Maiden Voyage Revisited Day 14

Last day of this adventure.
We had steak, eggs, and potatoes for breakfast.
Said goodbye to our friend Gina, we will miss her.  We had a great time together.
Cath and I did some camp maintenance and generally just relaxed.
The entire campground emptied out this morning, there is only three campers on the entire loop. All the neighbors came over to say goodbye, we will miss them as they had a pack of kids and that was our entertainment. It's been very quiet here since the kids have gone home.
Cath and I searched the campground for firewood after everyone was gone, got a little. The the best thing was the two gals that came looking for wood after I'd cleaned it all up.  They were POed.
Here's some pics of the place after it emptied out:

Off to the house tomorrow, the new venture will start on 8 Nov.  The blog will be alive and well starting then.  We are having a good time with this camping thing.
Stayed tuned for more.

Maiden Voyage Revisited Day 13

Another beautiful day.  We started out with bacon on the grill, scrambled eggs, and toast (oh yea the toast was done on the grill and the cherry jam was home made).
After breakfast we went for a walk along the Lake Erie shore.  Here's a few pics:
The girls and of course Kaylee,

 A pic of a WILD VIZSLA!

 And wild mushrooms along the trail.  We did not eat any!

Pork tenderloin apple wood smoked, mushrooms, onions, and potatoes for dinner. We did not eat the above mushrooms, had no idea what they are, but looked kinda cool.
We've had a wonderful time with Gina and will be sorry to see her head home tomorrow.
Cath and I have one more night, then headed home.
It's been a great trip and we will do it again next year with a few modifications, you have to tune in next year to see the mods.
Off to bed and starting to pack up tomorrow,

Maiden Voyage Revisited Day 12

Showers (not rain) this morning.  We are both clean...LOL
Gina showed up around 1300, after our bruch of smoked white fish and biscuits.
We've had a great time catching up on old and new times.

Had steaks, taters, and salads for dinner.
Sat out by the fire this evening. Kaylee was keeping an eye on everything from the wrong side of the door.

Can't tell you how fun it was to catch up with Gina and all the news.
Plan on a nice long walk tomorrow, a little rock (pebble) hunting, and then maybe some beer drinking and a nice pork tenderloin for dinner.
Gina will stay until Sunday and we have to hit the road Monday for home.

Maiden Voyage Revisited Day 11

Had a good nights sleep as the weather turned cool (38 deg) after a brief rain shower. Coffee and our leftover bagel and lox from yesterday morning for breakfast (Thanks Erich!).
Drove Rt 20 to Mentor, OH.  Nice drive and a neat town. We visited the home of James A. Garfield, a National Historic Site (yep, got the passport stamped).  Here's a few pics:

The house from the back.

The house from the front.

 Leaning on a Sycamore tree.  They had some beautiful old trees on the property.

 Cath by a giant elm.

A good shot of the giant Sycamore.

The old mill as you enter the property. Zoom in the the top.

On the way back to camp picked up a few things, got gas, and stopped at a local butcher for some yummy steaks.
Back at camp, I decided to try out the satellite dish as we have a pretty good view of the southern sky.  We have camped 61 days since I bought the Sat dish and this is the first time we actually thought we could use it as we are normally in the woods.  This time we got two of the three Sats needed and naturally not the one I need to watch Thursday Night Football! Oh well, guess we will watch a movie tonight.
Lentil soup and fresh bread for dinner.  Will be another nice sleeping night as temps will be in the 30s.
Our friend Gina will arrive tomorrow.  Lots of yakking and maybe a little drinking.  We are looking forward to her visit.

Maiden Voyage Revisited Day 10

Was a great day. Got up early, packed, and had everything ready to go by 0800.  Erich showed up with coffee and Loxs. It was delicious! Hit the dump station and was on the road by 0845.

The drive was long, but not bad.
We arrived at Geneva State Park, OH about 1530. We have the best site ever!
As we were here last week we scouted out the place. Site #16 is the bomb!

Will post some new pics tomorrow, but this site is nice. Some shade, some sun, and some peace and quiet.  There are no neighbors within 100 yds.
Off to bed as Cath is getting feisty.

Maiden Voyage Revisited Day 9

Had a nice quiet day. Coffee in the morning and then Cath awoke and the day started.
Went to the store and did a few errands. Walked the Vizsla (she actually ran her legs off). Had a quick breakfast and then off to see the sights.
We drove a little south to an apple orchard (Cranes). Got out of the truck, put Kaylee on a leash (mind you this is an orchard) and were immediately informed "NO DOGS IN THE ORCHARD". I immediately said thank you, we were just leaving!
We went down the road a few miles and found a cider mill.  This place was fantastic, dog friendly, great local cider, and very nice. We had a pint in the garden and took a growler and a few bottles back to the camper with us.  The place is called Virtue Cider (google it). I highly recommend it for all you folks who are going to be in Michigan.
Next stop was an old barn that had a sign that said "Cool Stuff".  Got a pic of a really neat bike that some girls rode in on:

Back at camp we are packing up and hope to be on the road back to Geneva State Park, OH by 0830.
Erich is going to stop by in the morning for farewells and is bring coffee and bagels.  Off to bed, will blog from OH tomorrow.

Maiden Voyage Revisited Day 8

We had a great day today!
Erich's classes got canceled and he was able to spend the whole day with us. He was at camp by 0930.  Cath and I got cleaned up (showers) and we headed to downtown Holland, MI.  It is a really fun downtown, lots of shops, craft beer joints, and restaurants. We ate at the Holland Brewery, had a great lunch and some local hard cider.  Cath got a few nick-naks for the camper and Kaylee had a good time with all the people in the area.
Afterward we headed to a "dog beach" and Kaylee had a great time.

Looking south.

 Looking north.

 Kaylee.

 Kaylee.

 Kaylee.  You've got to zoom in on this one!

Afterward we drove the coast road back to camp by some really nice homes ($$$$$$$). Played some cribbage with Erich and we had a blast, really enjoy our games. Had Chinese take-out for dinner so Cath didn't have to cook and it was actually very good.
After dinner we had a good surprise.  Cath and I bought a new bed for Kaylee for camping on those chilly nights.  We've had it for a few weeks, but she has refused to use it. It is actually a "dog cave" and she got in it for the first time this evening. She spent a few hours in there and actually turned around so her head was in the back.  I think we will have to pry her out of it from now on.

 Here's one of Erich, we will miss him when we have to leave on Wednesday.

Maiden Voyage Revisited Day 7

Woke up this morning and had coffee.  The "mass exodus" started about 0800.  We went from a full campground to about a dozen campers by 1300.  It is a hoot to watch everyone trying to get to the dump station all at once.  It's like a backup on the freeway.
Cath made biscuits for breakfast with bacon and cherry jelly.
Erich and I did a few camper repairs and a few errands at the store.
We had prime rib, fried potatoes, and a nice salad for dinner.
Here's a few pics from before dinner during the "Great Cribbage Tournament":

 The wild Vizsla!

And here's one after dinner when all are blue:

Off to downtown Holland tomorrow as Erich has to work, and off to bed right now.

Maiden Voyage Revisited Day 6

Some of you may notice that I skipped a day.  We sort of tied one on yesterday and the blog did not get done!  For those of you who know us that has never happened before and we will try to let it never happen again.  Actually, I'm getting to old to behave like that.
So the day started out with a big hang-over, but got better from there.  Erich showed up around 0930 and we did not have breakfast, just coffee.  We left camp around 1130 and went to a great place for lunch in Saugatuck, MI.  Great beer, hard cider, and food, we felt much better after that.
Stopped at the food store on the way back to camp, picked up a few things and a ton of candy. Back at camp the campground is totally full.  It was fun to just watch everyone coming in and setting up. There is not an empty campsite here. We played some three person cribbage and waited for 1800 when the trick and treating began.
We had probably 250 kids stop by and we went through a lot of candy.  Cath still had some left, but she did that on purpose and saved the best for her self.  I took over 130 pics of the festivities, but narrowed it down to the following for the blog:

He must be Hawaiian......

 The costume is awesome!

 This is actually a real guy, next campsite to us.  They won the prize for best decorations.

This is a pic of their campsite.  You can sort of see the camper in the background.  The guy in the tight tux is in the middle of the pic.

Gumby?

 The doughnut girl was my favorite.

 This guy has some obvious issues.

 This lady has some obvious something...LOL

 Best family costumes, but the skeleton does not really fit in the Egyptian theme..

 This little guy was another favorite.

 The horse is actually his pants!

Erich is spending the night so we can wipe his butt tomorrow in cribbage.
No hang-overs tomorrow.

Maiden Voyage Revisited Day 4

Rainy day.  Erich came over early for coffee and breakfast, tortillas and eggs.

After breakfast he went to work and Cath and I ran some errands and did some camp maintenance.
Here's a few pics of the campsite:

We got some Monk fish for dinner and had rice and asparagus with it.  Delicious!
A few cocktails after dinner and of course a campfire.
The campground is starting to fill up for the weekend and the kids will be trick & treating tomorrow evening.  Looks like a trip to Walmart for some candy to give away.

Maiden Voyage Revisited Day 3

Today was a driving day.  We left Geneva State Park, OH about 0830 and arrived at Holland State Park, MI about 1530.   Did the entire drive on I-90, not our favorite, but we needed to make some time. A little over 400 miles and that is getting to be over my driving limit.  I'll post pics of the campsite tomorrow. It is nice, but not the most level spot we've every had. Damn near took out a tree (or maybe damn near dented the camper) getting into the site. As we pulled into the campground it started to sprinkle.  The sprinkle turned into a deluge, but only lasted for 20 minutes, we sat in the truck.  It was just enough rain to make it fun setting everything up with sand, mud, and muck everywhere.
Erich showed up just as we finished setting up the basics.  It is great to see him and he is doing well.  Had a great Pizza for dinner and a few glasses of wine, after that drive it made the evening complete.
Sorry no pics today, but I'll make up for that tomorrow.
OK, here are a couple of pics; Cath and Kaylee look like I feel.

Will post tomorrow, but tonight will be a great sleep!

Maiden Voyage Revisited Day 2

We had a good sleep last night after a long drive.  Kaylee didn't get sick, but was up at 0530 wanting a drink of water.  Must have been all the bread!  Cath got tired of hearing her prance around the camper, so she got up and closed the pocket door on my side of the bed. This basically closed Kaylee into her bed, but I stack my shoes by the pocket door on my side, so it also locked me into the bedroom when the shoes fell down and blocked the door. It was a fun and interesting morning.
Took a drive to gas up and wash the truck.  Nice area, very touristy, but everything is closed as the season is over.
We went for a nice walk late in the morning along Lake Erie.  The State Park has a paved (yea really) walking trail that is 2 miles long.  We walked about 2/3s of it and ended up a the beach. Did some stone/pebble hunting.  Kaylee had a great time acting like a dock diving dog.  Here's a few pics.
These are cabins the parks rents, right on the lake!

Cath and Kaylee, Lake Erie in the background.

 Beach.  The rock/pebble hunting was great!

 And...don't forget the beer, Canadian at that!

Here's one last pic of our campsite.

Off to Michigan in the morning.  Another 300+ mile drive, but get to see Erich when we get there.