Sightseeing around Gaylord

Today we went sightseeing around Gaylord. We stopped back by the Gaylord Visitor Center to take photos of the 1911 Gaylord 30 car.

From Gaylord, MI

After leaving the Visitor Center, Mike and Al decided they needed to find a bathroom and we remembered seeing a public restroom near there. We took photos of Mike and Al by the restroom and this was the beginning of Mike and Al’s “Outhouse Tour”.

From Mike and Al's Outhouse Tour

There is a “Walking Tour of Gaylord” and we had gotten a brochure at the Visitor Center. We took photos of Adm. Farragut’s cannon on the lawn of the City/County Building, the Buck House and the Kramer House.

From Gaylord, MI

The Otsego Wildlife Legacy Society launched a fundraiser called “The Owlpine Bear Trail”. Local businesses purchased and had local artists decorate these 4’ bears which are located around Gaylord. I had downloaded and printed the map of The Owlpine Bear Trail and we drove around taking photos of some of them.

From Gaylord, MI

On our drive around Gaylord locating the Owlpine Bears and local sights, we had driven by the Big Bear Delicatessen and decided to go back and have lunch there. We all had sandwiches and wished we could take the restaurant with us on our trip.

From Gaylord, MI

After lunch we stopped at Lowe’s, Radio Shack and Wal-Mart to do some shopping before returning to the campground.

After dinner we drove out to see the Elk herd the City of Gaylord maintains. I had called the Visitor Center yesterday and got directions to the herd. We could only see a few elk at the first place we went to, but I had gotten directions to the location where the city fed the elk and we drove over there. The elk were eating up next to the fence and we would see more out in the field.

From Gaylord, MI

After visiting the elk herd and before going back to the RVs, we decided to stop at Gobbler’s Restaurant to get some ice cream. Mike and Al each bought a box of oatmeal cookies to take home.

Moved from Beaver Creek RV Resort to Otsego Lake County Park

We woke up this morning to more rain. We left Beaver Creek RV Resort this morning with our friends, Al and Symphony, to move to the Otsego Lake County Park about a mile north of Beaver Creek. But before checking in at the County Park we drove over to the Gaylord Truck Wash to have both RVs washed.

Well, this was the first and last time we'll have our RV washed at a truck wash. Mike and Al covered up the open vents on the RVs to keep the water out. We didn't realize until after we parked our RV that water had come in the roof fan in the living area and in the one in the bathroom. The kitchen counter was covered in water and the throw rugs were soaked. After a walk around we saw that some of the decals on the motorhome had some damage. Even though the water pressure for the rinse was reduced, it was still strong enough to cause the leaks and decal damage.  Al and Symphony had water come in through the satellite antenna in their RV. After mopping up the water, we drove over to the County Park to check in.

The 2 spots that we had hoped to get were occupied, so we drove around in Al's car to check out the sites that would be open today. After deciding on the sites that we wanted we drove back to the office and registered. Some tent campers were still on the site that we wanted (check out is at 1 p.m.), so we parked the RVs at the boat ramp parking area and drove to Bob Evans to eat.

From Gaylord, MI

When we got back to Otsego Lake County Park campground Al and Mike changed the water filters in the RVs before filling the fresh water tanks. The inside of our water filter cartridge was brown from the water at Beaver Creek. The water at Beaver Creek RV Resort had a lot of iron in it and our water filters turned brown in 3-4 days. We’re hoping the water here isn’t like that. Al and Symphony moved their RV over to their camp site (stopping to fill their fresh water tank first). We're on site #22 next to Symphony and Al and we had to wait for the tent campers to vacate site 22 (they were going to move to another site and had to wait for it to be vacated). Once the tent campers started to move, we moved the RV over to fill our fresh water tank and then on to site 22 where we set up camp.

From Gaylord, MI

It's been raining most of the day and the temperature has been dropping. We took the Tinker and Chrissy for a walk around the campground this evening since it had quit raining. It's now 56 and it's supposed to be 50 in the morning.

Tomorrow we're going to do some sightseeing around Gaylord and go to the City park where they have an elk herd.

Lunch at Gobbler's Restaurant

This morning we drove down to Camping World at Houghton Lake which is about 50 miles south of Gaylord. We all went in Al and Symphony's car; Symphony and I sat in the back seat with her laptop and Microsoft Streets and Trips and gps. Al and Symphony are learning to use Streets and Trips with the gps and I was giving her some help in using them.

After doing some shopping at Camping World we returned to Gaylord. Just south of Gaylord we passed over the 45th parallel, we were halfway between the Equator and North Pole. There is a green highway sign in the median marking the spot. We stopped to take photos of the sign, but since it was in the median we didn’t cross the high to get photos of us standing by the sign. (When Mike and I were driving north on US-23 to Mackinaw City we saw a sign for the 45th parallel too late to stop the RV to get a photo).

From Gaylord, MI

It was well after lunchtime when we got back to Gaylord and we stopped at a local restaurant for lunch. The owner of Beaver Creek RV Resort had told us that if we would like a good turkey dinner to eat at Gobbler's Restaurant in town.

At Gobbler's Restaurant  Mike had the 1/2 lb turkey burger, Symphony had the turkey platter and Al and I had the hot turkey sandwich. Their desserts looked really good, but we didn't have any room after the good lunch we'd had. On the way out Mike saw their oatmeal raisin cookies and bought a baker's dozen for $5 for later.

When we got back to the campground, we stopped to take photos by Benjamin Beaver before going back to our RVs.

From Gaylord, MI

June 24

Symphony and I went into town today to do some shopping. We stopped at the Goodwill Thrift store where Symphony bought a really nice leather backpack and I donated some books that I had read.

We drove out to Kohl’s department store and I found a wooden tray on sale – they had all of their July 4th items marked down. I’d been looking for a tray for a long time – I wanted one to use to carry plates, utensils, condiments, etc to the picnic table whenever we eat outside.

We stopped at Big Lots and I bought a microfiber purse for $8 – I’d been looking for one and hadn’t found one the right size. After all of the fun shopping, we stopped at Wal-Mart Supercenter to get some groceries.

This morning Al checked the tires on his motorhome and realized that they were cracking. Mike and Al went into town to check on new tires for Al’s RV and found out that no one has RV tires in stock. The tires have to come in on a truck and the truck delivers in Gaylord on Wednesday afternoons. Since the truck had already made the deliveries, it will be next Wednesday before Al’s tires can be delivered.

Mike and Al drove over to Otsego County Park just down the road to check on our staying there for 3 days after we leave here. We’ll be there June 29 and leave on July 2.

Al and Symphony arrive

Our friends, Al and Symphony, will be arriving sometime this afternoon. We’re looking forward to seeing them. We’re excited that they will be joining us on our trip through western Canada and then through the western states.

I had more than 4 loads of laundry plus a couple of comforters to wash, so I went into Gaylord to a laundromat by Glen’s Market. It was more expensive than the laundry at Beaver Creek ($2 for a standard washer and about $1.50 to dry a load). But I was able to get it all done in a much shorter time than it would have taken at the campground.

I stopped in at Glen’s Market to do get a couple of things I need for dinner tonight. I had seen several Glen’s Markets on our trip north, but had never shopped at one. I don’t know if they are all like the one in Gaylord, but it was a really NICE grocery store. I signed up for their “yes” card so I can take advantage of their sales (another one in my collection grocery store cards).

After I got back to the RV and had lunch, I put dinner (sauerbraten roast with potatoes and carrots) in the Crockpot to cook on high. All I have to do when it’s time to eat is prepare a salad and heat dinner rolls.

Al and Symphony arrived this afternoon. We had hoped they would be in the campsite next to us, but they were assigned one behind us. After they set up camp we ate dinner outside at the picnic table. We even have enough roast left over for another meal. Symphony brought a lot of fresh vegetables with her, so we’ll just cook them to have with the roast tomorrow.

We spent the rest of the evening catching up on each other’s news.

Verizon aircard

I called Verizon today just to confirm that we will be charged if we use our aircard. The customer service rep that I spoke with took the time to check which cell phone tower my call was coming from. She was able to confirm that we were in the U.S. and that we were using domestic cell phone towers. She made a notation on our account so we would not be charged for using our Verizon aircard while we were in northern Michigan.

Obviously the first customer service rep I spoke with earlier couldn’t be bothered enough to confirm our location and just took the easy way out.

It’s so nice to be able to go on the internet whenever we want to. We’ve only had the aircard for a year and we have gotten totally spoiled and dependent on using it!

Father’s Day Breakfast

Beaver Creek RV Resort had a Father’s Day breakfast this morning at the clubhouse and we decided to check it out. We had a choice of biscuits and gravy or all-you-can-eat pancakes with bacon or sausage for $3 a person. The owners were doing the cooking and kept the buffet stocked with food. I can truthfully say that we didn't leave there hungry.

This afternoon Mike and I went up to the adult lounge to wifi. We really miss being able to use our Verizon aircard whenever we want to access the internet.

Mike spent part of the afternoon talking with Jim, our neighbor behind us. He knows quite a lot about solar panels and batteries and Mike has learned a lot from talking with him. Jim also has a Verizon aircard and has been using his here. He didn't get the warning about being charged for using it here that I did. I think another call to Verizon is in order.

Gaylord, MI

We took Tinker in to Judie’s Dog this morning to be clipped and bathed.

We stopped at the Gaylord Visitor Center and picked up some brochures and saw the 1911 Gaylord car (we forgot the camera, so no photo). The ladies at the Visitor Center recommended a new Mexican restaurant in town, El Ranchero, and we decided to stop there for lunch later.

We had the map of Gaylord we got when we checked in at the campground and located the post office. After dropping off our mail we stopped at the Tractor Supply and K-Mart to do a little shopping. We drove back downtown and drove around some until it was time for lunch.

We found El Ranchero restaurant and went in for lunch. The decor is bright and cheerful with Mexican scenes on the chair backs and booth dividers. Mike ordered a Burrito Supreme and I had a burrito plate with rice and beans and we both had Negro Modelo beer. We nibbled on the chips and salsa while we waited for our meal. The salsa is homemade and spicy (not too hot) – very good. Unfortunately, the salsa was the best part of the meal (the rice and beans were good). We both had beef burritos and the beef had no flavor.

After lunch we called Judie’s Dog to check on Tinker and he wasn’t quite finished, so we drove through some of the residential areas in Gaylord. We arrived at the groomer’s just as Tinker was finished and then found out that Judie doesn’t take credit cards – oops! Our fault – we didn’t check with her before we dropped him off. Judie was understanding and said we could pay her when we came back into town. We drove back to the RV and while Mike drove back to town to pay Judie, I sorted the laundry.

After Mike got back to the RV we loaded the laundry and a folding chair into the car and I drove around the pond and up the hill to the laundry. They have 4 washers ($1 a load) and 4 dryers ($.75 for 45 minutes) there. After loading the washers, I sat outside the laundry and read a book; there was a breeze and it was fairly comfortable even though it’s gotten quite warm here. I did have company while sitting there – a chipmunk. There are quite a few chipmunks here and they are fun to watch. After finishing the laundry it was time to fix dinner and settle in for the night.

Mackinaw City, MI to Gaylord, MI

This morning we left Mackinaw Mill Creek RV Park at 10:30 a.m. and headed south on I-75. It’s only 65 miles from Mackinaw City to our next stop in Gaylord. We stopped at a rest area about 13 miles south of Mackinaw City for about 30 minutes so we could make some phone calls. Mike called Beaver Creek RV Resort in Gaylord to see if we could arrive earlier than the 3 p.m. check-in since we’ll be there about noon, but they said no since we were going to be there about 3 hours before check-in time.

We arrived at Wal-Mart Supercenter at Gaylord at 12:15 p.m. I made sandwiches and we ate lunch. After lunch I went into Wal-Mart to buy groceries. We left Wal-Mart a little after 2 p.m. and drove over to the Shell station on the corner and got gas in the RV ($2.919 gal). Then from the Shell station we drove the 5 miles out to Beaver Creek.

We arrived at Beaver Creek about 3 p.m. and checked in. We are staying here with our AOR campground membership ($10.56 a night). The owners were very helpful in telling us about Gaylord and what sights we should see. They recommended Gobbler’s Restaurant for a really good turkey dinner. They said we really had to visit the elk herd that the city of Gaylord maintains.

We are in site #39 with full hookups (50 amp). We have an asphalt pad (fairly level) and a view of the pond.

From Gaylord, MI

From Gaylord, MI

We’re waiting for our friends, Symphony and Al, to get here, so we’ll be here for 13 days. We called a dog groomer in Gaylord and made an appointment for Tinker on Thursday to be clipped and bathed.

I tried using our Verizon aircard and got a warning that I could be charged as much as $20.48 a Mb if I continued – ouch! I called Verizon and told them about the warning I had gotten when I tried to use the aircard. I told them where we were located and I was told that since we were so close to the Canadian border they couldn't guarantee whether I would be charged or not.
Tomorrow I’ll go up to the adult lounge to use their wifi service and catch up on email.

Mackinaw Trolley Tour and Colonial Michilimackinac

This morning we drove into Mackinaw City to go on the Mackinaw Trolley Tour. After purchasing our tickets ($18 each) we boarded the trolley. Our trolley driver was Chris and after telling us about the history of the area and about the sights we were going to visit, we started on our tour.

From Mackinaw City

Our tour started with the downtown area, the train and car ferry docks, Fort Michilimackinac and then to the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse. The Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse was established in 1889 and the fog signal went into operation in 1890. The house and tower were completed in 1892. The lighthouse was closed in 1957 because the lights on the newly built Mackinac Bridge made the lighthouse unnecessary. Construction on the Mackinac Bridge began in 1954 and opened for traffic in 1957. The bridge is 5 miles long and the main towers are 552 feet above the water.

From Mackinaw City

We then drove across the Mackinac Bridge to St. Ignace to visit Father Marquette’s Mission and gravesite and the Ojibwa Museum. Father Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit priest, established a mission here in 1671 and lived in this area with the Huron Indians. In the Museum of Ojibwa Culture we saw displays of Ojibwa family life and art. The museum grounds are the oldest known historical site in Michigan.

From Mackinaw City

Our next stop on the tour was at Castle Rock. Castle Rock was the ancient lookout of the Ojbway Indians and rises almost 200 feet above lake level. Chris, our tour guide, asked who wanted to could climb the 170 steps up to Castle Rock. Mike and I and 3 young people entered through the gift shop and then outside to start our climb. We passed by statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. I have to admit 170 steps sounds like a lot, but about half way up it seemed more like double that. But once on top of Castle Rock the view was worth the climb. We could see Mackinac Island, Lake Huron and the Mackinac Bridge. After taking our photos we went down the 170 steps back to the gift shop where we received a sticker saying we had “Climbed Castle Rock”.

From Mackinaw City

Then it was back on to the trolley and the return trip to Mackinaw City. After the trolley tour we drove to the Pizza Palace for lunch. I ordered a 1/2 order of deep-fried pickles (large dill pickle spears dipped in batter and deep-fried) served with a ranch sauce – very unique and very good. I had the personal pizza and Mike had a 1/2 stacked turkey sandwich with a side salad – both very good. Then we went to Mackinaw Crossings outdoor mall to do some shopping. Then we drove over to Colonial Michilimackinac. On our way to the fort we saw Jerry and Sue (our neighbors at the campground) riding their bicycles and they invited us over tonight for a glass of wine.

At the Colonial Michilimackinac gift shop we purchased our tickets ($10.50 each). We watched a 13-minute film called Coming Together at Michilimackinac. After a short walk along the shore of Lake Michigan to the fort, we joined a guided tour of the reconstructed fort that was just beginning. Fort St. Philippe de Michilimackinac was constructed in 1715 by French soldiers and became the center for the fur trade of the Northwest. In 1761 the British took control of the fort after their conquest of French Canada. The fort was relocated to Mackinac Island in 1780 because the British feared an attack by American rebels.

From Mackinaw City

On our tour we saw the current archaeological dig and an archaeologist explained about the artifacts that they were finding. We also learned that the placement of the reconstructed buildings are in the exact location of the original buildings. Along our tour several interpreters explained about colonial life and the fur trade. After the tour we watched a demonstration of cannon firing and then headed back to the car. We stopped at the IGA for a few groceries and then stopped at fudge shop to buy some fudge before heading back to the RV.

After dinner we walked over to Jerry and Sue’s RV. During the “getting to know each other” conversation, Mike told them he had been a helicopter flight instructor at Ft. Rucker, Alabama. It turns out that Sue’s brother is Bob Meade and he had worked for the same company Mike had! What a small world!! We had a great time sitting around the campfire and visiting with Jerry and Sue tonight and their dog, Samantha.

Mackinac Island

Today is Mike’s 67th birthday and we celebrated it by going sightseeing. This morning we drove into Mackinaw City and parked at the Arnold Transit Ferry dock. We boarded the 9:30 ferry for Mackinac Island. We chose seats on the forward open deck of the catamaran.

From Mackinac Island

After about a 15 minute trip we reached the dock at Mackinac Island. The ticket booth for the Mackinac Island Carriage Tours was across the street from the docks and we purchased tickets ($23.50 each) for the 10:05 carriage tour.

We started out on a carriage pulled by 2 Percherons named Gunnar and Bob. Our route took us by some of the historic homes near the shopping area, The Grand Hotel (seen in the movie “Somewhere in Time”), the Little Stone Church and the carriage barns. We learned that there are about 400 carriage horses on the Island. The carriage horses are in teams of 2 or 3 and the teams are always kept together (even when they are in the stable or pasture) and are always harnessed in the same order. In the winter the horses are sent by ferry to the mainland where they spend the winter on farms. In the spring they return to the Island by ferry and are re-shod and examined before returning to work.

The first part of our tour ended at the Surry Hills Museum where there are gift shops, food vendors and historical carriages are on display. The Wings of Mackinac Butterfly Conservatory is also located there, but we didn’t visit it. After having some donuts and coffee, we boarded a carriage pulled by 3 Belgian horses to continue our tour. We rode past St. Anne’s Cemetery, the Post Cemetery, Skull Cave and over to Arch Rock where we got off the carriage to take photos.

From Mackinac Island

We continued on our carriage tour to Fort Mackinac where we left the carriage tour to visit the fort. We entered the fort along the Avenue of Flags where we were greeted by a U. S. Army re-enactor. We bought our tickets ($10.50 each) and entered the fort and visited the restored buildings. Fort Mackinac (originally named Fort Michilimackinac)was moved from the mainland (now Mackinaw City) to the Island in 1780 by the British. The Americans took control in 1796 and in July 1812 (War of 1812) the British captured the fort. After the War of 1812 the fort was returned to the U. S. and remained active until 1895. At 12:30 we attended the Drill and Rifle Firing on the Parade Field. The U. S. Army re-enactors had the spectators join them in practicing the drill maneuvers (no photos of us marching, sorry).

From Mackinac Island

After visiting the fort we walked down to the town and visited Marquette Park, Mission Bark Chapel, the McGulpin House and walked through the shopping area on Main (Huron) Street. We went back to the docks in time to board the 2 p.m. catamaran back to the mainland and Mackinaw City and back to the RV.

Au Gres, MI to Mackinaw City, MI

We left Au Gres City Riverfront Park and Campground at 9:40. Instead of taking I-75 north we had decided to drive north on US-23 along the Lake Huron coast because it is a scenic route.

From Michigan

From Michigan

We stopped for lunch at a roadside park on Grand Lake west of Presque Isle on US-23. I had used the Michigan road map I got at the Welcome Center to locate the roadside park.

From Michigan

We arrived here at Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping around 2:15 p.m. This is a huge campground on the Lake Huron coast! We are in site 72 with full hookups (30 amp). We had another short driving day today – it was 176 miles from Au Gres to here.

After setting up the RV, we drove in to Mackinaw City. We’re going to take a ferry over to Mackinac Island tomorrow and we wanted to locate the ferry docks. Mackinaw City isn’t very large and we found the post office, the IGA (the only grocery store), the car wash, the Mackinaw Trolley Company, an Italian restaurant (Nonna Lisa’s) and the ticket office for the Arnold Ferry Line.

After buying our tickets for the ferry for tomorrow, we decided to have dinner at Nonna Lisa’s Italian Ristorante. It is located at the back of a shopping center in a log building. We didn’t have the camera with us and wished we had brought it. This was unlike any Italian restaurant we had been in. It was in keeping with the log building and the interior decor was more like a lodge. There were hand carved tables and chairs made from natural hardwoods. There were Italian paintings and pictures on the walls.

We ordered Bruschetta for our appetizer. Mike had Nonna Lisa's Special Stromboli and I had Fettucine Alfredo with grilled chicken breast (the most chicken I’ve had in fettucine alfredo). Unfortunately we didn't try any of their desserts, we were so full after eating dinner there wasn't any room left for dessert.

Then it was back to the RV for the night. This weekend is Mackinac Island's annual Lilac Festival and we're looking forward to our trip to the Island tomorrow.

Charlotte, MI to Au Gres, MI

We left Wal-Mart this morning at 8:45.

We stopped for gas at the Flying J in Grand Ledge, MI  where we paid $2.829 a gallon. We had to change from I-69 to I-96 west to get to the Flying J which is west of Lansing, MI. We got back on I-69 for a few miles north of Lansing where we changed to US-127 N.

About 100 miles north of Lansing (south of Allendale) we changed to M-61 for about 40 miles to Standish, MI. We were looking for a place to pull over for lunch and saw a sign for the fairgrounds and a large parking lot just west of downtown Standish.

When we pulled in to the parking lot, we found out it was for the St. Mary’s Catholic Center (the fairgrounds must have been down the side street next to the center). We stopped just long enough to make a couple of sandwiches and eat them and walk Tinker.

In downtown Standish, MI  we saw this train depot. It was built in 1889 from stones donated by the area farmers. It is now the Standish Historical Depot Welcome Center.

From Michigan

In Standish we turned on to US-23 East and drove the 16 miles to Au Gres.

We arrived at the Au Gres City Riverfront Park and Campground at 1:30 p.m. We had a short driving day today - only 170 miles from Charlotte to Au Gres.

We are on site 86. It’s a pull-through and long enough that we don’t have to disconnect the Vue. We have full hookups (50 amp) for $27.50 a night.

The front of the pull-through sites slope downward and we had to put the front wheels up on block to get the RV level. Mike checked the other pull-through sites and 86 seems to have the least slope. Our view out front is of the Au Gres River. This is the first city park campground we have stayed in and we’re really pleased.

From Michigan

Here is a close-up of the headlight covers that Mike made to keep them from discoloring that I mentioned in an earlier post.

From Michigan

Scottsburg, IN to Charlotte, MI

We left Yogi Bear Jellystone at 9:40 a.m. and headed north on I-65.

Last year we spent a month at Camp Atterbury about 30 miles south of Indianapolis. So this morning we drove through familiar territory - Columbus, IN (where we did our shopping) and Edinburgh, IN (the town closest to Camp Atterbury).

We switched from I-65 to I-69 at Indianapolis. We stopped for lunch at a rest area near Janney, IN which is about 40 miles NE of Indianapolis.

From Michigan

We stopped at the Michigan Welcome Center to get a road map. I also picked up some brochures on the places we’re going to be visiting while in Michigan. A very helpful employee assisted me in finding the brochures and he also made suggestions of places to see.

We arrived at the Charlotte, MI Wal-Mart Supercenter at 4:50 p.m. Charlotte is about 20 miles SW of Lansing, MI. We drove 317 miles today since leaving Scottsburg, IN.

Mike called the Wal-Mart a couple of days ago to see if it was OK to spend the night here and they asked that we park in the far end of the parking lot near Applebee’s. Applebee’s – they’re running those commercials for 2 for $20 meals that look really good!

We decided that this was a good time to check out their 2 for $20 offer. So after doing a little shopping at Wal-Mart, we walked over to Applebee’s.

Mike had the 3-Cheese and Chicken Penne dinner and I had the Quesadilla Burger and we had the Crunchy Onion Rings for our appetizer. The Quesadilla Burger was pretty good (not as filling as having a bun) and the 3-Cheese and Chicken Penne dinner was huge (more pasta than chicken). All in all, we were pretty happy with our dinner.

Athens, AL to Scottsburg, IN

We left the Athens, AL Wal-Mart this morning at 8:30 continuing north on I-65.

We stopped for gas at the Franklin, KY Flying J where we paid $2.459 a gallon for gas (we have used up our 100 gallon quota for this month for the gas discount). We drove through Nashville, TN this morning a little before noon.

From June 2009

We stopped for lunch at a rest area on I-65 near Rowletts, KY. While we were here, Mike called AOR and paid $30 in advance for the reservation fees that AOR is now charging. The fee for each reservation is $3 and by paying in advance, we receive credit for 13 reservations for our $30 (instead of the 10 reservations we would get if we paid for each individually).

We drove through Louisville, KY this afternoon about 3:30.

From June 2009

We arrived here at Yogi Bear Jellystone at Raintree Lake at 4:20 p.m. Yogi Bear Jellystone is about 4 miles west of I-65 on State Road 56. It was 310 miles to here from Athens, AL.

Yogi Bear Jellystone is a Passport America member and we’re paying $25.68 for tonight’s stay. We are in site 79, a pull through, with full hookups (50 amp). It's a gravel site with some grass and fairly level. There is a large grassy area in front of us with trees on the far side. We can see a few tent campers through the trees. We'll be here just for tonight.

From June 2009

Robertsdale, AL to Athens, AL

We left Styx River Resort this morning a little after 10:00. We realized as we were leaving that we hadn’t taken any photos of our campsite here or the headlight covers Mike had made. We did get a photo of the sign for Styx River as we were leaving. Oh, well!!

We stopped for lunch at a rest area on I-65 near Castleberry, AL. We bought gas at the Flying J at Hope Hull, AL ($2.439 a gallon, $2.289 after our $7.84 discount).  We stopped for gas again at the Flying J just north of Birmingham, AL where we paid $2.399 a gallon ($2.332 after our $1.20 discount).

From June 2009

It was 350 miles from Styx River RV Resort to Wal-Mart Supercenter in Athens, AL. We arrived here a little before 6 p.m. I saw a Pizza Hut and Zaxby’s across the street and we decided to eat dinner at Pizza Hut. After doing some shopping at Wal-Mart we crossed US-31 to the Pizza Hut – it was carry-out only! We didn't want to try carrying a hot pizza back to the RV across the busy highway. So we decided to eat at Zaxby’s instead.

After dinner (Zaxby's House Zalad) we returned to the RV and settled in for the night.

Sunday, June 7

We spent the day getting ready for our departure tomorrow.

Mike changed the oil in the generator. He made some headlight covers from some sunscreen material he had bought at Lowe’s a few years ago. Since we had the headlights on the RV polished while we were in Kissimmee, Mike wanted to have something to cover them with when we are parked to keep them from discoloring. He used suction cups to attach them to the RV. We’ll have to get a photo of the covers tomorrow.

I did several loads of laundry this afternoon. The laundry here has 4 washers and 4 dryers, but 1 dryer is out of order. It’s a pretty nice laundry room except that the drains for the washers tend to run over and flow out on to the floor into a drain in the floor. Apparently the drain can’t handle all of the overflow. When I went back to get our clothes out of the dryer, the floor was covered with water and soap suds. I talked with 2 employees and 1 told me that that was the way it was. I told him I didn’t want to walk through the water and soap suds on the terrazzo floor to get to the dryers. I could see my feet sliding out from under me and falling. He had another employee clean up the suds and water and towel dry the floor. Talk about an accident waiting to happen!

We’re ready to get on the road and head north to Canada to our friends, Al and Symphony.

Lance and Ann’s 50th Wedding Anniversary Dinner

Tonight we attended the 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration of our longtime friends, Lance and Ann. In 1971 we had been next door neighbors at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia. Then we all were transferred to Schofield Barracks on Oahu, Hawaii for 3 years. After Hawaii we all were transferred back to Hunter Army Airfield. Eventually our lives took us in different directions, but we always kept in touch.

Their children (Donna, Randy and Kathy) did a great job of planning and organizing the dinner. We saw a slideshow of photos of Lance and Ann’s 50 years together. 

Ann had kept the original topper from their wedding cake and had it for the topper on their anniversary cake.

From Pensacola, FL

We had a great time tonight and wish we could stay here for a longer visit, but we have campground reservations in upper Michigan for Friday and we’re leaving here on Monday.

Friday, June 5

We drove into Pensacola this morning to pick up our mail at American Home Base, our mail forwarding service and our legal address. We met Rebecca, the office manager, who helped us to establish Florida residency and register our vehicles in Florida. We met a few of the staff and it was nice to put faces with the names of people we have talked with when we called to have our mail forwarded.

We stopped at WMSC to stock up on groceries & had planned on eating lunch at the Subway in Wal-Mart. But the Subway had closed several days prior (we were told they were to put in a restaurant), so no lunch. We did see a Hardee’s on the the way back to I-10 and stopped there for lunch – it has been quite a while since we had a Hardee’s burger, so we enjoyed our lunch.

We skipped dinner tonight – we were still full from lunch. We went over to our friends’ house (Lance and Ann) this evening. It is their 50th wedding anniversary this weekend – the reason we came to the Pensacola area. We hadn’t seen them in 3 years – we stopped by here for a visit in 2006 when we started full-timing.

From Pensacola, FL

Lance and Ann had a houseful of guests - their 3 children were there and some of the grandchildren (more grandkids came in later during the evening). No one had eaten dinner yet and we were invited to eat with them, but we said “thanks” we were still full from lunch. Their daughter, Kathy, had prepared Ann’s lasagna recipe & did it ever smell good! That was all it took for us to change our minds about having dinner!! Note to self – get Ann’s recipe!

From Pensacola, FL

We stayed later than we planned because more of the grandchildren were driving in & we hadn’t seen them in several years. It was great to see everyone again – it reminded us that we had let too much time go between visits.

Midway, FL to Robertsdale, AL

When we got up this morning at the Flying J all of the RV parking spots were filled. Sometime during the night a truck and a RV had parked next to us out of the designated RV parking area – we never heard them come in last night.
After having the breakfast buffet at the Flying J, we were on the road a little after 9 a.m. It was about 210 miles from Midway, FL to Styx River Resort. Styx River Resort is about 10 miles NE of Robertsdale, AL on I-10.

We arrived here at Styx River Resort about 12:30. We’re using our AOR membership to stay here. We are in site F10 with full hookups (50 amp). We paid the $2 a day extra charge for the 50 amp service.

Kissimmee, FL to Midway, FL

We left Mill Creek RV Resort about 11 a.m. We stopped for lunch at a rest area on I-75 about 6 miles south of Ocala.

We got in here at the Flying J at Midway at 4:45 p.m. We paid $2.379 a gallon for gas in the RV - that was after a $.15 discount a gallon. There was only 1 other RV parked here in the RV parking area when we arrived. We parked on the end of the RV parking lanes, so we had only 1 side where someone could park next to us. We watched a number of RVs came in to park and some decided to move over to the truck parking area. We also had several trucks drive around the RV parking area because they had missed the truck entrance to the Flying J.

June 2

We've made another change to our travel plans. Last week when we received our mail there was an invitation to the 50th wedding anniversary of our friends Lance and Ann in Pensacola, Florida. We haven't seen them since we started full-timing in 2006 when we made Pensacola our first stop. We've made reservations to stay at Styx River Resort near Robertsdale, Alabama for that weekend.

We spent the day getting ready for our departure tomorrow. I did some last minute shopping and then we started putting stuff away for our trip. Then tonight we went over to my brother's house for a last visit with him and his family.

June 1

We’ll be leaving Kissimmee on Wednesday and I thought I’d update our blog on some of the things we’ve done here in Kissimmee.

First we went to Tire Center in Orlando to have the front right tire checked for leakage. We had picked up a screw in it on the way south. Good news – the screw hadn’t penetrated far enough to cause any air leakage or damage to the tire. The balance weights on the front tires had come off on our trip south (we had the tires balanced in Dothan in April), so we had the front wheels balanced. We drove I-75 when we went north to Toledo and then south back to Kissimmee – most of I-75 was really rough.

We’ve been having problems with our A/C not running right. Mike called the manufacturer of our energy management system, Progressive Industries, and explained the problem. After talking with one of the owners, Robert Schneider, Mike found out that the chip on the circuit board was the problem. We have 2 compressors for the A/C & when the 2nd compressor came on the EMS would cut off the shore power. The Robert said they had upgraded the chip on the circuit board and he would send us a new upgraded circuit board & to send our old one to them. Mike installed the new circuit board & no more A/C problems! The only thing it cost us was the postage to send the old board back to Progressive. What great service from Progressive Industries (the warranty on the EMS had expired a year ago)!

Another thing we had done was to have the headlights on the RV polished. They had discolored with the sun as a lot of headlights do. Mike saw an ad in a flyer for a fellow who would come out and polish the headlights. The cost was $60 and we had a $5 coupon from the flyer, so it was $55. It took about 1 hour to polish the headlights and they look like new! Mike is going to figure a way to make a cover for them to use when we’re parked, so they won’t turn brown.

The really big news is we have invited some friends of ours who have a motorhome to come with us on our trip to Canada. Symphony and Al live in Collinsville, AL and we’ve stayed at their house a few times. Mike and Symphony’s families lived next door to each other in Lake Worth. Al and Symphony will meet up with us in northern Michigan later this month. They also have a Bichon, so Tinker will have a friend along too.