Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Finally! A New Post ... What? It's only been a month!

Monday 9/2/19 West Allis, WI

Had a nice visit with friends in northern Illinois; several doctor’s appointments; maintenance on the trailer at Ehrhardt's Trailer Sales; and new tires on the trailer from Suburban Tire in St Charles, where they always have treated us right..

We had fantastic weather for the Concours de Elegance and a wonderful selection of cars. Whole thing went smoothly as usual. We had a nice dinner at our friend’s RuthAnn and Ed before the show and then another get together at Patt and John’s a couple of days after.

Left Sycamore around 10 AM this morning and arrived at Wisconsin Fairgrounds early afternoon. First spot they gave us was a bit too tight, but we moved to a more accessible spot and got settled. Sites are pretty close together, but room to park the truck and car.

Tuesday 9//3/19 West Allis, WI

Raining this AM so we did not get our walk in. Yesterday when we parked we backed up against the fence on the west side of the RV park. Behind us was a very large, very empty parking lot for the state fair. This morning when I opened the curtain it was full of cars! Several hundred cars! Apparently a park & ride lot for Milwaukee. 


Mid-morning we headed into Milwaukee to find the visitors center. There is one in Wisconsin Center downtown. Paid $7 to park for two hours, spend some time wandering around outside Wisconsin Center which covers four square blocks with minimal signage, nothing pointing to the visitors center, which turned out to be on the southeast corner (we parked on the northwest corner!) and was tiny. The lady there was very nice though and gave us a lot of good info. We decided to check out the Milwaukee Public Museum which was near the place where we parked. Very nice and interesting museum, might have stayed longer, but time was running out on our parking.

Drove over to the Milwaukee Public Market. A very nice indoor marketplace with a large number of vendors selling food, candy, fish, etc. along with quite a few eateries. Had sandwiches at  West Allis Cheese and Sausage Shoppe, then walked around the Third Ward Historic District, which really did not have much to offer other than eateries and upscale clothing shops.

Back to the car where we turned in our parking ticket, validated for 1 hour free and the attendant said “Thank you, no charge”! We were there about an hour and a half. Made up for the rip-off on the other parking.

Took a drive north along the lakeshore and then back home early afternoon.

Wednesday 9/4 West Allis, WI

Hung around home in the AM and headed into town after lunch. Had reservations for a 4 PM tour at Sprecher's Brewery and planned on stopping to see the Pabst mansion on the way. Arrived at the mansion at 1:10 to find out that access is by guided tours only and they are on the hour! Next one at 2 PM lasts and hour and a half, too tight with the prepaid Sprecher’s tour. So we skipped the mansion. Went on up to Glendale, did a little shopping and arrived at Sprecher’s an hour early. Good news! You get your wrist band for four samples right away and you can start tasting in their lounge right away! Samples are juice glass sized and soda samples are free and unlimited. No way I could do four of those samples and still be legal to drive so I had a couple and some soda. Nancy had several samples. Nice tour and afterwards we went to Trouble and Sons in Whitefish Bay for a pretty good pizza.

Thursday 9/5 Ellison Bay, WI

Took our time getting going to allow the traffic to thin out as we had to go East toward downtown before turning north along the lake. Left a little after 10 AM, no issues with traffic getting out of Milwaukee and an uneventful trip to Hy-Land Court RV just south of Ellison Bay, northernmost town in Door County. Lots of trees here, but we had a spot reserved in the newer section where we could get satellite reception since there is an F1 race this weekend.

Arrived a little before 2 PM, got set up, unloaded the car, and went a couple of miles north to Ellison Bay for an early dinner. Things are a little more quiet here in Door County after Labor Day. Planned on trying Viking Grille, but it turns out they close early on Thursday so we went across the street to Mink River Basin. Huge selection of beer on tap and excellent happy hour specials on sandwiches and burgers.

Friday 9/6 Ellison Bay, WI

Dreary day with off and on rain, so we spent most of the day just vegging out. Drove into Sister Bay in the afternoon for dinner at Sister Bay Bowl. Being Friday night it was busy, half hour wait for a table, so we had a couple of drinks and sat in the bowling alley watching the action while we waited. Nice, typical Wisconsin supper club dinner.

Saturday 9/7 Ellison Bay, WI

First thing in the AM we went into Sister Bay to the Saturday Farmer’s Market. Turned out to be pretty small, about 6 vendors. We did however pick up several things including sweet corn for dinner tonight.

Stopped in downtown Sister Bay and took a walk around the harbor. Lots of big dollar yachts and a lot of high dollar condos in Sister Bay now. A lot different than what it was back in the late 70’s when last I was here.

Stopped at Seaquist Orchards Farm Market and Bakery. Kind of a typical touristy kind of place with a lot of of stuff - $50 a gallon for maple syrup!! Once again we picked up a couple of things, cider, doughnuts, apples.

Back home and spent a quiet afternoon.

Sunday 9/8 Ellison Bay, WI

Quiet day, no rain but, cool. Watched F1 race and after lunch we drove over to the bay west of us and along Mossy Cliff Dr. A number of big new houses, all of them look unoccupied. On the cliff above is the largest house in Wisconsin, not visible from the road. Stopped at small rocky beach, no place to walk. Then drove out to the overlook in Ellison Bluff State Natural Area, Not bad, but hardly worth the drive over a rough dirt road to get in.

Back home we took a loop around the RV park for our daily walk.

Got in touch with our neighbors from Tucson, Iris and John, who come to Door County in the summer and made arrangements to meet them for dinner on Thursday.

Monday 9/9 Ellison Bay WI

After a leisurely morning we drove south to Peninsula State Park. Quite a large park with a number of scenic overlooks of Green Bay and a very large primitive campground, with 468 sites in five campgrounds.

Stopped at a couple of overlooks, then parked at Nicolet Beach and walked along the Minihaha Trail that runs along the water through deep woods. Very pretty and peaceful this time of year. 

Stopped in Fish Creek and had lunch at Bayside Tavern, then hit a couple of shops that Nancy wanted to check out, as well as a very nice book store, The Peninsula Bookman. A stop at the Piggly Wiggly for a few groceries and home late in the afternoon. Quite a pretty day with sun and a high in the 60’s.

Tuesday 9/10 Ellison Bay, WI

A few chores this AM, Nancy did laundry and I did a couple of maintenance items. We drove into Ellison Bay for lunch at The Viking Grille. Not bad, but nothing to write home about.

Took a drive up to the tip of the peninsula to check out Gil’s Rock and Northport, as well as the ferries to Washington Island. On the way out of Ellison Bay we saw a sign for a Cider Mill so we stopped to check it out on the way back south.

Island Orchard Cider turned out to be a great find and a unique place with a wide variety of hard ciders! They even had tasting flights! We selected six different ciders for tasting and sat outside for the better part of an hour enjoying the cider and pleasant weather. All of their ciders are made with apples and pears grown on Washington Island and we went away with one bottle. May stop back later this week for another that was currently out of stock.

Fortunately I only had to drive a couple of miles home after imbibing all that alcoholic cider!

Wednesday 9/11 Ellison Bay, WI

Well things turned out serendipitous this morning. It was about 62 when we took our walk, but by the time we left to go to Sturgeon Bay it was 59! The further south we drove the darker it became and by the time we reached Jacksonport it was a heavy downpour which continued all the way to Sturgeon Bay.

The trip into SB was necessitated by the need to pick up a new set of tire valve extensions for the trailer as one of them had been leaking since the new tires were put on in Geneva.

I have been searching for a barber and the only one in the upper part of Door County that I could find was booked until 10/2! So I checked in SB and found Razor’s Edge on the same side of town as the NAPA store which tuned out to be an excellent choice and only a quarter mile down the street! The lady that cut my hair (an excellent job BTW) recommended a Scaturo’s Baking Co. and Cafe for lunch, which happened to halfway between the NAPA store and her shop! Take about convenient and it was very good! Even bought some bread on buy one get one day!

Light rain on the way home, which continued all afternoon.

Thursday 9/12 Ellison Bay, WI

Rain most of the day. Lunch at home and then we drove into Fish Creek so Nancy could look at some sandals she saw the other day. Successful trip.

Back home and read until late afternoon when we drove 9 miles straight south to to where John & Iris, our neighbors from Tucson, have a place right on the water on the east side of the peninsula (we are on the west). We had a nice visit with them and then the four of us went to Chives in Bailey’s Harbor for an excellent dinner.

Friday 9/13 Ellison Bay, WI

Pretty steady rain most of the night. Temps around 60, but it was damp so it felt colder. Had a guy scheduled to come this morning to pull one tire on the trailer so I could replace the valve extension that is leaking. After I pulled the wheel cover I realized that I could get my hand in through the outer rim to tighten the extension on the inner tire. A half hour after the scheduled appointment I called and cancelled it. (10/2 Turned out that was all that was needed. Tire has been fine ever since, so I have a new set of extensions when needed.)

We drove into Sister Bay for lunch at Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant, a popular place that is always crowded. Arrived at 11:25, told a half hour wait. After 40 minutes I went up and asked and was told we had already been seated! Right! They took us right in, of course the crowd had thinned, the people just coming in were being told 5 minutes! Then we sat at our table for five to six minutes with no one even acknowledging our presence. I flagged down a hostess and she got a waiter who said our server “must be in the kitchen,” He did take our order after we told him about the 40 minute wait and, since we ordered the very popular Swedish pancakes, our order arrived in a matter of minutes. To their credit, the food was good and they gave us a 50% discount on our bill.

Stopped to check out the Sister Bay library that Iris had said was very nice. It is. Stopped at the hardware store and then drove over to Rowley’s, which is due east of us on the Lake Michigan side to visit Grandma’s Swedish Bakery. They have a reputation for good cinnamon rolls, which they were! Picked up a couple of sweets, then back to Sister Bay to the grocery store and back home.

It warmed up early this morning and the sun started to burn through the overcast 
mid-morning and by noon we had blue sky and sunshine. Temps in the high 70’s with a pretty stiff breeze. Turned into a beautiful day.

Weekend traffic through Sister Bay starting to build as we were coming home. John had said last evening that the summer crowds disappeared right after Labor Day and for the next month or so it would only be crowded on weekends.

Saturday 9/14 Ellison Bay, WI

Another lovely day. Nice walk in the AM around the campground and after lunch we drove up to Ellison Bay. An amazing amount of traffic on the road compared to during the last week. John and Iris had said the weekends get really busy this time of year and they were right.

We stopped at Kick Ashe Products just to see what they had to offer. Nice shop specializing in coffee’s and sweets, with a small offering of other items. We picked up several really nice greeting cards, a pound of coffee and a “Corkcicle Decapitator” which is a pretty cool bottle opener, but hard to describe. Check it out.

Stopped back at Island Orchard Cider to pick up a few more bottles for us and for gifts.

Sunday 9/15 Ellison Bay, WI

Heavy rain during the night, but cleared off by morning. At lunchtime we drove into Sister Bay to check out shops and have lunch. Stopped at Yacht Works to browse. In the past we’ve found some neat things for the trailer in ship chandlers shops. Didn’t find much here, but they had a really nice 1929 Chris Craft double cockpit that is entirely original, delivered to a customer in Sister Bay in 1929, and never left!

After browsing the shops we stopped at Grasse’s Grille for an excellent lunch, followed by a  walk around the harbor, then back home mid-afternoon.

Monday 9/16 Ellison Bay, WI

Quite foggy this morning, we could feel the moisture in the air while we were on our walk.

Drove up to Northport at the tip of the peninsula and took the 10 AM ferry to Washington Island. Looking at the fares we determined that it is cheaper to take the car on the fairy than it is to ride as passengers and rent bikes on the island, so we took the car over. Still foggy so not much to see on the crossing, but the Straight des Morts was as still as a mill pond.

On arrival we drove across to the NE side of the island and visited  the Jackson Harbor Marine Museum in Port Jackson. Very old museum with a hodgepodge of interesting marine stuff with a very garrulous and informative docent. Unfortunately due to high water we could only visit one if the buildings, having to walk across a wood plank to get to that one!

We drove back west to Schoolhouse Beach, an interesting place where the beach is entirely covered with smooth, round stones. The bay there is very deep and was the original anchorage of schooners and large ships visiting the island. The bluff at the head of the bay is part of the Niagara Escarpment, and the rocks breaking off the bluffs are tumbled against each other as the wash through the bay, creating the distinctive round rocks.

Stopped at Fragrant Isle Lavender and Island Lavender (which was closed). Then we stopped at the Stavkirke, built by volunteer labor in the 1990’s as a replica of the 1150 AD church in Borgund, Norway.

Then we had lunch at Nelsen’s Hall Bitters Pub, which sells more Angostura Bitters than any other location in the world! The pub is also the oldest licensed bar in the state of Wisconsin. 
So that requires an explanation. Tom Nelsen opened the hall in 1899 drank a pint of Angostura Bitters every day (and lived to 90!) When prohibition arrived he obtained a pharmacist’s license to dispense bitters as a “Stomach tonic for medicinal purposes.” There is a good history of the pub here.

After lunch we caught the ferry back to the mainland. The thing we were most struck by during out visit was how quiet the island is. Almost everywhere we stopped we were almost wrapped in silence.

On the way home we stopped at Uncle Tom’s Candies just to look - of course we bought some!

Tuesday 9/17 Ellison Bay, WI

Foggy again this morning, but not as dense as yesterday. At lunchtime we drove into Sister’s Bay and had an excellent lunch at Wild Tomato. Stopped at the grocery and then back home and relaxed.

Wednesday 9/18 Ellison Bay, WI

A bit damp this morning, but turned into a lovely day in the mid-70’s. Mid-morning we drove over to the Cana Island Lighthouse just north of Bailey’s Harbor. The brochure said the footing on the causeway to the island might be unstable and could have water on it. When we arrived there we were presented with an unbroken stretch of water where the causeway should be.

The sign said the lighthouse was open and transportation was open. While we were standing there a group of workers came by with a truck full of building roof frames and they drove onto the causeway through the water which appeared to be about a foot deep.

After a while a tractor came across towing a hay wagon with longitudinal seats! We opted not to go out to the island. Stopped at a little beach where three guys were assembling what appeared to be a very elaborate wind surfing set-up, but we got tired of waiting.

Went into Bailey’s Harbor and had an excellent lunch at Heirloom Cafe. Nancy had a nice beer form Hacienda Beer Co. right there in Bailey’s Harbor, so after lunch we stopped at Door County Brewing Co./Hacienda Brewing Co. and picked up a four pack.

Drove across into Sister Bay to check out Bargains Unlimited Thrift Shop where we bought a couple of books (naturally!).

On the way home we detoured across to Rowley's Bay and picked up a couple of cinnamon rolls at Grandmas’s Swedish Bakery. Back home to load the car (on the road again tomorrow) and relax.

Drove into Sister Bay with the truck and picked up a pizza from Wild Tomato. Pretty good pizza.

Thursday 9/19 Oshkosh, WI

Heavy rain and thunderstorms most of the night and into morning. Watching radar we decided to wait until the storm passed before we headed south. Left about 11:15, off and on rain most of the way, and arrived at Sleepy Hollow Farm about 2 PM. 

More than our share of complete a**holes on the road today. Before we were even out off Sister Bay some idiot in a pick-up turned left right in front off us. A bt farther down the road another fool in a pick-up had to get out in front of us and almost spun out trying to accelerate ahead of us. I followed this idiot all the way through Green Bay! Once we got onto I-41 south in Appleton another clown came off an entrance ramp, I slowed since the left lane was full, and he tried to come over not quite in front of me without accelerating! Thank God my horns are working again! 

Sleepy Hollow Campground turned out to be a bit tight with soft ground. The owner helped me get backed in and I did a less than stellar job, but got it parked. Even though is is adjacent to the EAA airfield and a lot of open ground it is in the woods, no satellite tonight and a fair number of bugs sneaking in - our screens do not fit real tight. 

After we got parked we went over to the EAA Aviation Museum. Quite a nice museum with interesting exhibits, although most of the WWII warbirds were out on tours. Afterwards we stopped at Culver’s for an early dinner.



Friday 9/20 Fontana, WI

Very foggy this morning so we hung around and listened to the weekly news round-up on NPR 1A and left around 11:30.

Unfortunately the dump station was not working when we left, and we had just filled our fresh tank, so we drove down to Lake Geneva with partial full tanks, a fair amount of extra weight.

Stopped along the was for lunch at a truck stop in Waupun, Wild Goose Cafe. With the stop for lunch and a 15 mile detour through Delavan, we did not get to our friend John’s hanger until 3:30. Then we had to turn the rig around to get lined up with the dump station, then turn it around again to get parked, so it took us a while to get settled in.


Saturday 9/21 Fontana, WI

Walked a couple of loops around the hanger first thing, unloaded the car before the rain started, watched F1 qualifying from Singapore, and used the shower in another friend’s hanger to conserve gray tank space. Another rainy day! Headed into Lake Geneva and went to the movies to see Downton Abby, which was excellent, especially if you were a Downton Abby fan!

Lunch at Harbourside Pub and then a stop for groceries and back home.

Sunday 9/22 Fontana, WI

Rain all day today. Stayed home and watched the F1 race. Managed to get a short walk in during a lull in the rain.

Monday 9/23 Fontana, WI

No rain this morning! We took a nice walk up and down on the sunny side of the hangers. Late morning we drove over to Brightenwoods Orchard in Burlington, via a rather convoluted route since we turned too soon following the instructions from Google maps.

Nice orchard with a very wide selection of apple varieties. Picked up a medium bag each of eating and baking apples. A stop at the store and home for a late lunch.

Tuesday 9/24 Fontana, WI

Patt came up from Geneva to drop off some material for the weekend and we went over to their lake house to help her. She suggested that Nancy do her laundry there and then we went over to Gordie’s for lunch, but it was closed, so we ate at Chucks.

Finished the laundry and back home where I did a couple of minor repairs. Beautiful afternoon, blue sky and a nice breeze.

Wednesday 9/25 Fontana, WI

Clouded over again this morning, we took a nice walk, several loops around the hanger. The weather cleared off later and we drove over to Barrett’s house and parked then walked down the lakeside path for 20 minutes and then back again. The Geneva Lake Shore Path is a 26 mile loop around the lake. All of the property owners are required to keep the path open along their lakefront and, although there are still a few places where it is actually a “path”, the majority of the owners have now improved the portion on their property, so now it is walking on a paved path with stairs in many places replacing hill climbs. Just a lovely afternoon.

Thursday 9/24 Fontana, WI

Thursday morning after our walk I went to the Abby to help with setting up the headquarters/sale tent for the boat show. On the way over I dropped Nancy off at Patt and John’s. We had a pretty good sized group, all the old regulars, and the set-up went pretty smooth this year so we were done by lunch time. I picked up Nancy and we had lunch at Chuck’swith John and his brother Bill, who is also a former neighbor from Geneva, IL.

In the late afternoon and evening we joined the group, most of whom are old friends, at Barrett’s for a light dinner and conversation.



Friday 9/27 Fontana, WI

Off early to the Lake Geneva Country Club to join the house tour group. Every year the Geneva Lakes Classic Boat Show features a tour of three house along the lake, with the tour groups moving by lake steamer type boats between the sites, followed by lunch at the country clubs.

This years tour included three lovely homes in three distinct styles: one built in 1898 and tastefully restored to it’s original elegance by a descendant of an original Lake Geneva home owner, Joy Morton, who made a very gracious and knowledgeable guide to the house; one recently built on the site of their family home by members of the club; and one very  modern house a little over 10,000 square feet. All three owners and their families were particularly gracious hosts. 

Magnificent lakefront summer homes are now the norm around Geneva Lake. Here is an example of a couple houses I found on Zillow today:

3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2,740 sq. ft,. one-quarter acre on the lake, built 1946 - wait for it … $1,250,000!

A few miles away: 5 bedrooms, 10 baths, 10,800 sq. ft., 5 acres, 464 ft. of lake frontage, built 2002 … $8,495,000!

One house I looked at on Zillow was described as “Luxurious lakefront living at an affordable price.” That one was also $1,250,000!

It had started to rain by the time we finished our tour, so we were glad to have been in the first group in the morning! After lunch Nancy and I went home for a couple of hours and then joined the rest of the group at Barrett’s. Later we all went to a lovely dinner a the Lake Geneva Yacht Club generously hosted by the Barrett’s. We determined that there were enough of us lefties to fill the entire side of one of the two tables! So we all enjoyed dinner with our banging elbows.


Saturday 9/28 Fontana, WI

Up early as Nancy, Patt, RuthAnn, and Mary started setting up the registration area at 6:45! I dropped Nancy off and returned home since my shift at the boat launch area is 10 AM to 1 PM.

Cool and overcast, but no rain. Action at the registration was apparently hot and furious, at the boat ramp not so much as most of the boats came in Thursday and yesterday in anticipation of bad weather.

After we finished Nancy and I drove around the north side of the lake to an auto parts store in Lake Geneva to pick up a light bulb that had burned out in the trailer. Back home and relaxed for awhile.

A large group of friends at the lake house for an excellent dinner.

Sunday 9/29 Fontana, WI

Our shifts did not start until 9 AM, Nancy in the sales tent and me on the boat ramp/parking lot. Although it was supposed to clear off it rained pretty much all day, sometimes drizzle, sometimes heavy, sometime wind driven. The last half hour of my first shift we took refuge in the clubhouse.

Crowd, which was pretty good on Saturday was very thin today, with a lot of the boats leaving around mid-day. After packing up the sales tent the group had a beer in the Abby bar and then back to Barretts and a very nice dinner of leftovers with the smaller group who remained to the end of the weekend.

Monday 9/30 Waukee, IA

Loaded the car first thing before the rain started again. After we hooked up we pulled around and did a partial tank dump, enough to get us through tonight as we do not have a full hook-up at Timberline.

Left the hanger about 10:30 and had an uneventful drive with on and off rain. six hours to Waukee, IA. Stopped east of Des Moines for fuel, cheapest we’ll see the rest of the trip. 

Timberline Campground is expanding! They have graded a large piece of ground at the front of their property and installed utilities for 64 full hook-up sites suitable for “big rigs like yours.” It was a bee hive of activity, so I imagine we will be able to the advantage of it our next time through.

Tuesday 9/30 Elm Creek, NE

Got in a walk around the campground before the rain started, on the road about 9:30. Pretty much steady rain all day and raining when we arrived at Sunny Meadows in Elm Creek.

Wednesday 10/1 Denver, CO

Rain and mud while we were hooking up this morning, so no walk.  We went South from Elm Creek to US 34 and part way across Nebraska to Benkleman where we dropped south into Kansas (the 15th state we've traveled through this summer and the 14th we stayed in.) and picked up US 36 west to I-70 and on into Denver. Arrived at Cherry Creek Sate Park around 2 PM Mountain time.
After setting up and unloading the car we drove over to Connie and Laurie’s house for a  nice dinner.

Sunday, August 11, 2019

Back in the Midwest

Friday 7/24 Hoquiam, WA

Took our time getting going this morning, nice walk around the park. Loaded up and on the road about 10:15. Easy trip south on US 101. Stopped at Little Creek Casino for lunch since we knew there was a large parking area and decent choices for lunch. Had a good lunch at the Buffet.

On into Aberdeen and Hoquiam, neither of which were very impressive looking towns. Arrived at Hoquiam River RV Park in early afternoon. Older, medium size park, but kept up very well with really nice hosts. 

In the afternoon we took a short walk along the river and into the nearby woods. The park is right on the river with nice overlooks and benches as well as the walking path. Walked as far as an old pier that had a long abandoned and overgrown railroad track leading away from it.

Looked at a couple of places for dinner and settled on Rosa’s Taqueria based on Yelp. Turned out to be a really good choice! Small place with just six booths and run by the owner (Rosa was his Mother-in-law!). Limited menu, but excellent Mexican food! Really tasty with large portions, plus they make all their own sauces from scratch.

Thursday 7/25 Hoquiam, WA

Nice walk along the river and through the woods to an abandoned shipyard, almost like a widely scattered junk yard. Pretty interesting. With the sun hitting the river near the old pier we could see that there were a series of huge stringers mounted on pilings just below the water line. My guess is that they brought barges up to the pier and the stringers were to support the barge when the tide went out.

Late in the morning we drove into town, parked by the Grays Harbor Farmers Market and walked along the river walk. There are pictures on plaques showing the town at the height of the lumber industry. It is amazing what used to be here and the only traces left are rotting pilings along the river bank. The lumber mills covered everything we could see! One of them was 9 acres along the river.

Stopped into the Grays Harbor Farmers Market and then drove down the street to the Polson Museum. This turned out to be a delightful museum with a huge collection of pictures from the timber and lumber industry. In the late 19th century Gray’s Harbor was the largest shipping point for lumber in North America and the Polson's were owners of one of the largest mills and lumbering operations.

Went to the 8th Street Ale House for lunch, then we drove west to Ocean Shores for one last look at the ocean before we head east. Ocean Shores is a typical beach town and when they say “beach access” they apparently mean it, cars are allowed on the beach. We parked the truck and walked a quarter mile or so to get a view of the beach and the ocean. The ocean was fine, but the beach was just a line of cars on the sand!

Friday 7/26 Randle, WA

Fog and mist this AM so we just took a short walk around the RV park. Fairly short day today, got on the road about 9:45 and even though we had to go all the way through downtown Hoquiam and Aberdeen we were out of town on US 12 by 10:20 and arrived at Shady Firs RV Park just after noon.

Pretty easy drive other than the 20 miles on I-5 where traffic was heavy and came close to a complete stop twice in the 20 miles!

Shady Firs is a small park with a friendly and most helpful hostess. Park is grassy sites with a lot of tall pine trees. We were afraid we would miss the F1 race this weekend, but she helped us get into a site where our satellite dish will work!

She also suggested that since it will be Saturday we should visit Mt St Helen’s rather than Mt Rainer. “Bus load after bus load of tourist out of Seattle at Mt Rainer on Saturdays!”

Decided to unload the car even though we are only here two nights. Was able to do it right where the truck is parked.

Into warmer weather now, bright sunshine and mid-80’s this afternoon. First 80 degree day since we left Arizona! After checking Yelp we drove a few miles back to Randle and had dinner at Tall Timber. Excellent meal and good draft beer at a small place. Their specialty is loaded spuds! Nancy had a baked potato stuffed with pulled pork, mine was stuffed with pepperoni, salami, sausage, marinara sauce and mozzarella!

Quick stop at the small grocery in town and back home for the evening.

Saturday 7/27 Randle, WA

Fog and drizzle this morning, so we skipped our walk. Headed for Mt St Helens looked like a good choice as we could see that there were nothing but low clouds to the northeast towards Mt Rainer. Not a bad drive, it would have been quite nice if the road had not been falling apart most of the way along. A lot of really rough spots so it was slow going. At the first overlook we had an excellent view of a reforested valley punctuated by the skeletons of trees that had been killed in the initial blast of super-heated air from the volcano. We are on the north side of the mountain and unlike many volcanos that erupt straight up this one blew out the north side of the mountain. Through low clouds we could just get a glimpse of the far rim of the caldera.

At the next overlook there were good informational signs and a nice view of a valley that had been blasted by the eruption. We could see the end of Spirt Lake which is covered with downed trees.

At Windy Ridge we were socked into the clouds, as we were leaving they lifted a bit and we could see the other end of Spirit Lake. Just past here there is supposed to be a view into the cone, but it was solid clouds.

Stopped back at Tall Timber for lunch and then back home. Nancy did laundry while I loaded the car.

Sunday 7/28 Vantage, WA

Early morning walk around the RV Park, nice little place but not very busy. Hooked up and on the road a little before ten.

Uneventful trip into Yakima where we picked up I-82 for five miles and then got off for the scenic road through the Yakima River Canyon, nice pretty drive. We had debated about staying on I-82, glad we took the scenic one. Twenty-five miles to Ellensburg, then back on I-82 for a short stretch and then onto I-90 East to Vantage. Not much there. A gas station (where you register for Vantage Riverstone RV park, two closed restaurants (like in out-of-business), and a store closed on Sunday. From the map I had thought the park was right in the middle of town. In fact, it is the town! Pizza tonight, so we weren’t looking for a place to eat anyway. Arrived in time to relax and watch this morning’s F1 race, which was another amazing show, mostly due to the rain.

Monday 7/29 Lewiston, ID

Short walk around RV Park, weekend campers gone, but a good  number in the transient pull-throughs. On the road by 9 AM, across the Columbia on I-90 and then off immediately and onto WA 26 for an hour and a half of flat straight two-one highway. My original plan had been to go straight east to Colfax and then south to Lewiston, but looking at the map I saw a state highway that cut down to US 12. So we took WA 261 - which turned out to be through the Snake River Canyon! 28 miles of 20-30-40 MPH turns, rarely above 45 MPH all the way through. Pretty though.

Arrived at Hells Gate State Park in Lewiston, ID at 12:10 only to find out that there is no check-in until 2 PM! Bummer! Parked at the visitors center and looked through, watched the excellent movie (about Lewis & Clark of course), went out to the trailer and had a snack. Finally got checked in and into our campsite. As expected, a lot of trees so no satellite service. No big deal, we have the DVR.

Tuesday 7/30 Lolo, MT

Left campsite at 8:45, but as expected it took 15 minutes just to get out of the state park and another 10 to get to US 12. Once we got on the road it was one of the prettiest drives of the trip! We followed one bank or another of the Clearwater River from where it empties into the Snake River at Lewiston all the way across Idaho to where the now mountain stream turned south away from the climb up to Lolo Pass.

At one point along the river Nancy spotted a bald eagle high in a tree. When I looked I could also see a female a little lower in the tree.



A good part of the trip we saw a lot of signs like this one:




Then, as we started up into the Bitterroot Mountains headed toward Lolo Pass we saw this one:


Yes, that sign says curvy road next seventy-seven miles! It does not mention that you will also climb 4,000 ft in that 77 miles!

All day the way there were gorgeous views, particularly when we started up into the mountains still along the Clearwater.



Don't know why I did not think of saving screen grabs from our dash cam earlier in the trip!

Stopped in a pullout at level spot in the climb and had lunch that Nancy had packed. The truck performed admirably, climbing all the up to Lolo Pass, 5,233 ft. Then the engine brake held it to the recommended 25 - 30 MPH on the four mile downgrade!

Arrived at Square Dance Center and Campground at 1:50, pretty close to my prediction of 2 PM. Of course it was actually 2:50 since we moved into the Mountain Time zone

When I went into the office there were 25 or 30 people sitting at table in the snack bar area. While I was registering the music started in the other room and they all got up and went in to dance! Nice campground with large sites well spaced around tall pine trees. Other visitors were very friendly and outgoing. Had more conversations about the smart and the duals on the trailer here than anywhere else.

Drove into the community of Lolo and had good beer and dinner at Lolo Peak Brewery and Grille. Stopped at the Pilot/Town Pump to add enough fuel to get us to Fargo where diesel is cheaper.

Wednesday 7/31 White Sulphur Springs, MT

Short walk around the park and on the road just about 10 AM. Through Missoula and then on to Helena on US 12, around bypass, with heavy traffic, to I-90 and east to rejoin US 12.

Nice drive all the way, not as scenic as yesterday but some pretty spots along the way.



One begins to see why Montana is called Big Sky Country.

Arrived at Conestoga Campground in White Sulphur Springs a little after 2 PM. Very friendly hostess, park is just an open field with gravel roads and sites fairly close together.

Drove into town and had an excellent selection of beer at 2 Bassett's  Brewing, then walked down the street to Bar 47 for more good beer and quite a good dinner!

Thursday 8/1 Miles City, MT

After a stop for ice we headed east on US 12 exactly 10 AM. All the way across the state on US 12, not as scenic a drive as yesterday but it had it’s good points. 





The trip should have taken 5-1/2 to 6 hours and we arrived at 4:15. However, we could have arrived much earlier. First, I missed a turn and we went 20 miles out of our way, 40 miles round trip. Second two construction zones, one about 4 miles, the other 11, on dirt roads at 20 to 25 MPH!.



The last 40 miles were on I-94, we’ll be on interstates for the rest of the trip after we had a good look at central Montana. Hot here, in the low 90’s. Big Sky Camp and RV Park is a simple little campground just off of I-94. For dinner we had salmon from Josephson’s Smokehouse in Astoria with the fresh growler of beer we bought last evening at 2 Bassett’s.

Friday 8/2 Miles City, MT

We did several circuits around the small campground this AM, Warm night, first night this summer with the AC running all night.

Drove into town for some groceries and brought them back home. Located a quarter car wash and cleaned the truck - it was coated with dead bugs! And dirty besides. Had lunch at the Black Iron Grille. Once again we found excellent local beer on tap!


Saturday 8/3 Menoken, ND

Uneventful drive into North Dakota. Eastern Montana not as scenic as the western part. Only scenic bit was as we passed through Theodore Roosevelt National Forest.


Some confusion when we arrived at A Prairie Breeze as we first set up in the wrong spot and had to move - my bad, but we got it sorted out. Moved into the central time zone today.

Sunday 8/4 Buffalo, ND

Short drive today, we took a chance and planned on a city RV park that does not take reservations and only has 8 sites. Only a little over two hours so we waited until after ten AM and finished recording the Formula One race. Easy drive, a fair amount of one lane the last couple of days but the 80 MPH limit drops to 65 in the one lane zones and we are traveling at 63 MPH anyway! With the light traffic it does not slow us down a bit.

Got to Buffalo  RV Park and I was glad I looked carefully at Google maps as getting to the park was on a gravel street that wrapped around a school and then four blocks to a lovely little RV park.


This is the entire RV Park! One RV at the far left, another in site 8 to the right.


This is the view after we were parked. I did an amazing job backing into the site, one shot, never had to pull forward to straighten out! Of course there was no one around to witness my performance other than Nancy and I! One more RV came in later in the afternoon so there were four rigs here that night.

Turns out there is a more straight forward way to get in here. Late afternoon we took a walk around town, not much here and nothing open on Sundays. A grocery store open four days a week, a bar/grill open Tuesday through Saturday, a library/heritage center, a post office and several churches. Nice neat little town with mostly well kept houses and a number of plaques on historic buildings.

Monday 8/5 Maple Grove, MN

Pretty good thunderstorm during the night, but cleared off by morning. Mosquitos were fierce outside last evening, a bit better this morning, but still there.

Got on the road about 9:45. Light traffic most of the way until we got into the Minneapolis area. We had planned on stopping for lunch but really did not see anything until a Culver’s about 1:30. It was on a stretch of one lane road on the opposite side from the exit and we decided neither of us wanted to do the construction zone merge back onto the highway so we skipped it. Turns out the road work ended right there and the merge would have been easy! Oh well. 

Ended up going right on in to Minneapolis Northwest KOA about 3 PM. Good thing too as a severe storm passed through just north of us about 5 PM. We had time to get settled and do some brats on the grille before the storm came through.

The fellow that guided us to our site has a 2000 Volvo (ours is a ’99) and a white smart car. He just had a hydraulic loader for the smart installed on the truck! A good looking truck as well with pickup style rear fenders and a nice repaint. 

Tuesday 8/6 Lake Delton, WI

Nice walk around the RV park this morning, then on the road a little after nine. Uneventful trip other than the traffic getting heavier as we got into Wisconsin. Getting around Minneapolis proved to be no problem. Biggest issue we had was finding a place to eat lunch. Took a little tour of Menomonee just to see a Culver’s with nowhere nearby to park!

A second exit for a Culver’s was signed at the exit as several miles away. Finally caught one at the Black River Falls exit. Culver’s right off the exit with a gravel parking lot next to a hotel right next door.

Arrived at Country Roads RV Park just after three. Nice park, we stayed here many years ago.

Stayed in for dinner, a bit of  tiring day and neither of us thought much about going out.

Wednesday 8/7 Lake Delton, WI

Nice morning, a bit humid. Took a long walk around the RV park as usual and mid-morning we drove into Baraboo to the Wednesday farmer’s market. A bit of a disappointment, only 6 or 7 booths almost all selling vegetables. No fruit of any kind.

Not a complete loss though as it was not much out of the way from our plan to visit Carr Valley Cheese in La Valle. A little hassle getting there as they are repaving the road out to the cheese factory and there was a delay in both directions, but it was well worth the trip! They had some really nice, interesting cheeses - including fresh curds from today’s cheese! Bought several items. Along the way we passed Quigley’s Quality Quackers! (duck farm - we did not stop)
Stopped at Culver’s in Reedsburg for lunch. Back home early afternoon.

Quick trip into town for dinner at Moosejaw Pizza and Brews. Big touristy/family place. Pretty good beer and above average pizza.

Thursday 8/8 Lake Delton, WI

Hung around home most of the day. We did some cleaning on the trailer - I did the back windows, Nancy did most of the rest while I repaired a couple of minor items on the truck.

Late in the afternoon we drove into Wisconsin Dells to pick up some more cheese from the Carr Valley Cheese shop in downtown Dells, which does not seem to have changed a bit. Lake Delton on the other hand has a lot of new attractions since we were last hear.

Stopped at the nearby Cracker Barrel for dinner and back home.

Friday 8/9 Sycamore, IL

On the road about 9:45, arrived at Sycamore RV just after noon. Stopped at the last Pilot in Wisconsin to top off the tanks before going into Illinois. Got an honest 10 MPG since fueling up in Fargo, ND!

Settled in now for almost a month, other than taking the trailer in to Erhardts RV on Monday for some maintenance. Won't be much worth posting until early September, but I'll update once in awhile.