Catchupdate
At Frances' mom's in Twain Harte with an OK connection and a little time, so;
Crossed the Macinac bridge and visited the Soo locks in Sault St. Marie then went west along the south shore of aptly named Lake Superior. Saw the Pt. iroquois lighthouse and then Tahquamenon Falls.(7351)
Camped on Perch Lake and had the usual gormet supper.(7371)
Canoed down the Big Two Hearted River about which Hemingway wrote a short storey. (7398)
There was a beautiful campground at the mouth. Wish we had known! (7411)
If we ever come this way again we will stay here for a week.
Visited Pictured Rocks National Seashore about which Longfellow wrote in Hiawatha (Shores of Gitchi Goomy) (7446)
We swam on a beautiful white sand beach with crystal clear water that was warm enough to stay in for an hour. (7481)
Crossed the Upper Peninsula on quiet, straight, smooth, paved, Forest Highway 13 and stayed in Bagley Rapids Campground. The river was full of crawfish (7586)
and one bathing beauty (7571)
.
Went to Appleton and discussed scheduling with Bob Huber of Boldt. Good connection for further research.
On to Milwaukee for the ACCE meeting. Called the hotel a few days early to ask if there would be any problem parking the Hornfox. Although they assured me that it would be no problem, we spent three hours maneuvering through city streets with no luck. (7588)
We ended up driving though rush hour traffic to the State Fair grounds for the night. (7592)
The second night we left the Fox at the state fair and stayed at the hotel. $140 a night and no where near as comfortable as the Fox! The hotel charged us for two nights and I had to talk to the general manager to get the bill corrected. Milwaukee was a nice city and the networking was good. (7601)
Headed west in a hurry to get to Chris’ wedding. We crossed the Mississippi (7611)
and lots of other full rivers. Everything was green and covered with corn. Late in the evening we found a cute little town park that welcomed overnight stops. (7618)
Stopped at two famous tourist traps on the way across South Dakota, The Corn Palace (7628)
and Wall Drug Store (7649).
Wall Drug is the better story. A sleepy small town drug store when in the thirties the druggist’s wife got the idea to put “Free ice Water” signs on the highway in Burma Shave style to lure Mt. Rushmore bound tourists. By the time the druggist got back from putting up the signs the store was full of customers and has been so ever since. The second year they had to hire five local girls to keep up with the demand. It has grown to a full city block of eating and shopping and has exhausted the supply of local girls. Now they hire about a hundred 19 to 23 year old girls from all over the world through an international agency. I met ones from Belgium, Columbia and France. Wall is a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. If I was twenty something and single, I’d surely make it a point to hang out in the local cantina after the drug story closes for the night.
Oh yeh, got a new tire as a nail punctured it too close to the sidewall. (7637)
Camped in an ugly RV park in Rapid City and then went to Mt. Rushmore on the day they set the all time heat record (100 F.) (7659)
We walked the trail through the tailings and saw all the sights. Next was the Crazy Horse Memorial. It is massive. Only the head is complete and all four of the Mt. Rushmore heads would fit within it. A couple of other interesting sites at the adjacent museum were some of the actual beads that were traded for Manhattan (7708)
and a beautiful gate created by the Crazy Horse sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski. (7711)
After stopping at Register Cliff, a famous camp site on the Platte River and Oregon Trail we stopped in a beautiful city park with free camping with hookups (7747)
Today we stopped at Sierra Trading Post in Cheyenne and saw the people who have been sending us shoes, cloths and camping gear for years. (7753)
Frances slept on the pretty drive over the continental divide (7759)
and we found another beautiful campsite just over the Utah border. We were almost alone with a herd of deer on a little mountain lake. (7772)
As we left the next morning we got into a scary hail storm that forced us off the road for a bit. (7793)
Good but too big lunch at a big casino on the Nevada border. (7798)
Instead of putting the usual 2 bucks each in the slot machines, we skipped the middle men and gave the cash directly to the lowest paid help, a bathroom attendant and kitchen worked; felt good.
Garnet Hill (7808, 7826)
- One of our favorite places from years ago was great. We found lots of garnets (7806)
, and saw great skies (7821).
Blackwood Creek, Lake Tahoe. After a long day and twisty mountain roads, we got to Lake Tahoe only to find that there was no room for us in the $25 per night campground. So, I went to a site (7867)
where I had camped 30 years ago and found a great free site still there. It even had a camping permitted sign posted. Not only was it free, it was secluded and absolutely beautiful. (7901)
The next night was at cousin’s Jim and Maridel Dixon’s home. They are RVers and had a flat paved spot with full hookups. We ate well, had a great visit and washed the Hornfox. (8005)
Crossed the Macinac bridge and visited the Soo locks in Sault St. Marie then went west along the south shore of aptly named Lake Superior. Saw the Pt. iroquois lighthouse and then Tahquamenon Falls.(7351)
Camped on Perch Lake and had the usual gormet supper.(7371)
Canoed down the Big Two Hearted River about which Hemingway wrote a short storey. (7398)
There was a beautiful campground at the mouth. Wish we had known! (7411)
If we ever come this way again we will stay here for a week.
Visited Pictured Rocks National Seashore about which Longfellow wrote in Hiawatha (Shores of Gitchi Goomy) (7446)
We swam on a beautiful white sand beach with crystal clear water that was warm enough to stay in for an hour. (7481)
Crossed the Upper Peninsula on quiet, straight, smooth, paved, Forest Highway 13 and stayed in Bagley Rapids Campground. The river was full of crawfish (7586)
and one bathing beauty (7571)
.
Went to Appleton and discussed scheduling with Bob Huber of Boldt. Good connection for further research.
On to Milwaukee for the ACCE meeting. Called the hotel a few days early to ask if there would be any problem parking the Hornfox. Although they assured me that it would be no problem, we spent three hours maneuvering through city streets with no luck. (7588)
We ended up driving though rush hour traffic to the State Fair grounds for the night. (7592)
The second night we left the Fox at the state fair and stayed at the hotel. $140 a night and no where near as comfortable as the Fox! The hotel charged us for two nights and I had to talk to the general manager to get the bill corrected. Milwaukee was a nice city and the networking was good. (7601)
Headed west in a hurry to get to Chris’ wedding. We crossed the Mississippi (7611)
and lots of other full rivers. Everything was green and covered with corn. Late in the evening we found a cute little town park that welcomed overnight stops. (7618)
Stopped at two famous tourist traps on the way across South Dakota, The Corn Palace (7628)
and Wall Drug Store (7649).
Wall Drug is the better story. A sleepy small town drug store when in the thirties the druggist’s wife got the idea to put “Free ice Water” signs on the highway in Burma Shave style to lure Mt. Rushmore bound tourists. By the time the druggist got back from putting up the signs the store was full of customers and has been so ever since. The second year they had to hire five local girls to keep up with the demand. It has grown to a full city block of eating and shopping and has exhausted the supply of local girls. Now they hire about a hundred 19 to 23 year old girls from all over the world through an international agency. I met ones from Belgium, Columbia and France. Wall is a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. If I was twenty something and single, I’d surely make it a point to hang out in the local cantina after the drug story closes for the night.
Oh yeh, got a new tire as a nail punctured it too close to the sidewall. (7637)
Camped in an ugly RV park in Rapid City and then went to Mt. Rushmore on the day they set the all time heat record (100 F.) (7659)
We walked the trail through the tailings and saw all the sights. Next was the Crazy Horse Memorial. It is massive. Only the head is complete and all four of the Mt. Rushmore heads would fit within it. A couple of other interesting sites at the adjacent museum were some of the actual beads that were traded for Manhattan (7708)
and a beautiful gate created by the Crazy Horse sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski. (7711)
After stopping at Register Cliff, a famous camp site on the Platte River and Oregon Trail we stopped in a beautiful city park with free camping with hookups (7747)
Today we stopped at Sierra Trading Post in Cheyenne and saw the people who have been sending us shoes, cloths and camping gear for years. (7753)
Frances slept on the pretty drive over the continental divide (7759)
and we found another beautiful campsite just over the Utah border. We were almost alone with a herd of deer on a little mountain lake. (7772)
As we left the next morning we got into a scary hail storm that forced us off the road for a bit. (7793)
Good but too big lunch at a big casino on the Nevada border. (7798)
Instead of putting the usual 2 bucks each in the slot machines, we skipped the middle men and gave the cash directly to the lowest paid help, a bathroom attendant and kitchen worked; felt good.
Garnet Hill (7808, 7826)
- One of our favorite places from years ago was great. We found lots of garnets (7806)
, and saw great skies (7821).
Blackwood Creek, Lake Tahoe. After a long day and twisty mountain roads, we got to Lake Tahoe only to find that there was no room for us in the $25 per night campground. So, I went to a site (7867)
where I had camped 30 years ago and found a great free site still there. It even had a camping permitted sign posted. Not only was it free, it was secluded and absolutely beautiful. (7901)
The next night was at cousin’s Jim and Maridel Dixon’s home. They are RVers and had a flat paved spot with full hookups. We ate well, had a great visit and washed the Hornfox. (8005)