Winter Excursion 9, Day 291

We left camp this morning for our drive home, but first we stopped at the Welding Shop to get the battery deck repaired. It took about 1.5 hours, but the welder did a great job.

The 200 mile drive home went by fast with no issues. Here's the Lewis County line on RT 177. Welcome Home!

The house seems in good shape. There is plenty of dead bugs, but very little sign of mice. We will stay in the camper for a few days while we get everything cleaned up.

I'll type up and post the trip stats in a day or so.

It's good to be home!

Winter Excursion 9, Day 290

Woke up this morning to find a lake outside the camper at the water pedestal. Seems the underground line (pipe) was broken. We called the Rangers and maintenance was able to turn it off. Later in the day a crew came to repair the line. They had to turn off water to the entire camping loop. Luckily we had filled our fresh water tank yesterday. 

Our friends left this morning. We will see them when we leave for our winter trip this year.

We took a drive to the Shoe Trees and to get some gas for the drive home tomorrow.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 289

Today was a hot one. Temps were in the 90s by late morning. These temps are forecast to break tomorrow. We should get some cooler weather.

We just hung out a camp today. I did get a short bike ride in.

We had dinner with our friends and once again sat and yakked for awhile. It's been a fun few days with them. They leave in the morning. We will see them again when we start our winter trip in October.

Late evening we put everything away as rain is forecast for tomorrow morning.  

Winter Excursion 9, Day 288

We spent most of the day in camp. The weather moderated a little as the humidity is not so bad.

We did head out to a cider mill that we'd visited six yeas ago. The cider is still cold and delicious. We sat out back in the shade and enjoyed the breeze coming of Lake Ontario. 

We got a pic of this crazy thing on the way back to camp. I'm not sure what it is, but I'll bet the neighbors love it! 

We had a nice dinner with our camping friends and sat outside yakking until almost dark. It's been a nice day.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 287

This morning I called a welding shop in the area and explained what had happened with the battery box. He asked if I could get some pics so he could see the damage. After he saw the pics we made an appointment for Monday morning (the day we leave here). I won't even have to unhook the camper for him to do some welding repair. His shop is large enough for me to pull the truck and camper into it!

We spent the day in camp yakking with our friends. 

We keep moving around where we are sitting to keep in the shade. The sites we are in have no trees so we are using the campers for shade depending on where the sun is!

We smoked a small brisket for dinner. It took 12 hours, but the wait was worth it. It came out great.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 286

 It's moving day and it started out just fine.

This little guy was in the dumpster when I threw the trash out.

I put that stick in so he could climb out which he did after finishing his breakfast.

We left camp around 1000 enroute to our new campground. While we were on I-90 heading east a car pulled up beside us and motioned that something was wrong with the camper. I rolled down my window and he shouted that our battery box was dragging on the ground! I immediately pulled over to the shoulder, put on the four ways and found this.

Two of the factory weld weld joints on the driver side had failed and the whole thing was dragging on the highway. I called 911 and got a policeman to sit behind us on the shoulder with his lights flashing. With traffic whizzing by at 70 mph I disconnected and removed the batteries and strapped the the broken battery box frame to the camper "A" frame. I was able to drive to the next exit, but there was no repairmen in the area. We ended up driving to our new campground with no further issues. All said and done, We were lucky!

Here's the new campsite at Lakeside State Park, PA.

We are meeting camping friends here. We will be here for five days and then head for home.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 285

After breakfast we did one more load of laundry. That should be it until we get home next week! Hooray! 

There is rain and thunderstorms forecast for tonight and tomorrow morning so we started packing up all the outside stuff. We leave here in the morning and we hate packing up in the rain. Maybe the "Weather Guessers" will be wrong as usual.

We ordered pizza for our last night here. Zeppe's has a very interesting crust. The call it "Zig-Zag Crust".

It's actually really good pizza. 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 284

It was nice and cool this morning and I got a great walk in.

Another of our favorite pastimes is laundry so we did that today. Yuk!

I did get a bike ride in, The park has a bike path that goes all the way to Geneva on the Lake. For the most part it is shaded. The path is almost 5 miles long! Along the way I saw this next to the path.

Here's a view of the path. Some of it is right on the Lake Erie shore.

We went to GOTL to get our favorite Gyros from Mike's Gyro Stand. They are the best gyros we've had since Germany many years ago.

We spent the evening sitting outside with the fan going and people watching.

It's been a nice relaxing day.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 283

We were up at 0630 and in the dump station by 0800. We wanted to beat the crowds as this campground has over 250 sites and it's Sunday. Lots of campers will be leaving. We were out of the dump station by 0815 and on the road. It's 325 miles to our next campground.

We traveled RT-6 (Grand Army of the Republic Highway) all the way to Cleveland. RT-6 was a great road on the part we traveled. We went through a few towns, made good time, and the road was not crowded. RT-6 basically parallels I-90. We will use this route again when we travel this area.

We stopped at a Fricker's Restaurant for lunch and had some frickin' great sandwiches. It's a chain food joint in Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana.

We arrived at Geneva State Park around 1530. We have a great site with tons of shade and a nice breeze off of Lake Erie. Here's site #42 with full hookups!

The sites in this area are newly renovated since we were last here six years ago. We did minimal set up. We will be here for three days and storms are forecast for Tuesday.

 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 282

Temps remain high. It was 73 deg and 95% humidity when I got up. We would either

want to stay in the camper or drive around in the truck rather than sit outside.

We drove around in the truck to the local grocery store for a few supplies. This Kroger was not one of our favorites, but we got most of what we needed.

We spent the afternoon in the camper, playing cribbage and enjoying the air conditioners, but we could only run one at a time as we are on 30 amp service. Until late afternoon best we could do was 85 in the camper! but at least we could combat the humidity!

We will be heading to Lake Erie (Geneva State Park) in the morning. Wishing for a breeze and cooler temps.

   

Winter Excursion 9, Day 281

We did some camp maintenance this morning.

In the afternoon we drove into South Bend, IN and had a late lunch/early dinner at a brewery called the "Crooked Ewe Brewery & Ale House".

The beer was cold and the food was good.

Back at camp we watched the weekend camper arriving. By early evening the campground was 100% full! People watching was the hit of the evening.

Temps were in the 90s today. We sure wish it would cool off.  

Winter Excursion 9, Day 280

After yesterday's drive and the time change we slept in till almost 0900! We had a great night's sleep. 

We explored the park. It's really big with over 250 sites not to mention the cabins, day use area, beach, General Store and Nature Center. There are many, many trails also. The park has the largest dump station we've ever seen. There are six lanes and it is very modern.

We left the park to check out the local area. It is mostly farm land. The little towns in the area are nice and very well kept. We discovered US Rt 6. It is called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway. It is a transcontinental highway stretching from Bishop, California, to Provincetown, Massachusetts. It was named in honor of the Grand Army of the Republic, a Union Army veterans organization from the Civil War. We plan to take it vs I-90 most of the way to our next campground.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 279

We left Token Creek County Park around 0930 for the 250 mile drive to our new campground.  We said our goodbyes to our new camping friend who happened to be the Camp Host. We hope to see her again in our travels.

The drive today around Chicago was not as bad as anticipated. We did I-90 to I-294 to I-90. In places the road was terrible, but for the most part not bad. Traffic was heavy, but we only had a few slowdowns.

We arrived at Potato Creek State Park, IN around 1530 as we are now on Eastern Time. Here's Site #39. Nice site with partial shade.

We will be here for four days.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 278

Today was a repeat of yesterday. We only left camp to fill up the truck as we are leaving tomorrow.

We played some cards in the morning and hungout outside the rest of the day.

We did have a camper at the dump station across from us have a "wardrobe malfunction". While dumping, his sewer hose broke off of the dump valve. He did not to a good job of clean up and just left. Guess who cleaned it up!

The weather is getting warmer everyday. I guess we got spoiled while we were in the Dakotas. 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 277

After all the driving for the past week or so, today was a day of rest. We did manage to go to Wally World for a few supplies, but for the most part we just hung out at camp.

I was able to fix the stone chip in the camper front window. I used a windshield repair kit made by Rain-X. It worked great!

All is well in the Boss Camp! 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 276

Today's 260 mile drive was fine until we got across the Mississippi (gee that's fun to type). That's where I-90 and I-94 come together. It's also the highway to the Wisconsin Dells, a tourist hotspot, think Dollywood/Gatlinburg area!

Here's our new site at Taken Creek County Park/Campground. We were in this exact site 6 years ago with Jacob.

We said Hi to the Camp Host across the street from us. She knew where we had hosted last year at Dames Ferry and also where we live in Lowville. She knew where Miller's Meat Market is! Small World!

We will be here for three days. It will be nice to not have to drive everyday!
 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 275

Our original route planning had us doing a 400 mile day when we leave Blue Mounds State Park. We decided to leave a day early and drive 175 miles and spend one night. Here's our new campground, Albert Lea / Austin KOA Journey, MN.

We didn't even unhook the truck. This stop will make tomorrow's drive a lot easier.

Weather is still nice and cool, but we have very bad air quality due to the smoke/haze from the Canadian wildfires.
 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 274

We drove into town this morning to tackle our favorite camping chore...LAUNDRY! We actually knocked it out very fast. The laundromat wasn't crowded. We did a little food shopping and headed back to camp.

I'm not sure when it happened, but we got a stone chip in the camper's front window. It's about the size of a nickel.

I got a repair kit while we were in town, but it was missing a part required to use it. I'll have to get another kit during our travels before the chip spiders.

Back at camp we watched the campground fill up as it is Friday afternoon. People watching is one of our favorite pastimes. 
  

Winter Excursion 9, Day 273

We left Richmond Lake Recreation Area at 0930 and made the 230 mile drive to Blue Mounds State Park, MN. Here's Site #24.

We were in this exact site 6 years ago when we made the Family Reunion Trip with our Grandson Jacob. The site and the area have been renovated since then and the campground is really nice!

We spent the late afternoon and evening relaxing and enjoying the 70 degree weather.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 272

I got the new stabilizer jack installed this morning with no issues. I'll be more aware of curbs at gas stations from now on!

We went into Aberdeen, SD around noon. First stop was a car wash. The truck looks good again. We went to The Lager Inn for lunch.

The sign on the outside read "Coldest Beer In Town". It was correct and the food was good.

Next stop was the grocery store for some supplies. We had asked our waitress what was the best grocery store in town. She said "Kessler's". She was right, this store is on par with Publix. We spent over an hour there.

Back at camp we watched some TV and had an early snack dinner.

We enjoyed the Aberdeen area, but will be leaving tomorrow for more points east.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 271

We left camp early this morning enroute to our new campground, Richmond Lake Recreation Area just north of Aberdeen, SD. Here's site # 3E.

This is a really nice campground, well kept, and plenty of room between sites.

The drive today was once again on RT-12 through North and South Dakota. This is a secondary road and not crowded at all. We do get to drive through a few towns, but they are few and far between. We stopped for gas and I got a pick of me and my buddy.

We were amazed at how green everything is! We usually think of South Dakota as the Badlands and the Black Hills. Most of the drive was through cattle country and huge farms. Some of the fields of corn, soybean, and sunflowers were hundreds of acres in size.

We drove into Aberdeen to an RV parts store and picked up a new stabilizer jack. I'll replace it tomorrow.

We will be here for just two days.
 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 270

We spent the day in camp for the most part.

We had a storm blow through mid morning. I got some really good pics. Here's a few.

We were at the southern end of this storm as it came by. We got some pea sized hail and a little rain. If we had been a few miles to the north we would have been hammered.

In the afternoon we did some camp maintenance and started to pack up as we leave in the morning.

We planned on getting dinner at a food truck that had a five star rating, but they were closed. We ended up back at the burger joint we ate at a few days ago. They are the only thing going in this tiny town. Once again the food was good and the beer was cold.

 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 269

We had a lazy morning and then went to a local joint for burgers and beer. Back at camp we watched a few movies and relaxed.

Temps moderated in the late afternoon and we got a nice breeze, so we sat outside. I got the drone out and got a few pics of the area.

Here's our current campground. We are on the bottom right.

And a close up of our site and camper.

The next four are looking north, south, east, and west from 300 feet above us. First pic is the little town of Bowman, ND.

We did some air fried chicken wings for dinner, caught another movie, and hit the sack. It's been a nice relaxing day.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 268

We left The Fort at 49 Campground and Restaurant, Custer, MT around 0900. We drove I-94 north to near Miles City, MT and picked up Rt 12 heading east. This is a two lane road, but was in good shape most of the way. We stopped for gas in a small town and I dinged one of our rear stabilizers leaving the gas station. I'll have to replace it. It's bent pretty bad!

We arrived at The Ridge Campground in Bowman, ND around 1400. Temps were in the 90s. We had reservations here and the last email said to pick any site. Out of the 17 sites only two were open! Here's site #17. No frills, but FHU!

We will be here for three nights after driving everyday for the past four days. It will be nice to just chill out.

We had a bad storm blow through around 2300 that was not forecasted. The weather radio went off and we had winds around 60 mph! There was tons of lightning, but very little rain if any. The camper got a good shaking!
 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 267

We left 2 Bar Lazy H RV Park around 0830 and arrived at The Fort at 49 RV Park and Restaurant in Custer, MT around 1430. The drive was uneventful except for the gas stop at Big Timber, MT. The place was crowded and folks were "parking" at the pumps to go inside and shop or eat. We sat behind a truck with a boat at the pump for 20 minutes! We finally backed up and drove around to another pump, of course the guy with the boat showed up as we were moving. The new pump I pulled into was broken. So around we went again and finally got a working pump. We spent over 30 minutes at this gas stop!

Here's Site #12 at The Fort at 49 Campground and Restaurant, Custer, MT. When we arrived the place was empty. Owner said take any site you like only three of you will be here tonight. Sites are level with FHU! I'll get a pic of the restaurant this evening as we are eating there and the owner has some good stuff on the menu!.

 Here's the restaurant pics. The food was fantastic! 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 266

Today is a mile stone in our travels. It is camping day 2000 since we started 9 years ago with our first travel trailer  If you do the math that's 5.475 years of camping in 9 years! If you round that up it's five and a half years of camping!

Today was a repeat of yesterday. We left Wolf Lodge Campground in Idaho this morning at 0900 and drove the 272 (YAHOO) to 2 Bar Lazy H RV Park, MT. After the time change we arrived at 1530 (lost an hour). We stopped at a Rest Stop for lunch and had this little guy begging for food the entire time. He "chirped" constantly!

We did not feed him as he was to fat from others feeding him junk food!

We stopped for gas in Drummond, MT and got this pic across from the gas station.

I'm not sure what you can do with a "used cow"! Maybe some sour milk!

Our new site is just a "Plain Jane" It doesn't even have a picnic table! We did not unhook the truck again. It's another one night "stop n' go"!

It does have FHU (Full Hook Ups) that is great for pooping!

Winter Excursion 9, Day 265

We had an easy if not long drive today. We left Ft Lewis, WA around 0900 and arrived at Wolf Lodge Campground, ID just east of Coeur d'Alene at 1530. On the way we stopped at a rest stop in WA along I-90 to eat lunch and got this pic. Notice the mountains in the background.

Here's Site #9 at Wolf Lodge Campground, ID just east of Coeur d'Alene, ID. It's a Good Sam CG and just right for 1 night. The site is totally level, we didn't even unhook! Makes for a fast get-away in the morning. Sites are a little tight for our liking, but will do for a night!

We did 345 miles today. Tomorrow will be a little easier, only 272...YAHOO! Notice it rhymes..LOL!
 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 264

The day started out a little rough! I was typing up yesterday's blog entry when I noticed the Camp Host pull our site tag. I went out and asked why. His answer was "you are leaving today"! I was stunned at first, but said we were not leaving until tomorrow. He said we would have to talk to the clerks at 0900 when the office opens. I was first in line. Seems they made a mistake and checked us out a day early! There was already a new camper coming into our site, so we had to move. Here's site #301. Probably one of the most unlevel sites we've ever had.

The rest of the day went a little smoother. We loaded up on supplies for our trek home and then relaxed at our new site.

Tomorrow we will be heading east.
 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 263

We are still at Ft Lewis, but in a new site at the campground. We moved from 207 to our usual 103.

We spent the day doing laundry, washing the truck, and relaxing. We did make a run to Camping World this morning for a few supplies.

The camp Host stopped by around dinner time. He noticed the Army Aviator decal on our truck. Turns out he was an OH-58 Maintenance Test Pilot! Small world! 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 262

We were up at 0530 as we are allowed to leave the ship at 0630 because we are handling our own luggage. We were near the front of the line for disembarking, but there was a delay due to a customs issue. We stood in the line with everyone else until 0800! I felt sorry for folks trying to catch an early flight. I'm sure many people missed their flight. We took a shuttle to where the Seattle Cruise Park parking lot is, picked up the truck, and was back in our camper at Ft Lewis by 1000. All is well with the truck and the camper.

It was good to be back to our "tiny house" as Cath calls it. We just hung out here all day, We will be here for three days and then start our trek back home.

 

Winter Excursion 9, Day 261

We slept in this morning and woke up on the way to Victoria, BC. It was a late night and we lost an hour, we are back on PDT now. We were at sea all day and arrived at Victoria around 2000. Many of the passengers disembarked, but had to be back on the ship 2245 as the ship is leaving for Seattle then.

We spent the day onboard people and whale watching. Cath & finally saw a bunch of whales. We did take in a show around 1600. The Beatles show was very good, you would swear the Beatles were on the stage.

After an early dinner dinner we packed up our luggage and then watched a movie.

Winter Excursion 9, Day 260

We woke up this morning in Ketchikan, AK after the cruise from Glacier Bay.

We all went on a Wildlife tour. It was just the 10 of us and a great driver/guide. Here's a few of the group.

First stop was to check out the Bald Eagles. These birds were not the least bit afraid of us. I was probably 15 feet away from this one.

Here's a pic of a juvenile. He will get his adult feathers around 4 to 5 years old.

Next stop was at a small waterfall. Some of our group hiked up to near the top.

The best stop was to check out the bears.

We were hoping they would do a little salmon fishing. There was fish in the stream, but I guess they were full!

This is a Steller's Jay. They are all over the place. Looks like a bluebird with a black head.

The tour was only 3 hours and ended at an old abandoned saw mill. It now has totem poles. We got a short brief on what some of the totem poles are for and some of the meanings.

Back at the ship we left for Victoria, BC, our last stop on the cruise. 

We had a nice dinner with everyone then hit the casinos and bars for the evening.

Last pic I got just before bedtime around 2300. I took this off of our balcony.