Day 37 - Wednesday, July 31 - Moved to Bay Mills Casino

Today we moved about 25 miles from the Soo Locks campground to the campground area at the Bay Mills Casino near Brimley, MI. It is a basic campground that provides full hook up sites for $40/night. (When we were here in September 2021 the rate was $29/night, a 38% increase in 3 years.) It provides RV'ers a place to park while they gamble.

Sault Ste Marie is at the top right and Bay Mills is at the bottom left.

I think there are about 100 sites in the campground.

Parked at Bay Mills, the second time, after moving from site 110 to site 7.

Looking across the street at the casino complex.

Looking across the street at Waiska Bay.

I walked across the street to get a better photo of the bay. The far shore on the right is Canada.

The back side of the complex.

More hotel rooms?

We didn't leave Soo Locks until almost noon. The drive over here took about a half hour. Check in went well, we were assigned site 110, which is in the 2nd from from the top in the above photo. It is a nice size site. We got all set up and were starting to relax when Kathy said, "I think the air conditioners sound funny, like they  are struggling." I dug out my volt/ohm meter and checked the voltage, we had less than 105 volts in the coach. I checked the electrical pedestal and found that the voltage there was also less than 105 volts.

I walked over to the office and told the lady that the voltage was low. A maintenance guy was in the office. He said that low voltage is a continual problem in the entire section section of the campground at the top of the photo above. I asked if there were sections of the campground with better voltage and was told that we could move to the section at the bottom of the photo where the voltage was better. I went over and checked and found that voltage on one leg of the 50 amp receptacle was 106.5 volts while the other leg was 110.4 volts. It was warm enough today that many people were running their AC units. Tonight, at 11PM, in the coach I get 119.7v at one receptacle and 115.4v at another one. The outside temperature has dropped into the high 60's so I doubt that many AC unit are running.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Day 36 - Tuesday, July 30 - Chippewa County Historical Society

There are always a lot of lights on the Canadian side of the border but last night the sky just seemed brighter. It wasn't quite as bright as it appears in the photo, but it seemed abnormally bright. I took this photo about 1AM this morning.

 

Kathy went to Walgreens this morning and her prescriptions are all resolved, PTL.

I visited with neighbors some more, a retired Canadian couple from near Toronto. They spend a lot of time sitting outside reading books, actual paper fiction books, while Kathy and I are reading fiction books on our tablets. 

We went to lunch at Zorba's, a place where we have eaten every time we have been in Sault Ste Marie. The pizza didn't seem quite as good as usual, but it was till good.

On the way back to the car we noticed the Chippewa County Historical Society building. We decided to take a look. Some people built a model representing how Sault Ste Marie looked in the 50''s. It was detailed enough so that a blue LED came on indicating the guy in the welding shop was striking an arc.

I tried to upload a video of the trains running but was unsuccessful. 

I think this is the same model "oil burner" my folks had when I started kindergarten.

God is good. I pray that He bless you and yours. He has blessed me.

Day 35 - Monday, July 29 - Errands and Rain

Last nights low was a HUMID 68 degrees. In hind sight I would have slept better if we had shut the windows and turned on the AC. Today's high was 84 with a "feels like" temperature of 88. There was a nice breeze, sitting outside, in the shade, was quite comfortable. The inside of the coach heated up to the point of being uncomfortable so during one of the rains, when we had to close the windows, I turned on one of the AC units, and left it on. At 12:10AM Tuesday the outside temperature is only 72 degrees but the humidity is 94%. The overnight low is supposed to be 71. The AC is staying on all night.

We had a fairly heavy burst of rain around noon and then it sprinkled a couple times in the afternoon and evening. 

Mid-morning I ran errands. I went to a marine supply house and two auto parts stores trying to find a replacement bulb for our refrigerator, no success. While at the Autozone store I asked it they would "read" the code that was being displayed in the Flex, so that I could determine if it was serious. The Code said, "ECM/PCM Power Relay De-Energized Performance - Too Early", whatever that mean. The lady who did the checking seemed knowledgeable but she wasn't sure what it meant. We went back inside and she tried to find out more about the code but still didn't understand what it meant. I asked her if I could clear the code by removing the negative battery cable, she told me yes. As I was headed back out the door she told me that she would clear the code for me, using the code reader. I think part of the reason was to save me a little work but the other part was that she wondered if the code would come back as soon as I started the engine. It did not, and after driving 20 miles around town, and shutting the car off and later starting it at least four times, it still has not come back. PTL!

Kathy needs to get an expired prescription refilled and is having a problem getting her Doctor to get a new script to Walgreens. We went to the local Walgreens and then she called her Doctor. Hopefully we will be able to pick up the  prescription tomorrow.

We had lunch at a Chinese buffet, one where we had eaten during past trips. It was good. After lunch we drove up and down Portage Ave, the main East/West street, just to check things out. Looking up and down Portage Ave.

Then I took Kathy back to the coach and I went to the Lock Viewing Area, in hopes of being able to see some construction activity at the new lock that is under construction. I didn't see much. Virtually all of the current construction work is at, or below, grade.

It is always interesting to see the bridge to Canada.

I blew the photo up a little so that you could see the RV and the Semi that were crossing the bridge. They look like matchbox toy vehicles. I hope someday I'm around to see them lower the rail bridge for a train.

As we travel around we see a fair number of Trump signs. We virtually never see a sign showing support for Biden. I guess if the people won't put up signs showing support for him he thinks its okay to use taxpayer dollars to pat himself on the back.

There is a fair amount of information around talking about how grand the new lock is going to be, it's the same size as the Poe Lock which was enlarged over 50 years ago, 1,200' long by 110' wide by 32' deep. It is more difficult to find information on how the cost and schedule is doing. Congress approved the project in 2018 based on a 2017 "certified" Corps of Engineers cost estimate of $922 million. In January of 2022 the Corps revised its estimated cost upward to $1.3-1.5 billion. The current estimated cost is $3.2 billion. 

Does anyone in government have a brain or are they just so wrapped up in feathering their own nests that they could care less our nation. Anyone who work in construction must find it difficult to understand how the Corps could put together the band of incompetents who are in charge of this project. 

Great job Joe! Under your fine leadership the project cost has more than doubled, in slightly over a year. Perhaps this fall when we go back to south Texas for the winter we will see signs you have put up patting yourself on the back for the great job you are doing at the border.

It is good to know that God has a plan because obviously the bozos we elect to run our nation sure don't.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

PS. If you are interested in our previous trips to Sault Ste Marie page back to the latter part of July 2022, late September 2021, late August 2018, etc. Our first trip up there in an RV was in July 2011 but I've lost access to those blog posts.

Day 34 - Sunday, July 28 - We Are in the UP, Hooray & PTL

 We had a good night at the Grayling Rest Area. This morning I visited with a guy who also spent the night there in a motorhome. He was originally from the UP (Michigan's Upper Peninsula) but had been living in Texas for several years. His wife, also from the UP, was diagnosed with cancer. She told him she didn't want to die in Texas so they sought treatment at the Cleveland Clinic. She recently died and he was carrying her ashes to the UP. She was native American and wanted part of her ashes spread in the UP and the remainder spread in either the Badlands or the Grand Teton's. After that he planned to return to the UP to live. We both were amazed at how little traffic went through the Rest Area during the night. The overnight low was 49 degrees. We slept with all our windows open, it was great.

I have previously mentioned the problem with the front passenger side leveling jack not wanting to retract. It seems to be getting better. It retracted on its own when we left the Fairgrounds yesterday. We didn't put the jacks down nor the slides out while at the Rest Area. We also didn't dump the air from the suspension air bags. After a couple of hours we noticed that the front passenger side air bag had deflated so we dumped the air from the other three. It seemed to inflate OK this morning. When I went to start the car, to pump transmission fluid through the transmission prior to leaving, it wouldn't start. I had forgotten to unplug the system that applies the car brakes when the coach brakes are applied. I don't know if that ran down the battery, or if I screwed something up when I jumped the guys battery yesterday. I carry a set of cables that easily reach between the coach batteries and the car battery, so it was easy to "jump it" and get it started.

We knew we had another short day, 150 miles, so we didn't leave the Rest Area until around noon. Traffic was fairly heavy until we crossed Big Mac (or Mighty Mac). It is so cool crossing it. You can find some information on it at

https://mackinac.com/about-mackinac-island/mackinac-bridge/

Our first glimpse of Big Mac today.

For those not familiar with the bridge the two inside lanes are grating while the outside lanes are concrete.

The "speck" on the left is the 450' long container ship the Goderich. The speck on the right is the 800' long bulk carrier the Arthur M. Anderson, headed to Burns Harbor, IN full of iron ore.

It took about 20 minutes to get through the toll line at the end of the bridge. Our toll was $10 for the motorhome ($5/axle) plus $4 for the car.

About 20 miles into the UP traffic had seemed to evaporate.

Driving around the UP you pass many 50-75 acre fields of hay.

But not to many herds of buffalo/bison.

Upon arrival at Soo Locks Campground I dumped our tanks while Kathy checked us in. I also unhooked the Flex. I had to jump it again to start it. The electrical cable connecting the coach to the Flex is supposed to charge the Flex battery while the coach is running. I jumped it again to start it. It will be interesting to see if it starts in the morning, without jumping it again.

Parked at Soo Locks. The view is the St. Mary's River & Canada.

Through our windshield.

When we exited I75 for Sault Ste. Marie we stopped and filled up at a Meijer store. Fuel up here was $3.89/gallon. In Coldwater it was $3.99/gallon. How can it make sense for fuel to be 10 cents a gallon cheaper up here at the Canadian border?

Today's high was a mostly sunny 83 degrees. Sitting outside in the shade it felt cool. I took a nice nap in my lounge chair. At 10:20PM the temperature has dropped to a damp 72 degrees. The overnight low is supposed to be 68.

A freighter just passed us heading to the locks, the 800' long Herbert C. Jackson. She is headed to Marquette. I wish I had a good enough camera to show you how great it is to watch them go past.

The campground only has water and electric connections, no sewer. When here I take showers at the "clubhouse". Its time to head that way and call it a night.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Days 32 & 33 - Friday & Saturday, July 26 & 27 - On the Road Again

Friday - Kathy went grocery shopping in the morning and I did more searching for campgrounds with available site. I also washed the coach. I didn't do a great job but I got the worst of the dirt off. Later I picked up my Mom. We went to the Bull Pen Cafe in Fremont, IN for lunch (good food at reasonable prices), had lemon ice cream cones for desert and then went for a drive. Wow has the 44 acres I grew up on changed. It is 8 miles out of Coldwater and is now full of houses. The house I grew up on is barely recognizable. It was a two story house with a one story "back room". The only heat in the back room came through an open doorway into the kitchen. There were two decent size bedrooms upstairs, one for my brother and I and a second for my sister. The "back room" was removed and a large two story  addition was added. In the evening David, Colton & Mom came by so that David could give us some tomatoes and cucumbers from his garden.

Saturday -  Hallelujah!!! heading north. We planned on taking two easy days to get to the Soo Locks Campground in Sault Ste Marie. We didn't leave the Fairgrounds until 12:30. About an hour later we stopped for a very leisurely lunch at a Rest Area just south of Lansing, MI. We were there at least 2 hours. 

Part of the time was because of a "God incident". We were sitting at a picnic table up near the building and I noticed a guy standing in front of a well used Class C unit, with the hood up. He was down near the far end of the parking lot. I did my best to ignore him because I didn't want to be bothered. I saw him talking to a young couple who parked down near him and I was relieved, let them deal with  the situation. They  left and he was still there. Understand I am not nearly a nice enough guy to offer to help but God wouldn't let me ignore the guy. I finally told Kathy that I have to go see if I can help guy. I walked down and asked if I could help. (For some reason he was backed up into the parking space. I wonder if he had previously had battery issues and if he had spent the night at the Rest Area.) I unhooked the Flex from our coach and drove it around into the car parking are so that we could hook up his jumper cables. For some reason we could not get enough "juice" to his starter to turn over his engine. Finally, after being connected at least 15 minutes his coach started. During that time I got most of life story. He injured his back during a construction incident and can no longer work. He was homeless, living in a tent in some park in Lansing, MI until a person gave him the Class C. I didn't understand all that he told me about going to South Carolina to pick up the woman who was with him. After fishing for catfish at several different places in the area they plan to head back to South Carolina. They both thanked me for helping and they left before I got the Flex back over in the truck parking lot and hooked back up to the coach. I don't tell you this so that you think I'm a nice guy. I mention it because, even when I resist, it is still a cool experience to know that God used me (I have no idea why) to do His will in that couples lives.

There are a lot of wind turbines in the area, and more are going up.

About 2 hours later we stopped at the Clare, MI Michigan Welcome Center, mostly to stretch our legs. 

Wonder how much this "art" cost taxpayers?

And then it was on to the Grayling, MI Rest Area where we plan to spend the night. Traffic was light all day. There is much less road noise here than at our house in Centertown. Only a couple of semi's have come through while we have been here and maybe a dozen cars.

After supper Kathy made herself a cup of tea and I made a cup  of coffee and we went over and set in the shade.

Watching the sun go down through the trees was nice.

At 9:50PM the temperature is supposed to be 75 degrees with 57% humidity. Sitting here next to an open window it feels a little cool. By morning the temperature is supposed to be in the high 50's.

Time for a shower and bed. It has been a good day.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Days 29-31 - Tue, Wed, Thur, July 23-25 - Nursing Home Visits

 On Tuesday David and I visited two local memory care facilities. Both seemed OK but one was definitely more upscale. Per day costs, which varied between the units and the level of care needed, ranged from $145 to $415. The more modest place quoted the $415/day for someone with no long term care insurance. The lady told us that if the person qualifies for Michigan Medicaid the monthly cost is the amount of the person's Social Security minus $60. My guess is that all their patients are Medicaid. What little we have learned about Michigan's Medicaid program leads us  to believe that it is very easy to qualify for it. Your home, as long as the value is less than $500,000 doesn't count against you, nor does your car. Other than the home and car you can't have more than $2,000 in assets.

Below is a photo of the door that leads from the memory care unit into the main facility. The doors are locked but I guess the goal is to keep people from thinking about exit doors. The fire exit doors to the outside, at the other end of this corridor, are alarmed, but not locked. They are painted like normal doors (the Fire Marshall required it).

Ed and Cindy visited on Wed and had lunch at a restaurant that is in the old firehouse. Food was OK. 

I spent most of Wed morning searching for upper peninsula campgrounds with vacancies. We want stay at the Paradise Resort in DeTour Village again. We have stayed there a couple of times in the past. Their first open date for a site with 50 amp service is August 28. That should give you and idea of how busy things are.

Today I again spent the morning campground searching. David dropped Mom off for her Thursday morning hair appointment. Kathy picked her up and brought her to the coach. Mom had lunch with us. She and I  did maybe a half mile walk around the fairgrounds. David picked her up after lunch and took her to a routine checkup with her Doctor. Physically all is well. I took the car to a glass place and had a chip in the windshield fixed. I ran a few errands and then washed the car in the afternoon. 

We are planning on heading north on Saturday. We now have reservations made for the nights of July 28-August 6 and August 11-13.

The 4H kids have been working with their houses every night. Tonight was the first night there were some boys in the group. Its been fun to watch them.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Days 24-28 - Thursday thru Monday, July 18-22 - At The Branch County Fairgrounds

David and Kathy, my brother and his wife, made it home safely on Saturday, after their two week trip out west. They had a great time.

One of my brother's dogs spent several nights down at the pond while we were there. I thought it was cute when when she found a dirty paper plate somewhere, carried it over to near where we were sitting and proceeded to lick it clean.

Mom & Kathy by the pond.

Colton, one of David's grandsons, rode his mule down from David's house. a piece on the bridle broke and they are doing a temporary fix. Colton is 14 years old, he starts the 8th grade this fall. 

Our time was pretty much take up with more Mom sitting. The weather has been spectacular the last couple of days. We had a campfire Saturday and Sunday nights, and it felt good after sunset.

Today we packed up and moved to the Branch County Fairgrounds camping area, in preparation to our heading north later this week ($30/night for a 50 amp full hook up). We still don't know when we will head north. David and I will meet with people from two different local Memory Care facilities tomorrow. Hopefully that will firm up the date we leave. I'm wondering if we, or at least David since he has Mom's Power of Attorney, will need to meet with an Elder Law Attorney before we make any decisions on moving Mom out of her house and how we handle paying for the Elder Care.

I flushed our black tank when we arrived at the Fairgrounds but probably need to flush it at least one more time before we leave. I also need to wash both the car and the coach. I'm afraid to run the Flex through an automatic car wash because I thing the "brushes" will break off the electrical plug for the braking system.

On our way to the Fairgrounds we stopped at Tractor Supply and filled our propane tank, it was almost empty. We ran out of propane once and it took 27.9 gallons to fill it. Today it only took 24.5 gallons. We were at Mom's 2 1/2 weeks using propane to run the hot water heater, the refrigerator and for cooking. The last time we filled the tank was in Harlingen, TX on February 27, 146 days ago. Tractor Supply charged $3.29/gal. That is the least we have paid for propane. We paid the guy in Harlingen $4.20/gal, but he came to the campground and filled tanks so that you didn't have to drive somewhere.

We will miss watching the deer while at Mom's. Mid morning this doe walked up  along the lane grazing. I took the photos through the coach windshield.

Clear at the back there is a swingset with shooting targets on it. The doe is by it. I think I've mentioned the old dozer, on the right, before. It was my Uncle Richards. He ran it the doing some grading the before going home and having a fatal heart attack in 1997. My Dad pulled it up to this spot and it has set there since then. The clutches were about shot back then so its only value is a reminder of Uncle Richard.

She saw me get up in the windshield to take the photo.

She continued walking a ways up towards the coach before climbing the hill on the left and disappearing into a corn field.

There are an unbelievable number of deer around here. About 8 of 10 times when you drive to town you see at least one deer. Most of them are within 50 yards of the road. 

Parked at the Fairgrounds.

I walked up to the office to tell them we had arrived. The mini ferris wheel actually rotates.

The flowers along the road to the office are lined 4H flower projects.

I wonder how long it took this young lady to collect all these smooth little stones. To me it looks like a streambed running through her flowers.

We had not managed a meal at the Buena Vista Golf Course yet, so we did this evening. This is the left overs. We had an appetizer of onion rings, they are great. I had a half rack of dry rub ribs. Kathy has a chicken breast with bacon, mushrooms and cheese. Both meals came with two sides. We both had salads. Kathy chose fries while I chose a baked potato. I had eaten a late lunch and wasn't real hungry, which is why I only order the half rack. After the onion rings I could only eat half my meal, Kathy was the same, both will make great "left over" meals tomorrow. My half rack was only $14, a full rack was $22. 

Back at the Fairgrounds we enjoyed the "entertainment". Some type of girls 4H horse program was going on. All the photos were taken from the front of coach.

The next two are blown up a little.

Thank you Lord for another good day.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours, He has blessed me