CHRISTMAS IN JULY!!

Sunday, July 23: We said farewell to Baraga, MI and the Ojibwa Casino so we could continue our Michigan casino tour to the Ojibwa Casino east of Marquette. Upon arrival, we found out that this casino would be undergoing a huge renovation and adding a hotel, entertainment center and new RV Park. Unfortunately for us, they expected to close the RV park on July 24 when construction equipment started arriving. We parked in one of the 7 RV sites with electric hookups, checked in with the service desk and each of us received $25 in free play and 2 free drinks.  Each day we stayed, we'd get $5 a piece and 2 free drinks.



The casino was about 10 miles east of Marquette on Hwy. 28.
















Our site was the one on the right (not our coach).










We could dry camp in the parking lot after the July 24,  and it was tempting to stay there and receive free play  everyday. However, mid-day on Monday we decided to move on, but not before we turned their free play into over $40 between the two of us..

Monday, July 24: Our next stop was 28 miles east to The Kewadin Christmas Casino in Christmas, MI, where it really is Christmas all year long! The Kewadin Casinos are a set of casinos in Michigan owned by the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians.  The primary property is located in Sault Ste. Marie, with additional locations in Christmas, Hessel,  Manistique and St. Ignace.

This is our first visit to the Christmas location  This is the smallest casino we've been to, with just over 200 slot machines, a few table games, grill with bar, and 8 free RV sites with 30 amp electric   hookups. It appears to be the least attented casino we've been to and therefore not as smoky.  There are 8 RV sites that are very close together, and some were already occupied when we arrived, but we managed to back into one  with our rear wheels on the dirt area behind us so we wouldn't block parking lot lanes. We only extended the two driver's side slides because of the limited space.



In the picture, the casino is to the left, we're in the 3rd space from the left where the fifth wheel is with extra room on the driver's side. Hwy. 28 is directly behind the camera.








We were already Kewadin casino club members because of previous visits to St. Ignace and Sault Ste. Marie in past years, so no free play for us this time.  It was time to put some of our previous winnings to use!

Wednesday, July 26:  Wednesday is Senior Day and there were free pastries and coffee when the casino opened at 9:00 A.M. (Most casinos we've visited are open 24 hours or close to it. Christmas closed at 1 A.M).   After eating lunch at the Foggy's Steakhouse just across the road from the casino, we did some sight seeing and shopping in Munising, about 4 miles to the east, another town that sits on the scenic shore of Lake Superior. This would a beautiful place to live if it wasn't for the very cold temperatures and heavy snow that is part of winter here.

So far, our slot play has left Hank a little bit ahead and Selene a little bit behind. The date of our departure from here will probably depend on when our black and grey tanks need to be dumped or we need to fill the fresh water tank (no facilities here to do that).  Once again there's no OTA (over the air) TV reception, but Verizon is working well for our internet usage. (Glad we switched to an unlimited plan a few months ago). There is no Sprint coverage here. The weather is cool and sunny most of the time, and it's interesting watching the traffic on Hwy. 28, the RVs coming and going, and the people going in and out of the casino, some smiling, and others not so much.

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!