Thursday, July 14th - Another Day in Paradise

 It was another beautiful day here at Paradise Point. Last nights low was 48 and today's high was a sunny 74. We LOVE it. Jeans and a flannel shirt in the AM and shorts and a tee in the PM.

So far the only negative is the change in neighbors. Three of the RV's on the west side of us left this morning and three new ones pulled in this afternoon  Now we have yapping dogs next door. They don't yap all the time, just enough to really annoy me.

We had planned on taking the ferry to Drummond Island today. It was such a nice day that we decided to stay at the campground. Actually we did venture out for hamburgers and mushrooms at the De Tour Village Inn. When we were there last fall they served me the best hamburger I have ever had. Today's was big, and tasted OK, but was far from the one I ate there last year.

I did get one chore done today. I cleaned the tracks for all the coach windows and siliconed them. A couple of them are still sticky and noisy but hopefully they will get freed up with more use. I also wrote a Letter to the Editor about the 40 year high inflation levels we are experiencing; inflation levels caused by massive government deficit spending, so they could  hand out free stuff and entice people not to work, which led to shortages. 

Since Feb 2020 government policies have led to the labor force (people who have or want a job) shrinking by nearly 600,000 people and to nearly 800,000 fewer people being employed, even though the population has grown by 4 million. OK, I'm off the soap box, its safe to continue reading.

The campground owners were out cutting more reeds this afternoon. They may have only cut one or two boatloads today. They don't have an actual office. There is a maintenance building on one side of the property but I've seldom seen anyone spending time at it. I hope to track one of them down before we leave tomorrow, to inquire about weekly or monthly rates. I know Kathy and I would be content to spend a week here, and maybe even a month, next summer, if the rates were reasonable. They have full hookups and pretty good WiFi for a campground, and an awesome view, but not much else. If they have bathrooms, a shower house or a laundromat I've not found them.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to head off to the Soo Locks Campground in Sault Ste Marie.

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

Wednesday, July 13 - Made it to Paradise

 A gentle rain fell during part of last night (Tuesday night) and an intermittent light rain fell as I dumped our tanks and disconnected the utilities. The overnight low was in the mid 50's, great sleeping weather.

Michigan is such a beautiful state. It would be a great place to live if the state politics weren't run by the masses in Detroit, those who are lined up with their hands out. Enough on that, I'll stop before I even climb up on the soapbox.

US127 is a limited access highway. It is probably the best section of highway we have driven on since leaving MO. Once it joins with I75 is the pavement surface deteriorates somewhat, but its still better than the majority of Interstates since leaving MO. Very light traffic. Lots of RV's, going both ways. I was a little surprised to see our GPS register an elevation of 1,400' when we were about 50 miles from the bridge. I think the elevation was about 650' at the bridge.

Another nice MI rest area.

Where we stopped for lunch.

The 5 mile long, 65 year old Mackinaw Bridge is a site to behold. At center span the roadway is 200 feet above the water. The towers extend 550 feet above the water.

Yes, that is grating you see providing the driving surface for the 11' wide center lanes, the concrete outer lanes are 12' wide.

The map below shows the Mackinaw Bridge at the bottom, left of center, and De Tour Village on the right side while Sault Ste Marie is at top center.

Paradise Point is at the top of the enlarged map below.

When you sit out on the dock you can see freighters out on the St Marys River in front of you and then 15-20 minutes later, or earlier depending on which way they are travelling, you can see them off to the right, across the peninsula.

Parked at Paradise Point, Below is the view out the front window of our coach. We are on a little bay off the St. Marys River. 

There are reeds in the bay and the campground owners were out cutting the reeds when we arrived. They use what looks like a modified hedge trimmer to cut them off several feet below the water line and then they load them on the boat, haul them to shore and dump them.

This channel is on the backside, across from the bay, of the campground. It is where they dock boats.

The owner of the boat below must be a serious fisherman. 6 poles rigged and ready.

It is easy for us to see why coaches typically have so few miles on them. We could easily spend a week, or maybe even a month, right here; and maybe we will next summer. We spent a couple of nights here in our travel trailer last year.

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

Monday - Tuesday; July 11th & 12th

 Monday

More visiting with family.

Kathy getting her feet wet.

Colton, my great-nephew. Travel Trailer in background is Jeremy and Shellies (my niece). They live in Battle Creek but come to enjoy family at the pond many weekends during the summer.

Colton (far left), Kathy, Beverly (my Mom) & David (my kid brother)

View looking back up towards Mom's. Yes, that is an outhouse right, and it gets used.

Lots of the grading work to develop the pond was done with this old dozer. My Uncle Richard did some grading with it the same day he died. It is a "lawn ornament" that will be there as long as Mom is alive, and maybe even after.

I bought new coach batteries and made an appointment to have them installed Tuesday AM on our way north from Coldwater.

Kathy and Cindy (one of her sisters)  went shopping over at the "Amish" store in Sturgis, MI.

Tuesday

We were on the road early. We arrived at the battery place at 8:15 and were out on the road headed north by 9:15.

Interstates in Michigan were better than those in KY & IN. We stopped for a break at a nice rest area.

Not sure what is happening in the photo below. The first two trucks are big wreckers. The first wrecker is towing both the second wrecker and the red tractor on the left.

Back of the facility at the rest area.

Front of the facility.

We pulled in to Houghton Lake Travel Park at 1:15. Kathy has done several loads of laundry. I took the mattress cover over to the campground laundromat to wash and dry it, it is to big for our RV washer and dryer. $1.00 for the washer and $0.25 for 15 minutes in the commercial size dryers.

All sites here are pull thrus, easily long enough for our coach and car. The only problem is that if you don't unhook, and pull through the site to the next roadway, you need a LOT of sewer hose. A little tree trimming would also be a good idea.

They have a pooland kids were in it having a ball. They also have a nice playground, horseshoe pits, a volley ball net and shuffle board courts.

Today's high temperature was 74 and tonight's low is forecast to be 52. We are loving the cooler temperatures.

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

Friday - Sunday, July 8 -10 - How Time Flies

 Friday - The drive up to Mom's was uneventful. We topped off our fuel tank ($390) for $5.75/gal, so that we would have plenty of fuel to run the generator and AC if it was hot.

There is only one electrical circuit that runs from the barn down to the pond. It powers a refrigerator and some lights, and whatever else campers might want. After we set up I plugged in to the other side of the duplex outlet that powers the refrigerator. The coach automatic transfer switch sounded like it was going crazy so I figured we would have to use the generator for 120volt use, and to keep the batteries charge, until I had time to figure out the problem. The coach batteries were pretty well charged after the trip up here. The alternator keeps them topped off, but I did run the generator to make coffee and for a few other 120 volt odds and ends.

After some get reacquainted visiting with my David & Kathy (my brother and his wife who live less than a quarter mile down the road) and Colton (My brother's youngest, 11, grandson. My  brother just gained custody of him.) and my Mom. We all piled in the car and headed to the Moose Lodge in Fremont, IN for Friday fish night, something we normally do if we are here on a Friday night. We also had to make a near mandatory stop for ice cream in Freemont.

By the time we returned to the campground  Jeremy & Shellie (David's daughter and her husband) and their 2 youngest kids had arrived. They have a travel trailer they at Mom's pond most of the time. During the summer they spend a lot of weekends at the pond. They live in Battle Creek, MI, about an hours drive from Mom's. More catching up.

Around 1 PM we all decided it was time for bed. I spent about another hour playing with the electrical system on the coach before going to bed. After only 2 hours my CPAP had depleted the coach batteries, way sooner than it should have. I managed to get another couple of hours sleep without it.

Saturday - In the morning I borrowed a  battery charger from my brother, to charge the four 6 volt house batteries. I had asked the mechanic to replace them but he said he load tested them and even though they were original (14 years old) they tested OK. I had not seriously considered checking the battery water level previously because I assumed he had done so and I only had to add water to the batteries i our other coach one every several months. I checked them and all I saw was bare plates. I had a full gallon of distilled water and put the full gallon in them, without covering the plates. Kathy had gone to the grocery and brought me another 2 gallons and after using all of a second gallon the plates were adequately covered and I hooked up the charger.

In the meantime I had taken our coffee pot out to the pavilion to make coffee. It did not work properly when plugged in to the same outlet the coach didn't like. I tried another outlet and it was fine.

Then it was down to Ed & Cindy's (Kathy's sister and her husband) for Elliot's (there youngest son who is back from Kuwait but leaving for Germany Monday, he is a civilian contractor who does maintenance on jets that fly the military brass around) birthday party. Colton went with us but Mom wasn't up to the trip. Elliot, Alison (Elliot's wife), Ed & Cindy out in front of the barn.

Then it was back to Mom's, which included a stop at the Freemont ice cream place.

Lots of family was at the pond for the evening. Lots of good visiting and food; brats, venison hamburgers and other food. Around midnight everyone had left, except Jeremy and Shellie who spent the night in their trailer. I tried hooking our coach to a "good" outlet and it worked fine all night.

Sunday - We all, 10 of us, Jeremy and Shellie's kids spent the night with cousins, had breakfast together. Around noon Jeremy and Shellie packed up and headed back to Battle Creek. The rest of us sat around and visited more. I'm up at Mom's on her WiFi writing this now. Mom was up at her house for awhile but is back down at the pond. Kathy was going to lay down for awhile. David and Kathy went home. David is spraying for weeds and his Kathy is starting supper. One of suppers delicacies will be blue gills that were caught thru the ice last winter. There no fish or seafood that tastes better. I've been doing some online shopping for coach batteries. Even is these seem to be okay they will fail before we are done travelling. I might as well get them replaced whenever its convenient and not have to wonder about how long they will last. It's 4 PM if I hurry back to the coach I think I might be able to squeeze in a nap before supper.

PS. Can hardly wait to hear Robert Strong's first message as Freshwater's new Lead Pastor.

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

PPS. Hope there are to many typo's in this. I'm tired to proof read it.

Thursday, July 7 - Another Slow Day

 Temperatures were a little better today, but still to warm for us. We went to Menards this morning to buy a replacement for the new coffee pot we had, that lasted less than 10 brew cycles. We also bought some shelf support clips to replace the ones that failed while being battered on the rough roads in KY & IN.

Doug came over for a visit in the afternoon. He had not seen the coach. He brought a chicken dish for Kathy and ribs for me, our supper. The weather was OK for an AM & PM walk around the campground.

There are 101 sites at the campground. After walking around the campground I think there are at least 30 units that have 300 gallon propane tanks. Many of the units have some potted plants, including tomatoes, around them and one even has a flower garden behind it, next to a forested area. Even living full time in a unit it would take a LONG time to burn 300 gallons of propane. None of the units are "skirted". Living in one during the entire Indy winter would be a real challenge.

After walking the trash to the dumpster I checked out the laundry and bathroom facility. A load of laundry costs $1.85 to wash and the same to dry.

The PO Boxes, and packages, in the photo below seem to indicate that quite a few people stay for extended periods.

The individual toilet and shower facilities were nice.

When I looked out the front window this morning I was a little surprised at the neighbors pet. At least its quiet. He also has a yappy little dog. The dog is real, and noisy.

We head to MI in the morning. Below is our schedule for the next couple of weeks.

Fri, July 8    travel to my Mom's near Coldwater, MI

Sat, July 9    coach at Mom's, spend the day at nephews birthday party near Monpelier, OH

Sun, July 10    Mom's

Mon, July 11    Mom's

Tue, July 12    travel to Houghton Lake Travel Park & cool temps 76/57

Wed, July 13    travel to Paradise Point, De Tour, MI temp 70/58

Thur, July 14    Paradise Point, take ferry to Drummon Island?

Fri, July 15    travel to Soo Locks Campground, Sault Ste Marie, MI 

Sat, July 16 - Thur, July 21  Soo Locks Campground

Fri, July 22    travel to Bay Mills Casino Campground - Brimley, MI

Sat, July 23 - Thur, July 28 coach at Bay Mills

Mon, July 25     drive Flex to Mom's for her gall bladder surgery

Tue, July 26    Mom's surgery

Wed, July 27    at Mom's

Thur, July 28    drive back to Bay Mills

Fri, July 29    travel to Marquette

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

Wednesday, July 6 - Not Much to Report

It was miserable hot here again today, I did virtually nothing. Kathy was tougher than me. She did some shopping and had lunch with a lady who used to work at Teen Challenge when Kathy volunteered at there.

I caught up on some reading, had an afternoon nap and managed a mile long walk around the campground after supper.

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

Tuesday, July 5th - Made it to Indianapolis

 After saying our goodbyes we left Tom & Mary Lou's at 8:30 this morning. Temperatures were decent in TN but increased all the way to Indy. By the time we arrived at Lake Haven Retreat the temperature was 100 degrees and the heat index was 105. At 5:10 EST we were all set up.

The 341 mile trip was relatively uneventful. We stayed on I40 from Crossville to Monterey, TN and then took US & state highways up to Glasgow, KY. We took I65 from Glasgow to Indy. Once again we noticed that the US & state highways are in much better condition than the Interstates. I65 in norther KY and in IN is terrible. There are some smooth sections but most of it is so rough it will shake the fillings out of your teeth. 

Kathy drove to Glasgow, then I drove 100 miles to a rest area where we stopped for lunch. She finished the drive to Indy. Praise God for air conditioning. The dash AC could not keep even the front of the coach cool. When we stopped for lunch we started the generator and ran both coach rooftop AC units. When we left the rest area we let the generator and AC units run for at least another half hour. Later in the afternoon we started the generator again and ran the rooftop AC units. The first time we turned them on it was 90 degrees in the coach, back at the shower area. The second time it was 94 degrees. Even running both 13,500 BTU units, and the dash AC, it still took a long time to cool the coach down to a tolerable level.

Below is our route from Crossville to Glasgow. From Monterey to Thompkinsville there are some narrow sections of road, with lots of 35 mph curves, but the pavement was in good condition for almost the entire length.

The only significant traffic problems was when we neared Louisville and one of the lanes was closed. Traffic was backed up, stop and go, for 5 miles.

So how rough was I65 you ask. We had more stuff flying around the inside of the coach that at any  time during the trip so far. When Kathy started to put out the kitchen slide she heard a crunching noise and immediately stopped the slide.

This basket, which was full of stuff and sitting on a stationary shelf next to the section of countertop that slides out with the kitchen, had fallen between the slide and the stationary wall. It had been full of lots of stuff and all the stuff also went into the hole. We worked a long time fishing this bent up basket, pepperoni sticks, a bag of macaroni, a dish towel, and other stuff out of the hole. Oh me of little faith, I didn't think we would  ever get the basket out without tearing out the cabinetry under the sink. Kathy finally managed to hook it with a coat hanger and fished it out. The area was so cramped that it wasn't possible to reach a hand/arm back in the hole to retrieve stuff. As the back of one of the cabinet drawers hit the wire basket the drawer support broke. I'm going to have to study some on how to repair it, because of the very limited access.

There are some advantages to being back in civilization 😀. We were both tired from the heat and the travel, and then dealing with getting the stuff out from behind the slide, so I ordered a pizza and picked it up, could have had it delivered. There are 3 pizza places within 2 miles of the campground, we tried the non-chain one. The pizza was good, but not great. 

We have stayed at this campground numerous times. It has 101 sites spaced fairly close together. Many of the sites have some shade but those sites all seem to be taken up by people who are here for lengthy stays. The number of 300 gallon propane tanks at RV's in the campground always amazes me. They have made some upgrades since we were last here. A new office, a new shower and laundry facility and a new, but modest, playground for kids.. They do have a small lake for catch and release fishing.

We keep watching the temperatures up north, and yearning to be up there. Over the next 10 days the highs in Sault Ste Marie are in the high 60's and low 70's. Over in Marquette the highs are only in the high 50's for 2 of the days in the 10 day forecast. Marquette even has one night with 49 being forecast for an overnight low.

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