outdoor items. We loaded PCs, chargers, satellite receiver and printer. On yeah, and Matilda. We departed about 10:30 a.m. and headed north toward West Virginia. It was a beautiful, clear, crisp day. A wonderful day for driving. With all new fluids and filters and a fresh bath, the coach was looking and running fine.

There is a Thousand Trails park that we have never visited, in Wilmington, OH, about 45 miles east of Cincinnati. It was directly on our route and about the right distance for our first stop, so we made an online reservation for the night. The ranger was super and pointed us to one of two pull-throughs for single-night guests. The site was nice and level, so we didn't have to unhook the Honda. We didn't spend much time exploring, but it looked like a very nice place to return for a longer visit. It is convenient to Cincinnati, Dayton and some other interesting sights.

We were bushed and crashed soon after parking. A light rain began to fall as we went to bed which made for great sleeping.

Thousand Trails Indian Lakes

My brother departed for his home at Angier, NC Saturday afternoon. Dorcas and I departed Linville Falls headed north Sunday morning. We weren't sure exactly how far we would go or where we would spend the next night when we left Linville Falls, but after driving a few hours we decided we would make for Thousand Trails Indian Lakes in Batesville Indiana, almost 450 miles away. The drive was uneventful except for crossing the NC mountains from Linville Falls to Johnson City TN. Of course the road was hilly and twisty, but shortly before entering TN we saw a sign on US 19E near Plumtree NC advising that the road was closed ahead. DANG. We didn't see a detour sign and turning back was not an option, so we ignorantly charged onward. A few miles later we came upon another "Road Closed Ahead" sign, this one blocking the road and directing us off on a mountain side road. Again, we had little choice, so off we went. The best thing I can say about this road is that it was paved. It was steep, narrow and winding. The road was so narrow that when we met an oncoming vehicle, one or both of us would have to stop and pull off the road. We met a couple dozen oncoming vehicles, and more than once a car screeched his brakes and skidded over to the side. All the traffic coming down US19E would be on this road, but this was Sunday morning and, thankfully, most of the locals were parked at church this morning, praying for the survival of those lost souls in that huge motor home. The detour lasted perhaps about four miles and returned us to US19E without physical damage. US19E, which is itself a fairly small mountain road, looked like a major interstate to us now.

The rest of our drive was very pleasant and uneventful. We drove north from Knoxville through TN and KY across the Cumberland Plateau, crossed the Ohio River as we circled Cincinnati, and arrived at TT Indian Lakes shortly before dark.

Thousand Trails is a membership park system to which we belong. We can stay at a Thousand Trails park for up to two weeks at no cost, except for our annual dues. We stay at TT parks in Florida more than enough to cover the cost of our annual dues, so any other TT parks we manage to visit is like free camping. Thousand Trails Indian Lakes is a very pleasant park. It is huge, covering 544 acres with 722 camp sites and 52 cabins. The campsites are clustered in four areas with vast open grassy and wooded spaces between them. I wonder if this facility wasn't a county or regional park in a previous life. There is lots of room to run Matilda without her getting into trouble with other campers and other dogs. Most of the motor homes stay in Phase IV which has 50A service and full hookups. When we arrived on Sunday we had a choice of a number of sites in that area.

We stayed here three nights and didn't really do anything. We mainly decompressed from our long hard summer. I fretted a bit over the refrigerator, which, by the way, was behaving pretty well at this point. It was cooling well enough that I had put our food back into it and stowed the cooler in the car. Sometimes an obstruction can block the flow of coolant through the unit, and the motion of driving and the bumps of the road can clear the obstruction. At least temporarily. The thing that caused the obstruction may still exist, and it could come back around and block up the works again. The fridge may be working, but it may not be fixed.

Which brings us back to the Saga of the Jinxed Fridge. Pines RV Refrigeration still owed us a new cooling unit to replace the temporary re-manufactured unit they had sent us two weeks ago. The most direct route to Minnesota, our final destination is through Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. That is the route we had originally intended to take, with planned stops in Wisconsin at the Lienenkugel Brewery, a Canoe Rendezvous, a Harley-Davidson factory tour and maybe a Brewers game. We then planned to return home through the U.P. of Michigan. It turns out that these aftermarket cooling units are made by an Amish family at a factory on their farm in Shipshewana in northern Indiana, only a few miles from the Michigan state line. Shipshewana is not so far out of the way if we go to Minnesota up the Michigan side. So, it had occurred to me before leaving home, that we might could go by the factory, pick up our new cooling unit there, and not leave until we knew it was working correctly. When I mentioned that to the sales guy, he said that was a great idea, and that the owner of the company would actually install it for me. That clinched the deal; it was off to Shipshewana for a new cooling unit and a counter-clockwise Lake Michigan circle tour. We departed Batesville IN and TT Indian Lakes early Wednesday morning for a 230 mile dash to Shipshewana in northern Indiana.

Paddle Peace River 2X

A few days ago, I struck up a conversation with Dick, our back door neighbor at Thousand Trails. Dick had noticed our boats and wondered if we wanted to paddle on the Peace River. He had met another couple in the park, and they had made a tentative plan to paddle a short section of the river the next day. We had not paddled in a while and were raring to go, although the forecast for the next day was not very good.

It rained in the morning, but the forecast for the afternoon was better. It was still a windy, cool and dreary day. We put in at the public landing in Wauchula and shuttled the cars back to Thousand Trails where we would take out. With us, in addition to Dick, were Bob and Paula, kayakers from Long Island. Dorcas and I had paddled this section of the river several times before, but had always put in at Bowling Green, about 8 miles further upstream. Given the weather it was probably just as well that the paddle was relatively short. It sprinkled a little and we had to work a bit to keep the wind from blowing us off course. When we arrived at the take out at camp we had covered just a little under 4 miles.

Shortly after arriving at camp we were surprised to find our friends John and Susan had arrived at Thousand Trails. We had met John and Susan at another Thousand Trails park several years ago and had run into them several times since then. We found that we have much in common: we all paddle, bike, tent-camp, and we have similar views and philosophies. We also both belong to the Florida Sport Paddling Club and have some common friends. We had paddled with John and Susan last year, and made plans to paddle with them again while here together.

So it was that today we paddled another section of the Peace River with John and Susan. We decided on the section from Fort Meade to Bowling Green, which Dorcas and I had never paddled. It is always fun to paddle a new section of river! We drove to Fort Meade and located the put-in at the Fort Meade Recreational Park off US 98 after a little aimless wandering and after talking to some locals.

The day was much nicer than our previous paddle on the Peace. It was perfect paddling weather, warm and sunny. We saw a few gators and most of the usual wading birds as well as ospreys and red-shouldered hawks.

Our most unusual wildlife sighting was a cow stuck in the mud at the edge of the river. The cow was stuck up to her neck in the soft mud and could not get out. It was obvious she had been there for some time and was quite tired from the struggling. We had heard some shooting and some ATVs a short distance downstream, so we knew some people were close by. John got out and went to find someone that could help. After a few minutes he returned with a man and two young girls. One of the girls said "Oh no! it's Sandy!". It was clear that the man did not know how he was going to get the cow out of the mud, but he thanked us for letting him know about it and left, presumably to get more help. I hope Sandy made it. Before leaving he warned us that folks were shooting skeets across the river around the bend, and he would go let them know we were coming through. Thanks!

It was a wonderful day on the river. We took out at the bridge near Payne's Creek State Historic Site after the 14 mile paddle.

Thousand Trails Peace River

Thousand Trails Peace River in Wauchula is a unique park. It is in a much more remote locale than its sister park near Clermont, and has only about half the number of sites. The scenic Peace River circles the southern perimeter of the park, which is both a curse and a blessing. Of the 400+ sites in the park, about half are in the flood plain of the Peace River. The river has flooded these lower sites five times in the last 12 months. These sites in the flood plain have no sewer connection. Consequently new arrivals at this park perform an interesting dance I call the "Sewer Site Shuffle". Upon arrival at the park all the sewer sites up on the hill are always taken. New arrivals therefore choose a site in the bottom lands, and their name goes on a list for a sewer site as one becomes available. The next day a list of available sewer sites is posted at noon, and at 1:00 people claim the best sites in the order in which they arrived, and commence to move their rig to that new site on the high ground.

When we arrived yesterday afternoon it was raining hard and 45 degrees. Not unusual weather for Florida this year, but not the greatest conditions in which to set up camp. They put our name on the list for a sewer site, and said it might be several days before our name came up for a better site. Dang. We managed to find a site in the bottom lands that looked hard enough that we would not sink up to our axles, and waited out the rains. By 4:00 the skies cleared and it turned into a beautiful day.

Today dawned sunny and mild. Even though our chances were slim, at noon we went up to check out the list of freshly available sites and began our rendition of the "Sewer Site Shuffle". We walked through the park making notes on the available sites and prioritizing our choices. We ran into dozens of others, notepad in hand, also performing the dance. At 1:00 all the hopeful souls gathered and, as we expected, our favorite sites were claimed by those who arrived ahead of us. Finally, just as we were about to give up all hope, our name came up. There was only one site left that we had deemed moderately acceptable, but we took it. We could have passed on the site and moved up on the list for a better choice tomorrow, but decided to take it, so that we could get settled. We didn't want to spend another day doing the "Shuffle." By 2:00 we were moved and set up on our new site.

What we didn't realize at the time is that the site we chose is directly across from the sewer dump station. All those folks from the lower forty (those who refused to participate in the "Sewer Site Shuffle") were constantly parking their rigs in front of us to dump their waste tanks. Additionally folks were towing their "blue boys" up to empty them and the park's "honey wagon" made twice-daily visits. We got a real education on the various and creative techniques of amateur waste disposal. It wasn't pretty. The worst part is that with large RVs parked in the road at the dump, there was little room for other large RVs to pass. Our row was on the exit route for the park, so there was a fair bit of traffic. We made a point to park our car (the trikes which stick out about a foot on each side) well off the road. Our next door neighbor parked his truck about a foot out into the road. I guess he wants a new truck. Still, it was a bit unnerving watching RVs pass so close by through the windshield. Yet another rendition of the "Sewer Site Shuffle".

Pups at Play at Thousand Trails Orlando

We're at Thousand Trails Orlando for about nine days and have been enjoying the familiar feel of the place. Here we see friends we've met who, like us, return to TTO every year. It's only an hour from Lazydays and the Crown Club, so we can pop down there once in a while for an omelet breakfast and happy hour. The biggest change for us this year is not seeing our friends Audrey and Dave who have returned to the world of working (what's up with that??) and Pat and John who are enjoying the warmth of Arizona. We are parked near Jim and Janice, TREK club friends from NC. Ironically, Jim and Janice now own an SOB (some other brand), as do we, but still are welcome at TREK events.

The weather continues to warm and is now much like we expect it to be in central Florida. Myron hooked up the satellite dish and the DIRECTV receiver. We can now receive over 500 channels, however, the majority of them are either junk or pay-per-view. Unfortunately, due to DIRECTV policy and silly FCC rules, we cannot receive any of the major networks, such as NBC, ABC, etc. This means we cannot receive Jeopardy or NCIS, our favorites, over the dish. Where we are now we have good over-the-air reception , so it's not a problem, but when we are parked in the boonies, we will be limited to syndicated reruns, old movies, news channels and a number of special interest channels. Better than nothing, but we sure will miss Alex, Jethro and Abby.

Matilda has been playing with old friends and has made new friends. Tipper, the Poodle/Border Collie (a poo-der?) and her family are parked on our "street" so they've been having a blast playing and running. We also have short plays with Sunshine who is a 9 year old male Australian Shepherd. Their play has to be brief since Sunshine gets really tired and sore after "Matilda time." Matilda's newest friend is Maija an 11 month old English Shepherd. She is taller and longer than Matilda with a big tail and about 11 pounds heavier. If you didn't know different, you would think Maija was as Aussie. Check out the video of them playing.

They run and tussle like Matilda and her NC Aussie friends. Oh, yeah, Maija is a digger too.

Matilda isn't the only one getting her exercise... Myron's playing pickleball again (Pat and John, we miss you!) and I've been joining a 3 mile walking fit class.

Broken Down Again!!! Or Not???

Sunday, while driving from Duluth to Chippewa Falls, I noticed some hesitation, bucking and loss of power while accelerating. The coach seemed to have difficulty getting up to highway speed, particularly working its way up through 2nd, 3rd and 4th gears. Once in top gear, it appeared to be OK. This problem seemed somewhat similar to the problem my friend George had with his identical Allure. It took George most of a year and many trips to the Allison and Cummins service centers before the cause was discovered. Ultimately it was determined that an incorrect engine algorithm had been installed in George's coach. I was afraid we may have the same problem. We arrived safely at O'Neil Creek Campground and slept on it. After our brewery tour on Monday, we departed Chippewa Falls about 2:00 PM and continued south towards Illinois. Immediately the problem reappeared and began to grow worse the further we went. Soon I began having trouble keeping the engine in 6th gear. Normally the tranny attains 6th gear at about 55 mph and 1500 rpm. Now it was downshifting into 5th gear, even as I ran at over 65 mph. Not good. By now we were starting to see engine fault codes appear on the Silverleaf VMS, our on-board engine monitoring system. Dorcas got onto the web and located a Cummins service center in Normal IL, about two hours away, but directly on our route. As we limped on, we talked to Cummins service advisor Chris and read him the list of fault codes displayed on the Silverleaf. The codes all related to fuel delivery pressures at various points in the system. Chris checked his database for troubleshooting steps for these codes. Causes ranged from clogged fuel filters, blocked fuel line, excessive fuel tank vacuum, fuel pump failure, fuel injector failure and worse. A best-case scenario was fuel filter clogging. There are two separate fuel filters on the coach, and I had both spare filters on board. I considered pulling over and changing the filters on the side of the road, but decided it was better to keep going as long as we could. If we stopped and changed the filters, there was a risk that we could not get the new filters primed and could not re-start the coach. We really didn't want to spend the night on the side of the road again and really, really didn't want to get towed again. We limped on to Normal and arrived at the Cummins service center about 9:00 PM, three hours before they closed at midnight. Rather than put the coach in a bay and let the mechanics go at it, we parked in one of their overnight RV spaces and hooked up to the power. I replaced the two fuel filters myself using my own parts. After about an hour the job was finished, and we took her out to see if the problem was solved. AMAZING! The coach ran like a top, and all the fault codes had cleared. Apparently clogged fuel filters was the cause of the problem. We may have dodged the bullet again. By now it was almost midnight, and we spent the night at the Cummins facility.

On Tuesday morning I bought replacement spare fuel filters from Cummins, just in case there was still some gunk in the tank and the problem reoccurred. We left the Cummins service center and Normal IL headed towards Thousand Trail Indian Lakes, Batesville IN, about 250 miles east. The coach ran great, and we arrived at the Thousand Trails without further incident. We have never been to this park before and no one else we have talked to at other Thousand Trails parks had ever been here, so we didn't know quite what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised to find a very nice park. It is very large, encompassing 544 acres. The camping is clustered in four areas, one area with full hook-ups, two with water and electric only and one for seasonal renters. There are vast open areas for Matilda to run, and it all surrounds a central lake. It looks as though it could have been a county or regional park at some point in the past. We scored a nice full hook-up site (water, sewer and 50A electric). We are about 40 miles from Cincinnati and can receive over 20 digital TV stations. Sweet. We plan to stay here about 5-6 days.

Thousand Trails St. Clair MI

On Sunday we left Bowling Green and drove about 130 miles north, through the center of Detroit, to Thousand Trails, St. Clair MI. The park was less than 1/2 full, and we found a nice site in the shade. Actually, it turns out we didn't need to be in the shade. It has been unseasonably cool up here. Daytime temps have rarely exceeded the upper 70s. In the evenings it is in the low 60s with a few 50s thrown in. Our TV reception here is poor. Actually the only stations we can get consistently are three Canadian stations broadcasting an analog signal. The Canadians are talking about their lost summer; it's August and time for the the temps to start dropping and it never really got hot here this summer. Hey, I'll take it. Cellular reception here also sucks. We are down the hill and typically get less than 1 bar on our phones and air card, even though we are less that 1/2 mile from the interstate, where reception is usually acceptable. However, with our new Wilson Electronics amplifier/repeater we are seeing full strength. That purchase seems to be paying off. The real test for the amp may be when we get to Fall Lake outside Ely MN.

On Tuesday we visited Port Huron. Port Huron is at the southern end of Lake Huron on the St. Clair River. Every freighter coming from the upper Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan and Huron) passes Port Huron. The Great Lakes Maritime Center is located on the St Clair and boatnerd.com tracks all the freighters in the area. You can view their location on a big-screen monitor, and they make an announcement over the PA when it passes, giving its name and vitals. This is a great place to just hang out and watch the world go by. Later we boarded the Blue Water Trolley for a 60 minute tour of Port Huron. The trolley was nearly empty, so the driver let Matilda ride. The trolley is a great bargain: 10 cents each for a one-hour tour. Matilda rode for free. Finally we did some shopping. We bought some groceries at Wal-Mart, some cabinet hardware at The Home Depot, more hardware at Harbor Freight tools and just did some window shopping at Gander Mountain.

We plan to stay at Thousand Trails St. Clair until Tuesday and then travel diagonally north and west across Michigan to the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore area.

The Land of the Hoosiers

We are camped at Thousand Trails Horseshoe Lakes about 15 miles north of Terra Haute , IN, in the heart of the Wabash River valley. We had a choice of several Thousand Trails preserves as a layover spot on our way to Amana Colonies, IA. We had also seriously considered Thousand Trails Indian Lakes, just west of Cincinnati, which was actually closer to our intended route. We ruled that preserve out primarily because it was so close to Cincinnati, and we felt like it would be busy with weekend campers from the city. We were also intrigued by the description of Horseshoe Lakes, which boasts about a dozen spring-fed lakes on-site. It turns out we made a great choice. I think Horseshoe Lakes is the most pleasant TT preserve we have been in yet. It has a relatively small number of campsites, but is a large park and very spread-out. Most sites are on a lake, or just across the road from a lake. I can launch the canoe and fish from our campsite. It is a very quiet and scenic place. This morning the place was only about 25% full, but a lot of people did come in this afternoon, and it may be close to full tonight. I think most are weekenders and will be gone tomorrow afternoon.

Matilda is growing about an inch a day (we have nick-named her "Kudzu") and is acquiring great stamina. Today we took her for several long walks and let her play with a few of the neighbor dogs. She had a great time, and it is doing her good letting her wear herself out chasing and playing with canine companions. We let her get in the canoe a few times, but the boat was on the grass, not in the water. We let her get into the water once, but she didn't want to go in a second time. Perhaps we will take her out in the canoe tomorrow. We have also started teaching her some commands. She is as smart as a whip. It won't be long until she is outsmarting us.

We ran into some Safari TREK friends, Al and Cathy here. They have been here three weeks, but are leaving tomorrow. We will see them again at the Safari rally next week and again at the FMCA convention in St. Paul MN the week after that. It seems everywhere we go, we run into old friends.

We will stay here until Monday, then head north and west towards Amana Colonies for the first of our three scheduled rallies. If all goes well, we will arrive in Amana, IA on Tuesday.

At TTO Again

We arrived at Thousand Trials Orlando about 1:00 Sunday afternoon after an uneventful drive from Port St. Lucie. We are set up in site D-131. D loop is our favorite in the park, because it is the most wooded and remote of the loops. This is our fourth and final stay at this park this winter. We will be here until Saturday March 9, then head to Mississippi to visit Mom.

In the meantime, we have no specific plans. I hope to play Pickleball about every day. Dorcas may start running again. We may spend a few days biking and canoeing. We have friends we want to visit. But mainly we will just take it easy. I have done a few coach chores and there are a few others on my list. We broke the handle off the washer/dryer (Dorcas the Supergrip) and have ordered the replacement part. This morning we defrosted the fridge, which was severely iced over. I am a little concerned about the fridge function, as it has not been cooling as well as I think it should. Ice cream is a good indicator of fridge cooling. The ice cream is not rock hard, as it should be, but it's not dripping out on the floor either. Now that the fridge has been defrosted, I will monitor the function and try to determine what, if anything, is wrong.

It has been hot and muggy for the past week, but a strong cold front is coming through tonight. It is extremely windy today. There will likely be some storms tonight then lows near 40 in the next few days. BRRRR!!!!

Back to Thousand Trails Orlando

This morning our friends Jim and Ann departed for home and Dorcas and I departed for Thousand Trails Orlando. But prior to leaving Blue Spring State Park, I put the canoe in at the end of the spring run for one last romp with the manatees. Unfortunately, due to the recent warm weather, there were very few manatees in the spring, and none wanted to play. Dang.

We covered the 60 some-odd miles south and west on I-4 without incident and arrived at Thousand Trails Orlando just before noon, where we found a nice shaded spot in D loop. We will be here until Sunday February 17, and then we will move to the Tampa area to attend a Country Coach rally. In the meantime, we have no definite plans for the week. We probably will not paddle. We will likely bike a day or two, visit with friends, do a little RV maintenance (maybe give it a bath) and just relax for a bit. Retirement is good. We are getting into this snowbird thing.

In a Pickle in Southwest Florida

After a week of hard paddling we are taking it easy for a few days at the Thousand Trails preserve on the banks of the Peace River. Wednesday night we recorded a low of 28 degrees , and we heard reports of snow flurries in northern Florida, but it has warmed up now. Today's forecast is for 77 degrees, with 80s forecast for the remainder of the week. The snowbirds are happy again and all is right with the world.

We are camped just outside Wauchula, once known as the "Cucumber Capital of the World." Speaking of which, I have just discovered the sport of Pickleball. Pickleball is a marriage of tennis, ping-pong and badminton, played outdoors on a midget tennis court with oversized ping-pong paddles and a heavy-duty wiffle ball. The old folks here take it pretty seriously, but I gave them a run for their money. With my racquetball and table tennis background, they say I'm a natural. There are pickleball matches twice per day and a few hard-core players put in 4-6 hours each day. Retirement can be demanding!

Monday we will paddle on the Manatee River with our friend Ken from Tampa. We hope to also run some sections of the Peace River, Rio de la Paza, sometime next week. The Peace is a very scenic river, but it is pretty low right now. Today and tomorrow we will continue to hang out, master the sport of Pickleball and explore the greater Wauchula area.

On the Move. Destination: Wauchula FL

A strong cold front came through yesterday. Last night the temperature dropped to 37 degrees and it is forecast to be 26 degrees tonight at Alexander Springs. Thankfully, we have moved about 130 miles south and are now camped at the Thousand Trails Peace River Preserve at Wauchula FL. We are set up right on the banks of the scenic Peace River. The low here will be a tepid 30 degrees. Hey, it's cold, but it's warmer than it is back home, where the forecast is 20 degrees tonight and tomorrow night. After 7 nights of dry camping (camping with no hookups) it will be nice to have electricity. Since this is our first internet opportunity in a week, we spent the afternoon reading e-mails and updating this journal. We will be here until January 13.

Travel day: Texas Bound

Today was a travel day. We departed Shelby, MS early Friday morning. After crossing the Mississippi River at Greenville, MS, our trek across southern Arkansas was uneventful. We entered Texas at Texarkana, famous for being the place where Burt Reynolds stole a semi-trailer load of Coors beer in "Smokey and the Bandit." We left Texarkana empty handed. It rained, hard at times, for most of our drive throughTexas. We drove about 450 miles and 9 hours today and landed at the Thousand Trails Lake Texoma, on the shores of Lake Texoma, near Denison, TX. Lake Texoma is touted as the "Striped Bass Capitol of the World". Too bad we didn't bring a boat. We haven't fully explored this preserve yet, but, from what we have seen so far, it is the nicest Thousand Trails preserve we have been in. We will lay up here until Sunday and then, after another travel day, probably spend Sunday night near Albuquerque, NM.

The Izaak Memorial Westward Ho Summer Adventure 2007

Prologue: Dorcas and I decided shortly after we met that, when we retired, we wanted to travel to far-off hiking and paddling destinations for long periods of time. To that end we bought a travel trailer in October, 2000, and began experimenting with the RV lifestyle. In December, 2004, we replaced the trailer with the Safari TREK. Two years later we replaced the TREK with the Country Coach Allure, which we expect will serve us for many years. Unfortunately, until recently, we were productive members of the working class and could only travel a few weeks at a time. Also, we always had to come home to go back to work. That changed in August, 2006, when I retired, and then Dorcas retired in April, 2007. Now we are free to do some real traveling.

Our friends Jim and Ann had previously invited us to go with them on a backpacking trip in the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana during the last week of July. We had declined, primarily because we could not take Izaak. Izaak was getting up there in doggie years. We weren’t sure if he was up to a week-long backpack. Also, we didn’t want to fly him out there, and we were reluctant to leave him with someone else for several weeks.
At the same time, we were planning a two-week long biking and camping trip on the Katy Trail in central Missouri with Wayne and Lynda during the middle of June. We definitely couldn’t take Izaak on that trip, and making two separate trips out west didn’t seem to make good sense. Unfortunately, Izaak got very sick in March and died the first week in April. It suddenly occurred to us that we were free to go wherever we wanted to go. Furthermore, missing Izaak so badly, we needed to go somewhere.

Thus was conceived the Izaak Memorial Westward Ho Summer Adventure 2007.
After some consideration we came up with a crude itinerary. We would spend a few days with my mother in Mississippi, and then meet Wayne and Lynda in St. Charles, Missouri for our Katy Trail bike trip. After the Katy Trail we would return to Mississippi to spend a few more days with Mom. After that we would head west towards Arizona, then north through Utah, Wyoming and Montana. Finally we would turn southeast through South Dakota and come fairly directly home. Key destinations include the north rim of the Grand Canyon, the parks in southern Utah, the greater Yellowstone area, the greater Glacier NP area and the Black Hills area of South Dakota. We will fill in the gaps as we go. We have no reservations. We have no hard timetable except we are meeting Wayne and Lynda on Memorial Day weekend in Missouri, we are meeting Jim and Ann during the last week in July in Montana and we want to be in Linville Falls, NC for a family reunion the second week in August. That’s it. Almost three full months of wandering throughout the great American west. Our dream come true.

We intend to chronicle our adventures on this website. Updates will occur as frequently as possible, depending largely on our access to the web.

Preparations: It is a little daunting to leave home for three months. There are many things to be done: collecting mail, paying bills, caring for the cats, digging the moat around the house, etc. Thankfully we have good friends and neighbors who helped us work things out. We crammed the coach full of everything we thought we might need and amazingly still had a little space left over. After painful consideration, we decided not to take a canoe. Canoeing opportunities will exist, but there won’t be that many, so we will rent a boat when I need a canoeing fix. Maybe on the Green River in Utah.

Monday May 21 We’re Off

We finally awoke about 8:30. We were groggy and tired from staying up so late the night before. But today is the day! We were pumped and ready to go. We gathered up stray items, turned off the power to the water heater and water bed, called to stop the paper and fired up the coach. We finally hit the road about 10:00. Our first stop was to dump all our household trash at the I-40 rest area near Farmington (we don’t have trash pickup at the house). Our second stop was to get cash and traveler’s checks at the credit union in Morganton. The parking lot at the CU was very tight, but we were able to successfully circle the lot and exit without incident. While we were in Morganton we decided to eat lunch at Judge’s Riverside. Judge’s is a favorite dinner spot when returning from hiking trips. It sits on the banks of the Catawba River. A rustic fish camp stood on that spot back in the early 1960’s. We had a very pleasant lunch on the back deck and continued on our journey. We stopped in Asheville to visit my friend Paul, but he was not at his office today (How dare he go on vacation! Who’s minding the quality of our air? Is this our tax dollars at work?). Our destination tonight was Smokemont Campground in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Smokemont is on the southeast edge of the park just outside Cherokee. There are two ways to get to Cherokee from the east. Actually there are three ways. The third way is via the Blue Ridge Parkway, but there are three tunnels near the southern end of the BRP that have only 10’ to 11’ clearance. Since we are 12’ 1” tall, that route is not an intelligent choice. Of the remaining routes the easiest way is to take US 74 past Dillsboro and then north on US 441 into Cherokee: the valley route. We chose the mountain route: US 19 through Maggie Valley and over Soco Gap. The back side of Soco Gap into Cherokee is a steep winding road with 7% grades for about 8 miles. This was our first real opportunity to use our compression brake, and it worked like a charm. We cruised through Cherokee and past the big casino. Like many national parks, when you leave the border town and enter the park, it is like suddenly entering a different world. The temperature seemed to drop 20° and everything was green and lush. We arrived at the Oconaluftee Visitor’s Center at 5:05. Unfortunately the visitor’s center closed at 5:00. We strolled the Oconaluftee mountain farm, and Dorcas took pictures of the free ranging chickens. We arrived at Smokemont CG about 6:30. The site assignment system here sucks. Apparently every site is available for reservation, but reserved sites are not noted at the sites. The ranger told us to select three sites and return to the office to see if they were available before occupying a site. The place was nearly empty, so it seemed like a big to-do for nothing, but we did as we were told and chose a very nice site 15’ from the bank of Bradley Fork. It was available for the two nights we planned to stay so it was ours. We spent time unwinding by walking around the campground. There was one other Country Coach in our loop, and oddly enough, the headlights were one. No one was home, but there was a yippy little dog in the cockpit. We assumed that he turned on the headlights since there is a rocker switch on a console next to the pilot’s seat, It seemed like everyone was walking their dogs, and it made us miss Izaak. We grilled burgers, partook of a nightcap consisting of an adult beverage and crashed.

Tuesday May 22 Great Smoky Mountains National Park

We awoke about 8:00 and made a breakfast of egg burritos and toasted bagels with jelly. The overnight temperature was 45, but it was 80 by noon. We piddled for several hours trying to get better organized. After lunch we did a hike on the Smokemont Loop trail.. We didn’t have a trail guide, but I had seen a sign at the north end of the campground that said Smokemont Loop Trail 1.7 Mi. So off we went for an easy 1.7 mile hike. At the southern end of the campground at the trailhead, there was a sign that said Smokemont Campground 5.6 mi. This was confusing since we were standing in Smokemont Campground. Apparently the loop trail was actually a total of 5.7 miles, but intersected with the Bradley Fork trail 1.7 miles up the Bradley Fork trail. We were a little short on water and power bars to do a nearly 6 mile walk, but what the heck. The trail started along the Oconalufte River, but soon began ascending the ridge separating the Oconalufte River from the Bradley Fork. It climbed moderately for about 1200’ over about 2 miles, then descended to Bradley Fork. Sure enough, when we hit the Bradley Fork trail there was a sign that indicated 1.7 miles to Smokemont CG. We finished our hike and had a cool beverage at the coach. Later we drove into Cherokee to check our e-mail and do some on-line banking chores we had previously forgotten to do. We made a fire with some wood given to us by a neighbor who had checked out earlier in the day. We grilled steaks with potatoes and salad.

Wednesday May 23 Natchez Trace Parkway

Today was a travel day. We packed up and went north on US 441 through the heart of the GSMNP. We stopped at Newfound Gap and enjoyed the namesake hazy view. On the backside of the hill we again tested our compression brake. We took the bypass parkway around Gatlinburg, but could not avoid Pigeon Forge. Think Myrtle Beach with mountains in the background. I hate to think what this place would be like in a few days during Memorial Day weekend. We bought cheap diesel at the Flying J west of Knoxville. OK, $2.569 isn’t cheap, but it’s the best deal around, and it’s a lot cheaper than gasoline. Southwest of Nashville we entered the northern terminus of the Natchez Trace Parkway. The parkway traces a historic path used by Indians and early settlers. Folks would float their homemade wooden barge down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. At New Orleans, they would sell their boat for the lumber and walk home via the Trace. Predominant wildlife sightings today included turkeys and armadillos. Actually all the armadillos we saw were not technically wildlife, since they were not living. Armadillos must be very unlucky, or else have bad karma. This reminds me of an old joke: Question: Why did the chicken cross the road? Answer: To show the armadillo it could be done.

We camped at Thousand Trails Natchez Trace Preserve. To enter the park, one must pass under a bridge with a clearance of only 11’ 0”. As you may remember, we stand 12’ 1”. Do the math. Fortunately there is a wide rut off the road that is about two feet lower than the pavement. By going off-road we could successfully negotiate the underpass.

Publish Post

This park was very large and not particularly crowded this night. They were preparing for a big barbeque for the upcoming holiday weekend, and locals were bringing in their campers, setting them up and leaving. We found a very nice site on the edge of the lake.

We grilled burgers and made a campfire using the last of the wood scavenged from Smokemont.

Thursday May 24 Shelby, Mississippi

Today was another travel day. We continued south on the parkway and traveled about 120 miles to Tupelo. We resisted visiting Elvis’ birthplace since we had done that several years ago. We got off the parkway at Tupelo, Mississippi and drove west across northern Mississippi into the heart of the Mississippi Delta to my mother’s house in Shelby, Mississippi, where we would spend the next few nights. Mom has a level driveway, long enough to park the coach and had cleared a few overhead limbs from an oak tree for our benefit.

Friday May 25 Clarksdale, Mississippi

Today we went to Clarksdale to take Mom for her treatments. Clarksdale is the heart of the Mississippi Delta blues and the home of Robert Johnson, the legendary bluesman. It is the location of the “Crossroads” as chronicled by Robert Johnson and later made famous by Eric Clapton. It is also on historic “Highway 61” memorialized by Bob Dylan. We ate lunch at the Dutch Oven, a small sandwich shop and bakery operated by Mennonites. I am always surprised to hear Mennonites speak in a Mississippi southern drawl. We packed and repacked and repacked our bike panniers again. We finally got most of it in our packs. What we didn’t get in, we probably didn’t need anyway.

Saturday May 26 St. Louis

Saturday we will be leaving for our two-week bike excursion on the Katy Trail in Missouri. We will drive to St. Louis and spend the day at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (the St. Louis Gateway Arch) and meet Wayne and Lynda at a motel in St. Charles. On Sunday we will put in for our 450 mile round trip biking/camping trip on the Katy Trail.

It is unlikely that I will be able to post any trip updates for the next two weeks, so I am signing off until then.

Happy Trails,

Myron