The Impossible Just Takes a Little Longer

They said it couldn't be done. To get a two-week reservation at a state park in the Keys during February is like winning the lottery. And don't even think about Bahia Honda, the southernmost park and the most popular. And if you do shoot for Bahia Honda, forget about a waterfront site.

Well we won the jackpot. At the end of February last year I started working on a site in the Florida Keys for this winter. One can make reservations for camping at the four state parks in the Keys starting 11 months out. I got up one morning, went online and picked a site that was coming open exactly eleven months away. The message said "Wait until 8:00 AM". OK. So, at exactly 8:00 I clicked away and the message said "Campsite sold out, try again sucker." OK, so that's the way it's going to be. I tried again over the next several mornings, at various parks with the same results. I would open multiple browser tabs on different camp sites at different parks: "Wait until 8:00 AM", "Wait until 8:00 AM", "Wait until 8:00 AM". Then: "Sold out", "Sold out", "Sold out". Dang. I began to believe they were right; it can't be done. But wait a minute, I'm no quitter. Someone is getting those sites, why can't it be me? Let's keep at it!

Perseverance paid off. On February 28 I hit the jackpot. I figured I had as good a chance at the best sites at the best parks as I did with any other campsites. On this day there were more upcoming vacancies than I had seen in the previous days. I assumed it had something to do with it being February 28. Since there was no February 29, 30 or 31, perhaps more sites were available during this eleven month window due to the difference in the length of the months, and perhaps sites for January 28, 29, 30 and 31 were all released on the same day. In any case, I snagged a prime waterfront site at Bahia Honda for two weeks starting January 31. Sweet! In order to complete the reservation I had to pay in advance for the entire stay. I was a little miffed to have to pay $440.86 ($28.50 per night plus taxes) a year in advance. Later, I was glad we had locked in at that price. When we arrived we learned that the price was now $38.50 plus tax per night. Even with the increase it still beats the private resorts that run upwards of $100 per night. Premium sites at Bluewater Key RV Resort, about half way from here to Key West are $185!!!! The state parks are a deal any way you cut it.

There was only one small hitch: our reservation started January 31 and the TREK rally didn't end until January 31. It was about a 9-hour drive from Tampa to Bahia Honda. This meant we had three choices: change our reservation and give up our first day at Bahia Honda, leave the rally early (which meant we would also skip a day at the Crown Club) or drive all the way to the lower Keys in one long haul. We have had long driving days before, so it was an easy choice. We wanted to arrive at our camp as early as possible, certainly before dark. We also wanted to take our time and enjoy a leisurely drive 100 miles down the Keys to our camp. This led us to depart Lazydays at the ungodly hour of 4:00 AM. When we told one TREKer that this is what we intended to do, he remarked that he did not know another 4:00 even existed. I told him to think about when he stayed up all night drinking and 4:00 rolled around. Oh, that one!

The forecast was for cool, overcast and storms, but the storms probably wouldn't hit until the late afternoon or evening. We enjoyed a leisurely drive south on I-75. About daybreak near Naples, we stopped for a break and bought some groceries. There we exited I-75 and got on US 41, the Tamiami Trail, east towards Miami. The Tamiami Trail is a very pleasant two-lane road that goes through some rural Florida lowlands. We stopped at the Oasis Visitor Center in the Big Cypress National Preserve. There we picked up information on camping and canoeing in the Preserve and in the Everglades National Park, which would be useful to us in a few weeks. We continued towards Miami and turned south towards Homestead, where we picked up US 1. We continued on US 1 to Key Largo and southward until we arrived at Bahia Honda. The trip down US 1 on the Keys was a little disappointing. I don't know what I expected, but I did not expect an endless string of beach stores, motels and liquor stores. We could see that at Myrtle Beach. The bridges between the islands at least were scenic and, all in all, it was a nice drive.

We checked in and got parked on Site #16. We found that the site was wide enough that we could park parallel to the water and had a panoramic view of the two bridges and a commanding view of the sunset. Unfortunately, it was beginning to rain, so we couldn't enjoy the sights this evening. That was fine because were whupped from getting up early and driving all day. It ended up storming and rained hard all night long and most of the next day. We later learned that it had rained almost 6" in some places on the island. That is more precipitation than they usually get during the entire winter, the so-called "dry season" in the Keys.

Winter TREK Rally at Lazydays

We departed Blue Spring State Park about 1:00PM after leisurely packing and long good byes to our friends. We would see our TREK friends again in a few hours, but would not see Wayne and Lynda again until April, when we will do a paddling trip with them in the Missouri Ozarks. We arrived at Lazydays RV Campground (formerly Rally Park) near Tampa a few hours later. We checked in and were quickly parked and settled. We took Matilda to the Mango Dog Park for a romp, then walked over to the Crown Club for happy hour. Life remains good.

This park is a familiar and comfortable home to us. It is clean, pet friendly, has full hookups, includes cable and wi-fi, and they bring you the local newspaper each morning. One can also eat breakfast and lunch at the Cafe (if one is not fortunate enough to belong to the Crown Club). It is close to a good dog park, the Hillsborough River and Busch Gardens. It is adjacent to Lazydays RV Center, the largest single-site RV dealership in the universe, where all the RVs are unlocked and you can browse all day long without ever seeing a salesman. It is here three years ago that we bought our Country Coach and were introduced to the Crown Club. When we bought our coach they gave us 20 coupons for free nights at this park. We still have eight coupons left, so we will certainly be back, at least for eight more nights.

On Thursday the winter rally of the South East TREK Fun Club kicked off. We learned that almost 50 coaches were in attendance. Most attendees still own their TREKs, but a few, like us have traded to SOBs (some other brand). The TREK club is pretty liberal in their policy to let former TREK owners stay in the club even when they now have another coach or even no coach at all. Some clubs will kick you out when you change brands. The Fleetwood MotorHome Association was also having a rally at the park. They had over 200 coaches attending their rally, and the TREK club got stepped on a bit regarding the use of the rally facilities. We were shoved into various corners and did not have full use of the facilities for which we had paid. Our folks were not happy with the situation, and if we come back to this venue next year, I hope we can get assurances that this problem will not occur again. There are just too many good rally venues to put up with this abuse. I was careful not to be too vocal with my criticism lest I be called upon to plan and host the next rally!

We saw many old friends and made a few new friends. It ended all too quickly. But now we are off to the Florida Keys!!!

A TREK Mini-rally at Blue Spring State Park

Blue Spring State Park is one of our favorite Florida state parks. It has a beautiful deep spring and a 1/2 mile spring run that empties into the St. Johns River. Manatees are numerous here in the winter. The spring run is closed to paddling, but you can paddle in the mouth of the run, just before it converges with the St. John's. We usually see more manatees in this area than we do on up towards the head of the spring.

So, we were excited and quickly accepted when Clair invited us to join her in Blue Spring State Park for a Safari TREK mini-pre-rally. Clair recently moved to Orange City, about 5 miles from Blue Spring State Park and invited us and a few other TREK club members to spend a few nights here before going on to Tampa to attend the Southeast TREK Fun Club Winter Rally. We were also excited to learn that Wayne and Lynda, paddling friends from home would also join us here at the park.

This area has many good paddling opportunities. The St. John's River has numerous cuts, canals and "dead" rivers in the vicinity. The river flow is negligible so you can paddle about anywhere you want and return directly to the park. On Monday I planned a trip to head north on the St. Johns River, west around Hontoon Island State Park and return to the St. Johns on the Hontoon Dead River. We did this ten-mile trip two years ago, and it was very enjoyable. TREKers Harry and John declined to paddle, because it was a little chilly, but Wayne and Lynda are always game. Today's paddle was also very nice. It is usually pretty windy here, but not today. It was sunny and clear and pleasantly warm. We saw lots of all the usual birds and many alligators. As we entered Hontoon Dead River, the river became narrow and winding. Eventually the river became clogged with water hyacinth, which made the paddling pretty difficult. These stretches would sometimes go on for several hundred yards and extend out of sight and around the bend, leading us to question our sanity. Why did we follow this crazy trip leader??? Eventually, however, we made it back out onto the St. Johns and back to Blue Spring. Everything was fine again, and everyone agreed it was a grand paddle.

On Tuesday Harry and John joined us. We paddled south on the St. Johns and explored several bays and some old channels that cut across to the old St. Johns channel. We had none of the vegetation problems we had encountered the day before. Alligators were seen by all. That evening Clair invited us to her home and treated us to a wonderful dinner in the dining room at her retirement village.

On Wednesday we will head back to Tampa and Lazydays for the SETFC Winter Rally. Oh yeah, and to the Crown Club!

Give a Day. Get a Disney Day.

Last year we realized too late that Disney gave people free entry into their parks on their birthday. Since Myron's birthday is Jan 7, I wanted to see what we needed to do to benefit this year. I began my research in December and found the birthday program had been discontinued and replaced by a volunteer program. Beginning January 1, 2010 folks can sign up and complete a selected volunteer opportunity and receive a voucher for a one day one Disney Park ticket. The quest began. Everywhere we stayed I put in the zip code and reviewed the opportunities for that area. Many jobs have been filled and some seemed too hard. I finally found "my calling". It was entitled "Golden Girls Cut-Ups" and the description was "Adult volunteers will be cutting fabric and cardstock...for the children's book project...BYOSS - Bring Your Own Sharp Scissors..." The scheduled time was 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. I could do this.

Upon signing up I was given the option to sign up additional family members or friends. I told Myron about it and asked if he was "game". Why not? It's easy and only takes two hours. We're going to Disney!! On volunteer day, we set off for Travares, about 45 minutes away, with our OSS. Myron thought he might be the only guy there, but other fellows were there with their wives. We cut lots of fabric into book cover pieces, and then I switched to the ironing process. Myron later came over to help me with the folding and pressing which made the task go faster. It was a fun experience.

Lake County children will be creating their own books by writing a story, using our handiwork for the covers, then sharing their stories by reading them to other children. They are preparing for about 1200 books. A wonderful project for the children and the adults who get to go to Disney. Go on-line if you want a free ticket to Disney and check out the volunteer opportunities in your area. There will only be one million free tickets, so hurry while supplies last!

Busch Gardens

Dorcas and I really do enjoy Busch Gardens. We don't do the rides so much, but like to see the animals and the shows. In the past several years we have bought a 7-day pass and gone 3-4 times during the week. Today we got in on a rain check from last year. It's just not the same, however, since they stopped giving away complimentary beer and closed the Hospitality House. Folks may remember that InBev, a Belgium brewer, acquired Anheuser-Busch several years ago. InBev has a policy of not giving the product away and quit giving away free beer in Busch Gardens in February last year. We really miss grabbing a cool one every time we passed the SE corner of the park. They have also taken down many of the references and trademark art to Anheuser-Busch throughout the park and closed the A-B souvenir shop. I have also heard that InBev would like to sell all the entertainment holdings of Anheuser-Busch, including Busch Gardens and Sea World. Since we couldn't get free beer at Busch Gardens, we left the park about an hour before closing so we could catch the happy hour at the Crown Club.

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.

RV Supershow in Tampa

The Florida RV Supershow in Tampa is one of the largest such shows in the country, with about 1000 dealer coaches and hundreds of vendors selling all sorts of what-nots and and gizmos. We have attended the show for several years in a row. This year we decided to spend two nights on-site at the Florida State Fairgrounds, giving us two full days to shop and see what's new in RVing. One thing we are considering buying is a satellite dish; another is a sleep number bed or mattress topper. Also, many resorts have booths and give away vouchers for free camping; we're always looking to score free camping at luxury motor coach resorts.

The weather has warmed a bit, so it is nice walking around the fair grounds and enjoying the festive atmosphere. Near where we are parked is an open grassy area where we can play ball with Matilda. On the first afternoon, we met a couple with a senior blue merle Sheltie and a year old Sheltie who loved playing with Matilda. Any time Matilda finds a playmate it's a good camping spot. We are also parked near some full-timer TREK friends Pete and Jennie. These folks do very interesting volunteer work. They work with the Lipizzaner Stallions near Myakka City FL during the winter and with the elk in Cataloochee valley during the summer.

After comparing all the satellite dishes at the show we decided on portable Winegard model from Camping World that was on sale. We decided not to make the investment in a roof-top dome until we decide if we really enjoy DIRECTV and if we ever want to get HD. We didn't have any luck with mattresses or toppers. While visiting an RV with a huge TV in an outside bay, we saw the Hearthside Grove RV Resort's promotional video playing, featuring none other than the great adventurers Myron and Dorcas. As you may recall from an earlier post, the video was filmed while we were visiting that resort in Michigan last summer. This was our first opportunity to see the finished product. Unfortunately, there was no one near us at the moment to show it to and point out that we were celebrities. We were able to obtain our own copy of the DVD when we visited the Hearthside Grove booth later. Autographs anyone?

Next, we're off to Thousand Trails Orlando.

Photo of the Week

We saw this truck on a frosty morning while driving near Brooksville FL. I don't think it's a vanity plate, but a real, standard issue plate. Most states' DMVs delete certain profane, rude, fowl or otherwise inappropriate words from the word combinations used on their license plates. I guess this one made it through the DMV's censors. In any case it certainly describes our trip to Florida so far this year

Frosty on the Withlacoochee

It's been a cold week here along the Withlacoochee River near Brooksville, but still warmer than back home. We've joined our friends Bob and Donna from NC, who are January fixtures at this park. In past years we've spent about a week canoeing the streams and rivers in the area. This time it has been so cold, no one really wanted to paddle. The campground is also located on the Withlacoochee State Trail, an excellent biking venue, but it was difficult getting motivated to pedal either. We finally got a beautiful, "warm" day to paddle the Weeki Wachee river. Due to the cold weather, the manatees were in the springs, and we played a bit with them. That day also happened to be Myron's birthday, so we enjoyed a nice early dinner at Carrabba's after the paddle. Florida, paddling, Italian food, and birthday. Cool!

Monday is flea market day in Webster, so off we went to find bargains galore with Donna and Bob as our expert guides. Bob does trail maintenance while staying here so we enjoy walking the trails with him. Matilda loves running un-tethered through the woods and hiking with us. I think she really enjoys the cold. We're really glad we brought our down comforter with us, it's keeping us warm and cozy at night. The temperatures are predicted to rise when we depart for Tampa and the RV show tomorrow.

Waking at Wally World

Definition of an RVer: One who owns a $300,000 motor coach, towing a $50,000 car, looking for a free place to camp.

When we are trying to make some serious miles, we will sometimes spend the night in the parking lot at a local Walmart. We prefer Walmarts over truck stops and rest areas, because they are generally quieter and are usually fairly safe and secure. We can also score some necessary supplies. Apparently we are not alone in our inclination for this practice. Click here to view an entertaining video relating to Wally World camping.

Fleeing to Frigid Florida

In years past we have departed for Florida sometime before Christmas. This year it just didn't work out that way. We spent the week between Christmas and New Year's in Morganton working on affairs related to Mom's estate and starting to get some things cleared out at her house. We finally buttoned up the house on Thursday, New Years Eve, and returned to Winston-Salem. Dorcas' family had a family reunion scheduled for Sunday. In the past several years we have missed the reunion because we were in Florida. This year we decided to stay and attend. We would depart for Florida on Sunday afternoon after the reunion.

We spent Friday and Saturday packing the motor home, or at least we tried to. The southeast is experiencing a record cold spell. It was very difficult to tear ourselves away from the comfort of the wood stove in the living room and spend any time in the motor home when the daily high temperatures never got out of the 20s. There were also several outside projects on my list, but that was out of the question.

We finally finished packing and pulled out about 5:00 PM and headed south. We enjoyed watching the coach's outside thermometer. We were going south so it should be warming, but it was getting later in the day and hence colder. In the end, it held steady at about 28 degrees. We spent our first night in a rest area on I-26 near Orangeburg, SC. The temperature dropped to about 20 degrees, but we slept warmly. Thankfully Dorcas decided to pack the down comforter just before we left home. That's a first for our annual Florida trip.

We would be spending our second night at my cousin's house near Middleburg Florida, which was only 5 hours away. Cousin Laura works, so we didn't want to get there too early. We needed a diversion to kill some time! We had passed the Mighty 8th Air Force Museum near Savannah many times, clearly visible from I-95, but had never stopped. Today we had time, so we made the stop. We spent almost three hours there, but we could have spent much more time. The Mighty 8th Air Force is best known for its B-17 fleet and its daytime bombing raids in Europe during WWII. At its peak it could scramble more than 2000 B-17s and 1000 support fighters on a single mission. The airmen on the B-17s were tough. The planes were unheated and uninsulated and temperatures sometimes got down to -30 degrees. Suddenly I didn't feel so cold any more. The centerpiece of the museum is the ongoing restoration of the B-17 "City of Savannah". We departed the museum and continued south on I-95. Suddenly a car pulled up next to us blowing the horn, and the people inside were frantically waving their hands. I assumed the worst and figured the canoe or a bike had flown off the top of the car, and we were dragging it down the highway. Or perhaps we had lost the car altogether, and it was fixing to pass us on the shoulder. I was about to slam on the brakes when the phone rang and our hiking buddies Bob and Laura from NC said they had just passed us on their way to Florida. (For those that don't already know better, never, ever, ever, never pull up beside a motor home towing a car with various toys on top, blowing the horn and waving frantically.) We stopped and talked to Bob and Laura for a bit at the Florida Welcome Center, where we enjoyed some fresh orange and grapefruit juice, and picked up a few brochures. We finally arrived at Cousin Laura's house, where we parked overnight in their yard. We had a nice visit and enjoyed a dinner of pizza and beer. Overnight temperatures were again near 20 degrees. Welcome to Florida! We departed Middleburg early and headed to a campground near Brooksville FL, where we would meet friends from NC.

We're Baaaaack!!!!

Faithful readers (if I have any left) probably believe that Dorcas and I perished in eastern Indiana in September. Well, it ain't so. We did eventually arrive safely at home, but, for reasons I can't explain, I developed severe writer's block and failed to update our blog journal during the following months. Since that time we have made a number of canoe, biking and hiking trips. I would like to say that I will go back and write a report for each of those adventures, but, in reality, well... don't hold your breath; it's a long shot. We will be leaving for our annual Florida pilgrimage very soon, and I do promise to revive this journal and document that trip. Honest.... I promise!

Farewell to a Great Lady

In Dec 2006 Mom was diagnosed with double lung cancer. During 2007 she underwent a series of chemotherapy treatments and radiation therapy. The treatments were very hard on her, but the tumors seemed to go dormant. In May 2008 she moved back to Morganton, her home town, after an absence of almost 36 years. During the short time she was back in Morganton she renewed many relationships with her friends and relatives, and made many new friendships. She was happy to be home... and apparently cancer-free.

Shortly before Thanksgiving this year it was learned that Mom's lung cancer had metastasized into multiple brain tumors. The prognosis was not good. The tumors were inoperable, and steroid and radiation therapy proved to be ineffective. She declined quickly and passed a few days before Christmas.

Mom was a very intelligent, funny and talented lady. She raised two sons as a single mom while earning two master's degrees and most of a PhD at night and on weekends. She was a dedicated teacher of handicapped children. She was an accomplished artist. We miss her deeply.

Sarah Wilson Campany

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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.

Can You Say Leinenkugel's???

Question: What is your favorite Leinenkugel's beer?
Answer: Any one that's cold and free

After a quick family meeting during lunch on Sunday, we decided to head on down through Wisconsin instead of going through Minneapolis. Neither of us was particularly excited about seeing a Twins game, and we didn't want to fight the traffic in the Twin Cities. The one thing we did want to do was to tour the Leinenkugel's brewery in Chippewa Falls WI. We have passed it every year coming and going to the BWCAW, but have never stopped. It was on our way, so my navigator plotted a course to Chippewa Falls, about three hours due south. We have a coupon for one night free camping at any Good Sam park, so Dorcas went onto the web and found O'Neil Creek Campground, just outside Chippewa Falls. A quick call revealed they had plenty of room for us. O'Neil Creek turned out to be a very nice park. It is very large, with over 400 sites. Most are seasonal sites, with semi-permanent structures, but they are tasteful, modern, clean and well-decorated. O'Neil Creek meanders through the park and provides water access to the Chippewa River and Lake Wissota. If we had stayed longer, we might have launched the canoe. We were assigned a pull-though site with water and 50A electric. The staff was very friendly, and the park was very quiet on this Sunday evening.

On Monday we checked out at O'Neil Creek and drove into Chippewa Falls and parked at Leine Lodge, the visitor and reception center for Leinenkugel's brewery. I confess that I was not very familiar with the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company or their products prior to our visit. What I did know is that the brewery tour was free, and they offered free beer samples. Nuff said? We learned that Leinenkugel's is an award winning "craft" brewery. A craft brewery is larger than a microbrewery, and smaller than a major conventional brewery, but still uses some manual processes. Almost all of their ingredients are produced in eastern Wisconsin. The brewery was founded in 1867 by Jacob Leinenkugel, a German immigrant whose father was a brewmiester. The company was family owned and operated until 1988, when it was acquired by Miller Brewing Company (now MillerCoors). At that time there was concern that that Miller would insert their own company people into the business and ruin it. That never happened, and today the company is still run by Leinenkugel family members and enjoys a great deal of independence from MillerCoors. The company especially benefits from the MillerCoors' distribution system and, consequently, is available in at least part of most of the 50 states. The tour was very enjoyable, although photos were not allowed inside the brewery. One of Leinenkugels trademark symbols is the canoe, which, of course, appealed to me. After the tour we went to town and bought two 12-pack Explorers (a sampler pack that includes four different beers.) With the two Explorers, our two growlers, a 24-pack Michelob craft pack and our back-up emergency Budweiser supply on board, I hope we don't get busted for bootlegging!

Back to Duluth

On Saturday we departed Ely and drove about two hours south back to Duluth. We are camped again at the Lakehead Boat Basin, where we stayed a couple of nights about three weeks ago, except this time Wayne and Lynda are there with us in their travel trailer. We walked from our camp along the Canal Park waterfront to Fitger's Brewhouse for dinner and suds, yet another Whitley/Charles BWCAW tradition. From Fitger's I returned with two growlers, one Brewhouse Pale Ale and the other a pilsner. Wayne left his empty growler containers in NC, but couldn't resist buying one more. We staggered back to camp and watched the Great Lakes freighters negotiate the Duluth ship canal and the famous aerial lift bridge.

On Sunday morning after a leisurely breakfast and an extended coffee hour on the docks, Wayne and Lynda departed about 10:00, headed for NC. Dorcas and I dragged our feet until about noon, mainly because we didn't know which way we would go from here. One plan is to head directly south towards Minneapolis and catch a Twins game. Plan B is to head southeast through Wisconsin, a slightly more direct route home. Where will your hardy Adventurers go next? Stay tuned for our next exciting episode!

Back Into Civilization

On Thursday Wayne, Lynda, Dorcas and I completed another delightful wilderness canoe trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). This trip has become an annual tradition for us. Dorcas and I have gone to the BWCAW every year with Wayne and Lynda since Dorcas and I met in 1997 (save one year when we went to the Allagash River in Maine instead.) This year we put in on Moose Lake with high winds and cold rainy weather. The weather soon warmed and was clear and mild for the remainder of the trip. We took out on Snowbank Lake 14 days later. The trip was characterized by excellent weather, fewer and shorter portages than usual, better campsites than usual and slower fishing than usual. In spite of the poor fishing, we did manage to catch enough fish for one big fish fry buffet. There were no really outstanding events to note; it was just a very relaxing and enjoyable trip. We saw a moose, although it was on the car shuttle just before putting in. We saw bald eagles, loons, ospreys, weasels and beavers. Loons are normally solitary birds, but on our last camp, where we stayed three nights, about eight loons gathered each morning and each evening. We suspect they may have been convening in preparation to migrate south for the winter.

We drove the Honda from Snowbank Lake to pick up Wayne's truck at Moose Lake. There the truck wouldn't start, a recent continuing problem with that vehicle. However, we jiggled and tightened the battery cables, and it appears to run fine now. After loading all our boats and gear we drove back to Fall Lake CG to secure a campsite for the next two nights. There we found our respective RVs to be unharmed and well. Then Wayne and I drove into Ely to drop our boats at the Spirit of the Wilderness outfitters for more hull repairs; we're pretty hard on our boats. We picked up some milk shakes at Dairy Queen (another tradition) and, amazingly, we still had some milk shake left for Lynda and Dorcas when we returned to the campground. That night we all went back into Ely for dinner at the Chocolate Moose (yet another tradition!), where we ate on the patio and watched all the voyageurs come and go.

On Friday we all went back to town and attended Ely's Harvest Moon festival. There we strolled though the vendors' tents and ate "barbeque" sandwiches or whatever it is that passes for barbeque in northern Minnesota. We also watched a professional lumberjack show, featuring two world champion lumberjacks competing in traditional lumberjack events, such as axe throwing, the boom run, the hot saw and single bucking. The boom running was particularly fun as the contestants ran along a line of logs cabled together in a pool and back again. Each contestant got three tries and each one got wet at least once. The hot saw event was also fun, in a redneck sort of way. A hot saw is a highly modified chain saw that is loud and dangerous. Like a go-kart with teeth. Very cool, but does it come with Bud Light? For the axe throwing event, Ely's main street and a sidewalk were just beyond the oak slab target. It looked like a disaster in the making, but no one got hurt.


We had planned to buy walleye fillets at Zups Foods in Ely and fry them over a wood fire back at camp, just as we do in the BWCAW. However, we found that walleye fillets were selling for $13.99/lb. We figured that it would cost us over $65 to replicate the fish fry we normally do in the wilderness. We settled for rib eyes and saved about $50. I guess we should appreciate our Boundary Waters catch a little more.


We checked out of Fall Lake CG on Saturday morning and went to town and retrieved our boats. As usual, the Spirit of the Wilderness did an excellent job on the boats. If you are ever there drop in and tell Ginny, Steve and Luke hey for us. We had planned to head on over to Vertin's Cafe for their breakfast of skillets and caramel rolls, the last of our grand traditions, but were devastated to learn Vertin's had closed. We were directed to Britton's instead, "where the locals eat" but it was not nearly as good as Vertin's. Britton's may not rise to "tradition" status.

We have turned the corner for this long summer trip and will be headed south from here on. Next stop: Duluth.

Into the Wild - BWCAW 2009

It's been a slow news week here at Fall Lake Campground. Our friends Wayne and Lynda arrived Wednesday afternoon. We scavenged enough firewood abandoned at vacant camp sites to have several nice camp fires, so we made a big fire and had a party. It was good to see friends from home, and talk with other folks who didn't talk funny.

On Thursday we all went into town for shopping and chores. We went to the post office to mail some letters and pick up our mail forwarded from home; we did some shopping at the downtown shops; and we bought our last groceries, mainly bread for our BWCAW trip. We acquired our entry permit, bought fishing licenses and picked up the boat, which was in for some hull repairs. We spent the rest of the afternoon doing final packing for our wilderness trip.

This morning we will put into the BWCAW for 13 nights and 14 days. We will put in on Moose Lake, about 15 miles east of Ely. From there we will head primarily north and east and eventually loop back to Snowbank Lake, where we will park a second car. This is an area we have not visited in a long time. It is in the heart of the 1999 blowdown area. In most years since the blowdown, the forest service has restricted camp fires in that area, due to high fuel loads on the ground. This year it has been a little wetter, and there are no burning restrictions, so we decided to visit that area. We expect to see a lot of boats, including motor boats on Moose Lake; it is a very busy lake. However, by this evening or tomorrow, we will have traveled far enough that the traffic will have thinned out considerably. In a day or so, we will be well back into the wilderness. A cool front is coming through as I write, and there was a little rain last night and this morning. For the next few days the temperatures will range highs in the mid 50s and lows in the upper 30s. BRRRR!!!! It should be dry, however, at least for the first week, and after a few days, it looks like it will warm a bit. On a trip such as this, we are prepared for pretty much any kind of weather.

We plan to take out about Thursday Sept 10, so it will be a while before there is another post to this journal. Bon voyage!

Ely!!!

We slept relatively late again today. The folks at Lakehead Boat Basin said check-out was 10:00, but the lot had pretty much cleared out, and they said it was alright to stay until noon. We leisurely prepared the coach to travel, and I drove over to Fitgers Brewhouse and filled my growler with 2 liters of Brewhouse Brown IPA. That probably won't last until we put into the Boundary Waters, but I can refill it again when we head south back through Duluth. We filled up with 107 gallons of diesel north of Duluth; baby was thirsty. Our drive to Ely was pleasant and uneventful. For at least the next few trips, "uneventful" will be very satisfying.

It is always exciting to arrive in Ely. There is the thrill of being on the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and we know we are at home where every other car is loaded with canoes. As we passed through town, we dropped the canoe at the Spirit of the Wilderness outfitter's shop to get some dings on the hull repaired. It should be ready on Wednesday, Thursday at the latest, in time for our BWCAW put-in.

We are parked at the Fall Lake Campground in the Superior National Forest. We have a non-reservable site, so we could stay here up to two weeks. We are tentatively scheduled to put-in on Friday, but Snowbank Lake, our entry point of choice, was booked. They only let x parties put-in each day at a particular entry point. We probably should have reserved a permit earlier. There are other suitable entry points still available, and we could delay our put-in a day or two to expand our options, if necessary. Our friends Wayne and Lynda left NC on Sunday afternoon and will probably arrive here at Fall Lake either Wednesday or Thursday.

In the meantime, we have no particular agenda for the next four days. We are boat-less, so we can't paddle. There are a few short trails in the area, so we may hike a bit. We have some final packing to do before we put-in, so that is our only priority. I think we will have a lot of time to read and do nothing. Fall Lake is a popular entry point, perhaps we will go down to the landing and watch the voyageurs come and go. Life in the slow lane is good.

Chillin' in Duluth

We spent the day today decompressing in the Duluth area. We slept late, and then we met our friends George and Irene on Barker's Island in Superior Wisconsin. George and Irene have a coach the same make, model and floor plan as ours, so George is a member of a small dedicated support group to which I belong. He is a font of wisdom and advice when I have a problem. George and Irene are traveling a similar loop as we are through Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan, except they are traveling in the opposite direction. Our routes intersected in Duluth today, and we were glad we could spend a few hours with them. At Barkers Island we toured the SS Meteor, the last surviving "Whaleback" freighter. The Meteor was launched in 1896 and hauled loads of minerals and grain across the Great Lakes for the next 76 years. The Meteor was one of 43 whalebacks built that feature a distinctive submarine-shaped hull. It kinda looks like a big black banana. Some benefits of this design were that the hull could be quickly constructed, and it was more hydrodynamically efficient than conventional hulls of the era. Its ultimate demise was that it could not be built as long or haul as much freight as more modern hull designs. After the tour we had a nice fish lunch at the Galley Restaurant at Barker's Island Inn.

After lunch we visited some grocery stores trying to get a few final items for our Boundary Waters trip. One item we have taken in the past, but that we can't find now, is ham packaged in a foil pouch. If anybody knows where we can find this item, please let us know. Metal cans and glass jars and bottles cannot be taken into the Boundary Waters, which makes certain menu items, particularly meats, a challenge.

The visibility here is greater than we have ever seen it, so we couldn't resist a drive up Skyline Drive to view Duluth and its harbor from the bluffs. The views were outstanding with visibility probably exceeding 50 miles. Finally, we drove to Fitger's Brewery to re-fill my "growler". We were devastated to discover that Minnesota state law prohibits the off-site sale of beer on Sundays. What a silly law! For Dorcas and me every day is Saturday, but that argument swayed no one. No growler today. Well, I guess I will have to wait until tomorrow and pick it up on our way out of town as we head for Ely MN.

The temperature has been downright chilly here in Duluth. We are camped literally out on Lake Superior, whose water temperatures are currently 42 degrees. The days have been near 70 degrees and the evenings near 50. It should be a little warmer as we head north towards Minnesota's interior.