Mackinac Island

We were up early and headed out to the ferry terminal, at least we thought we were early. Seems we had gone through a time change, which meant we were an hour behind. Only been here two days! We boarded the boat and it was a quick twenty minute ride, gorgeous!

There are two boats going opposite directions

On the island there are no cars allowed, the only options are horse drawn carriages and bikes. I about dropped my teeth when I seen the price they were renting the bikes for. Eight to ten dollars an hour, and there were a lot of families doing the renting. They have a name for the tourists here, "Fudgies", there are 19 candy stores in the 3 block area of downtown, and they all have homemade fudge, and most everyone will indulge.

This is early, by the afternoon it was full

Bed and Breakfast

We decided that a horse driven carriage ride was a great idea, and it was an easy way to see the entire island. We had a smaller buggy in the town area and then were switched over to a three horse wagon in the hilly region.

Our view!

The weather was totally perfect in the early part of the day, we could not have asked for anything better. The flowers, some of the prettiest we have seen.

The Arch

The water below and there was a road that you could bike on.

After lunch at a pub we caught the rapid ferry back to the main land. Clouds were moving in.

Anyone of these houses will do for a summer getaway cabin

The Grand Hotel

With the weather being so warm we sat up top......bad idea. Once the boat picked up speed, the wind was blowing, the water was rough, and we were bouncing all over. Could not even attempt the stairs to go down, afraid that I might go flying, so just cuddled up close and enjoyed the ride.

Tomorrrow is a travel day, heading for Canada.

LOCKS AND LOAD

We are staying in the town of St. Ignace, Michigan. Today we drove up to Sault Ste Marie, as we had heard that the locks were very interesting. I'm ashamed to admit that there seems to be a lot of info that I do not know about our great country. One of which is that Lake Superior is twenty feet higher than Lake Heron. There fore the need for the locks.

We boarded the boat an took a seat on the open top deck, but as soon as the boat started moving we moved down, it was cold. It was a very informative tour, and we really enjoyed it.

Entering the lock

Boat that made the trp with us

Now the gates will open and out we go. All this take place in less than twenty minutes. Don't know if this adventure knocks the Suez canal off my bucket list or not..... On the way home we had to check out the Castle Rock. There was also another statue of Paul Bunyon. He sure covered a lot of territtory, you see him all over this part of the country.

Back in St. Ignace we got information on Mackinac Island as we are taking turbo ferry over for the day tomorrow.

The flowers are absolutely beautiful here.

WISCONSIN IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR

Yes, we are on the road again. Had a little trouble getting going again. Seems the truck had a bad bearing or something or other in its rear end. Decided that Wausau would be a good place to have it fixed as there was a nice campground in town. Unfortunately after we made the arrangements we discovered that the park would be closed after the 3rd for the state fair which bordered the campground. And we had taken the truck in on Wednesday but they didn't get to look at it till late Thursday, of course had to order the part, which would not make it till Monday. And they did not work Saturdays, so it didn't make that much difference. So it was a rush to get it fixed and it went right down to the wire, we had till 3 this afternoon and we were pulling out of there with about 2 minutes to spare.

The time spent in Wisconsin was mostly reconnecting with long lost relatives, which was great. Love visiting when we have our own home to return to. I have a second cousin that is doing a magnificent job on our family tree. Bless her heart, it has totally gone out of control. By now she has found out that everyone in 4 counties is related somehow. Just don't want to find out that I'm my own grandma!

We are headed to Canada via the upper part of Michigan. Planning on taking in some of the sights on the way, probably never come this way again. They are saying that the weather should warm up, it certainly has been cool, at times down right cold. Actually had the heat on a few nights.

Hopefully the next few posts will have some pictures. Let the wind be at our back.

One foot nailed to the floor, going around in a circle

Matilda got mixed up, she thought we were

headed for HI when it was WI.

Had a nice surprise, friends of ours that we have known for years in the a earlier life, upon reading the blog, realized we were all in the same area, so we were able to meet up for a few days. We had a great visit, and a first for all of us, tried some "fried cheese curds". I mean can you think of anything else that could be worse, they did taste super good, so they must be really really bad! We did share a small order for all of us, which takes the guilt away.

Our site, Marshfield, WI

We have been here for almost a week. Was a shock seeing my aunt, as she had aged significantly, but then it has been almost three years since the last time we were here. It is so sad, but she is still able to live by herself. Unfortunately she has no children or relatives, other than me to help her, and every three years is not much help. Trying to get her affairs in order so that if the time comes when she is not able, she will have the decisions she made, not some bureaucrat.



Farm nearby

Other than that we have been just taking it easy. Chuck has a golfing friend that he met when we were in Tucson a few years ago for the winter. Makes him happy to have someone to play with. Makes me happy too. The mobile home park we are in is very quite, but not like an RV park. People here tend to stay in their homes. Probably be here for another week, hopefully can get things taken care of by then. Weather has been good, had some thunder last night, but very little rain. Totally different sound to the thunder compared to Colorado.

Well we are off to pick up my Aunt and go to dinner, more another time.

Safe & Sound

We made the trip to Wisconsin with out any trouble, and that is how we like it. As there are no RV parks any where in the area, we were very fortunate to be able to park once again in a mobile home park. We manage to talk the owner into allowing us parking privileges 3 years ago when we were here, and luckily it was once again an option. Other wise it meant staying at least 30 miles away from where my aunt lives. Would not have made for a good visit, and she is the reason we are here. Planning on a ten day or so stop. Weather is really on the cool side, hate to say it, but hope it warms up. More later, have to have something to write about............

Thank You Minnosota

What a wonderful time we have had seeing a small part of this gorgeous state. Water, water every where, and I love the water. Yesterday our friends picked us up very early, (for me) and we went to breakfast at the logging camp.

We did get to talk

Think this was the tool shed

At one time it had been a working camp, and a lot of the equipment was still there. People back then were unbelieveable, when you see what they had to work with.......wow!!

Fire Engine

Breakfast was very good. You got to order the number of eggs you wanted with a choice of scrambled or fried. We all went for scrambled. First came a big pitcher of OJ and a pot of coffee. Then they brought a huge platter of eggs, hash browns, slabs of ham and stacks of pancakes. With the exception of more eggs you could have seconds on everything else. Actually we could not eat what we had, but it was all great.

From there it was off to see the headwaters of the Mississippi River.

Walking across the Mississippi

Then it was time to see Paul Bunyon, there was no blue ox, but his

cradle was there. He was huge. There was also a ice cream shop

on the other side of the street. And yes, we did indulge, singles only.

Down the road a bit was a place we should have passed by,

but we gave it a try, set a time limit of an hour. So

it wasn't too bad, and we did have fun

Tomorrow is our last day here, we are slowly making our way

to Wisconsin. Hopefully the wind will be at our backs......till next time.

OPPS, CUSTER STATE PARK, SOUTH DAKOTA

Yes, I completely forgot to post the great day we spent touring the state park, before we left South Dakota. The weather was perfect, the scenery fantastic, and we saw our fair share of animals.

This guy was so big and he was so close it was a little scary.

Feeding the wild burros


Beautiful Lake

Then we were off for a late lunch at a restaurant that several people had said was a must do.

Dinner is a choice of 2 size steaks, but the lunch menu was quite large. We had been advised that dessert was the main attraction, so we shared lunch and went all out with dessert. And was heavenly.

Hill City is a artsy town and these creations could be

found in several places. Very original.

Wonderful drive plus the fact that there were no crowds,

glad we waited.

GOOD FRIENDS, LAKES & MORE LAKES

We left the great state of South Dakota planning on a nice easy drive of 200 or so miles. Unfortunately on the back country roads we had decided to take, RV parks were nonexistent. We were fifty miles into North Dakota before there was a chance to stop. Every campground I had mapped had gone out of business, and we don't usually make reservations, that way we are never committed to stopping or going further if there is something worth stopping for. Usually that involves clubs and a little white ball. It was a 450 mile day, but the next day we were at our friends in no time at all. We are staying at a campground, in Park Rapids, Minnosota, that is just a few blocks from their house, which makes it nice. The scenery is so beautiful and the weather is wonderful, actually, at night you need a light jacket. The guys went fishing yesterday, but even though every time they had gone out they more than limited out, once Chuck was on the boat, there was no bringing home the bacon. But they had fish they had caught the day before in the live well, so they cleaned those, and we now have 5 packages in the freezer. We had a fish fry the first night we were here and they were so goooood, so really looking forward to further fry's.

Flowers in the downtown area, so pretty

We have been catching upwith our friends lives kids and travels, as it has been many years that our paths have crossed, more than we care to say, but Chuck and Dick did fight in the Civil War together....okay....at least they were in the service together at Beale AFB in California.

Lakes no matter where you look, just one of many.

If you like the water there is plenty here.

Our friends had a family reunion to attend today, so we did a road trip wander. And wander we did. We have few pictures, but were a little disappointed that most of the resorts were off the roads, and to see them meant going down dirt roads. Which we did a few times, but there was no way knowing whether the resort was a 4 cabin or a full blown, so we just checked out the countryside. Alpaca Farm

These were so cute, looked like a version of a poodle.

Slice of melon?

Tomorrow it is off to a logging camp for breakfast, and then to the head waters of the Mississippi.

Life is good.........

HAPPY 4TH of JULY

We have been in the tourist mode for the last week, and have been having a great time.

One of the stops was the Christmas store, it was huge and I spent more time than Chuck thought possible, but I took care of my yearly ornaments for the family. A tradition I started with our daughter and son and now included the grandsons and their families, so it is certainly growing, therefore it takes a little longer, each ornament has to mean something special to this year. But don't think I was the only one that spent forever in there, as they had lots of rocking chairs on the front porch.

We have had goblins breaking things lately, (other than the fan) my air card went south, and after dealing with a tech, on the phone for an hour he decided it was because I was too close to the air base. Second call they told me they would send me a new card, but I decided that I would take it in and have them trouble shoot it. Unfortunately the address they gave me was a mall sales kiosk. The guy there told me it was like taking my car back to the salesman an asking him to fix it. Next place they had techs and they got it working just fine, but once we got back to the rig, it wouldn't stay connected. Anyway back to the phone and this time got someone who solved the problem and it has been working great ever since. The bad part was it took the whole day to get it resolved. Then there was the day we had no hot water. Had cold water, but when you switched to the hot side, no water period. After lots of calls found out there is a check valve on the line coming from the water heater and it could break and not allow hot water to run. Once it was changed, problem solved........ another day gone. And we won't go into the dish satellite. Okay enough, enough, enough.

The trolley in Deadwood

Spent the day paying our dues, (gambling) seeing some of the sights. It was a beautiful day, we climbed the hill in the cemetery to see Wild Bill Hickok's grave.

But the best part was a drive through the Spearfish canyon.

Think it was some of the prettiest scenery that we have seen here. The hills were black, orange and the green of the pine trees, plus the sky was so blue...awesome. The pictures can't do it justice.

Then there were the water falls

We also took a tour to Mount Rushmore to see it lite up at night. Which was nice, but the day views were great too. Had thought about seeing the fireworks there, which they do on the 3rd, but everyone said that it would be an all day tour basically waiting for the show. Glad we made that decision as it rained most of the day and just before it was time for the fireworks the fog came in. We decided that we go to the badlands instead.

Once again pictures do not show the real beauty.

We thought this rock formation looked like an angle.

There was also the WALL Drugstore. Fifty some years ago they were about to go under, when they came up with the idea to offer "free" ice water, and the rest is history. The store is literally a full square block, and one giant tourist trap. But fun to tour, as long as you don't have kids that are wanting everything they are tempting them with.

He was free! Also wasn't much life to him.

Yesterday being the 4th we had a nice get together in the park with some of the people we have met, and had a great time. You do met the nicest people traveling like we do. We are off to see Custer state park tomorrow, after that we are moving on again.

Hey, Lois, we are getting closer!!!!