RV-Dreams Journal

Travel To Lake Leelanau For Fall Rally - (Lake Leelanau, Michigan)

Our goal was to leave this morning around 10:00 a.m.  And we managed to accomplish that.

With only a one-night stay in Munising, we didn't need to dump tanks so that saved a little time.

Today's route was 265 miles, a very long day for us.  We always estimate an average of about 50 miles per hour to allow for slower speeds in the small towns we go through on the back roads, construction, etc.  And today, we had to go over the Mackinac Bridge and we'd probably have another stop or two along the way to stretch our legs.  So, I was estimating it was going to be a 6-hour trip.

We took MI Hwy 28 east to Seney where we took MI Hwy 77 south to U.S. 2 which includes a beautiful section along the northern shore of Lake Michigan.  Then we picked up I-75 crossing the Mackinac Bridge into Lower Michigan.

On the bridge, we stayed in the right lane and followed the trucks which are required to go 20 mph with flashers on and 500 feet of spacing.

Ten miles south of the bridge we stopped at a rest area.  Then we continued on to Gaylord where we exited onto MI Hwy 32 west.  There was a good place to fuel up, so we did that before continuing on to U.S. 131, then MI Hwy 72 into Traverse City.

Going through Traverse City with the big rig wasn't too bad, but it was the least fun part of the trip.  From the intersection of MI 72 and U.S. 31 on the western side of town, we still had a little over 20 miles to go to the Lake Leelanau RV Park, and most of those miles were on good county roads.

Along the way, we saw signs for Leelanau Pines which is a different campground on the lake.  I hope our Rally attendees don't get confused by that.  :)

It seemed like we would never get there as we kept driving through the rural area, and I was beginning to question our directions and our GPS.  Linda kept saying "YOU picked it".  :)

But we eventually made it.  The entrance to the RV park and the office/lodge looks new.

 

 

 

 

There is a sign directing RVs into a separate lane for registration.  We went inside and introduced ourselves to our main contact, Jennifer.  We had given her a heads up that we might come in early, and she told us there would be a few sites available.

Unfortunately, the site we have reserved during the Rally wasn't available, so we will have to move on Saturday (or stay put if we like the site we get today).  She marked a half dozen sites we could choose from, and then we took the Jeep for a look.

The park roads are paved, but they are very narrow.  The sites in the first part of the park are all permanent and seasonal, so it looks more like a mobile home park than an RV park.  But the section of the park nearest the water is more like a traditional RV park.

 

 

 

 

The park is also separated by a small stream that runs through the middle.

 

 

One issue we had in choosing a site today was that they had just done some paving around some of the sites and a couple of the park's roads were closed.  Of course, we chose a site affected by the road closures, so we had to improvise getting to it.

Fortunately, the park escorts you to your site, so we followed Tim who helped us negotiate some of the tighter spots.  We then backed into Site 165.

 

 

In the middle of the road in the photo above, you can see the "welcome duck".  She just appeared looking for food and came right to the door.  :) 

 

 

We got all set up and have a little view of Lake Leelanau.

 

 

It was another brisk, windy day, so we didn't mind being off the lake a few sites.  By the time the Rally starts, we will have most of the RV sites in this section.  We might even stay in this spot and give up our lakefront site to someone else.

I did a little walking tour of the park, taking pictures of the beach and boat docks, ....

 

 

 

the bathhouse with its private, individual shower/toilet rooms (very nice and clean), .....

 

 

and the laundry facility.

 

 

 

Behind the office/lodge are tennis courts with paddleball and basketball courts, a shuffleboard court, and horseshoe pits.

 

 

The lodge (aka clubhouse or community center) where we will be having our seminars and meals is also very nice.  It's one of the main reasons we chose this location, and it will be great for a small Rally like this one.

Later on, we decided to go out to dinner.  The village of Lake Leelanau is just a few miles north, and the village of Leland (aka "Fishtown") is a few miles farther (about 8 or 9 miles from the resort).

We drove to Leland and had dinner at The Cove.  Linda had a great portabella pasta dish, and I had parmesan encrusted fresh whitefish.  Unfortunately, my fish was pretty bland.  It's not the most flavorful fish on its own anyway, but I was hoping for some nice seasoning since that's the specialty.  But, since Leland is still a commercial fishing town, at least it was fresh.  :)

Fishtown is an interesting little place, and we'll have to come back, earlier in the day, when all the little businesses and shops are open.

Back home we had a nice, quiet evening.

Tomorrow, the plan is to go do some exploring, but we also need to get some work done.  We'll see which option wins out.  :)

I have to admit it is nice to be here a little early.  :)

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Weather Turns For Today's Travel - (Munising, Michigan)

Overnight, the Lake Superior waves got loud and it was hard to sleep.  Apparently a front came through and the wind picked up and the temperatures dropped.  We went from highs in the 70s to highs in the 50s for the next few days.

But the sun was shining.

 

 

So we packed up and got ready for our trip to Munising.  We didn't know how long we might stay there.  It could be anywhere from one night to four nights depending on the weather and how soon we wanted to get to the Fall Rally location in Lake Leelanau.

I walked out to the beach for a photo and to bid farewell to the "Porkies" in the distance.

 

 

I shot a quick video before we left to convey how loud the waves were.

 

 

Apparently, I didn't get it focused.  Sorry about that.

Just as we were packed up and ready to go, Linda said "Does the truck have enough fuel?"  Sheesh.  I had all day to fill it up yesterday and just forgot.

So, I ran into town and filled up.  But our tire pressure monitoring system said one of my front tires was low.  That's another thing I usually do before we get all packed up - plug in the tire pressure monitor and check air pressures.

Back at the campsite, I got out the compressor and inflated the tire.  Perhaps I just didn't get the sensor threaded properly when I put air in a few days ago.

After making a trip to the dump station, we were finally on the road just after noon.

We picked up MI Hwy 38 east to Baraga where we picked up U.S. 41.  We took that through Marquette and then picked up MI Hwy 28 all the way into Christmas/Munising.  It was a nice drive on good roads without too much traffic, and the scenery along Lake Superior was beautiful with the white waves on the blue water under clear skies.

It was about 150 miles to the Munising Tourist Park Campground which is between Christmas and Munising.  It's a public campground set between Hwy 28 and Lake Superior.

When we arrived, no one was in the office, but there was a note to choose any site that wasn't "colored in" on the map.  The rates range from $25 - $39 per night depending on whether or not you get a lakefront site and whether or not you get full hook-ups or just water/electric. 

The $25 sites are tent sites.  The "off the lake" RV sites with water/electric only are $28 per night.  The lakefront sites with just water/electric are $34/night, and all of the full hook-up sites (whether on the lake or not) are $39/night.

It was cold with the wind off the lake, so we opted for a cheaper, interior site that would have some shelter from the wind, and so that we were angled to keep the wind from hitting us head on (which would keep the slide toppers on both sides flapping).  We chose Site 49 with water and 30-amp electric.

 

 

 

The interior sites are grass and have more space, but you share utilities and you may need extra hose to get to your spigot or extra cord to get to the electrical pedestal.

The lakeshore sites are nicer, but closer together.

 

 

I had picked out a couple of hikes in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, and I had found a couple of secret places nearby to get some good photos.  However, the photo ops I wanted required calm water and that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

With the wind and cooler temperatures, we decided to stay only one night and make the long drive to Lake Leelanau tomorrow.

Fortunately, we visited the eastern U.P. back in early October of 2010.  So, we had been on the Pictured Rocks Cruises boat tour, and we had seen many of the highlights of the eastern U.P. back then. 

In the summer of 2010, we were workamping in Michigan and did a side trip up to the U.P. in the Jeep for a few days.  For those interested, here are the links to those entries.

2010 U.P. - Tahquamenon Falls, Whitefish Point

2010 U.P. - Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Boat Tour

2010 U.P. - Tahquamenon Falls & Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

2010 U.P. - Marquette, Manistique, Germfask, Seney NWR

 

After settling in, we decided to go out for dinner.  We drove back into Christmas and checked out the casino there.  The Kewadin Casino has 8 RV sites in the parking lot that have electric hook-ups and, apparently, they are free.  They are great for smaller RVs like truck campers and Class B motorhomes, but there was a Class A in there tonight.  It just depends on how the other casino customers park as to how hard or easy it is to get in or out of those back-in sites.

I had looked at that possibility on both CasinoCamper.com and FreeCampsites.net, but ultimately decided the campground would be better for tonight.

I walked into the casino to see if perhaps it was non-smoking (some are now), but I got my answer as soon as I opened the door.  Nope.

So, we went across the street to Foggy's Steakhouse for dinner.  I had read on a review that they had really good ribs, so I had to see for myself.  :)

We were a little early as they hadn't fired up the charcoal grill in the restaurant yet.  You can cook your own steak if you wish.  Linda had fish and I had a half rack of baby back ribs.

The ribs were meaty and tender and flavorful.  I'm not sure they were the best I've ever had, but they were darn good.  Apparently, the former chef here was a Japanese immigrant and he had a secret "rub" that he graciously left the recipe for.  Different, a bit sweet, but very tasty.

Now Foggy's didn't have any dessert tonight, so we decided to drive a few miles west to the Brownstone Inn.

On the way, we got a call from Lars.  Lars has been following us for a few years, and has been trying to hook up with us.  We got close in Jacksonville, FL but we had to cancel due to my parental duties.

Lars is workamping in Ishpeming which we went through earlier in the day.  We didn't stop there, but I emailed him to see if he might want to meet.  Since we were headed back in his direction, he decided to meet us at the Brownstone.

We arrived at the Brownstone Inn .....

 

 

where Linda & I had a warm salted caramel brownie with vanilla ice cream while we waited.  Yum.

Eventually, Lars arrived and we had a nice chat.  He immigrated from Norway in the early 1960s, served in the military, and settled down in Ishpeming.  Now, he is a full-timer workamping at an RV park here in the summer and camping in Florida during the winter.

He was hoping for a longer meet-up and said he has lots of questions, but at least we got to finally meet face-to-face.  Hopefully, we'll get together again in Florida this winter.

We parted and headed in separate directions.  Soon, we were back home where it was a bit chilly inside.

We turned on the electric heater, got showers, watched some TV, and mentally prepared for tomorrow's 265-mile drive to Lake Leelanau.  It always feels better once we're at a Rally site - no worries about breakdowns or anything else that might come up causing us to have to rush or, worse yet, cancel.

Our reservations aren't until Saturday, but Lake Leelanau RV Park said they could take us a few days early.  We might have to move sites, but that's okay.  See you from Lower Michigan tomorrow.  :)

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Non-Travel Miscellaneous Day - (Ontonagon, Michigan)

We were going to move today, but it was raining and we didn't feel like moving.  So we paid for another night in the Ontonagon Township Park.

We took care of a variety of items on our "to do" list - some business, some personal.

Our refrigerator guy, Leon with National RV Refrigeration in Shipshewana, IN returned my call and we discussed our refrigerator situation.  Since the refrigerator came back on by itself, he was sure it wasn't a cooling unit problem and thus not an overheating problem.

He said if it had kicked off due to an overheating issue, it wouldn't have come back on by itself.  It would have had to be manually reset.  Therefore, he said it was safe to run it.

And he wanted to see if the fridge went off again.  Since we are going that way after the Fall Rally, we set up an appointment for him to check it out.  After our discussion, Leon thinks there is a connection issue with the 12-volt system, but he also said sometimes these weird things just happen and it's hard to figure out if the problem doesn't repeat.

So, we turned the RV refrigerator back on and put the contents of the electric cooler back in the fridge.  However, we left most of the important stuff in the mini-fridge we had put in our entry/washer-dryer closet.

 

 

She was very happy we got the two-door unit with the larger freezer.  We got all of our fish and meat plus most of our other frozen stuff in there.

I'm trying to convince Linda to keep the mini-fridge there permanently as a back-up, but she's not quite willing to give up the storage space just yet.  :)

At any rate, the refrigerator issues are under control and we now have a better back-up plan than we had before.  Back in 2013 when our original cooling unit went out, we lived out of a regular cooler and bought ice every day for a couple of weeks until we could get to Shipshewana, where Leon installed a better cooling unit (which, by the way, has performed much better than the original).

In the afternoon, it cleared up a bit and I took a picture of our Jeep's bumper.

 

 

We were quite lucky that the damage from our deer collision Friday night wasn't worse.  There was deer hair on the front and a line of deer feces down the side of the Jeep.  The whole situation was unfortunate, and we don't want to be involved in anything like that again.

The rest of the day was spent in the rig.  I went through all the photos from our hikes the last couple of days and realized I forgot to mention Linda's new hat.  Actually we both have one.

It's a "bughat" (Trailblazer style in khaki).  It's a wide-brimmed hat, but the sides can be snapped up like Linda has it here.

 

 

But what makes it a "bughat" is that there is mosquito netting stored inside a zippered compartment on top of the hat.

 

 

Here are a couple of photos from the day we got them.

 

 

 

The white mesh is much easier to see through than the other head nets we had, and it's much more convenient.

Fortunately, the bugs weren't a problem at all this time of year in the Porkies, so we didn't have to break out the nets.  But they sure would have been nice when we did our backpacking trip in Voyageurs National Park.

These hats are a bit pricey, but you can save a couple of bucks if you are an Amazon Prime member.

 

 

We mainly got them for Costa Rica and, as long as my Dad stays in pretty good shape and we can find a great new caregiver, it looks like we may get to use them there.

Well, that's about it for today.  It was just a day where we decided not to drive in the rain and before we knew it, it was time to go to bed.  :)

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Porcupine Mountains Highlight Weekend - Day 2 - (Ontonagon, Michigan)

It was another pretty day, and the plan was to hike the Escarpment Trail in the "Lake of the Clouds" area of Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.  And, if we felt like it, we might add the 2.7-mile Overlook Trail loop at the end.

I tossed around several hiking options, but I just couldn't put the trails together for a short enough loop hike for the day.  The Escarpment Trail is 4.3 miles one way, and we really didn't want to hike it twice for 8.6 miles.

We considered taking the truck and the Jeep and putting them at each end of the Escarpment Trail, but ultimately we decided to just take the Jeep.  We would park at the lower end of the trail at the Government Peak trailhead, and then try to get a ride back from the Lake of the Clouds overlook at the other end.  Most people that visit the park go to that overlook, so we figured our chances of hitching a ride back down were pretty good.

After a late start, we reached the trailhead around 1:00.

 

 

It was a short 1/8th of a mile climb on rocky terrain up to the Escarpment Trail.

 

 

 

The first half mile is a fairly steep uphill climb through the forest.

 

 

Linda usually doesn't mind the uphill sections, but I noticed she was dragging a bit from the beginning.  She said it was a "low energy" day and attributed it to all the stairs we climbed on yesterday's hikes - her muscles were "tired".  I knew the optional loop hike at the end wasn't going to happen.  :)

Once up on the ridge, the trail opened up to views of the valley below.

 

 

All the descriptions of the Escarpment Trail talk about the views, but they don't always make it clear that the views are of the Carp River valley and the Lake of the Clouds in the interior of the park rather than views of Lake Superior.

The trail was rocky, but level up along the exposed edge of the ridge and it wasn't long before we got our first look at the Lake of the Clouds in the distance.

 

 

The Carp River, which flows out of the Lake of the Clouds, meandered below us.

 

 

We were glad we chose the direction of hiking we did, as that kept the Lake of the Clouds in front of us the whole time.

 

 

Hiking along the ridge was pretty easy, but Linda was still lagging behind on a day when we weren't hiking very fast.

 

 

We decided to stop and have lunch in hopes that would boost her energy.  We chose this spot at the Cuyahoga Peak backcountry campsite ....

 

 

   

where we rested and enjoyed the views.

 

 

 

After lunch, just past our resting spot, we had a steep descent back into the woods where we came to the "halfway" access trail intersection.

 

 

Then it was a steep climb back up to the ridge.  Unfortunately, Linda didn't get an energy kick from lunch, and she announced that we were hiking back down the road to our Jeep if we couldn't get a ride.  :)

The good news is that every uphill climb on this trail was rewarded with great views back out on the ridgeline.

 

 

I say "great" views and they were, but in a week or two the views will be spectacular with the trees in full fall color.

Soon we were going back down into the shaded part of the trail and then back up again.  Fortunately, that section wasn't quite as steep, and we popped out closer to the Lake of the Clouds.

There was a nice, natural rock "amphitheater" which made for a great rest stop.

 

 

Linda took the opportunity to get out her binoculars and look for wildlife along the river.

 

 

We got closer to the lake ....

 

 

and came to the only point where we could see both Lake of the Clouds on the left and Lake Superior on the right.

 

 

And from there we descended into the forest again - not quite as steep this time. 

 

 

Oh, notice the blue tag on the tree?  The trails in Porcupine Mountains are very well marked with the blue tags or with blue paint on the trees.

 

 

Linda surmised that the trail markers are more frequent here to help the snowshoe hikers in the winter when the trails are covered in snow and not as evident.

Again, the climb back out took us to the open ridge, but this time we were above and beside the big lake with not too much farther to go.

 

 

Then we had one last descent into the woods where the lake wasn't visible again until we got to the overlook.

After walking on rocks so much of the way, the soft dirt sections of the trail were a relief to our feet.

Linda was glad to see the sign showing we only had a third of a mile to go.

 

 

Reaching the maintained part of the trail was a good sign we were getting close to the end, ....

 

  

but the steps going up to the overlook and parking area were not a welcome sight for Linda.  :)

 

 

Classic view of Lake of the Clouds from the overlook.

 

 

There are several viewpoints providing different angles ....

 

 

 

and I checked out all of them while Linda found a bench.

 

 

 

Now just imagine those views with all of the trees in vibrant yellows, golds, and reds.  :)

Okay, so I finished taking all the pictures I wanted and found Linda on a bench leading to the parking lot.

A young lady hiker walked past us and smiled, so I asked if she would mind giving us a ride back to our Jeep.

The Lake of the Clouds overlook is at the end of the road, so folks have to drive by the trailhead where our Jeep was parked to get to any other sections of the park.  There were lots of people to ask for rides, but Stephanie from Wisconsin graciously agreed to take us, and she stuffed us into her small car.

Stephanie has been backpacking solo this weekend and said she has only been backpacking about a year.  We shared stories of our limited backpacking experiences, and told her about our life on the road.  We thanked her for the ride, offered her some money (which she adamantly refused), and gave her a business card.  She took the card, looked it over, and said "I just might be seeing you again someday".  :)

And with that, we headed home.  Oh, we did stop at the Union Bay Campground to take a look.

Union Bay is the only campground in the park that has electric.  The sites are grass with 30-amp electric.  There are places to take on water and there is a dump station.  Cell service was iffy, but there may be a decent signal with a booster.

The campsites were more open than I expected, but they were pretty close together (what we consider typical based on what we've seen in the few Michigan State Parks we have visited).  There are a few sites on Lake Superior, but most of those are for small units or tents.  The larger sites are up the hill with no lake view.

It would be nice to stay in the park to be closer to hiking trails, but you would still have to drive to the trailheads.  The campground is separate from most of the park.  I'm kind of lukewarm about the campground and not sure if I would choose it over the Ontonagon Township Park where we are currently.

Our friend Malia, did a great review of this campground (with photos) back in 2011:  Union Bay Modern Campground.  

Back home, we got cleaned up and I grilled some burgers for dinner.

We then enjoyed another lovely sunset.

 

 

After that I worked on uploading photos while Linda checking on this evening's lunar eclipse.  She let me know when the moon rose high enough that we could see it through the trees and the eclipse had started.

 

 

I didn't have the patience to wait for the full eclipse, but Linda stuck with and took some nice photos before I re-joined her.

 

 

 

That topped off another great day in the U.P.  And our refrigerator is still working.  :)

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Porcupine Mountains Highlight Weekend - Day 1 - (Ontonagon, Michigan)

Well, today was a much better day.

The sun was shining early making for a wonderful lake view from our campsite.

 

 

And, when Linda got up, she turned our refrigerator on just to see if it may have somehow reset itself.  Sure enough, it worked.  But now we don't trust it since we don't know why it shut down.  We don't want to run it if it shut down due to an overheating situation, so we'll continue with our plan to use the mini-fridge and electric cooler that we purchased last night until we can get an accurate diagnosis.

By the time I got the Journal entry for yesterday written, and we got our cold food storage taken care of this morning, it was almost noon.  Still, we headed out to do some short hikes in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.

The park is about 15 miles from the Ontonagon Township Park where we are camped.  As we approached the park, it was foggy along the Lake Superior shoreline on the north side.  But the plan today was to explore areas of the park accessible along the southern boundary from the South Boundary Road that runs through the park.

I had read that the S. Boundary Road was closed earlier in the week, but it should be open now.  However, the "Road Closed" signs were still up.

Shortly after turning left on the S. Boundary Road, we came to the Visitors Center.  We stopped there to 1) pay our $9 entry fee, 2) watch the 12-minute movie about the park, 3) get a hiking trail map, and 4) ask about the road closure.  Fortunately, the road was passable.  If it had really been closed, we would have had to add several driving miles to carry out my plan for the day.

Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park is over 60,000 acres and has over 90 miles of hiking trails.  It's "backpacker friendly" with several wilderness campsites and reservable rustic cabins that you have to hike to.

As we only have a couple of days to explore the "Porkies" on this trip, we're just going to hit some highlights.  Today's plan:

• Half-mile hike to Summit Peak (highest point in the park) and the observation tower
• Short hike along the Little Carp River (Little Carp River Trail is noted as one of the prettiest trails in the park)
• Presque Isle River East-West Trail Loop (2.3 miles that includes three of the park's largest waterfalls)

We continued on the South Boundary Road to the side road to the Summit Peak Scenic Area parking lot.  From there, we hiked the half-mile, uphill trail ....

 

 

which ends with wooden stairs and boardwalks.

 

 

We stopped at the first overlook for a couple of minutes, .....

 

 

before continuing on up to the observation tower at the summit at 1958 feet, which is only about 20 feet lower than Mount Arvon, Michigan's highest peak.

 

 

Views from the top.

 

 

 

We talked to a few folks that told us the leaves are usually at peak colors here by now.  They were disappointed, but it was still a lovely view.

 

 

Being a short trail to the park's highest point and it being a Saturday, there were several folks on the trail, but we had the tower to ourselves for a short time.  Then we made the easy descent back down through the woods.

 

 

From the Summit Peak area, we drove to the Little Carp River Road.  After a short drive on a gravel road to the parking area, we walked down a wide trail.

 

 

I'm guessing it was less than a half mile to the "river".  Before crossing a wooden bridge, there was a side trail to Overlooked Falls.

 

 

This small waterfall is very picturesque.

 

 

From there we went back and crossed the bridge to continue down river.  It's seven miles following the river all the way to the mouth at Lake Superior, and it's supposed to be a very pretty hike.  However, today, we only went as far as Greenstone Falls. 

 

 

We didn't see anyone else on that section of the hike until our return, and it was a nice, quiet place to enjoy the scenery ....

 

 

and have some lunch.

 

 

After some time in this peaceful spot, we headed back crossing some of the plank boardwalks.

 

 

I'm guessing the entire hike was a mile and a half or so.

From the Little Carp River Trail we continued along the South Boundary Road (24 miles in total length) to the Presque Isle area on what is known as the "western" end of the park.

Note that the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness Park sits within two Michigan counties and one of them, Gogebic County, is on Central Time while the other, Ontonagon County, is on Eastern Time. 

The Presque Isle River is the largest river in the park, and with its three large waterfalls, it's one of the more popular spots in the park, so it's not necessarily a place for solitude.  After hiking the East/West River Loop, it was easy to see why.

We parked at the first parking lot which was closest to the Nawadaha Falls.  It was a really easy walk heading south on the West River Trail to the falls overlook.

 

 

The view from the overlook isn't that great, but there is easy access off the trail for much better views of the waterfall.

 

 

From there we continued upriver (south) ....

 

 

to the S. Boundary Road where we crossed the road bridge, .....

 

 

to the East River Trail and headed back downriver (north) toward Lake Superior.

 

 

Here's a look at Nawadaha Falls from the east side.

 

 

Based on the hike to that point, it seemed like this would be an easy 2.3-mile walk.  However, it turned out to be more of a moderate hike with some short, steep ups and downs along the river with lots of roots to trip you up.

 

 

Here's a look at Manido Falls, the middle of the three main waterfalls on the Presque Isle River.

 

 

Soon we came to the most impressive of the waterfalls, Manabezho Falls.

 

 

 

The old trail along the river is closed there, so it takes some scrambling to get those views on the East River Trail, but it's worth it.

A little farther downriver, the trail cuts across rocks.

 

 

That actually puts you on Presque Isle where the river splits and goes around both sides of this small piece of land between the two mouths of the split river.

Here's a look down the eastern branch where fog had formed at the mouth.

 

 

Here's Linda once again patiently waiting while I was off taking more pictures.  :)

 

 

We continued onto the "island" as the fog was starting to roll in upriver.

 

 

Then we came to a suspension bridge over the western branch of the river going around the island.

 

 

 

Okay, so the view from the bridge looking back up the small gorge is simply stunning.

 

 

The rushing water with the greenery, the light fog, and the way the rock potholes had been smoothly carved made for an unforgettable scene.  Here's a video from the bridge.

 

 

After leaving the suspension bridge we were once again back on the West River Trail where a series of boardwalks and steps led back upriver.

 

 

More views of the beautiful Manabezho Falls.

 

 

 

And then more steps.  :)

 

 

 

Another look at Manido Falls from the West River Trail.

 

 

The upper section of Manido Falls showing some of the potholes.

 

 

Continuing back upriver.

 

 

Our last really steep climb.

 

 

Finally back at the trail near Nawadaha Falls where we started.

 

 

So, we accomplished out highlight goals for the day.  We got in about five miles of not-too-difficult hiking, and saw some wonderful scenery.

We made the 50-mile drive back to our campsite where it was time to get some work done.

First, the tent campers next to us from Missouri asked if they could borrow a corkscrew for their wine.  We chatted with them a little and gave them some tips about their Upper Peninsula vacation.

Then, Linda cleaned out our entry closet which also happens to be the place where a washer/dryer would go if we had one.  That's where the mini-fridge is going to go, at least temporarily.

So, we're giving up some storage.  Therefore, a few things will have to go in the Jeep, and it was an opportunity to purge some other things that had been lurking in the back of that closet.

Then we were interrupted by our lovely sunset.

 

 

I walked to the beach for a different perspective.

 

 

In this short video, you can see the "Porkies" off to the left poking out above a low fog bank.

 

 

As the sun sank, it got darker.

 

 

A flock of geese flew by just before the sun disappeared for the night.

 

 

Well, that was a great ending to our day.

Back to the task at hand.  Our electric cooler was working great, and our frozen items hadn't thawed yet.  After a quick dinner, we plugged in the refrigerator.  And later Linda loaded it up.  She was able to get all the frozen stuff she cared about in the little fridge's freezer, and she was quite happy.

So, yes, today was a much, much better day.  :)

Tomorrow, we'll do a little more hiking in the "Porkies" and hit some of the other "must do" highlights.  See you then.  :)

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Trip To Copper Harbor & A Rough Evening - (Ontonagon, Michigan)

Hold on as this interesting day turns into a bizarre evening.

So, it was a dark, foggy morning and Linda slept in until almost 9:30 with little light to disturb her.  It didn't look like the "partly sunny" day that was predicted was going to happen, so we decided to drive up into the Keweenaw Peninsula through Houghton and up to Copper Harbor.

It was 90-something miles to Copper Harbor, so this would be an all-day excursion.  But since we didn't depart until around 11:00, our exploring time would be somewhat limited.  I had found a few hikes including Bare Bluff, a three-mile loop (with a 3/4-mile hike from the parking area), but we wouldn't have time for any hiking.  Plus it didn't look like it was going to be a good day for photos and views.

We were going to hit a few highlights, but it was going to be more of an exploratory day to get a feel for the area.

We took MI Hwy 38 to MI Hwy 26 which pretty much runs the length of the peninsula.  Hwy 26 and U.S. 41 run together for awhile.

It was a pretty drive as the trees are starting to turn.  A few are in full color, but it looks like we're a couple weeks away from peak colors.

As we approached Houghton, the skies started to clear and we got some sunshine.  But not long after going through the construction detours to get over the bridge over Portage Lake, it started to fog up and we lost the sun again.

North of the village of Calumet, we came to the Keweenaw Snow Thermometer.

 

 

It shows the cumulative snowfall levels for each winter including the record of 32 feet, in the winter of 1978/1979.

 

 

Notice the monthly total of almost 10 feet in December alone.

And last year was pretty close to the record at 28 feet.

 

 

I'm sure it's pretty, but "No thanks".  :)

Continuing north, we took a left in the village of Phoenix to stay on Hwy 26 which went up the west shoreline of the peninsula.  The plan was to go through Eagle River & Eagle Harbor and visit the Jampot (a Catholic Monastery bakery) before picking up the scenic, 9.5-mile Brockway Mountain Drive.

From the Michigan DNR page about the Keweenaw Peninsula:

Brockway Mountain Drive is the highest American road between the Alleghenies and the Black Hills of South Dakota. It has numerous pullouts and vistas from which you can look out upon Lake Superior and the surrounding "copper country."

Soon we came to the Jampot.

 

 

 

For being a small place in a lightly traveled area, it was very popular today.

 

 

They have all kinds of homemade jams ....

 

 

but we were more interested in the baked goods.

We picked up some cinnamon breakfast bread, some oatmeal/chocolate chip/raisin/walnut cookies, a chocolate muffin with a coffee-flavored icing (for Linda), and a couple peanut butter "blondies" with a river of jam running through them (for me).  :)

After exiting the bakery, I took a picture of this sign on their loading dock - "Thou Shalt Not Park Here".

 

 

Gotta love monks with a sense of humor.  :)

A few steps up the road is Jacob's Falls, a small, but pretty cascade.

 

 

Back on the road, we were hoping the sun would appear before we got to the Brockway Mountain Drive.  Alas, that didn't happen.  In fact, as we climbed on the rough road, more and more fog blocked out our views.  By the time we got to the turnouts, we could barely see down into the valleys, and by the time we got to the top where there are supposed to be views of Lake Superior on one side and pretty wilderness on the other, we couldn't see anything.

Still, I took a few pictures to amuse myself.

 

 

 

 

There are also a couple of pit toilets at the summit, so we took a bathroom break.  However, just to let you know, there isn't an actual door for privacy, so you might want to station a buddy as a lookout.  :)

Continuing on toward Copper Harbor, we came down out of the fog a bit and stopped at this last overlook .....

 

 

with the small town of Copper Harbor below.

 

 

It was pretty even with the fog, but I bet it's beautiful with sunshine and peak fall colors.

We drove into town and slowly drove through.  We both expected it to be a little bigger.  We kept going until we passed the Ft. Wilkins State Historic Park and came to the end of the road.

I've heard the park is very nice for those that love historic forts, but we didn't take the time to stop.  They do have a campground.

Then we stopped at the Welcome Center to inquire about local restaurants.  The attendant there was on the ball with menus while at the same time making lodging reservations for guests that walked in.

I was considering Harbor Haus with it's waterfront location and German/Austrian flare.  The wait staff, dressed n Bavarian garb, greets the ferry coming back from Isle Royale each day with a ritualistic dance on the patio.  Unfortunately, they are only open for dinner, and we were quite a bit early.

So, we chose the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge which, like the Jampot, had also been suggested by a couple of readers. 

 

 

The Keweenaw Mountain Lodge was the product of public work programs in the 1930s to help with unemployment after many of the mines in the area closed.

 

 

We were sort of between lunch and dinner and there was no one else in the restaurant.  With the fog, it was only in the high 50s and we had expected temperatures in the 70s, so we eagerly accepted the offer to sit by the fireplace.

Dinner service wasn't until 4:00, and it was only about 3:20 when we arrived.  We tossed around ordering from the lunch menu or getting appetizer and stretching it until dinner service.

Well, we compromised.  We ordered the appetizer, and then ordered sandwiches from the lunch menu, and then we topped it off by splitting a cherry/mango cobbler with toasted coconut ice cream.

 

 

The food was very good, and everything on the menu seemed quite reasonably priced.

By the end of our meal, we knew we had about a two-hour drive, and we wanted to stop at Walmart in Houghton to pick up some groceries.  So, we headed south on U.S. 41.

That part of the drive was also pretty and, again, as we approached Houghton, the skies cleared and it was a lovely afternoon.

We picked up our groceries and drove the last 50 miles back to Ontonagon.  It was about 7:30 when we got back, and I was checking out the sunset for possible photos while Linda was putting away groceries.

That's when everything changed.  Our refrigerator had gone out.  It wasn't working on electric or propane.  We checked breakers and fuses and the back of the refrigerator to see if we smelled ammonia or saw the yellow powder that is evident of a cooling unit failure.  It doesn't seem to be the cooling unit, so it's probably the circuit board.

But it's Friday night and Leon with National RV Refrigeration where we got our cooling unit installed in 2013 would be gone for the weekend.  The cooling unit is still under warranty, so if that's the problem it'll just be an inconvenience, but my gut says that's not the issue.

Panic set in as we just brought home groceries, and we didn't want to lose the meat in the freezer and especially not the fish that Steve (from the Minnesota farm) brought us back from Alaska.

We made a snap decision to go back to the Walmart (open 24 hours) in Houghton and buy a mini-fridge with a small freezer.  They had some in stock.

So, there we were re-tracing our drive .... in the dark .... with more fog.  Linda took the wheel while I made phone calls to see what other options we might have in Houghton.

We commented that we hadn't seen any deer all day, and that we didn't remember a single "deer crossing" sign in an area where we would expect deer to be plentiful.  Still, hitting a deer was our biggest fear and we were cautious.

About fifteen miles away from home, a large bird - a hawk or an owl - slammed into the upper left corner of our windshield scaring the you-know-what out of us.  But the windshield didn't crack or break, so we just kept driving.

At the Walmart we found a Haier 3.2-cubic ft two-door mini fridge that would do the job.

And they also had a Coleman Thermoelectric Cooler that will work on both 12-volt and 120-volt power.

We bought both of them and headed back with a reduced level of panic, and feeling more like "it's just one of those things".

About half way back, a little after 10:00 p.m., we saw two deer standing on the right side of the road like we've seen hundreds of times before.  Linda let off the gas, and moved to the center of the two-lane road.  Then, as we were just a few feet away, the smaller of the two deer dashed into the road.  Wham!

It hit the lower right front of the Jeep, and there was absolutely nothing we could do.  Fortunately, it didn't fly up over the hood and it didn't feel like we ran over it.  I'm sure we killed it, but we were safe and the Jeep didn't seem to be severely damaged.  Still, we were both quite shaken.

Linda, noting that things happen in threes, wondered out loud "That's two, will there be three?" as she prepared for other animals that might be crossing the road.

Finally, we got back to Ontonagon, and just as we were starting to relax, Linda had to swerve left to avoid hitting a skunk.  Really?  Come on!

She barely missed the skunk and we were thankful to only have a couple of miles to go.  We were never so glad to be back at our campsite.  More reasons why we don't drive at night.

Linda got a flashlight and checked the damage to the Jeep.  The plastic bumper was cracked and chipped, but there didn't appear to be anything significant.

I hauled the refrigerator inside and unpacked it.  On the top was a warning that it needed to stand upright for 24 hours before plugging it in IF it had laid on its side for any time at all.  Well, we had to put it on its side in order to get it into the Jeep where we eventually stood it up, so we heeded the warning.

But we plugged in the electric cooler to get it started.  It was supposed to take about three hours to cool down.  In the meantime, the RV refrigerator should keep things cool enough if we don't open the doors.

At 2:00 a.m. Linda couldn't sleep, so she got up and put food in the cooler.

What a day.  Sheesh.

Tomorrow, we'll do our best to save as much food as possible, and then maybe, just maybe, we'll get to do a little hiking.  Hopefully, it was just a one-day stay in weird world.  :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Lake Superior, Back In The Eastern Time Zone - (Ontonagon, Michigan)

It rained all morning, and we were considering staying put in Ashland, Wisconsin for another night.  We checked the weather in Ontonagon, Michigan, our next destination, and it looked like the rain would be gone after 1:00.

So, we decided to go after Linda got back from her hair appointment.  Around 10:30, I finally got dressed, and we were on the move by 11:00.

We took U.S. Hwy 2 east into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, often just called "The U.P."  A little farther, in Wakefield, we picked up Michigan Hwy 28 and then Michigan Hwy 64 into Ontonagon. 

Somewhere along Hwy 28 as we entered Ontonagon County, we entered the Eastern Time Zone.  The four counties in the U.P. that border Wisconsin are on Central Time, but all of the rest of Michigan is on Eastern Time.

 

 

While we intend to do some hiking in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, we opted not to camp there.  Our prior experience with Michigan State Parks campgrounds has been that the sites are pretty close together and not all that conducive to larger rigs.  Also, I read that there is construction going on at the Union Bay Campground where most of the RVers stay. 

We'll check out the campgrounds while we're there, but this time we opted for the Ontonagon Township Park, a first-come, first-served park on Lake Superior about 15 miles away from "the Porkies". 

Around 2:00 (Eastern), after our 100-mile drive, we pulled into the main campground which was quite wet from the recent rains.  There was no one on duty, so the sign said to just pick a site.  The manager was supposed to return around 5:00.

The main campground has lakefront sites for $23 a night, and non-lakefront sites for $21 a night.  We were a little concerned about getting stuck in the sand on the lakefront sites or sinking on the non-lakefront sites.

Now just down the road, back toward town, they have lakefront sites 65 - 70 which are in a separate section and are considered their premium sites at $30 a night.  Now those sites are really nice and definitely worth the extra nightly rate.

Though it's a first-come, first-served campground, I had read that the campground manager will "save" you a site if you call ahead.  We saw a couple sites that had an orange cone with names taped to them.  But there was one site in the premium area that just had a cone set off to the side with no name on it.  The cone wasn't in the site, nor was there any indication the site was saved or that anyone had already claimed it.

So we took it - Site 70.  It's a great site with 50-amp electric and water hook-ups, and we back up to the lake.

 

 

 

The weather was a little dreary, and it was a little wet around the firepit, but this is definitely an "it factor" site with the view of the lake, the easy access to the lakeshore, and the sounds of the waves.

A bonus was that there is an opening in the trees looking south, and our rooftop satellite connected.

 

 

After we got set up, our neighbor returned and I asked if he knew anything about the orange cone.  He said a motorhome had been in the site the last two nights, and he couldn't make up his mind if he was coming back tonight.  Later, I confirmed the same with the campground manager who was concerned the motorhome might return.

"Did he pay for tonight?" I asked.  "No, but we knew he might come back" was the response.  "But it's a first-come, first-served campground and he was supposed to renew and pay by 1:00 today and now it's almost 6:00, right?  And if you intended to save the site, you should have put a cone in the site with his name on it like the others, right?"  "Yes, but ...."

Okay, so we've been campground hosts, and we know that provides some leeway to do nice things for folks.  But we also know that doesn't mean that favors are "open ended".  There have to be limits because some people will take advantage of your kindness at the expense of others - we've been burned by people we did favors for more than once.

I wasn't trying to be a jerk, I was just trying to be logical while being somewhat empathetic and making sure we didn't have to move.  :)

Anyway, we finally agreed and he registered us and took payment for four nights.  He's a nice guy and we chatted for a little bit.  The difference between the condition of the main campground and the premium sites is quite large.  He said they will be doing some improvements in the main section soon.  I'm sure it wouldn't have looked as bad if it hadn't rained so much last night.

Okay, so most of the sites in the campground have 50-amp electric, and they all have water hook-ups.  However, many of the sites in the main campground have the utilities in funky places requiring long cords and hoses.

There are bathhouses, but the showers are pay-per-use.  It's 75 cents for six minutes and a quarter for each additional two minutes.

There is a convenient dump station in our section.

Before my conversation with the campground manager, I walked the little three-quarter mile trail across the road.

 

 

For a short trail, it's got some character.

 

 

After returning to our campsite, I walked the narrow beach that runs the length of the park.

 

 

Here's a little video so you can hear the sounds of the water.

 

 

More pictures from my walk.  This one is heading northeast toward the main campground.

 

 

Some driftwood with dog prints in the sand.

 

 

Looking southwest with some of the main campground lakefront sites where the beach is a little wider.

 

 

Looking toward "the Porkies" from the northeast end of the campground beach.

 

 

As I walked back in the cold water, the sun was trying to peek through.

 

 

Okay, so I did my typical "get my bearings" walks, and then returned to our campsite.

Linda was preparing some potatoes to roast, and she was simmering (in beer) the brats and sausages we bought yesterday.  I got out the grill and browned the brats for dinner and the sausages for breakfast in the morning.

Then, we just had a nice, quiet, relaxing evening.

Tomorrow, we're not sure if we're going to hike or make a day trip up to Copper Harbor.  The weather is supposed to be partly sunny on Friday, and then beautiful Saturday & Sunday, so we may hold the hiking until the weekend.

Decisions, decisions.  :)

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Travel Day - (Ashland, Wisconsin)

We got up early, but didn't start getting ready until about 9:00 a.m.  Our plan to leave by 10:00 wasn't going to happen mostly because I needed to check all of our tires and put air in them.  That takes some extra time.

I put away our cellular amplifier and took the trucker antenna down off the roof, and then started working on tire inflation.

Our Pressure Pro tire pressure monitoring system indicated all of our tires needed air, but especially the truck tires.

Our truck tires had lost a little air over the last few months and the lower temperatures also caused the pressure to drop.  Since we need a certain amount of air in the tires for the load they are carrying, and that pressure needs to be correct at the current ambient temperature, all the tires needed a little increase in pressure.

I got out our PORTER-CABLE CMB15 150 PSI 1.5 Gallon Oil-Free Fully Shrouded Compressor for the job.

 

 

 

The front truck tires are easy, but the dual rear tires are always a pain.  I don't have valve extenders and I can barely get my hand and arm in to remove the tire pressure monitoring sensors and attach the inflator. 

 

 

Most of our long-time readers know that I replaced the flimsy spiral hose on the compressor with a longer, heavier duty hose, and then added the above inflator.

While I was fumbling with the dual tires, Linda had finished packing up the inside and came out to dump the tanks.

I then inflated the trailer tires to their proper levels - they have a max inflation pressure of 125 psi, but I run them at about 115 based on the loads they are carrying.  They are pretty easy to take care of.

And I pumped up the Jeep tires a little while I was at it.

After putting the compressor away, and doing the final disconnect of utilities, we hitched up and were ready to go.  We both agreed that packing up and moving seven miles last week after almost three months in one spot, made things much easier today.

We pulled out around 11:00 for our 210 mile drive.  As 200-plus mile drives go, this one was pretty easy.  We hopped on U.S. Hwy 53 and stayed on it all the way through Duluth until we picked up U.S. Hwy 2 heading east.  We had some road construction on Hwy 53 north of Duluth that slowed us down, but it wasn't too bad.

We did drive through some heavy rain, but we were fortunate that we drove out of it right at the end.

Hwy 2 was an easy drive all the way to Ashland, Wisconsin where we made one left turn to Kreher RV Park, an Ashland City Park for tonight's stay.  We arrived around 3:30.

The park is in town, but right on Lake Superior.  It is first-come, first-served for nightly stays, but they will take reservations if you stay a month or longer.

Kreher RV Park has 50-amp electric with water hook-ups.  There are no sewer hook-ups but there is a dump station.  There are waterfront sites, there is a swimming beach, and a playground, and the paved Waterfront Trail runs through the park.

The park is open May - October and they have 32 sites for RVs only.  They have nightly, weekly, and monthly rates.  The nightly rate is $30 in July & August and $25 the other months.  There is no tax on top of the base rates.

When we arrived, the camp host told us we could choose whatever site was available.  There are paved interior roads with large, well-spaced gravel sites.  There were three back-in sites on the water that were open, so we took Site 16.

 

 

 

 

It's a really nice park and it's a shame the weather wasn't better.  But there is also construction going on next door, so it's a bit noisy right now.  In the future, it might be nice to stay a few days, but it's great for this one-night stop.

I hooked up the water and electric, and we left the truck hitched.  I paid for our one night while Linda got the inside set up.

Once she was finished, we drove over to the Sixth Street Market to pick up some of their delicious bratwursts and sausages.

Ashland has a "Mural Walk" in their historic business district, so we admired a couple of the large murals as we passed by.

On the way back to the RV park, Linda noticed an Aveda salon and wanted to get her hair cut.  So I made her an appointment for in the morning before we move on to the next stop.

Back home, we finished off our leftover soup and chilled out for the evening as some more rain came.

Tomorrow, depending on the weather, we'll be heading to Ontonagon, Michigan where we'll spend a few days exploring Copper Harbor and the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.  Looking forward to getting in some hiking.  :)

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Good News & Rally Info - (Kabetogama, MN)

This morning I got a call from my Dad's oncologist.  He received the CAT scan and the notes from the radiologist.

The good news is there isn't any evidence of a cancerous mass.  My Dad has some cysts that have grown slightly since his last CAT scan a year and a half ago, but there is nothing that appears to be rapidly growing that would indicate a large spread of cancer.

Of course, that is somewhat inconclusive, but it lets us know that he won't likely be leaving us anytime soon.  He should have several good months or possibly even years left.

The doctor said we could take the next step and get a PET scan, but knowing that my Dad won't go through radiation or chemotherapy and that a surgeon probably wouldn't attempt a tumor removal at his age, we agreed that the best approach was probably to just let him enjoy the rest of his life.

After my discussion with the oncologist, I called my Dad's kidney doctor to let them know about the cancer diagnosis and the recent CAT scan.  Perhaps that information will be helpful for his Wednesday appointment, so I wanted to make sure they followed up to get access to the new medical records.

I called Dad to let him know, and he thought it was very good news.  My goal now is just to keep him from worrying about what he can't control and to make sure we keep him as comfortable as possible and living at home for as long as possible.

Of course that assumes he doesn't sell everything in the house.  He's been on a selling spree trying to get rid of all the stuff in the house.  As much as we tell him not to worry about any of it, he keeps selling anything he can get a buck out of.  As long as he keeps his bed, a table to eat on, and a few places for visitors to sit, I guess he can do whatever he wants.  :)

I think he sees the selling of the stuff as sort of a game that keeps him engaged.  He wants us to have the money from what he has sold, and we really do appreciate the sentiment, but I just put it in a separate account we established a long time ago for my parents' care.  It'll be there if he needs it.

So, we're all feeling a bit better about his prognosis today.  We don't know much, but we know more than we knew last week, and it appears that his demise isn't nearly as imminent as the worst case scenario we were imagining.  Of course that could change at any time, but today we're hopeful and can breathe a little easier.

 

Rally Info

A couple of days ago, we extended the registration deadline for the Fall Rally coming up in a couple of weeks.  We have just about the number of people we expected, but we've had a few emails from those that were looking for a little more time to register.

Spring Rally registrations are still trickling in.  We verified yesterday that there is only one cabin (a small cabin) left at River Plantation and I'm sure it won't last long.  Of course, there are lots of convenient accommodations close by for those that don't yet have RVs.

Today Linda worked on our 2016 Boondocking Rally.  We've been struggling to find a spot that we love that we can count on, so we have had to narrow it down to places we like that we know will work.

We're still negotiating some details and getting some questions answered, but we're looking at March 13 - 20 in Tallahassee, Florida.  It will be limited to 40 RVs, and we'll be posting more information and opening registration soon.

 

We got our final paychecks and saw our boss, Steve ("Doc") for the last time.  While I was gone, Linda had lunch with our employers and received a lot of great feedback.  Sometimes we wondered if we were meeting expectations even though Steve originally told us "We don't really have very high expectations for this position".  :)

They were very complimentary and said the farm never looked better and it was the best their gardens had produced.  They even decided to hire workampers for their winter farm in Florida because of us.  They asked us to keep in touch, and there may even be a future opportunity to work with them again at their Kodiak, Alaska property.  That could be interesting.  :)

 

Well, that's about it for now.  Tomorrow we'll be moving on.  We'll have a one-night stop in Wisconsin, and then we plan to visit the Porcupine Mountains in Michigan for a few days.

See you from the next location.  :)

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Back Home - (Kabetogama, MN)

I was up at 5:00 a.m., got a shower, got packed, and was ready to leave by 5:30.

Dad wanted me to wake him up, so we had a few minutes to say our goodbyes.  With a hug, I was out the door with a promise to return in about a month.

Samantha was right on time to pick me up and give me a fifteen-minute ride to the airport.  My first flight departed at 7:00 a.m.

The travel day was smooth with great weather and no delays.  And by going from the Eastern time zone to the Central, I picked up an hour.  I was back in Minnesota before Linda woke up.  :)

I just had to make a short 45-minute flight to Duluth from Minneapolis, and then had a two and a half hour drive to Kabetogama.

The drive, after such an early morning start, was the part I dreaded the most.  Once I was on the ground, I let everyone know and then got on the road.

I pulled into the RV park around 2:00 p.m. and was very glad to see Linda and to be home.  After hugs and kisses, I unpacked quickly and didn't feel like doing much of anything.

I made a call to my Dad's oncologist to see if he had the CAT scan results yet.  They didn't have them, but they were going to try to get them.  They should have them in the morning.

After that, I just kicked back in my recliner and flipped on the TV.  Our picture and DirecTV system is so much better than my Dad's cable.  :)

Around 4:30, Linda left to go help out at The Base Camp.  She was going to be the hostess and greeter for this evening's party.  I was going to take a nap.  :)

It was great to be home. 

Tomorrow, we'll start preparing to move on, and Wednesday we'll be leaving Minnesota and heading toward our Fall Rally site in Lake Leelanau, Michigan.  We're scheduled to arrive there on October 3, so we'll have a little bit of time to play in the Upper Peninsula along the way.

It's been a whirlwind week.  :)

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