Evergreen RV Resort - Mount Eaton, Ohio

We traveled down US250 today to Mount Eaton, shunning the interstate system for a more scenic, slower stroll. A short drive of 130 mi. The RV park is top of the line, rated 10 in everything and well deserved. We could only get 1 night though, they are filled up on the weekend. The owners are hunting/fishing enthusiasts, I guess. They have bear, marlin, elk and deer trophies everywhere. We took a quick swim in the indoor pool & hot tub, then did our laundry. We are pretty much settled down for the night now. Tomorrow we'll drive about 45 miles, hopefully, to a lake campground that we don't have reservations for.

Maumee Bay State Park Ohio

This park is very nice, huge, at the southern tip of Lake Eerie. It is very green and wooded, swampy in spots, makes for great mosquitos. We spray up before going out. We see some deer and rabbits every time we go for walk, which is morning and evening, too hot during the day. We have electric but no sewer or water, but they are available at the dump station - fee $37/night. They have 2 nice beaches - 1 on Lake Eerie and 1 on an inland lake. They also have a very nice paved walking/bike trail which Jill loves.

Tomorrow we say goodbye to the great lakes and head southeast, next stop Mount Eaton, Ohio.

Birch Run MI

I hate to say it, but we are headed south, towards home. Slowly, for sure, but never the less towards home. Traveling down I75 today was a nice and easy 212 miles. Pine Ridge RV Camground is nice, shaded, full hookups and all, but they advertise full service and don't have cable or WiFi. We are here for 3 nights. The Sickenbergers, our traveling buddies, are just staying 2 nights then heading towards Maine.

We enjoyed our little 3 mile trip to Frankenmuth, a little Bavarian village full of gift shops, taffy, chocolate and fudge. We splurged on a $22 chicken dinner at the world famous Bavarian Inn. We wound up taking half of it home so it wasn't quite so outlandish. They were also having a craft fair and we enjoyed walking through the craft booths.

St Ignace & Mackinac Island

We have had a wonderful 3 night stay in St Ignace, with 1 night to go. It's a quaint little lake front village with a very clean appearance and a great boardwalk along Lake Huron. We are staying at the Straits State Park, also a fairly nice park but only has electric hookups, no water or sewer but a dump station with water at the entrance. They have a very nice walking trail through the woods to a Mackinac Bridge overlook which Jill and Karl have taken a number of times.

St Ignace has 3 boat companies servicing Mackinac Island, we chose the Star Line because they offer a package deal, boat, carriage and fort for $55. The Island is awesome! The carriage ride is essential for us oldtimers to see the Island, younger bucks can rent a bicycle and get around the Island in about an hour. The rock arch and Grand Hotel offer awesome views. The fort offers excellent views of the Island also. The weather was a perfect 75F with perfectly blue skies, the whole day was pretty awesome. We took the 9:20AM ferry because it makes a little detour for a passage under the bridge, it gives a whole new perspective of the bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the US, about 50% longer than the Golden Gate.

Friday, the 24th, we'll head towards home, but very slowly, we should be there in a month. We plan on spending 10 days near Richmond VA with Jerry & family. Next stop Birch Run MI.

Sault Ste Marie & Soo Locks

We spent 1 night at Aune-Osborne RV Campground along the St James river. We had electric and water, no sewer hookups but they did have a dump station which we used for the accumulation at Marquette. We watched a couple of barges go by on the river while we got settled and then went up to Soo Locks, a 10 minute drive, to watch a couple of barges go through. The 1st one was a small one and quickly made its way through the locks, but the 2nd one just barely fit into the lock both width ways and length ways. It took a lot longer to get into the lock and we were ushered out before the lock was flooded and the barge escaped.

Marquette & Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

We stayed 3 nights at the Ojibwa Casino RV Park in Marquette MI. Camping was free with electric service and about $8 free slot play per day, also free drinks all day. They only have 7 sites so timing is important. They do have a couple of light poles in the parking lot with electric hookups for late comers.

We spent one day at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and took a short hike to a beautiful waterfall as well as the 3 hour boat ride along the awesome cliffs of Lake Superior.

Porcupine Mountains State Park MIUP

We drove into the park on the west end and the GPS said we were there and then we found out that the Visitor Center and campground was another 25 miles. Were we ever disappointed. The campground is right on the beach of Lake Superior, and a really nice, scenic beach it is. With the water at 55F no one was swimming but quite a few kayakers. The campground, $13.50/night + $9 entrance fee + $6 fee for towed car + $10 reservation fee, was really crowded and has a real fly and mosquito problem. If you go take lots of bug spray. They were supposed to have a modern restroom and showers but they were being rebuilt so they were using a 2 unit trailer which was really inadequate.

Anyhow, the short hike to Lake of the clouds was very rewarding, a very great view of the photogenic lake and forests. We also took a short hike to the water falls in the Presque Area and what seemed like a long hike to the Summit Lookout tower where a panoramic view is awesome.

Baraboo WI

We had a real nice campsite at Mirror Lake State Park Wisconsin
The lake, tho pretty, had a lot of algae growth. Wis Dells a tourist type town was very close and we enjoyed the cheese market (really enjoying the cheese) and outlet mall. We started to see a little more insect activity as well. We stayed 2 nights as just a way point to Michigan UP.

Nauvoo IL

Nauvoo is really alive. They now have2 great pageants, the Nauvoo and the British. We enjoyed both immensely. We took in the Wilford Woodruff, Heber Kimball, John Browning and Lucy Mack Smith homes as well as the brick factory, the Trail Of Hope and the restored church tour which includes the Nauvoo Mansion, Joseph Smith home, the Smith Cemetery and the store. We also went to Carthage and took the Jail tour where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred and the city cemetery where there's a memorial headstone for William and Elizabeth Patrick Taylor. We really enjoyed the Nauvoo Brass Band and bagpipe band concerts. We also attended a full session at the Nauvoo Temple.

Council Bluffs Iowa

Visited the Mormon Trail Center and cemetery at Winter Quarters today, very interesting. Our families have several relatives buried here, mostly children. Also visited the Kanesville Tabernacle where Brigham Young was sustained as president of the church in Dec 1847 after he led the way to Salt Lake. It took less than 3 weeks for 200 men to build the tabernacle so that many members could sustain the Prophet at the same time. It was also the place that Oliver Cowdery returned to the church after being gone for 10 years. It was rebuilt in 1996.

We are staying at Lake Manawa State Park. A very nice lake filled with fishermen, boaters and swimmers. We have an electrical campsite for $20/night.

We will go to Nauvoo Wednesday.

Mitchell South Dakota

The trip down I-90 for the Black Hills is really boring. Mitchell is the home of the one and only corn palace. It's too early for the corn decoration but it'll soon be sporting lots of ears of corn they're in a major renovation so it's not as fantastic as usual, but will be resplendent come August. We're only spending 2 nights here, we're thinking of doing Cabela's tomorrow then head for Council Bluffs Iowa Sunday.