BARAGA, MI: Casino Life is Fun

Monday, July 17, we traveled 136 miles from Harris, MI northwest to Baraga, MI.  Baraga is located in the northwestern part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula on L'Anse Bay, the lower part of Keweenaw Bay on the  Lake Superior shoreline. The view driving into town is beautiful.

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We've been at the Ojibwa Casino Resort, in Baraga, MI  owned and operated by the Keweenaw Bay Indian community, and it includes a small hotel, 8 lane bowling alley 2 restaurants, and  an RV parking area with 12 sites. These are full-hookup sites on one side of the parking lot.  Normally the price is $20 per night, but the water connections are inoperable, so we must use a long hose to fill up as needed, and the price is now $10 per night.  RV guests receive $5 free play and one free drink for each day they stay. We're also getting a good WI-FI connection from the hotel, and we have good Verizon coverage.  We each ended up with $20 in free play for our first day as well as the free drinks when we joined the players club, so all-in-all it's a pretty good deal. There is free soda and water while you gamble. One modern convenience we don't have is TV reception.....no OTA signals are available, (we don't have a satellite system) so its good that we both have other interests to keep us entertained.  We would stay here for at least another week if we could, but they're closing the RV Park tomorrow for a couple of weeks to work on the water lines.




This has been our most profitable casino visit. We've only used the free play to do our gambling each day, playing penny slot machines,usually 5 lines at  a time, so you can see we're not big gamblers. But our total winnings came to $140! Hank got two free cans of beer a day with our drink coupons, so our refrigerator is stocked for a party!  The weather during our stay had high temperatures around 80, but the nights were cool.  It's raining today, but  that shouldn't last much longer.

Also in the area is the State Park which is just south of us and right across the road from the beautiful bay, a couple of restaurants, a grocery store, 3 gas stations, a couple of motels, and the casino on the edge of town. On the other side of the bay is the  town of L'anse with a beautiful waterfront park.

Today, we're going to get Little House rolling,  and move to the Ojibwa Casino just east of Marquette, MI, about a two hour drive.  We're enjoying this beautiful part of Michigan as well as the extra coins in our pockets!

JULY 11-16: Island Resort Casino, Harris, MI

On Tuesday, July 11, our trip from Menominee, MI to Harris, MI was easy on uncrowded Hwy 41. Travel in the Upper Peninsula is generally easy as there just aren't as many  people per square mile up here. You know you're in north country when you see snowmobile trail signs, poles on top of fire hydrants and mailboxes to help with locating in deep snow, warning signs for elk, and large stacks of firewood by many homes.

The Island Resort Casino in Harris, MI is owned and operated by the Hannahville Indian community, a band of the Potawatomi Nation. The casino recently finished a huge renovation and has a large hotel along with a large gaming area and several restaurants on site. Harris, MI might have 2000 residents, but is certainly seems like a quiet community.  There is a nice 42-site campground on the casino property with water and electric hookups, paved pads, a bathhouse/laundry, and dump station. Normally you don't need reservations in the RV Park - just pick your site and register at the casino. After doing just that, we found out that due to a large off-road race nearby over the weekend, many of the sites were reserved. So we had to move to a different site from our first choice, but eventually Little House was settled in a back-in site next to the woods.

Getting  a player's card entitles you to a minimum of a 5% discount in the restaurants and gift shop.  Soft drinks and coffee are free through out the public areas. We haven't had any luck at the slots at this casino, but  enjoyed several hours of entertainment as we spent a few dollars.

Escanaba, MI is about 15 miles to the east. With a population of about 13,000, there are many shopping and dining opportunities available.  Last Thursday, we met Ernie and Madeline, ham radio/rv friends, at the Hereford and Hops Steakhouse & Brew Pub in Escanaba for dinner. The restaurant has a large selection of items on its menu and we enjoyed good company, great service and delicious food. Ernie and Madeline were camped nearby to help with the setup at the lfairgrounds in Escanaba of a very large Airstream Rally which starts late next week. 

Tomorrow, Little House will be carrying us further north as we continue our casino tour in northernmost Michigan

JULY 8-10: River Park Campground, Menominee, MI

Saturday, July 8, we left the grounds of the Ho Chunk Casino, and after a fuel stop, made our way through part of northeast Wisconsin toward the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, our summer destination.  Our travel took us through mostly rural areas, and included a detour before we could reach US 41 which took us through Marinette, Wisconsin and across the Menominee River into Menominee, MI., the 4th largest, and southernmost city, in the Upper Peninsula.

River Park Campground is on the shore of the river and also includes boat ramps and a fishing area. The campground is well-maintained, with plenty of shade, and it's fairly quiet despite being beside a busy highway and railroad track, and has several sitting areas beside the river.  We found out that we were lucky to get  a site since there was a large weekend festival going on in Marinette.  Saturday night, there was a huge fireworks display not far from our location which rattled the windows and shook Little House for about  30 minutes.

Other than doing some exploring and stocking up on groceries, we spent a fairly quiet 3 days just hanging out and watching the traffic on the river as we enjoyed the cooler temperatures.

JULY 6-7: Black River Falls, Wisconsin

We got an early start on Thursday, July 6 and had a scenic 4 hour drive to Black River Falls, WI and the parking lot oft the HO-Chunk Casino.  Our chosen route started with a beautiful drive north on US 35 along the shore of the Mississippi River, and continued through many small communities and past large farms in western Wisconsin. 

The Ho-Chunk Casino is owned by the The Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin formerly known as the Wisconsin Winnebago Tribe. The casino offers free overnight  RV parking and there are 3 electrical hookups with no more than 30 amp service.  No other RV's were there when we arrived so we hooked up to 30 amps, and by Friday evening there were 7 RV's lined up, several just boondocking.

The Black River Falls Ho-Chunk casino is located about 4 miles out of town in the Jackson County Woods area.  It's undergoing major renovations including an additional large hotel wing and expanded gaming area.  The machines inside are currently very close together, and there were not as many penny slots as we've seen in other larger casinos.  We signed up for their player's card, and we each received $10 in free play. We left with Hank winning a little over $3 and Selene won a hefty $7.00 during our one-time visit.  We could have gotten another $10 each in free play by sending a text message to a certain phone number, but agreed we didn't like the casino enough to do that.

Thursday evening, we met up with ham radio/RV friends Annie & Marshall for dinner, and then had a great visit in Little House.  Having the chance to spend time with friends is a great benefit of this lifestyle .  And, we finally found some nice, cool weather with a low of 45 on Saturday morning!

JULY 5: La Grange, MO to Prarie du Chien, WI

Our search for cooler weather this summer hadn't had much success, so we were more than ready to put some miles behind us as we headed further north. Today's drive from La Grange, MO to Prarie du Chien, WI took about 5 hours, again using non-interstate roads through mostly rural areas of Missouri.  It was still near 90 when we arrived at the 24 hour Walmart on the south side of Prarie du Chien, WI so the generator had a good workout while the A/C was cooling us down.  We received permission to stay overnight, and we parked on the garden center/tire lube side of the building. By 8 P.M. we had that whole parking lot to ourselves.  The nighttime temperatures cooled enough to just have windows open for cooling as we slept.  We thanked Walmart as usual by spending a few dollars in the store stocking up on needed items.

JULY 1-4, LA GRANGE MO: Casino and Holiday Celebration

Saturday, July 1, we traveled from Boonville, Mo to La Grange, MO and the Mark Twain Casino RV Park.   The RV Park is a short distance away and has 8 sites with full hookups at $25 per night, first come, first serve. So we drove by the RV Park to see which sites were empty and there were a couple that would work for us.  Next we went to the Mark Twain Casino and signed up for the player's card which gave each of us $10 in free play. We registered for the RV Park and were lucky enough to get site #1, the closest to the road with a view of the river.  Our luck continued since by using a few of our player points, we could get the site for 50 cents per night! There is a $20 deposit for the keys which unlock the electric box and water hookup, refundable upon returning the keys at checkout.

We made a couple of visits to the casino during our stay and Hank ended up winning $25 and Selene lost $2...not bad for the penny slots entertainment we enjoyed.

The weather during our stay was hot and humid.  Being in a river valley, our Verizon signal was very weak making our WiFi internet access basically unusable, so on the last two days, Hank  rigged up a pole in front of Little House to put the Verizon Jet Pack up high outdoors which gave us enough signal strength to provide usable WiFi a good deal of the time.

La Grange is in a rural area, population about 1000.  Every July 4, La Grange has a festival downtown with food vendors, free events for the kids, a parade, live music concert, and fireworks, just a few blocks from where we were parked.  Festival parking was in empty fields in front of us. We had a front row seat in our RV as the parade went past our side windows,and enjoyed the small town version that lasted about 30 minutes.  It included emergency vehicles, scout troops, several tractors, one decorated float (hay bales and people on a trailer pulled by a tractor), a large group of horses and riders, a few local business vehicles, and a candidate or two running for office, with lots of candy and other items being given to the people lining the sidewalks.

Our stay had its good moments, but there were issues with the electric hookup, and slow sewer drainage when we tried to dump the tanks before leaving. At least we can now say we've been to La Grange, MO, and we took some extra cash with us when we left town!

JUNE 28-JUNE 30: Booneville and Budweiser

Wednesday, June 28, we left the Downstream Casino RV Parking lot headed for our next stop - Boonville, MO.  Hank decided he didn't want to drive a route with interstates, so Google Maps plotted a route for us through the scenic flat lands, curves and hills of Missouri, mostly on two lane highways. The trip took about 5 hours with a stop for lunch and fuel. Our destination was the RV Express in Boonville - a small self-service campground on gravel with hookups (Sites 1-6 have sewer) for $25 per night.  There aren't many other RV Park options in Booneville.  Since the weather was forecast to be hot, we opted for the campground instead of staying overnight in the casino parking lot.  There is a permanent resident on site who watches over the place, and two other RV's that appear to be here long-term. Although small and simple in operation, RV Express provided everything we needed in a quiet environment.

 Boonville is named after Daniel Boone's sons, who established their salt business in the area in the early 1800's. Its location on the Missouri River played an important role in the American Civil War, and was fought over and held by both sides.  There are still many historic buildings being used and there's a decent sized downtown area. Near Boonville, at Franklin, was the original start of the Santa Fe Trail.

 The Isle of Capri Casino is owned by El Dorado Resorts and is a smaller casino located on the shore of the Missouri River.  We made one visit to the casino. By signing up for their player's cards, we each got a free meal at the buffet.  We didn't have any luck at the slot machines, but the dinner buffet was bountiful and very good.

We had another reason for visiting the Boonville area. In 2008, Anheuser-Busch opened the Warm Springs Ranch, east of Boonville, as the primary breeding farm for the Budweiser Clydesdales which had previously been located in California.  Tours are given twice a day, 6 days a week from late March to early November,  but reservations need to be made ahead of time. We were lucky enough to get 2 of the 3 remaining tickets for one of the morning tours on Friday, June 30.

After a stormy night, Friday turned into a beautiful summer day...perfect for visiting the rolling hills of the Warm Springs Ranch.  The guided tour included lots of information on the Clydesdales and how they're cared for and trained, as well as a closeup look at the large trailers used in transporting the horses and the beer wagon,, as well as  all of the harness, temporary shelters, and supplies needed on their many journeys.

Everyone had a chance to pet Radar who is on vacation from pulling one of the big hitches and to meet a mare and 25 day old foal up close.

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Upon entering the farm, you're greeted by this scene. The W was part of the lighted Budweiser sing on the brewery in St. Louis until the letters were replaced with LED lit letters. Now it's part of the welcome scene at the farm.











This is one of the trailers used for transporting Clydesdales, and has many features to keep the animals as comfortable as possible.

Foals average 125 pounds at birth. This not-so- little fellow was born on June 5th.

Lunch time.........

followed by a nap.

Radar was very patient as everyone took a turn petting him.

A group of mares and foals.



















The tour ended with all adults receiving up to two glasses of beer and a visit to the gift shop. It appears these animals are treated royally on the farm as well as on the road.