Lake Erie

We moved on from Sandusky on Sunday... but we stayed on Lake Erie. 

We traveled 120 miles East to Geneva-on-the-Lake... still in Ohio.

 

We drove through Cleveland, past the Home of the Cleveland Browns... that in a few hours would be packed with fans for their first NFL game of the Season.  Cleveland Browns vs Miami Dolphins.

 

We followed the directions to the Indian Creek Resort,

but were surprised to find ourselves in the middle of "The Strip" packed with motorcycles.
 It was like a mini-Sturgis.

Apparently is was their annual "Thunder on the Strip" rally.

It was a little stressful trying to get through these tight packed streets with a fifth-wheel.

Then we missed the park entrance because it wasn't well marked.

But once there... what a great site we had.

 

 

A beautiful pond out our back window...

and ducks to feed.

This Swan took off after Jeff... maybe because she wanted all the food.

but that was before I grabbed the camera.

 

 

Bring food... and they will come.

 

We had planned to stay just one night, and we were able to stay hooked up.

But our site was so nice, and because of the rally, we hadn't seen the "town"...

so we decided to stay a second night so we could ride the bikes into "the strip" and check things out.

The bicycle ride was enjoyable, and Lake Erie looked better than it had in Sandusky. 

But here is what we found on The Strip...



CLOSED FOR THE SEASON!

a big change from Sept 8th to Sept 9th!

It seems the whole area closed for the season. 
Even the pool and hot tub at the resort were closed for the season!
Despite there not being much to do... we were happy with our short stay.
Shortly after we arrived, a couple moved in next to us and it seemed we had a lot in common.

a younger couple... with kayaks, bicycles, and a Swivelwheel trailer with a motorcycle!
because of their South Dakota plates... I asked if they were full-timers.
Their answer?
"Yes... as of this morning!"
 Wow!  How exciting!  Day 1 full-timers!

Welcome Cliff and Patty to life as full-time RVers!

They had just sold their house in upstate New York, and this was their first stop.  They didn't even know where they were going from there.  That's even more exciting!
Patty is starting up a travel blog, so when she does I will announce it!

We said our good-bye's to our new fellow RVers, and got back on the road headed East.
We were headed for Niagara Falls, but we decided to stop in Erie, PA for a night.
One night has turned into two, but we will leave in the morning
for another short jaunt, into New York.
 

Next Post... fun activities in Erie, PA! 

Hi-Ho Hi-Ho To O-Hi-O We Go

Tuesday evening we landed at Camp Sandusky in Sandusky, Ohio.  We selected this park because it was a good deal with Passport America, and it seems to be a good park... Our site is comfortable, and probably because the kids are back in school... we almost have the park to ourselves!

Our drive to Sandusky was one of those stressful travel days for us.  Nothing went horribly wrong... we were just in unfamiliar territory.  We took Hwy 23 down, so as to avoid Detroit.  The road was fine, but my "Next Exit" book is only for Interstates... so I couldn't navigate Jeff to a big rig friendly fuel stop.  Two times we took an exit where it was posted that there was a station with diesel... but it turned out that we couldn't get in. 

The first time, we were on a small country road and having trouble finding a place to turn around.  Jeff finally concluded that I would have to stop traffic while he backed in to a driveway.  Fortunately, there wasn't a lot of traffic, and the 2 vehicles that I had to stop were not upset at all... in fact,  they were really friendly and helpful!.  Of course, they knew the area, so one of them showed Jeff to where he could more easily turn around.  The woman from the other car stood with me beside the road and we chatted about our travels.  How refreshing it was to run into those people after dealing with so many impatient crazy drivers we had experienced on the road that day.

Finally... in Dundee, MI we found a truck stop where we could get fuel and take a break!  We walked across the street to Great Lakes Eatery & Pub, and got some lunch, some relaxation, and some helpful trip advice.

The remainder of the day went well... although we got a little flustered dealing with the Ohio Turnpike Toll booths.  Toll roads are not something we commonly have on the West Coast, so it was unfamiliar... but we got it figured out.  We did start laughing at ourselves though... and thought perhaps our blog should more appropriately be named "Two Hicks and an RV".

REWIND...

We left our wonderful free site at the casino in St. Ignace on Sunday morning.  We had decided to stay until after the Holiday... but on Saturday we were unhappily surprised to find out that our site was reserved!  Something we were told wasn't possible when we checked in.  Apparently, the gal that checked us in was new and knew NOTHING!

Fortunately, after being told by the manager at the check-in counter that there were NO available sites... a more friendly employee found that not to be true, and allowed us to stay Saturday night.

So we had one more day to get the kayaks put in, and visit the Huron boardwalk.

After some lunch at the Boardwalk, we set out to find that place to put the kayaks in, where we could paddle out to the Mackinac bridge.

 We found it!

I was questioning why there were no other kayaks or boats out on the lake... was there something we didn't know?  after all, we didn't ask!

The water got a lot more rough the further out we got.

We paddled out to very close to the bridge, but not close enough to cross under it.

The wind had picked up and when we looked back at the truck (which we could not see!)

we decided to head back.

 

 

It was one more great kayaking experience! 

and a great way to spend our remaining time in St. Ignace. 

So we left St. Ignace on Sunday...
  not sure where we were going, since it was still the busy holiday weekend.

We had $30 free play for Odawa Casino in Petoskey, Michigan.  So I called to see if they had overnight RV parking.  The answer was "Yes" and it turned out to be a great place to spend another free night.    

  Next overnight destination we were looking for a place around Saginaw.  

I found Saganing Eagles Landing Casino with FHU RV parking for $15.

Our site was comfortable, but the casino was the worst we've ever been to.  











That catches us up to our present "home" in Sandusky, Ohio.

Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of exciting things to tell about our stay here. 

We did have some work done on the truck.

 We had been thinking that we were hearing something at the passenger side front wheel, and were concerned that it may be a wheel bearing.

We were fortunate to stop by this tire shop at a slow time, so they were able to get right to it.
It did, in fact, have a bad wheel bearing.  So we're real thankful we had it checked out.



It would be 2-3 hours, so they suggested the Old Dutch Tavern, within walking distance, as a good place to spend the wait.  They said they have the best burgers.  Their burgers were in fact good... but even better was the company. 
This was clearly the place "where the locals go".  The owners were a friendly, fun couple, and Larry even gave us a ride back to the shop to pick up the truck.

We enjoyed our time so much we went back again!

 

We even had more fun this last visit!

If you're ever in Sandusky, stop by Old Dutch Tavern!

As for the rest of our time here...
We had thought we would put the kayaks in Lake Erie... but Lake Erie or the beaches or waterfront that we found, wasn't at all like what we found at the other Great Lakes.

We had also planned to visit Amish country while we were here.  But guess what??  Amish country is about 100 miles from here.  Apparently... the Berlin we had heard about is NOT the Berlin a few miles from here.  I'm just glad I figured that out before we got to the wrong Berlin and started asking where the buggies were!

So we thought we would check out Cedar Point Amusement Park...  
Years ago I thought it would be great fun.  They have the biggest Roller Coaster's!

BUT... we found it was closed the days we were here.
No big deal... we just wanted to look. 
I don't think I could handle the roller coasters now.

 So what else did we find to do?

We visited Mad River Harley Davidson, the Sandusky dealership.

We are glad to be moving on to new places in the morning!

 

 

St. Ignace

At last post, we were leaving Grand Marais, with a destination of St. Ignace.  We thought there would be a good chance we could get a site at the casino there, and we were right! 

We backed into one of their large grassy sites, with 50 amp Electric and Water and picnic table!... and went in to register. 

The website says $10, but with my players club card they gave me 3 free nights! 

 THEN... they said Jeff could get another 3 free nights with his players card!  We would like to leave Sunday, but that will be determined by if we can secure a site for Sunday night.  We may need to wait until after the holiday weekend.

 

Thursday we took the Ferry to Mackinac Island.

I was nervous about a ferry ride, because I can get motion sickness just by watching something on the TV... but I told myself for 24 hours that "I don't get motion sickness anymore" AND I took 2 Bonine motion sickness pills.  IT WORKED!  I didn't get sick!  We had an enjoyable ride both ways.

There is a lot of history on Mackinac Island... including Fort Mackinac,

which was built in 1780 by the British during the American Revolutionary War.

 

There are no motor vehicles allowed on the Island.

So what you find are bicycles and horse drawn carriages.

There are plenty of places to rent bicycles... but we took our own.

 

 

We thought it was funny that there would be a Harley Davidson shop...

but look at the bike on display!

It's an original Harley Davidson Bicycle

There is a beautiful shoreline road that we rode for a few miles...

so relaxing and quiet with no motors.

 

 

Of course, then, Jeff was on the search for a place where he could get a draft beer.

We found just the place... where we could not only enjoy a refreshing beer,

but also watch people playing 18 holes on a miniature golf course.

 

 

 

I just had to get a picture of this bicycle in the parking lot.

 

We wandered in and out of a few shops, then decided we were ready to go...

but I needed an ice cream cone first.  Was it ever good!

Days like this are more like a vacation, and very enjoyable. 

BUT... we really prefer the less touristy part of traveling.

This island has become all about tourists...

we like to experience the real day to day life in different places.

 

 Friday we crossed the Mackinac Bridge,

currently the third longest suspension bridge in the world.

 The bridge connects St. Ignace on the Upper Peninsula, 

and Mackinaw City on Michigan's lower peninsula.

 

It is a toll bridge, of course, that costs $4 for automobiles, and will cost us $20 when we pull the fifth-wheel across... which we will have to do to continue our travels.

The bridge is also where Lake Huron and Lake Michigan connect.

 

We are hoping, today, to find a place near the bridge, to launch the kayaks. 

 Hopefully we can kayak under the bridge from Lake Michigan to Lake Huron!

 

Also... maybe today will be the day that I finally get the answer to the mystery...

 

What are "Pasties"??

 

 

Sticky Itchy Happy in the UP

Grand Marais - Michigan's UP

Our days in Grand Marais have been wonderful...

Despite tremendous humidity and ravenous mosquitoes and biting flies!

 

I got 22 new bites in one afternoon/evening... 9 on one leg, 13 on the other. 

It looked like I had chicken pox... but now it looks more like I'm diseased because of the raw sores.

 

We've been comfortable with our site here at Woodland Park

 

 

We've enjoyed our Lake Superior beach, just down a few steps from our site...

 

 

The Story of the Chair

(see below)

The Story...

"Hmmm... the chair doesn't want to fold."

"What the heck?? What's with this chair!!"

"Here Honey... let me rinse it off, maybe that will help"

"Uuughh! You're right!  I've had it with this chair!!

"Ok... I cant toss it, we will leave it for someone else.  Good-bye chair."

"Oh, honey... I cant leave that chair... I like that chair"

"Ok dear... I will get your chair"

 

 

Kayakin'

 

Of course we put the Kayak's in.

 

 

What was really special about kayaking this time, was the church bells we could hear from the lake.

It sounded incredible.

One song that I recognized was Blessed Assurance.  I had to sing!

 

 

 

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

 

We went for a drive into Pictures Rocks National Lakeshore and pulled off into a few viewpoints, and walked a few short trails...

 but to see what there is really to see of this NP, you must take the boat tour. 

The cruise leaves Munising at the South end, not here... so we did not go.

 

 

 I don't know about you other RVers who are on the road,

but we've struggled with when to leave here and where to go because of Labor Day weekend.

All this stress because of those "normal people" who think they need to get away. 

Oh what are we to do... what are we to do?

 

Well the decision is that we are leaving in the morning and going to St. Ignace.

We will just see how it goes from there. 

 

 

 

Wisconsin to Michigan!

I guess I'm just too busy playing to post!  Now I will try to catch-up real quick.

 

Ashland, Wisconsin

 

We stayed 3 days at Kreher RV Park... a City park.
We would highly recommend this park.  Its beautiful... spacious sites, on the lake.
 

 

 

Ashland has a scenic bike path that runs for miles along the lakeshore, including through the park.

We made sure to enjoy it from one end to the other. 

 

 

One day we toured the town on the bicycles, the next we rode the path,

with a few stops at points of interest, which included history and fresh flowing artesian water!

 

Ashland is a town of Murals. 

Old buildings all over downtown display colors that tell stories of earlier days.

 

We made some new friends.  They were parked next to us our first night there. 

 We chatted and watched the sun set over the Lake together.

 

 

They were lucky enough the next day to score a lakefront site as soon as they saw the other RV leave.  That's one advantage of having a motor home over a fifth wheel... it would be too much work for us to switch sites like that, but no big deal for them.

 

How's this for a site?  You cant live much closer to Lake Superior!

 

We put our kayaks in right next to there site. 

The water was a bit rough, but lots of fun.

Fortunately, I had taken a Bonine (motion sickness pill) !

 

 

We're so glad we bought these Kayaks.  It really adds a lot to the adventure.  I still don't miss the motorcycle... with the bicycles and kayaks.  Of course, if you ask Jeff... he misses having a motorcycle, but he doesn't regret not having it for this trip.  and he never complains about it.

 

We enjoyed the Sunset and an evening of getting to know new friends, 

both our second and third nights.  

 

 

 

 

We said our good-bye to new friends, Bob and Betty, on Thursday morning.

They live 5 hours South in Wisconsin.  Now we have another invite!

 

Thursday's travels took us into Michigan!

 

 

Marquette

Destination... Marquette's City Tourist Park

 

I had read that Marquette had 12 miles of paved bicycle paths...

and THAT was what made our stay there enjoyable. 

 

 

 

The park itself was not impressive.  The price was as if they thought they were impressive, but Not!

 

 

There were a lot of campers there, it was the weekend...  and perhaps for the locals who live in town, this is a great getaway in the woods.

But for a traveling RVer, this park was a pain.  Very Narrow TWO-WAY roads, low hanging branches, and NO Organization.  No markings for what sites are down what road, so you drive around trying to find your way hoping that no one else is coming the opposite direction doing the same thing... which there was!   Trying to reach the utilities that you are paying for was difficult. 

 

BUT... we could ride the bicycles right out of the park to the trail and into town.  So we stayed.

 

On our ride into town, we had mapped out a stop at Ore Dock Brewing Co.  A very comfortable friendly brewery, where Jeff had their Reclamation IPA and I selected their Dreamweaver, after a few tasters.

 

 

 

IF... you don't care about the convenience of riding your bicycle out of the park to the
bike path, there is a much better option. 
Ojibwa Casino has about 10 more spacious wooded sites with electric... for FREE!

 

 

Munising, MI

 

Our next destination, for Saturday, was Munising.  Munising had a Tourist Park as well,

and that's about all that is there, so that was where we were headed. 

We were hoping that if they didn't have a site for us, we could stay at the Free Kewadin Casino Lot,  but their RV spaces were the size of a Camper Van or Truck Camper, so that wouldn't work. 

Fortunately, the Tourist Park had a site available in their overflow area.  It had electric and water so we were fine, and had plenty of room, but it was uncomfortable where it was situated.

 

. 

So we stayed only for the night, and headed out for our next destination this morning.

 

Grand Marais

 

The historic village of Grand Marais, Michigan is located on the south shore of Lake Superior at the eastern gateway to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

 

Woodland Park campground is another City park, but a first come first serve park. 

We arrived early, and were really happy to find an available site with plenty of space, 50amp Electric and Water... AND Cable.  Wow... we haven't had that in awhile.

It is a Lakefront site too...

but here that only means there are no more sites between you and the Overlook to the Lake.

 

There are stairs to take down to the beach. 

It isn't far at all, but we probably will not carry our kayaks down there.

 

 

Next Post... all our happenings in Grand Marais!!