Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday, July 27-29

Sorry to keep you in the dark!

We got to Ishpeming on Monday...  Got all set up, connected with the kids...

Tuesday, we took the truck in to Midas because the brakes were feeling a little "soft" as we were traveling.  And they evaluated everything and the work they proposed needing to be done sounded reasonable, so we had them do the work.  That all seemed to work out pretty good.

Then we drove to Walmart afterward.  And it all went down hill from there.  They forgot to tighten the lugnuts on the right rear wheel.  We heard this noise, but didn't know what it was.  Tom ended up looking at the wheel and discovered the problem.  Some (2?) of the lugnuts were totally gone, the others were barely hanging on, and it was clear that the wheel was ready to just fall off the truck!

Midas came to us, got the wheel back on, we took our groceries home and then went back to Midas so they could put the truck up on the lift and really assess the damage to the wheel.  In the meantime, I called a tire guy that Bill (son Bill) knew from work - and told him what was going on and asked his opinion on what he thought would be "safe" from a wheel standpoint.  And he was adamant - no matter what anyone else told us - if there was damage to the holes where the studs go through the wheel - it would not be safe to drive.  Period.

So...  the truck goes back up on the lift, the Midas guys take a look, they call us in to the garage to look at what they're talking about...  They show us the damage and that in their opinion, the wheel, while damaged, was safe to drive.  Tom told them that we had talked to a wheel guy who told us that in no uncertain terms, it was NOT safe to drive.  Period.

They were really good about it.  No arguments at all.  They're buying us four new wheels, and giving us a discount on four brand new tires, are mounting them, balancing them, etc. all for free.  We end up paying for the 4 new tires - at below cost.  They'll do all this work next Monday.  We're not driving that far to go camping with the kids on Wednesday and will be back in town Sunday night so we'll take the truck in to get the new wheels/tires Monday morning.

Tom, while happy with what Midas is doing to "make it right", is very unhappy that he's losing his "cool wheels" that he really loved.  So sad.

And now we're up to today.  We headed out of Ishpeming at 11 this morning (after running up the road this morning to catch some pickleball, of course!) toward our next stop - the Michigamme Shores Campground - a whopping 17 miles up the road!  We're right on Lake Michigamme, there's a beach, playground, paddle boats/canoes/kayaks, and tennis courts - one if which has pickleball lines painted on the court!  How awesome is that!  

It was too windy today to play - even this morning the winds were pretty tough to do anything eccept practice dinking at the net - so hopefully tomorrow we can play and teach the kids how to play, too.

Kids have been in and out of the lake, have walked around the park, have taken their showers, ate their s'mores, and now we've got the TV outside watching a movie.  Awesome way to camp!

Saturday, July 25 & Sunday, July 26

We were a bit out of range yesterday - needed to wait until we got back to civilization in order to access the internet.  As we were driving it really struck me on how isolated everything is!  All we see are trees!!!

We left St. Ignace late morning and headed up to the Tahquamenon Fall State Park.  There were no camping spots available at the mouth of the river, so we drove around to the other side of the park where we were able to get an electric only spot.  (We typically don't do a lot of "wilderness" camping but figured we could "rough it" for one night!)

After a quick lunch, we headed to the Lower Falls, which were right there at our campground.  Not a bad hike and really pretty falls.  There are 5 sets of waterfalls with the Lower Falls.

From there, we got the truck and headed north to Whitefish Point.  If Paradise, Michigan wasn't far enough north -- we needed to go yet another 10 miles north to see the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.  Lots of information about a variety of shipwrecks off Whitefish Point, the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald being the one that the Gordon Lightfoot song is about and the most recent in UP Maritime History.  I was about 12 when that storm hit in November, 1975, and remember it well!

The very last museum building we went in had a guy doing a presentation about the early Coast Guard - the US Life Saving Service.  Very informative.  But what was really interesting for us is...  WE KNEW HIM!!!  We worked with him back in our mental health careers - had no idea he had moved to this neck of the woods!  Fun to catch up with him!

Also strolled up to the shoreline of Whitefish Point and got a great view of Lake Superior.

And, on our way back from the Musuem, just had to stop and take this picture!

Anyway...  after the Shipwreck Museum, we drove to the Upper Falls and hiked in to see those as well.  Much more impressive falls at the Upper - they're bigger and more dramatic!

This morning, since we didn't have to be out of the campground until 1:00 AND since we were only driving another couple hours today, we hiked back in to the Lower Falls again before having lunch and hitting the road to Munising.  Where we are now parked right on Lake Superior (who is being warm today and not freezing us out!).

Found tennis courts in town, after dropping off the camper, we went back to town to play some pickleball and pick up a few groceries...  Tonight - we actually rented a movie since there is NO TV where we are!  Talk about withdrawals!  Big Brother is on tonight and we might miss it!  Since we do have good intenet, I have to see if I can stream a live CBS channel so we can at least watch Big Brother.

Friday, July 24

Made our way to the UP today.  Found a campground just across the bridge right on Lake Michigan.

Went in to St. Ignace for a bit this afternoon.  Checked out the tourist strip and found some tennis courts so we could toss the pickleball aeound a little.  Awful court condition and very windy.  Only played one game.  Maybe the wind will die down in the morning.

Beautiful area - feels good to be "home" in the UP!

Here's the view from our campground.

There is a bridge out there...  If tou look hard enough between the trees...

Thursday, July 23

Didn't get up and rush to hit the road this morning.  Took our time, went and played some pickleball, finally got on the road about 10:30 a.m.

The drive theough Canada, with a stop for lunch (did not realize there were NO roadside stops in Canada!  Finally found ONE when we were over two hours into the drive!), and the LONGEST LINE EVER at the border, took about 5 hours.  We were set up at the campground by 5:00.

This was the trailer's first international trip.  He was very excited!  Going to need to find a little maple leaf sticker to put on our map!

Wednesday, July 22

Met my Aunt Sally at TGI Friday's at 11:00 this morning for lunch. Just iff the Thruway on the outskirts of Rochester.  Had a great visit with her!

Then we moved on to Niagara Falls.  Not a real big driving day for us.

Did take the time today to update our sticker map on the trailer.  Just 6 open spots (excluding Alaska and Hawaii which will remain empty!).

Once we got set up in Niagara, we went to the falls and boarded the Maid Of The Mist for a great boatride by the falls.  That was fun...  And WET!

We ended the day with some pickleball at the tennis courts in the park just down the road from the campground.

Tuesday, July 21

Hit the road about 8 am and headed to New York state.  Wound our way through the Green Mountains, skirted the south end of the Aiderondacks, picked up the NY Thruway (stopped along the way for lunch!), and landed in Weedsport, NY.

Backtracked to Liverpool and visited with cousin Carrie and Susan.  Went out to eat with them - had a GREAT visit!  Haven't seen either of them in YEARS!  Really fun to reconnect!

Monday, July 20

As promised, here we are enjoying our steak & lobster dinner last night!

Today, we said goodbye to Randy and Suzanne.  They headed back to Concord and we headed to the pickleball courts.  (Made of the strangest plasticky material!  Great for drainage...  But made for a weird bounce of the ball!)

We checked out at 11 and headed west...  To Lake Winnipesaukee!  Didn't find Bob, but it was a really pretty drive.  Stopped for lunch at a scenic overview.

Drove northward along the lake for awhile, and then headed West.

Ended up in White City Junction, Vermont.  Have never been to Vermont!  And it completes my travel map for thr northeast.  Other than Alaska and Hawaii, which we will NEVER take the trailer to, we are down to 6 states left...  Indiana, West Virginia, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa.  Woo hoo!

Sunday, July 19

We left Concord at 8 this morning.  By 10 we were at the Maine Welcome Center!  

Since we couldn't check in at our campground until 2, we parked the trailers at the welcome center, unhooked Randy's truck, and spent a couple hours touring the southern coast of Maine.  Lots of little coastal towns...  LOTS OF TOURISTS!  Crazy amount of people!

Went back to the Welcome Center and had lunch, then drove the final hour to our destination:  a Sun RV Resort in Old Orchard Beach, Wild Acres.  Huge campground with a ton of people!  They have 4!   swimming pools!!!  And pickleball courts!

After we got all set up, we hopped back in the car and did some more touring - including driving past George & Barbara Bush's summer home.

Stopped and picked up lobsters for dinner and we made steaks on the grill with corn on the cob, baked potatoes, and the lobsters.  Yum!  Suzanne took pictures - I should have them by tomorrow.

It was our "last supper" together.  Tom and I will start making our way to Michigan while Randy and Suzanne will return to Concord to complete their visits there before making their way back to Naples.

Saturday, July 18

The day started with rain.  We didn't do much for most of the morning, waiting for these rain systems to move through.  Then we decided to get moving...

Went up to the lake where On Golden Pond was filmed.  Tour boat was full, but we got to see the lake.

Stopped for some FABULOUS (heyyy!) homemade ice cream.

Then we headed for the Merrimac River and walked along the riverbank for a bit.

Followed by some pickling at Memorial Park - teaching Randy & Suzanne's son Carl, and grandson Dana, how to play pickleball.

After that, we went home to rest just a bit before heading to the country dance held in the capgeound's dance hall. Talk about a foot-stompin', cowboy-hat wearin' good time!  We were able to dance some, learned a basic swing dance, and hung out until about 9:30.

Friday, July 17

We left our camp site at 7:30 this morning.

Drove out of New York, across Connecticut, into Rhode Island (had lunch in RI), up through Massachusetts, and into New Hampshire.  We're now at the Circle 9 Ranch just outside of Concord.  They have country dancing every Saturday night that we're just going to have to check out tomorrow. And apparently Concord is the pickleball capitol of NH, so we'll go play that tomorrow, too.

Today was focused on Randy and Suzanne's family.  Their son Carl and his son, Dana; Randy's brother Ben, kids, and ex, Gail; and Carl's girlfriend, Sherri.  Fun group!  We had dinner at grandson Dana's favorite spot - Papa Gino's - and then ice cream from Friendly's down the street.  Then Randy took us on a driving tour - where they used to live, the store they used to have, Carl's house, other friends houses, main street of downtown, etc.  Very fun night.

And it's CHILLY out!!!

Thursday, July 16

It's a day of rest!

Slept in (it's COLD up here in the morning!), did my weights, had lunch, threw a load of laundry in the washer...  And then danced!  It is Thursday after all!

Here are more pictures from NYC.