The Mighty Mack

On Thursday we moved about 10 miles to the north end of Petoskey to Hearthside Grove Motorcoach Resort. Hearthside Grove is another deeded RV lot community, and you guessed it, we had a coupon for three free nights. This resort is a little different from the other deeded communities we have visited in that it is family owned and operated. The Rose brothers are hands-on and work every day at the resort and spend time with their guests. It had the friendliest and warmest atmosphere of any resort of this kind that we have visited. We actually arrived at a very opportune time. The day we arrived they had a professional videographer producing an updated marketing video for the resort. We were filmed being escorted to our campsite, led by Kirk Rose riding his new Segway PT; backing into our site; and receiving our welcome gift bag from concierge director Mary Stewart Adams. We will star in their new DVD. They promised to send us a copy when it is finished in a few months. I think there will also be excerpts on their web site. Anybody want our autograph?

The park is very nice. It is not landscaped quite as nicely as the MCR at Bay Harbor and does not have the expanse of open common space, but the individual lots are much larger, and the lot prices, should one decide to buy, are a bit lower. And, of course, it is much friendlier.

On Friday we drove 30 miles north to Mackinaw City to catch a tour boat to Mackinac Island. We had debated whether to take Matilda and leave the bikes at home, or to take the bikes and leave the pooch. The bikes won. We got a good look at the mighty Mackinac Bridge as the tour boat took us under the bridge and from Lake Huron into Lake Michigan and back to Lake Huron then to the island. The Mackinac Bridge is a very impressive sight to behold. It is the third longest suspension bridge in the world and the longest in the western hemisphere. The total length of the Mackinac Bridge is 26,372 feet. The length of the suspension bridge (including anchorages) is 8,614 feet.

We were glad we decided to take the bikes. No motor vehicles are allowed on Mackinac Island. The primary modes of transport on the island are bicycle and horse-drawn carriage. In fact the island boasts the only state highway, M-185, that does not allow motor vehicles. And with all the horse carriages, you really have to watch where you step. When we disembarked on Main Street, we could not believe all the people. You couldn't pull your bike into the street without getting run over by a carriage (who had no right-of-way) or a pedestrian (who did have right-of-way) or another bike. Finding a bicycle parking space was as bad as it is for automobiles in most cities. The Post Office had a 10 minute parking limit for bicycles! Quickly we decided to head out of town to try to find some solitude. We headed up on a higher trail with views of the harbor in search of Arch Rock. Somehow we missed the trail to Sugar Loaf Rock and ended up on British Landing Road, that runs along the ridge through the middle of the island. Finally we circled back to town on the Lake Shore Road, a level, but heavily traveled loop road around the island. The one place on the island I really wanted to see was the Grand Hotel. The Grand Hotel was an important setting for the film "Somewhere In Time" starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. "Somewhere in Time" is definitely a chick-flick, but contains some very interesting plot twists and some para-normal aspects that make it one of my favorites. Disappointingly, you could not enter the ground of the Grand Hotel without paying an entrance fee. Luckily I was still able to get a few photos before they threw me out. You would think that with room rates ranging from $395 to $705 per night, $10 was trivial. I think they really just wanted to keep the riff-raff out.

We enjoyed the island and were glad we went, yet we were a little disappointed. It was very crowded and didn't have that magical feel that I expected. Plus, there was an additional fee to go into almost all the historical attractions, such as Fort Mackinac. While it does have some nice bike trails, and solitude can be found on the smaller, more remote trails, I don't think we will want to go back anytime soon.





On Saturday the resort hosted a breakfast for all the guests out by the pool. The breakfast included eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, and pancakes. All were prepared by the resort staff including owners Kirk and Craig. We got a chance to chat with some other campers, both lot owners and transients like us. After breakfast we had a chance to ride the resort's new Segway transporters. The Rose boys use them to escort coaches to their campsites and to zip around the resort. They are in the process of setting up a rental program and a tour operation to take guests on the Little Traverse Wheelway to Petoskey and beyond.

In the afternoon, we had intended to go into Petoskey to attend the last day of their annual Festival on the Bay, but we got sidetracked instead. It was such nice weather and such a nice camp site that we decided to drag out the food we had brought for our upcoming Boundary Waters trip and do some meal preparation. We made meal plans, packaged what food we had with us and made a grocery list to get the remainder. Packing the food is definitely the hardest part of preparing for the Boundary Waters. In past years we have done it at home, where we have a dehydrator, vacuum packer and lots of room to spread out. It is even a bigger challenge to prepare on the road. Plus, it's very difficult to run to the store and get grits and country ham up here. They look at you like you are from the moon.

We regret that we didn't see more things in the area. We had heard that Harbor Springs was nice, and we never got down to the waterfront in Petoskey. I guess there's always next year.

Things Are Looking Up in Michigan's Upper Lower Penisula

Things improved immensely after leaving the "resort from hell " (RFH). On Tuesday we drove about 85 miles northeast up the Lake Michigan coast to just south of Petoskey, MI and checked into The Motorcoach Resort at Bay Harbor. This resort was previously owned by Monaco Coach Corporation, formerly a major manufacturer of motor homes, but Monaco recently emerged from chapter 11, and this resort has been sold off to another company. A result is that construction at this resort has been behind schedule and only opened a few weeks ago. Actually the facilities were in very good shape and the place looked very nice. The landscaping was very nicely done, with green grassy knolls, flowing waterscapes and fountains, and flower gardens. There was a nine-hole putting course that mimicked fine putting greens. But then, little things were lacking. They had no list of the cable TV channels; they just haven't compiled it yet. The wi-fi system was not yet working. I asked about pet rules, and the lady said they hadn't written the rules yet. Great, no rules! This is another of those luxury resorts that sells deeded RV lots. They put us on lot No 10 which lists for $200,000 and rents for $79/night. Thankfully (and frankly the only reason we were there at all) we had a coupon for two free nights.

On Wednesday we backtracked about 10 miles south on US 31 to Charlevoix. Charlevoix is a very pretty little harbor resort town with a newly renovated town marina. The very short Pine River connects Lake Charlevoix and Round Lake with Lake Michigan. We spent an hour or two watching all shapes and sizes of pleasure boats travel up and down the Pine River and through the US 31 draw bridge. Matilda had a big time sniffing and playing with other dogs on the waterfront. She was also a big hit in front of the shops along Bridge Street. The Little Traverse Wheelway is a paved bike trail that runs 23 miles from downtown Charlevoix north to Harbor Springs. We didn't get a chance to bike on the trail, but it looked very inviting. Well, there's always next year; we are compiling a list of excuses to come back to NW Michigan.

Our weather has been generally very good on this trip; cool and dry. As fate would have it, during our stay at the RFH it was rainy, hot and humid. The good weather has returned again with dry clear skies and unseasonably cool temperatures.

Oh did I forget to mention that I almost got into a fist fight with a neighboring camper at the RFH over a picnic table? Oh well, that's another story ....

No Room at the Inn (continued)... The Resort From Hell

When last we saw our intrepid adventurers, Myron and Dorcas, they were being evicted from their happy home. It was Friday morning, the beginning of the weekend, at one of the most popular summer vacation areas in Michigan. They were shut out of their next intended destination, Platte River Campground, in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Where would they go? What would they do? Would they perish in Michigan's upper lower peninsula and never be seen again?

The ranger at Sleeping Bear Dunes gave all the losers a sheet listing other campgrounds in the area. I guess it was like a consolation prize. We were familiar with several campgrounds on the list. One was the place we were having to leave. Another was D.H. Day CG, the other federal CG in the park, which we knew filled up even before Platte River. Several were state forest campgrounds, but they were primitive and few had sites that would fit our rig. Also, they had no phone and we couldn't call them to check availability. I didn't feel like going on a wild goose chase. We recognized one campground that was pretty close to Platte River because we had seen it on our list of campgrounds that honored Passport America, a discount camping club we belong to. Passport America card holders pay half the normal rate at participating campgrounds. It looked like a good choice given our limited options, so we called Sunny Woods Resort. The lady said she had one site left, and she would save it for us if we got there quickly. She said the site did not have a sewer connection because another camper had run over it, and her husband had buried the connection instead of repairing it. I guess that should have tipped us off to something, but we really weren't watching for the signs. We were just grateful we had a place to go, and it was very close to where we wanted to be.

There were more ominous signs during check-in. The lady was having a hard time entering our registration data. It turns out the space bar on her keyboard didn't work. She tried pounding on it repeatedly and apparently that eventually worked. I told her keyboards were cheap, and she should get a new one. She said she couldn't replace the keyboard without replacing the PC and printer. That didn't make sense to me, but I didn't argue. Then she couldn't find the reservation she had just made for us while on the phone, so she made a new one. Next she couldn't get the system to accept a motor home over 25'. Finally she registered us as a motor home less than 25' and gave us that rate. I should have run away screaming, but I was morbidly fascinated. The nominal rate for our site was $48/night, but after the Passport America discount and the idiot discount, we paid $19/night (including taxes) for 4 nights. I asked if we could get additional credit for having no working sewer, but she didn't appreciate my humor. Then she began to tell me her troubles: each month she doesn't know if she can make the payments on the property; she no longer advertises her park since the motorcycle gang camping here beat her up; she screens dogs camping in the park since she was attacked by a camper's dog; Good Sam Club won't return her calls about joining their program (go figure). At that point I began backing up towards the door, trying to make a clean escape.

Her directions to the campground had us going down the road behind the store and turning left at the bath house. We couldn't find the bath house, only a run down shanty; oh wait, that's it! We were assigned site #8. We found sites #7 and #9. It was clear where they were. #8 should be between #7 and #9. There was an "8" on the back of the power pedestal for #9, but no obvious site #8. There was no sewer fixture (oh, wait, it was buried), but there was no power pedestal either. About that time a park employee came by, but she could not tell us where #8 was. Finally we decided to just pull into the grassy space between #7 and #9. Before pulling in we had to clear some overhead limbs, including a large dead hanging widow maker. We plugged into the power pedestal for #9. The folks on #9 were tenting and using the 20A receptacle, so we used the 30A receptacle. I won't go on except to say that by Monday night they had not picked up the trash from the weekend and the flies were getting pretty bad. Also, the toilet paper in the the men's "shanty" was out for two days, even after we 1) called the office and 2) mentioned it to an employee cleaning the "shanty". We probably should have left. Our standards are not terribly high, but this was a new low for us. Thankfully we had some activities planned and would not be spending much time at Sunny Woods Resort.

Over the next few days we continued to explore the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We paddled on the lower Platte River. The Platte is a very busy river, perhaps as busy as the Crystal River was, where we paddled a few days earlier. Even though we put on late in the afternoon, there were still a large number of tubers on the river. The lower Platte flows from M-22 about 4.5 miles and empties into Lake Michigan. We paddled out into the big pond for a little ways before turning back to the landing. That evening we attended a ranger program on area ship wrecks. Taking the Manitou Straits shaves 15 miles off the trip from Chicago to the lower great lakes, so many pilots take this trecherous short cut. After the program Matilda met Mitze a red merle Australian shepherd. The next day we climbed Sleeping Bear Dune, hiked to Pyramid Point and watched the sunset from Empire Bluff. On Saturday night we went to Cherry Bowl Drive-in Theatre, which is the only drive-in in northern Michigan and only about three miles from our camp. We saw a double feature and enjoyed 50's music and memorabilia. The on-screen snack bar commercials were campy and great. At the Cherry Bowl diner they were giving away samples of cherry pizza; different, but not bad! We had the boat on the car, so we had to park on the back row. We carried our recliners down to the front and watched the movie from there. The next day at the Empire town beach a group of horse riders arrived and rode their horses into Lake Michigan. They had just completed an annual shore-to-shore ride and had left Lake Huron 5 days ago. And to think that dogs are not allowed on the beach. Tonight we had a craving for pizza. The first two pizza joints we tried were closed so we went to the Lumberjack Bar and Grill in Honor. I am normally leary of bar room food, but we took a gamble on a 16" Lumberjack Special and a pitcher of Molson's. The pizza was excellent and the beer, as always, was good. On the big screen TV we watched the Boston Red Sox whip the Tigers, after which most of the patrons in the bar, including us, left. They roll up the sidewalks pretty early on a Monday night in Honor, MI.

By the way, Dorcas' ankle continues to improve. I don't think I'll have to shoot her. On Tuesday we will move about 85 miles north and east up Lake Michigan to a real RV resort near Petoskey.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore ... No Room at the Inn!

On Tuesday we left St. Clair and traveled diagonally across Michigan's lower peninsula to it's northwest corner. We are currently camped at Sleepy Bear Campground, near Empire MI. As Dorcas and I have have attended motor home rallies and conventions, we have collected many offers and coupons for free or discounted camping. Often these offers are in conjunction with opportunities to invest in deeded campsite lots at various resort sites. Such was the case here. The owners of Sleepy Bear Campground were developing an adjacent tract as a luxury motor coach resort to be known as Indigo Bluffs. They let us stay free for four days and three nights at Sleepy Bear, so we would look at Indigo Bluffs, and hopefully be enticed to buy a lot. The hitch was that they were way behind in the construction at Indigo Bluffs, and there really wasn't a lot to see except a raw construction site and a few freshly poured stamped concrete pads. As the sales rep told us, "You have to use your imagination." The folks were very nice, and there was no pressure to buy, or even to look, for that matter. On Friday, our final day at Sleepy Bear, Diana our host, brought us a freshly baked cherry pie. Very nice!

Empire MI is the jumping off point for Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Major features include North and South Manitou Islands, 35 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and Sleeping Bear Dune. From Wikipedia:

"The park is named after a Chippewa legend of the sleeping bear. According to the legend, an enormous forest fire on the western shore of Lake Michigan drove a mother bear and her two cubs into the lake for shelter, determined to reach the opposite shore. After many miles of swimming, the two cubs lagged behind. When the mother bear reached the shore, she waited on the top of a high bluff. The exhausted cubs drowned in the lake, but the mother bear stayed and waited in hopes that her cubs would finally appear. Impressed by the mother bear's determination and faith, the Great Spirit created two islands (North and South Manitou Island) to commemorate the cubs, and the winds buried the sleeping bear under the sands of the dunes where she waits to this day. The "bear" was a small tree-covered knoll at the top edge of the bluff that, from the water, had the appearance of a sleeping bear. Wind and erosion have caused the "bear" to be greatly reduced in size over the years. Today only a small remnant remains."

On Wednesday we toured parts of the park north of Empire. We took the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive which offers outstanding views of Lake Michigan, Sleeping Bear Dune and the Manitou Islands. We walked out on a high bluff dune where visitors were sliding 200' down to the shore of Lake Michigan. It didn't look like much fun coming back up however; one step forward, two steps back! Matilda had big fun playing in all the sand. I think she expected us to scold her for digging and was surprised that we let her go on. We visited the town of Glen Arbor and scouted the Crystal River, an excellent paddling venue.

On Thursday we visited the Maritime Museum at the Coast Guard Station at Glen Haven. There we toured the museum and watched a live demonstration showing how sailors were evacuated from a ship stranded off the beach. Most of the beaches in the park are dog-free, but there is a section of beach here that allowed dogs. Matilda again had big fun playing in the waves and digging in the sand. When we had scouted the Crystal River the day before it was wall-to-wall kayaks, canoes and tubers; a very popular run. It was a very pretty river and we wanted to run it, so we decided to run it late in the afternoon. The Crystal River heads up in Glen Lake only about two miles from it's outlet in Lake Michigan, as the crow flies, but meanders about 8 miles from its source to its mouth. We did a section that was probably about 6 miles long, but the bike shuttle was only 1.1 miles, due to loops in the river. The river is very shallow, mostly less than one foot deep, and crystal clear. We put on at 5:00 PM, and there were only a few boaters on the river at that time. We finished up about 8:00 after a very leisurely float. We had two portages, one around a small dam and the other over a road culvert. We were able to duck low and paddle through one other culvert.

On Friday we had hoped to move over to the Platte River Campground, one of two federal campgrounds in the park and the only one with electric service. Both campgrounds are full every day and fill new vacancies at 8:00 each morning. We arrived at 6:30 AM hoping to get a spot, but found a long line of hopeful campers at the ranger station. The sign at the station said there would be 14 sites available that morning: 2 electric, 8 non-electric and 4 walk-in sites. There were 8 motor homes and travel trailers in the parking lot before we arrived, so we knew we would not get an electric site. They don't allow generator use, and we couldn't last 4 days without power, so we didn't want a non-electric site, even if we could get one. We figured our best chance was for one of the walk-in sites, which would probably go last. We had already scouted the walk-in sites and decided that they would work for us, at least for one night, then we could get a transfer site. Transfers are handled before they assign sites to new campers; campers already on a site, but who want to change their site, go to the head of the line. If we got a walk-in site, we could not sleep in the motor home, but there was a sunny place to park it, so the solar array would keep it charged up. We have a tent, sleeping bags, a cook stove and every thing we need to use the walk-in sites. Not an ideal arrangement, but workable. Well, it didn't work out that way. At 8:00, the rangers gave out numbers to those in line and began registering campers. Our number was 16. Remember there were 14 sites available? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the math. The two electric sites went down in about 10 seconds. We hoped that at least two parties ahead of us would get disgusted and leave, but it didn't happen. No. 14 got the last site. Dang. Ironically, the party behind us, No. 17 had handicapped credentials and got the handicapped site, which wasn't one of the original 14. We rushed back to Sleepy Bear to see if they had space for us to stay another night or two, but they were booked solid for the weekend, and we would have to leave. Where would we go? A busy summer weekend at a popular national park? No room at the inn!

To be continued ....

The News from Detroit City

Last night I went to sleep in Detroit city,
And I dreamed about those cotton fields and home.
I dreamed about my mother,
dear old papa, sister and brother,
And I dreamed about that girl,
whose been waitin' for so long.

I want to go home, I want to go home,
Oh Lord, I want to go home.

by Danny Dill and Mel Tillis

We don't want to go home just yet, but we did want to go to Detroit city. Dorcas and I have vowed to catch a Major League Baseball game every chance we get as we travel across the country on our adventures. It's pretty easy to do here in the upper Midwest, as there is a MLB town about every hundred miles. We saw the Cardinals in St. Louis in 2007 and the Twins in Minnesota last year. Unfortunately we missed the Cleveland Indians last week, since they were playing out on the west coast. We are camped only 50 miles north of Detroit and decided to stay at St. Clair a few days longer than we had originally planned, in order to catch a Tigers game. The Tigers were starting a home stand tonight against the Baltimore Orioles. We bought some cheap-seat tickets and headed to town. We parked near the Greektown Casino about eight blocks from Comerica Park and took a tour of downtown Detroit on the Detroit People Mover, a light rail train system that travels about on a 2.9 mile overhead track around the central area of downtown Detroit. We did one full circuit and got a fairly quick tour of the city. After our city tour we ate a fine dinner at Plaka Cafe, one of the many Greek restaurants in Detroit's Greektown.

Then disaster struck! Stepping out of the restaurant onto the street Dorcas turned her ankle on the low step onto the sidewalk. Those who know Dorcas know that turning her ankle is not terribly uncommon; it happens about once every year or so. It quickly began swelling turning blue, and my immediate concern was if her injury would affect our trip into the Boundary Waters about 3 weeks later. I suggested we go back into the restaurant and see if we could turn this mishap into a free meal or some windfall cash, or at least some ice in a bag, but Dorcas was too embarrassed to do any of those things, so we walked and hobbled (Dorcas in severe pain) the eight blocks to the stadium. We got to the stadium well before the start of the game and wandered around looking at the sights at Comerica Park. Later, as the swelling increased, it occurred to me that I could take Dorcas to the first aid station in the stadium and get some free treatment. There we met a very friendly nurse, whose day job is working in the ER. The nurse pronounced that the ankle was probably not broken. She applied an ace bandage and an ice pack, and prescribed rest and elevation (the usual RICE formula for a sprain), advice which Dorcas promptly ignored.

Meanwhile, back at the game ..... The Tigers are in 1st place in the AL Central Division, but were coming off an 11-1 defeat at Cleveland the night before. The fans wanted blood. Detroit was starting Justin Verlander, their ace right-hander. On his second pitch he gave up a home run to deep center by Brian Roberts, a North Carolina boy from Durham. It went downhill from there for the home team. Verlander gave up a series of hits (three singles and two doubles) all to left field. Baltimore finished with 5 runs in the top of the 1st. The Tigers redeemed themselves somewhat by scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the inning: 1st inning 5-3. It looked like it was going to be a very long night. Actually the game moved rather quickly from that point. Verlander settled down and gave up only 2 more hits through the 8th inning, while the Tigers manufactured two more runs. With the score tied 5 to 5 and two outs in the bottom of the 9th, Detroit's Clete Thomas pounds a dinger over the center field wall to give the Tigers a 6-5 win. The crowd goes wild! For those with too much time on their hands, here is a complete game summary. We escaped the big city without being mugged and without further incident and were back in camp well before midnight. Matilda had stayed with a neighbor and her two dogs and two cats, so she had a fun evening as well.

St. Clair Rocks Too!

On Thursday Dorcas got her hair cut at the Blue Water College of Cosmetology in Marysville. I offered to cut it for her for free. She declined and instead squandered $7.50 so an out of work auto worker, spending Obama's stimulus money in a futile attempt to learn another trade, could do it. After every step throughout the process the instructor would come over and check the student's work. Dorcas declined the optional blow dry for an additional $2.00 (that's my gal!). It must have come out OK. Momma is happy.

On Friday and Saturday we explored the small town of St. Clair. It turns out St. Clair is having their annual Riverfest event this weekend, featuring concerts and boat races. It's a pretty big event for such a small town. Friday night and Saturday night featured live music from about 5:30 until midnight, with five bands playing each night. The stage is actually on a barge tied up to the town waterfront boardwalk. Friday night's headliner was Eddie Money. Any rock and roller alive in the 70s and 80s will remember Eddie Money. He put on a great show and the crowd was "Shakin' " throughout his whole set. A surprisingly fun group was the Dave Hamilton Band, a local group from somewhere in Michigan. Dave Hamilton is a fantastic rock and blues guitar player and his group played a wide variety of rock styles. It was lots of fun to watch a black rock trio playing ZZ Top hits! We also enjoyed the Rod Stewart Tribute Band. The lead singer didn't sound particularly like Rod, but he had the look and mannerisms down pat. His band was also very good; a very strong musical performance. The disappointment of the show was Saturday's headliner, Josh Gracin. Gracin was an American Idol finalist in its second season. While Gracin is a very strong singer and entertaining performer, his band never exhibited any soul or instrumental improvisation. All his songs sounded pretty much the same. We left before he had finished his show, as did many other folks in the audience. Last year in late August we attended the Boundary Waters Blues Festival in Ely and really enjoyed it. This year they moved the date for that festival up to, ironically, this weekend. We really wanted to attend the Boundary Waters Blues Festival, but knew we couldn't due to the date change. The music at the St. Clair Riverfest was a pretty good substitute.

Another event on Saturday and Sunday was the St. Clair River Classic Offshore Powerboat Race. We didn't attend the races, but saw some of the big boats in town and cruising the river. It looked like it would br fun, in a sort of upper Midwest redneck kinda of way.

Quote of the Week

"I sold over 37 million records. If I had known, I would have saved the money."

Eddie Money, St. Clair MI, 7/31/09

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.

Cleveland Rocks!!!

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends
We're so glad you could attend, come inside, come inside
There behind a glass stands a real blade of grass
Be careful as you pass, move along, move along

from Karn Evil 9
Greg Lake and Peter Sinfield

We had to be off the grounds at Bowling Green State University by Friday noon, but wanted to stay in the area for a few more days. Our best option was to move about 4 miles to the Woods County Fairgrounds. They offered 30A electric and water for $10/night, a very good deal. We had to be out of the fairgrounds by Sunday, because they were going to start mowing and prepping for their county fair, but that was fine with us. We signed on for two nights. There were a number of other folks there from the FMCA convention. Matilda became friends with Max, a border collie parked across the way. Max was an incessant ball-chaser, much like Matilda's friend from home, Sunshine.

The two things we really wanted to do were to drive to Cleveland and 1) catch an Indians game and 2) see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, the Indians were on a long road trip, so that was out. I was only a little disappointed. I am a die-hard rock and roller, and that meant we could spend the whole day at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. We arrived shortly before noon and had until closing time at 9:00 pm to see it all. That just wasn't enough time! The Hall is crammed full of artifacts and memorabilia from Rock and Roll's all time greatest stars. In addition to R&R performers, it also honored early influences, who didn't play R&R, but played blues, jazz, gospel and country music, that contributed to the birth of R&R. It also honored many behind-the-scenes non-performing forces that shaped R&R. The artifacts included guitars, costumes, set lists, hand-written original compositions and personal articles from hundreds of performers. Want to see the jacket Michael Jackson wore in the Thriller video? How about a guitar smashed on-stage by Pete Townsend (actually these are pretty common)? How about a white fur drum set from ZZ Top? Or the jacket John Lennon wore on the cover photo for the St. Pepper's Lonley Hearts Club Band album?. All that and more! A Cadillac owned by Elvis Presley. A Corvette owned by Bruce Springsteen. A piece of the fuselage from the plane Otis Redding died in. In addition to exhibits on specific artists, there were a series of exhibits on places around the world where R&R grew up. Haight-Ashbury/San Francisco, Motown, Woodstock, Liverpool, Seattle grunge, California beach and folk rock, etc. It's all here.

Dorcas gave me a Sirius satellite receiver for Christmas a few years ago, and I am hooked on Sirius radio. We have a mount in all of our vehicles, as well as a portable boom box receiver in the coach so all our RV neighbors can enjoy it too. Sirius transmits about 20 rock channels as well as another 20 or so pop and blues channels. Not to mention the country and rockabilly. Heaven! Sirius has a broadcast booth at the Hall and broadcasts several shows a week live from the Hall. When we were there Norn N. Nite was broadcasting his 50's show on Sirius channel 5. If you had been listening to Sirius 50s on 5 at 4:14 pm EDT on Saturday July 25, you would have heard Norm N. Nite send a coast-to-coast dedication to "Dorcas from Winston-Salem North Carolina". Does it get any cooler than this?

I highly recommend the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. If you're ever in Cleveland, check it out. Plan to spend the whole day. If you're a R&R nut like me, plan to spend two days.

Quote of the Week

"Nobody knows how we got to the top of the hill, but since we're on our way down, we might as well enjoy the ride".

The Secret Of Life
James Taylor, North Carolina native and 2000 Inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Convening In Bowling Green OH

We have been attending the FMCA's 82nd international Convention at Bowling Green in northwest OH. Faithful readers will remember that Dorcas and I really enjoy attending FMCA's big rallies. There are hundreds of interesting and informative seminars as well as hundreds of vendors selling all kinds of neat stuff. We also meet many old friends. This year I am representing our local FMCA chapter, the Country Cousins, as a National Director. This means I had to attend the annual business meeting and election of our national officers. They told me this would be a piece of cake. They lied. On Sunday, the day before the annual meeting we were in meetings all day learning how to behave as National Directors, how the voting would be conducted and attending a candidate's forum. The annual meeting began Monday morning at 9:00 am. Due to some contentious budget issues and a hotly contested election, the meeting did not end until 8:30 pm. A piece of cake indeed.

The rally is being held on the campus of Bowling Green State University, which is a very nice venue. The seminar halls had excellent audio/visual facilities and were very comfortable. This is in stark contrast to previous conventions which are usually held at fairgrounds and other agricultural venues, where seminars are held in cattle barns or open tents. It rained a few days, but generally the weather has been very nice and unseasonably cool. Bowling Green is a fairly typical college town featuring a number of interesting bars and food joints. One interesting note is that Bowling Green built a small wind turbine farm, with enough capacity to power about 3000 homes, one of few such municipal ventures in the country.

As usual, we spent some money at the rally:

• I replaced our broken LP detector there. Before leaving home I learned we had no propane pressure in the coach. Upon investigation I found my LP detector had failed. The LP detector controls the LP tank valve such that when the sensor sniff propane in the house, or when the the detector is turned off, or (apparently) when the unit fails, it closes the valve and turns off the LP at the tank. I was able to bypass the detector and hot-wire the valve before we left home, allowing me to run the fridge, but I didn't want to delay replacing the detector. I soon learned that the detector manufacturer had gone out of business, and that unit was no longer available anywhere. Luckily, and mostly by accident, I found perhaps the only unit in the world that was still available. A guy that installs custom fire suppression systems in motor homes, and uses the device in his installations, had one unit and agreed to sell it to me, in spite of the fact that he had no other source to replace it. By the end of the show, at least one other customer was trying to buy it, but it was promised to me and I grabbed it up. I installed it and it works like a charm. The vendor took my old unit. He plans to pirate the design and perhaps manufacture his own units.
• We use a cellular air card for internet service when we are not near free WiFi. Sometimes we find ourselves way out in the boonies where cell service is poor or nonexistent. Several vendors were selling cellular amplifier/repeater systems by Wilson Electronics to boost cell signals. So, we bit the bullet and bought one. The system consists of an outside antenna, a powered amplifier and an inside antenna, which re-broadcasts the amplified signal wirelessly to the cell phone and/or air card. Pretty nifty since you are not tethered to the amplifier. The inside antenna is affectionately called a "candy bar" because it is about the size, shape and color of a 2.5 oz. Hershey dark chocolate bar. The system was a little pricey and we fretted a bit before buying it, but we think it will be worthwhile and will nicely supplement our Verizon air card and CradlePoint broadband wireless router. Ah ... all the conveniences of home.
• We also bought a 22' telescoping fiberglass pole. Dorcas thinks we bought it to fly her wind socks, but really it will be used primarily as a mast for our new cellular antenna.
• Finally we had our hydronic heat system serviced. Our coach is equipped with a fairly sophisticated "boiler" which provides comfort heat, domestic hot water and engine pre-heating. The unit is powered by a diesel burner, a 120v electric element and/or hot coolant from the engine. We had a technician replace the diesel burner nozzle and fuel filter and clean the burner chamber. He also replaced a poorly designed plastic drain valve with a brass valve. The plastic valve is prone to cracking, causing all your coolant to run out. Not good.

The final tally showed there were 2725 coaches at the convention. This figure is down from the 4000-5000 coaches that usually came before the recent economic downturn. The next two international conventions are in Albuquerque NM in March and Redmond OR in August. We may not make those .... or maybe we can catch Redmond on our way back from Alaska?

Rallies are such hard work. Between the annual business meetings, business pre-meetings, seminars, service calls and shopping, it seems we had little time for fun and relaxation. Well, now the convention is over, and we can begin our summer adventure in earnest.

Daddy's Got a New Pair of Eyes

I have been resisting getting eyeglasses for some time. I have used readers more and more often over the last few years, but my far vision was still pretty good. At least the NC DMV thought so when they issued my license to drive the big rig in December. However, I have seen further deterioration in both my near and far vision, to the extent I was really starting to have problems seeing well, particularly if the object was closer than 3' or further than 4' away. When I went in for my annual retinopathic exam in May, I also had a full vision exam. The doctor. was amazed that I hadn't gotten glasses before.

So, I took the prescription and got my glasses. They do help my vision, but I really don't like wearing them. I guess it just takes getting used to. I feel sorta like those little Geico eyeballs that keep following everybody around on TV. I got the lined bi-focals and am starting to think I should have gotten a progressive bi-focal. Oh well. We'll see.

Wow, I can actually read that road sign!

On the Road Again .... Again

We really wanted to leave home for our summer trip today, but with our painting and repair projects we weren't sure we would make it. We could wait and leave on Saturday, but we needed to be in NW Ohio early on Sunday morning and didn't want to push it. Finally, we decided we would quit painting Thursday night, finished or not, and pack and leave on Friday. While we didn't finish completely, it was close enough; the rest can wait until October.

This morning we began packing for our three month summer trip. I mean, we hadn't packed anything! We finally hit the road at 7:00 PM, well after the Friday rush hour. We drove until about 11:00 PM and are spending the night at the Tamarack Center in Beckley WV, where they allow RVs to park overnight in a dedicated section of their parking lot. Tomorrow we will continue north to Bowling Green OH and attend the FMCA convention. After that we will move further north to Thousand Trails in St. Clair MI. After that we are not sure where we are going. We will ultimately land in Ely MN near the end of August for our annual Boundary Waters canoe trip, however our route there is uncertain. We will probably spend time in northwest Michigan and Michigan's Upper Penisula. We may loop through Ontario and travel the north shore of Lake Superior through Canada. We will regroup and make a plan after the FMCA convention. We will take out from our Boundary Waters trip in mid-September. After that we will make a decision where to go and when to come home. Where we go in September and October will likely depend on where all we get to in July and August. We will likely arrive home in the first or second week of October. Ours is an unstructured life on the road.

Home Improvements

Our house was built in 1983. I have lived in it since 1986. The house was built by Bill Pope, a builder whose company builds primarily commercial buildings. Bill built the house for himself, but while building the house added on many extras and features and drove the cost higher than he had intended. So, after living in the house for three years, Bill decided to sell the house to cut his losses. "Overkill Bill", as he is known around town, typically builds structures which are over-engineered and over-built, as in the case of my house. For example, the footings are extra deep and wide and have steel reinforcing; the basement has eight feet of clearance throughout its 2000 square feet; the roofing was a 40 year shingle by Byrd, the best in the industry (now out of business); the windows, hardware and fixtures were top quality; etc. Because of the quality of the construction and materials, I have had to do very little maintenance or repairs to the house. The roof, exterior paint and one of the heat pumps are all original.

But alas, all good things must end. The roof was showing some serious damage on the south side. On the north side there was a serious crop of moss flourishing. It wasn't leaking yet, but no doubt it would be soon. Also, the paint was blistering, cracking and peeling in a number of places, particularly on the south side. I was beginning to see some water damage on the windows, the wood sash on the bay window was completely rotted, and sections of the garage doors were rotted. One section of gutter was leaking and hanging limp and water was running down the fascia behind the gutter. It was time to take action. With a little over two weeks before our next long trip and fair weather in the forecast, Dorcas and I tore into it. To make a very long story short, over the past two weeks Dorcas and I prepped, caulked and painted the exterior of the house, had a new roof installed, had 34' of new gutter installed and re-built the sill on the bay window. There was one section of eave on the west side of the house that I could not reach with my 24' extension ladder (thankfully!!!!). It turns out there was a professional painter working up the street on my neighbor's house. He gave me about five hours of time, at a very reasonable rate, and painted that high eave and a few other tough spots.

It was a very productive two weeks. The neighbors watched us working so long and so hard, they figured we were selling the house. Maybe we should sell it, but we aren't ready just quite yet. At least now we can travel and not worry about continuing water damage. I think when I have to do it again, I may hire that professional painter to do the whole job. Life is too short to scrape paint.

Baby's Got a New Set of Wheels

Wow, two posts in less than nine hours! I don't know what's gotten into me...

Actually, I forgot to mention that Dorcas has a new bike. Well, technically, it's not a bike it's a trike. We observed while traveling in Florida that recumbent bikes and recumbent trikes are very popular. That's probably due to the flat terrain, abundant paved trails, and all the geezers riding them. Dorcas' friend Audrey recently bought a Catrike. Catrikes are manufactured in Winter Garden, FL where we spend a great deal of time. We both demoed several of the trikes while we were there this past winter. The trikes are very comfortable and Audrey assured Dorcas she did not have a sore bottom, back, hands or neck from long rides. Dorcas has never really been comfortable on an upright bike and decided she really, really, NEEDED a trike. So, she ordered a Catrike Villager before we left for Arkansas and picked it up Saturday. It wasn't cheap, but now I don't have to worry about her falling over on her head. In preparation for the C & O trip, we spent this week getting it set up with luggage rack, panniers, flag, computer, flashers, bells and whistles. The real trick is hauling it. It will fit inside the Element but there's room for nothing else. For this trip we are hauling it on the roof rack and that seems to be working well (as we currently rip through Roanoke, VA on I81 at 65 mph). The real challenge will be on future adventures when we want to haul my conventional bike, a canoe and the trike on top of the Element. I expect we will look like the Clampetts moving out of Arkansas to Beverly Hills. If anybody has ideas for hauling, I'm open to suggestions.

In the meantime, I have made changes to the way I haul camping gear on my own bike. Previously, I used front and rear panniers. For this trip I purchased a B.O.B trailer. The B.O.B is advantageous because it takes weight off the bike and lowers the center of gravity. Also, it is easier to pack gear into one big vessel than into four little vessels. The luggage rack I use with panniers is a specialized rack purchased to accommodate the rear disc brake. The problem is, the hitch for the B.O.B. would not fit with the special luggage rack. My options were to remove either the luggage rack, the B.O.B. or the rear brake. After serious consideration, I decided to remove the rear brake. However, Dorcas convinced me that would be unwise. After further consideration, Dorcas agreed to carry my larger pannier set so, I jettisoned the rear rack and am carrying all my eggs in the B.O.B. basket. We'll see how that all works out.. Pictures at 11.

This is our first long trip without Matilda, so Dorcas is a little mopey. We left Matilda with friends, and she will probably have more fun than we will. She is staying with her two best puppy friends and her veterinarian on a nine acre fenced playground. Puppy heaven.

OK, this really is my last post for a while. Talk to you in June.

They're Baaaaaack!!!

Faithful readers (if I have any left) will realize I have been grossly delinquent updating this journal. For this I apologize and promise to try to do better in the future. When I started this journal almost two years ago, it was very easy to write since everything we did and everyplace we went was new and exciting. Now, after traveling about 8 months per year for the last two years, it is not as new and exciting as it once was. Don't misunderstand, it's still wonderful to go to fabulous places and do fun things, but it has become more of a way of life and less something new and different. Consequently, it is harder to write about our adventures with the same fresh outlook. However, I have received feedback from at least one reader (who is still of the working class and very envious of our travels) that even a mundane report is appreciated, and it is missed when I don't write. So, I will strive to write more often, and to make these reports as interesting and entertaining as I can. Please post comments; it is motivating to know that you are out there.

For the Reader's Digest condensed version of our Spring Loop: We arrived home on Monday May 11 at 1:00. We had a doctor's appointment at 1:30. As you can see we are always reluctant to come home and usually wait until the last minute. After leaving northern Arkansas and the Buffalo River area we spent two nights at Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas. After that we spent two nights on the Natchez Trace Parkway and explored Vicksburg National Military Park. From there we continued south to Gulf Shores AL to attend a Country Coach rally. Finally, we spent a week at Grayton Beach State Park on the Florida panhandle with friends from home. While there we enjoyed the beach and paddled several very nice creeks. We were away from home about a month and had a very nice trip.

Tomorrow we leave for another adventure. We are bike-camping on the C&O Canal National Historical Park. We will put in at Cumberland MD and pedal 185 miles along the Potomac River to Washington DC. Then we will u-turn and return to Cumberland. We will be carrying all our camping gear and much of our food and will be staying in campsites along the trail. We expect to be out 12 days. I will not carry a PC, so it will be a while before I can write (what else is new???). I do promise to write when we return.

Bon voyage.

Buffalo River Trip Wrap-up

We completed our canoe camping trip on the Buffalo River this afternoon. We actually took off the river one day ahead of schedule. Unlike last year, when we took off two days ahead of schedule and 33 miles before our intended take-out due to dangerously high and rising river levels, this year we completed our 126 mile trip. Good flow and ideal water levels allowed us to complete our trip from Ponca to Buffalo City in 9 days rather than the 10 days we had originally allowed. We typically paddled 15+ miles a day breaking camp about 10:00 and stopping about 3:00 on a beautiful gravel bar across from a towering bluff. The trip was largely uneventful; just a great float trip! The first third of the trip showed falling water levels and cooler than normal weather. During the middle part of the trip we got some rain and the river rose a bit. Near the end of the trip it turned warmer and the river levels dropped back to more normal levels.

We saw a wide assortment of wildlife. We saw the usual river-side birds as well as bald eagles and ospreys. We saw snakes and otters. The fishing was a little slow, but we managed to take a few smallmouth bass each day. In the small-world department, we ran into a fellow on the river from Mississippi near where my mother lived and we had many common acquaintances. He knew my mother's husband and his family very well.

After taking off at Riley's Landing in Buffalo City on the White River, Wayne, Lynda and Harry departed for NC. Dorcas and I retrieved the motor home, which was parked at Wild Bill's house, and moved a few miles down the hill to the federal campground at Buffalo Point. There we dried out all our gear and packed away the camping gear we would not use on the remainder of our trip. Tomorrow we will move south about 140 miles to Hot Springs National Park.

Buffalo National River

We left The Dell in Sevierville early this morning and drove 720 miles to Clinton Arkansas, where we are spending the night in the Wal-Mart parking lot. In the morning we will drive north another 45 miles to Wild Bill's Outfitters on the Buffalo National River and meet our friends from NC. From there, Wild Bill will take us to Ponca, where we will put in for a 10-day, 135 mile float down the Buffalo River. We talked to Wild Bill's today about the river levels. The center part of the river is near flood stage and rising. Tomorrow this section of the river may be closed to boating. Luckily the level at Ponca is just right and dropping slightly, so we should be well behind the flow surge. Hopefully the river won't get much more rain in the next 10 days.

We'll be offline during our canoe trip so check back after the 23rd.

Easter in the Smokys

There is one nice thing about going to motor home shows. There are tons of resort representatives giving away coupons for free camping, usually to try to entice you to buy one of their overpriced deeded RV lots. What else would bring us to the Gatlinburg area on a holiday weekend? While at the shows in Florida, we met folks from Hidden Mountain Resort in Sevierville TN. They had just opened a new deeded RV community, The Dell, and offered us two free nights camping if we came by. It was basically on our way to the Buffalo River in Arkansas, so we thought we would check it out. It turns out to be pretty nice, although very pricey: the 18 lots run from $165K-$195K. Maybe next year.

We arrived on Saturday and did practically nothing all day, except that we did drive over to the Coleman Factory Outlet and the Great Smoky Mountain Knife Works, the "Worlds Largest Knife Store". On Easter Sunday morning we drove into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We drove through Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg (although we could have taken the by-pass around Gatlinburg) and traffic was amazingly light. I guess all the tourists were attending Easter church services. This area is very fascinating in a bizarre way. It is so gaudy and tacky that it is kinda neat. A nice place to pass through, but I wouldn't want to stop here. As soon as you enter the national park, it is like suddenly passing through a portal into a wholly different world: green, quiet and serene. It is ironic that this chaotic tourist mecca was created for people who come to visit the GSMNP, a totally opposite experience.

Shortly after entering the park on the Newfound Gap Road, traffic came to a halt and cars were parked in the road and on the shoulders. There we saw two black bears, a mother and cub off in the woods. After clearing the "bear jam" we drove up to Newfound Gap and to Clingman's Dome. On Clingman's Dome there were remnants of the snow that fell earlier in the week, and Matilda had her first experience playing in the snow. The views from Clingman's dome were clearer than I can recall ever seeing them before. Visibility was probably close to 100 miles. After leaving Clingman's Dome we retraced our path back down the mountain and turned towards Cade's Cove. But the day was getting late and rather than going out to Cade's Cove, we left the park at Townsend and returned to Pigeon Forge via US 321. It was a pretty nice windshield tour of America's most visited national park.

On The Road Again

We left home this morning for another excellent adventure. We are spending tonight at Mom's house and then will be working our way west across Tennessee and Arkansas. On Tuesday we will put in on the Buffalo National River in the Arkansas Ozarks for a ten-day float trip. After that we will work our way south towards Gulf Shores Alabama for a Country Coach rally, with stops at Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas and Vicksburg National Military Park in Mississippi. Finally we will meet friends at Gryaton Beach State Park near Destin FL for a week of paddling. We will return home in about a month, just in time for a 10-day bike trip on the C&O Canal in Maryland. Life is good.