Tunnel of Trees and Trucks

Mackinaw City, MI

We woke to lots of wind and rain.   At first it appeared this day would be a Hole-Up-In-The-Rig type of day.   But the rains stopped early morning, can't say the same for the winds.   So off we took......

We headed south west of Mackinaw to the village of Cross Village and picked up scenic Route M119.  The 20 miles between Cross Village and Harbor Springs is known as the Tunnel of Trees.

The road is narrow and in most parts heavily treed on both sides.  The majority of the road hugs high up near the Lake.

A few areas leave the lake but the views are as interesting.   A sheep farm

 A pumpkin patch

Many stately homes along this road.  Some more modest but every one well maintained with neatly trimmed lawns and an abundance of flowers.  Lots of sale signs too.  There was a bicycle run taking place and we stopped to talk to a gentleman at one of the check stations.  I asked him why so much property was for sale.  He said most had been on the market for years just in case someone came along and offered enough millions.   We are not that someone.

Harbor Springs is a quaint little town with lots of touristy stuff.

There was a closed off street with a Farmers Market.  We parked and walked around. Veggies, flowers, wine, oils, honey all of which were much too pricey for us.  Few things had the prices posted but those that did......Salmon $15 a pound;  Trout $14 a pound; a small head of Kale $5. I have a problem paying those prices but read on and see what I did buy.

We drove by the Harbor and then found a wayside picnic table where we ate our packed lunches.  Or we tried to eat at the table.  Winds still cold, truck was more comfy.

We picked up I-75 back to Mackinaw City and to the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse.

We made the mistake of going into the visitors center.  I NEVER buy any over-priced items from a visitor center.  But a tea set caught my eye.  I fell in love.  I walked away.  I walked back.  I showed Len.  He said buy it, I said no.  I walked away.  I walked back.  He said That's it, we are getting it. I did not put up a fight.  

I wish I had taken a picture before it was mostly wrapped.  It includes two tea cups, two saucers, the tea pot, a sugar bowl with lid, a creamer and a tray on which it all sits.  I love it. I got it.  I live in an RV.  I have no place to put it.  And LEN DOES NOT DRINK NOT TEA.  Me, who would not spend $5.00 on kale, spent $149.00 on a tea set that I have no place to show it and no real use for it.  I love it.

As is our usual custom we find a local United Methodist Church and attend services on Sunday. According to our GPS the closest UMC is over the Mackinac Bridge in St. Ignace.  So why not, let's go over the bridge and check it out.   Toll is $4.00 each way.

We found the church and noted the time for tomorrow.   Then drove around town.  Love this lighthouse.

Many of the towns roads were blocked. Traffic was everywhere.  Both people and vehicle traffic. We could look down at the town and see something was going on.  Finally a detour actually put us downtown to where to action was.

Well this is something we had never seen before. A car show.   Well, actually not a car show but a TRUCK SHOW.

Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Pure Michigan

Mackinaw City,  MI

We are liking Michigan.    Our first few nights in this state were at Loranger Pines Campground in the town of West Branch

This is a small campground about 3 miles out of town and I 75 nestled in rows of Pines.  A simple campground with spacious sites, a picnic table and concrete patio.  No pools, no planned activities, no playground just a laundry and showers.  We used the laundry but prefer our own showers.  It is a Passport America affiliate that is accepted only Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Our 3 days were at a cost of $65.00.

On Thursday we got out and about heading toward Lake Huron and the town of Tawas.  In Tawas we walked around one of their parks which line Saginaw Bay.

We then headed south of Route 23 hugging the bay to the town of Alabaster.  In 1837 gypson was discovered in this area with a quarry built in 1862.  Gypson was used first for fertilizer the plaster and eventually in wallboard.

The plant

A quaint church sitting nearby on shore.

We retraced our route back to Tawas and beyond to the town of Oscoda and picked up the River Road and headed west.  This road follows the Au Sable River. On the river, starting in 1918, six dams were built.  This is the Foote Dam

Further up the road is the Lumberman's Monument paying tribute to those who toiled long hours felling trees in the early part of the 20th century.   This monument was built in 1931 at a cost of $50,000.  There is also a visitors center and a reconstructed lumberman's cabin holding a small museum.

There are 242 steps leading down to the river.

Since there is no escalator or elevator coming back up, we passed on this walk.

This morning we left West Branch and continued up I-75 to Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping.  As we approached the campground we saw the famous Mackinaw bridge that crosses to Upper Michigan with Lake Huron on the east, Lake Michigan to the west.

The campground sits on the shores of Lake Huron.  When we got to the campground there was a line up of rigs getting registered.

The two huge tent sites are occupied by Boy Scouts this weekend.  Check in area had double lines of rigs and there were about 3 in front of us.  However, check in was quick and effortless.  With the Escapees discount our cost is approximately $29.00 a night.  Not bad.

We were given a really large pull through site, the only pull through we have seen.

We can see the lake from our site but it is mostly hidden by a few other campsites between us and the lake.   A very short walk and

Now to plan our next four days here in this beautiful area.  So excited.

Clean up

Cleona, PA

Once the rain stopped and the skies cleared, it was time to survey the damage.  The pile up under the house bridge.

I could not believe all the rubbish that came down stream.   Grandson Justin drove over from his home in Philadelphia to help Grandpop.   We wanted things cleaned up before Terri and Steve comes home later today.

Justin's girlfriend Karlie and I were busy bagging some of the trash.  Unfortunately lots of it floated out of our reach.  We were not about ready to walk into that COLD water.  Two piles got stuck on shallow ground.  I went out yesterday and broke some of it up.

Yesterday afternoon we had more showers.  We were away for a few hours and when we returned we were glad to see the water temporarily rose enough to move those piles on downstream.

This morning some local friends came back to survey the area.

I went outside to take better pictures but they must be camera shy.  As Judy would say "The End(s)"

Two issues: RV improvement and flood

Clenoa,  PA

This has been an interesting few days.

ISSUE ONE......

We've had our 2014 Cedar Creek Fifth Wheel Trailer for just a little over two years.  There is a lot we like about it, but a lot we don't.   It is more spacious than our 2009 Montana, especially in the basement/storage departments.   We like the residential fridge with ice maker, the stainless steel double full-size sinks, the sofa bed instead of an air mattress, the walk-in closet in the bedroom, the larger shower with full-size seat, the taller commode, the self-leveling system.   What we DON'T like is the way it is manufactured.  The frame is not as heavy (our fault for not checking that out).  In the last couple of months we've had to replace two tires.

This units loaded out weighs just north of 16,000 pounds.  It sits on two 7,000 pound axles.  We are told that the truck carries 2,500 pounds.   All of our weight in the rig is carried on the left side.....fireplace; stove; fridge;  storage for dishes, pots, food, etc; shower, water heater, furnace.  In measuring it, the left side sat 1 1/2 inch lower than the right causing the axles to always be in conflict with the other one.

We've spoken to Forest River and Dexter who makes the axles.  No one takes responsibility. In addition we spoke to a local dealer here in PA who says this is a constant issue.  They get new rigs into the shop leaning like this.

Our solution, change to 8,000 pound axles.  Add heavier springs.  Will solve the unnecessary wearing of the tires and improve fuel mileage.    And hopefully we will be traveling safer.  This at a cost of $4,708.

We dropped the trailer at a local frame and alignment shop on Saturday only 15 miles from the daughters where we are pet sitting. The work was completed on Wednesday.   They have agreed to keep it there until Monday when we pick it up to head to Michigan.   If ever in the Lancaster/Lebanon counties of Pennsylvania and need this type of work done, we highly recommend

ISSUE TWO...

As I've written before, daughters house was once a grist mill built in 1832.  It sits near a stream that is partially diverted under the house.  In 2011 there was a flood that reached into the main floor.

Yesterday we had rains and for a while it looked like this might be a repeat.  Daughter and husband are away in Cape Cod on a vacation.

At first the we could see the stream running faster but no sign of water in the basement or over the banks.

There is a "well" in the house.  Actually part of the floor is Plexiglas with stone work around it to look like a well.  There are lights above the steam so you look down to see the stream running by. This is in their living room.

This is how the steam usually looks under the house.  See that canoe?  Good thing it was chained as the water came half way up over the canoe.

Within 1/2 hour we saw this.  Debris stuck under the passageway.  Much, much more there today but the water is lower and the opening visible.

The water continued to rise overflowing the bank and into the yard.  The area below is a patio.  We moved the chairs and table back.   The second picture is the patio about two hours after when some water receded.

To give an idea,  this green bench sits about 10 feet from the bank.  The first picture is when we first noticed the bank being breached.  The second, about 1/2 hour later.

The ducks loved it

This is Leonard  attempting to lasso and remove some of the logs from under the house. He is right at the edge of the patio.  One more step and he would be up to the knees.

The basement was flooded.  They have a huge sump pump that has pretty much taken care of the problem.  In parts of the basement I would guess the water was 4-5 inches deep.  They have most of the stuff up on shelves but still a lot down there they will have to go through.

What we found especially nice, within 1/2 hour three neighbors came here to see if there was damage and we needed help. They all talked about the 2011 flood and was concerned we faced similar damage.  One neighbor said a few years ago the Army Corps of Engineers had done flood control upstream then ran out of funds leaving those downstream now in a flood plain.   Before that this area seldom has this issue.

What a few days!

Dog sitting /// Cat sitting

Cleona, PA

Here we are at daughter Terri's house.   She and hubby Steve are vacationing on Cape Cod and needed their animals tended to while gone.  Perfect timing for us.  Our fifth wheel is in the shop having some improvements made.   We found the perfect place to do to the renovations just 25 miles away in Ephata.   More on that in a future blog.

After dropping the rig at the shop, we arrived here Saturday morning.   Steve is a member of a local band, 2nd Chance.  They were playing that night at the nearby Thousand Trails Campground - Hershey Preserve.  We spent two weeks there earlier in the summer.

The band:

Leonard and me

The four of us:

This was perfect for us.  Band started playing at 7, done at 10.  No more can we two old people do the 10 to 2 am thing.   We did manage to do a few Two-Steps and some Country line dancing.   Got some compliments too.

Terri and Steve left on Sunday morning.  These are two of our charges.  Cane the dog and Miss Kitty a feral cat that hung around the house back in NJ for the last 9 years.  Terri trapped her and brought her to Pennsylvania when she relocated here last November.  Miss Kitty has adjusted well.

There are two house cats, but they keep pretty well hidden.

I find it very relaxing sitting by the steam that flows under the part of the house where the grist mill once was.

Signs of fall are all around evidenced by the dying of some of the flowers.  Time to plant Mums.

This was taken from inside looking out at the stream.  Cane is sunning herself on the bank. She blends in well with the rocks.

This is not a huge house, but seems so big after living in a 39 foot RV for the last 6+ years.

We've not done much the last few days.  A couple of trips to Walmart.  Len washed the truck this morning.  Our grandson who lives in Philadelphia might drop in for a visit.  Later in the week we will drive down in Maryland to our daughter Amy's house.   Gotta get some Abby and Charlotte time in before heading to Michigan next Monday.

I'm thinking the truck washing was exhausting.  I hear the TV on but the snoring is drowning out the volume.

Old Church and Birds

Sea Pines TT Campground
Cape May Court House,  NJ

Here we are back at Sea Pines.  Just for another couple of days, pulling out early Saturday.

As is our usual practice, we look for the nearest United Methodist Church to the campground.  This one I've been curious about for many years.  Sunday seemed the perfect time to stop in.

Methodism was founded in the late 1700's by John Wesley and his brother Charles who were members of the Church of England.  Francis Asbury was an itinerant preacher to America.  He rode horseback starting new congregations and local Meeting Houses.  Look in any hymnal sometime.....you would be amazed at the hymns written by Charles.  O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing;  Arise, My Soul Arise; Jesus, Lover of my Soul; A Charge to Keep I Have; I Want a Principle Within; Love Divine All Loves Excelling; Hark! The Herald Angels Sing;  Christ the Lord is Risen Today and thousands more.

 What I found especially interesting are these two gravestones.

My paternal grandmother's maiden name was Ford.  I know much of the family settled along the Mullica River in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, about 35 miles from here.  However, one of her sisters lived in nearby Avalon.  Also, my mother always told me that my grandmother wanted me to be named Rachel, an old family name.  The names on these stones?  Charles Ford and Rachel Ford. Curious.

Now for the birds.  Driving down near the bay is this a common sight.  Egrets nesting.

Here in the campground it's the Rusty Blackbirds

And while driving around Granddaughter Abby spotted this fellow.  No idea what it is.  Judy?