Erie, PA and Niagara Falls!

 

I feel like we are experiencing things so fast that I'm losing track of where we've been as soon as we move on.  It's all very exciting and new!  I don't want to miss posting on a place... so I better get something posted before I have even more to share.

Our stay at Erie, PA was the place I was to post about next.

 

The best part about our time there was Presque Isle SP...

which is a 6 mile long Peninsula into Lake Erie and forming Presque Isle Bay. 

 

 

The RV park we stayed at was at the entrance to the Peninsula/SP... so we were able to ride our bicycles from our site to the bicycle trail, where we rode the entire Peninsula on the 13.5 mile bike trail. 

It was amazing!  There was plenty to see along the way, and with history to tell.

so we made many stops along the trail.

 

 

It was also amazingly exhausting!  It a very humid day in the 80's.

We aren't in great shape (we're working on it)

The last 3 miles I was really pushing myself, but we made it home.

 

 

 

We also did our other new favorite activity while there...

We put the Kayaks in Lake Erie!

 Actually, it was the bay we put the kayaks in... and even in the bay, the water got VERY rough when we got far out... in fact a wave came right over the top into Jeff's kayak.

Our arms definitely got a workout getting ourselves back to shore.

 

Here is the shore of Lake Erie (not the bay).  Them's some waves for a Lake!

 

 

So that was our stay at Erie, Pennsylvania.

 

Next up was NEW YORK!  and NIAGARA FALLS!!

I've wanted to see Niagara Falls for a long time...

 

but just as exciting, was that we were going to meet up with RV friends, Steve & Roberta.

We met in January 2012 in Southern California. 

We traveled together for a bit, boondocking near Yuma, AZ and goint into Mexico together.

 

It was SO good to see them again!

We met up at Cinderella campground, where we all stayed 2 nights.

 

It was so awesome... they had been in the area a few days, so they had already been to the falls and knew their way around... so for 2 days they did the driving and gave us a tour! 

 

 

 

 

We went to Niagara Falls, New York, the afternoon we arrived.

 

Those are some incredible Water Falls!

But...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday we went to Niagara Falls on the Canadian side...

Now THAT was Wow Incredible!

 

 

 

 

The view from the Canada side is just a lot better... same falls, just a different view.

Now we've done it... We've seen Niagara Falls!

 

The next day we parted ways, but headed in the same direction (sort of)

We both travel without a whole lot of planning, and like to be free to change our route.

We will meet up again on our way to Maine,

but for now, they went to Alexandria Bay and we are in Saratoga Springs.

We will both be in Vermont, tomorrow!

Vermont is another place I have wanted to see for a long time.

 

I'll be sure to get pictures!

 

 

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"??