ST. IGNACE, MI: We're in the UP!

Monday: Before we left Whispering Pines RV Resort, we filled up with propane. After deciding to stay off the interstate as long as could, we left the campground about 10:30 A.M. and headed north north  via US 131, US 31 and then  I-75, passing through beautiful Petoskey on Little Traverse Bay and going over some extremely rough roads along the way.  The drive across the Mackinaw Bridge was slow as one lane was closed in each direction on about half of the 5 mile span,  

 

so we had ample opportunity for lake viewing - Lake Michigan on the left

 








 and Lake Huron on the right.

On the north end of the bridge, we paid the toll - $10 for Little House and $4 for the car.  From there, it was only a few miles along the shore of Lake Huron and through some of St. Ignace, before reaching the Tiki RV Park.

The Tiki RV Park is mostly wooded and within walking distance of Lake Huron.  We're in a full hookup pull thru site.  We get free Wifi which has worked well most of the time.  Cell phone signals are not reliable however, and dropped calls are frequent.

Monday afternoon, Hank spoke with the Toshiba support center regarding the return of his laptop for repairs.  Due to poor cell phone coverage, we had to drive about a mile to get better reception and even then the call was dropped.  After the one-hour call, we returned to the RV to get the address information needed for the return.  Toshiba will only ship back to a residential address due to their FedEX contract.  Luckily, our friends Charlotte and Dave live 20 miles away and agreed to receive the repaired laptop for us at their house.  Toshiba had given Hank a link to an online form to facilitate the return, but that link didn't work as promised.

Tuesday morning, it was necessary to make another 45 minute phone call to Toshiba to get the details for the return of the laptop.  Fine tuning on the arrangements was made - again with calls dropped and returned, and we finally sent the laptop on its way to California.  Luckily, the local True Value Hardware store handles UPS shipping, so we didn't have to drive up to Sault St. Marie in order to arrange for shipping (St. Ignace is a fairly small town). We drove to Brevort, MI where Charlotte and Dave have a lovely home  in the woods on the shore of Lake Michigan, and spent several hours visiting before going to a local restaurant for a late lunch/early dinner.  On the way back to St. Ignace, we stopped at Lakeshore Park Campground on the shore of Lake Michigan to check on the cell phone and Wifi reception there , and  decided to move there on Sunday, August 2.

Wednesday we didn't do anything special in the area.

Thursday, we went with Charlotte and Dave to the Kewadin Casino just a few miles north  of the Tiki RV Park.  The casino is smaller than most we've been in but has all the usual activities.  Thursday is Seniors Day and the soup, salad, and dessert buffet was only $4.25.  We got the usual 'free' money when signing up for the players card and spent a little time at the slot machines before returning to Little House to relax awhile. In the evening, we returned to the casino for some more slots action.

 The rear of the casino faces Lake Huron.

 After exploring some of the side roads around the shore, we took a stroll along part of the Huron Boardwalk along Lake Huron.


Today (Friday) , we met Charlotte and Dave for lunch at the Driftwood Motel and Restaurant.  After lunch, we did some grocery shopping at the local Family Fare Supermarket - the only grocery store in St. Ignace.  The rest of our day was spent relaxing in Little House. 

 The weather has been almost perfect although often windy during the day. We'll be at this campground until August 2 before moving a few miles west, and we expect to be in the UP for 2-3 weeks while we wait for the return of Hank's laptop.

DEPARTURE NOTES: Whispering Pines RV Resort, Mancelona, MI

Whispering Pines is located in a rural setting  one mile from town with rolling terrain and thousands of Christmas trees.  The sites are on grass, mostly back-in and more spacious than many campgrounds. There are no tall trees to block satellite reception.  The free WiFi sometimes works well and sometimes it doesn't.  We picked up several TV stations with the roof antenna. The campground advertises that are less bugs than most campgrounds and we found this to be true.  There is a heated pool, areas for pickle ball, volleyball and basketball, and other game items to rent.  Roads are gravel. Propane and firewood is available.

MANCELONA, MI: Another Week Goes By

Monday: It was time to move further north.  When Hank disconnected the water, there was an immediate flow of water as something inside the panel gave way.  We decided to move on to our next location before he tackled the repair.

Our trip was only 91 miles northeast through mostly rural areas to Whispering Pines RV Resort in Mancelona, MI.  We're only a mile from town, but it feels like we're further away with the rolling terrain and many evergreen trees all around.  After we got set up, Hank removed the panel in the water bay that covers  the water connection layout and found the problem was a disintegrated rubber compression ring.  A quick trip to the local hardware store produced the needed replacement, and after putting the bay components back in service, the leak was stopped although our water pressure seems low

 Tuesday: It was another beautiful, though very windy, day here n northern Michigan.  The WiFi signal reception on Hank's laptop, which he bought in April, has been getting worse as time goes on.  Today he spent over an hour on the phone with Toshiba regarding this matter.  We'll write more about their solution when we decide exactly how to proceed.

Wednesday: We took a 40 mile road trip to Traverse City, located on the southern edge of Traverse bay which goes into Lake Michigan.  It was a beautiful day for a drive.  We got a new MIFI at Verizon, a network card from Best Buy, and ate lunch at Chili's (they have a great lunch deal on endless soup, salad and chips & salsa).  We then drove north on M 37 through acres of cherry orchards, vineyards, and hops fields.  This area is on a  peninsula that ends at the Mission Point Lighthouse Park.  The light is no longer in use, but there's the usual gift shop, and you can go up to the light room for $4 per person.  There's also a refurbished log cabin, originally built in the 1800's, that's set up in the original fashion. (click on picture to enlarge).

This lighthouse is not as impressive as many others, but it served its purpose in warning of the shallows in the bay.

The different levels of the lake make for different colors in the water.  We took some back roads on the return trip, including a stop for a quart of freshly picked tart red cherries.


Thursday was spent in the campground.  Hank had several computer projects to take care of so it was nice to once again enjoy our country surroundings as we did everyday chores.


Friday:  We took a trip to Gaylord, MI about 18 miles to the northeast.  Hank wants to get a more exact 'fix' for the water connection issue that we had on Monday. A phone call to American Coach produced a diagram of the water bay setup, but that isn't exactly like ours.  After visits to Lowe's, a plumbing company and a RV dealership, he still couldn't find what he needs.  He may order the parts from American Coach if he doesn't come up with something else soon.  We made our first Walmart visit in quite a while, and also shopped at Meijer's before coming back home.  Our fine weather continued although it was more humid with a high temperature in the mid-80's.

Saturday:  There was a brief rain shower around 9:30 A.M. then blue skies returned.  The day was spent inside Little House doing computer 'stuff'.  After our evening walk to the dumpster, we visited with our next door neighbors Vince and Diana, full-timers for 2 years.  We had seen their post on RVillage.com so it was nice to meet them and get acquainted.  Cooling temperatures finally drove us inside about 10 P.M.

Today ( Sunday):  Today is another relaxing day. Summer weather has finally reached this area with temperatures near 90, but we still have the constant breeze so it's not bad sitting in the shade.  Our stay at  Whispering Pines as been a good one.  We'll be heading to the upper peninsula of Michigan tomorrow.
       

MANISTEE, MI: The Week's Wrap-Up

Our last post was titled "We're Definitely in the North!" but I forgot to write the reasons for saying that.  First of all, you don't see signs for snowmobile trails or snowmobile regulations down south.  Second, the reputation of Michigan for having lots of large and hungry mosquitoes is alive and well as dawn and dusk outings will prove.

However, so far the beautiful weather overall has made our Michigan visit one to remember, as well as the many sights we've seen. There's only been two rain events this week- one very heavy one the on Monday night and a few storms in the area yesterday morning.

 Tuesday dawned very cool with 30 MPH winds.  Here is our first look at a very rough Lake Michigan.












The two guys below were enjoying the waves with a paddle board, although one was using it like a surfboard.  We got tired just watching them battle the relentless surf.

We also managed to stroll through part of historic downtown Manistee and a section of the Manistee Riverwalk.

We've made several visits to the casino during our stay and only left about $25 there after considering our free play dollars we earned as well as some free food we received. That's not a bad price for the enjoyment we received from each outing.  There were also several drives around the area to take in the mostly wooded and rural scenery.

Tomorrow we'll get the wheels on Little House moving once again as we head northeast to our next stop - Macelona, MI. 

MANISTEE, MI: We're Definitely in the North!

This morning's weather forecast was for heavy thunderstorms.  We both woke up early and by the time the storms arrived, we had almost all of the inside and outside work done and the slides pulled in.  We pulled out of  the Creek Valley RV park at 11:05 A.M as the rain was ending. and  drove 189 miles northwest of Battle Creek to Manistee, MI where we're staying at the Little River Casino RV Park.  The RV Park is on one side of the casino property and has 95 spaces, all with level concrete pads, cable tv and free WiFi.  A lot of the sites are full hookup and we have one of those with 50 amp service. 

We'll be here for a week and we plan to explore some of the surrounding area including points along Lake Michigan with a couple of casino visits thrown in to keep it interesting. While we're not big gamblers, we enjoy visiting casinos and playing the low-end slot machines.  Sometimes we can stretch our pennies and nickels to cover several hours of entertainment!

BATTLE CREEK, MI: As Time Goes By

When you stay in one location for an extended time, the days and weeks seem to go by quickly

The 4th of July weekend was the end of a large balloon, air show and aviation festival held about 4 miles south of us.  The usual fireworks displays were held on several nights.  Since sunset is very late here, the commercial displays start around 10 or 10:30 P.M.  However, the mobile home park/campground was filled with lots of noise and smoke all weekend from firecrackers of all sizes.  It's hard to understand why some people think 1 A.M. is a good time for the big boomers!

We enjoyed an outing on the local roads on the 4th to Kalamazoo and the surrounding area.  Another excursion took us into some of the rural areas to the east of us.  With all of the rain that has fallen, the fields are radiant with green colors, and there's the gold of the hay fields to provide contrast.  Summer doesn't last long here so the residents are enjoying the nice temperatures while they can.  It's been in the 80's a couple of days, but we're enjoying the relatively cool summer this area is having.

Today we turned in our rental car and picked up the HHR.  The Team One dealership and body shop did a great job in getting the left front end back to what it should be.  Overall, the people at Team One were great to work with starting with the moment we rolled onto their property in the wrecker. The insurance company paid for the towing bill, the car rental, and the accident repairs , except for our deductible and a little TLC work on the hood, which came to a little over $600.

We're staying here for a few more days and we'll give the HHR a workout to make sure all is back to normal.  Our next stop will be further north in western Michigan early next week.

BATTLE CREEK, MI: Back to Creek Valley Campground

Our initial 44-point inspection at the Spartan Customer Service Center showed several areas that needed to be addressed, and we were able to get a lot of repairs and maintenance work done on Little House during our 8 day stay in Charlotte.  The list, as provided by Spartan, included:

replacing turbocharger speed sensor (Cummins service call on site)
Installing new sight glass and top off coolant
replacing the  gasket on hydraulic  reservoir
replacing 4 rubber grommets on rear leveling valves
repairing hole in fan shroud with fiberglass repair kit
rebuilding the idler arm on steering
rebuilding the bell crank ball joints boots and updaing pinch bolt with fiber disc
replacing 2 tie rods replaced
replacing 2 fuel filters
replacing the air dryer filter
replacing a hydraulic filter
adding oil and coolant
replacing the air filter

Every morning we were up early to be ready if our turn came up for service.  The staff and technicians were great to work with, and we're very happy with the service they provided.  We left Charlotte early Wednesday afternoon to return to Battle Creek and the Creek Valley Campground to finish out our month long reservation. The HHR is still in Charlotte to be repaired from the accident, and it should be ready in about two weeks.

We'll get caught up on laundry and some other chores.  Once again, it's nice to get back to our 'normal' life of relaxation,  and it's very nice not hearing the alarm go off at 6 A.M.!