My Journey

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

We finally left Barkcamp State Park. It wasn't looking good, we didn't make the 1:00 p.m. checkout, but we did get out of there. We drove west on Interstate 70 to Columbus, Ohio, then onto Interstate 270, and then onto Route 23 headed north for Michigan. After a brief stop at a McDonald's which the dogs loved we continued north. With skies beginning to fill with rain clouds, we pulled over into a rest area for the night. Shortly thereafter the skies opened up with torrential downpours, then a pig truck pulled in and parked next to us for awhile. That was really, really bad. Next was a truck with a super turbo (or something) on it's engine. It roared like a lion, like no other truck I've ever heard. I made repeated attempts to back out of my situation (you can't back up when flat towing) and move. The truck driver finally took pity on me and moved to the other end of the rest area. Was asleep by midnight and missing Barkcamp State Park..................

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Back on the road yesterday and continued north. Lots of humidity and the hottest day yet as it hit 92 degrees in the late afternoon. We made a stop in Toledo at an RV shop to get some supplies for camper repairs. With rain everyday the broken window (actually there's no window) is becoming a significant pain in the butt. Anyhow, we continued north and made it into Michigan late in the evening. I pulled into the Welcome Center and decided to overnight there. That worked out great but it was our first night with lots of mosquitos which unfortunately made it into the camper. They tore me up. So we are back on the road this morning and headed for the shores of Lake Huron...........

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Check out this In Progress Adventure !! Incredible stuff................

http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...Expedition-UK-Vladivostok-(Siberia)-Adventure

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Yesterday was another day on the road so not too much to write about this morning. We drove slow, had plenty of stops, and finished the day in Saginaw, Michigan, not quite making it to the shores of Lake Huron as planned. We made a stop at a Cummins / Onan repair shop to get the generator problem diagnosed. Well it wasn't good news. The technician found that the magneto on the flywheel was bad. He'd have to remove the generator from the camper and dismantle it for the repair. Estimate of around $800. Apparently this is very unusual so a bit of bad luck on my part. Now it's look like there will be no generator for this trip. The truck has also developed a problem.........the seat heater on the drivers seat. It comes on by itself. This started a month ago so I pulled the fuse then but now somehow the thing has recently figured out how to still go on ! A little more bad luck and a hot butt throughout the day. Anyhow we spent last night in a Flying J truck stop. Worked out great but more mosquitos...........I think I'll need to get used to these little critters while in Michigan.

 

[fisher205]

Jerry,
Pick up some citronella candles. The little tea ones work good. Keep a couple of them burning in the camper and it will minimize if not eliminate the mosquitos

Glad your moving again.

Brad

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

You know what Brad, I've got 3 of those candles in the back of the Jeep but forgot about them. Good tip....thanks. I did figure out they're making their way through the broken window. I'm thinking if I use gorilla tape on that seam I may be good to go. Off to see tall ships (I hope) in Bay City.

 

[digitaldelay]

Hey Jerry:

Heated seat in the middle of summer is not good! I found this link that might help you unplug it at the seat. I didn't try opening the full attachment on my phone but the preview might be even be enough to help you out.

http://ebookbrowse.com/2011-11-07-031909-gmt-800-heated-seat-drivers-diagnose-pdf-d315169556

Jason

 

[Wainiha]

Great pictures. I lived in Oregon. Camped at Smith Rocks, beautiful state.

Also lived in Bozeman, MT loved that state too.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Jason.....thanks. I'll check it out.

Wainhi...........thanks.

Often when I travel I think to myself, what the hell am I doing ? I could be at home where life is so much easier. But today was one of those days where I say thank goodness I'm out on the road. Today was a great day on the road. And I only traveled maybe (20) miles. So here's how it went. As I approached Bay City I decided to stop in town and pick up supplies at the Wal Mart since this is the last significant size town we'll visit for awhile. Well, I saw several signs advertising tall ships so while I was in the Wal Mart I asked the cashier about it and everybody in line raved about the tall ships. It just so happened that they sail into Bay City every (3) years and today they were coming to town. Well it was early this morning when I was at the Wal Mart, and they weren't coming until late this afternoon. I said thanks but I was on a mission to get to Lake Huron today. As I was leaving town I decided no, I'm staying. We wasted the morning away at the high school throwing and chasing a tennis ball and watching the school soccer team scrimmage. Then we walked around town just killing time. Then I happened to meet the owner of the candy store. He was sooo kind to us. And right behind his store he has (10) boat slips on the river and a large parking lot. Well, the tall ships came right by here and he allowed the dogs and I access to his private property. He kicked out every person that tried to access the river but he let us in. Then it got even better. He said that we could camp on his lot tonight and he hooked us up with electricity. So we didn't make it to Lake Huron once again but what a great day we had. Yep, it's days like these that make it worth while to sleep in rest areas or truck stops. We are very grateful for his hospitality.

 

[mtnbike28]

Score.... where are the tall ship pix? ; )

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

A few tall ship pictures for your enjoyment............

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

And a few more...............

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Hanging out in Manistee National Forest. Will update soon.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Everybody that I spoke with in Bay City thought that I should change my plans of going north along the shoreline of Lake Huron and head for Lake Michigan on the west side of the state. So that's exactly what we did. Therefore we ended up in Manistee National Forest last night. The plan was to find us a good free spot to camp but the National Forest here is not like it is out west. I had trouble distinguishing National Forest land from private land. So I decided that we'd spend the night in a campground and we found ourselves a spot in Bowman Ridge Campground. This is run by the National Forest Service. I hated to pay $14 to sleep here but it was better to do that than piss someone off by staying on their land. It would have been great if they had showers but no amenities for us. The dogs had a swim in the river last night and then we called it a day. Woke up to cool temperatures and a beautiful day............

Below are pictures of some of the people that were so nice to us............

That's Steve with my dogs. He's one of the owners of the candy & nut shop. He was amazing.



I don't recall this kid's name. We chatted throughout the day. I brought him cold bottled water and granola bars cause he had nothing with him. He wants to go to Ohio to study HVAC. Nice kid.



This guy was funny. We talked a lot while I was hanging around. I asked him for a picture and he said come closer. I did and he says "I'm a look a like for Samuel L. Jackson". He said to take a close up too. Unfortunately he had that hat on cause he really was a dead ringer for the guy. I never noticed until he told me.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

We left Bowman Ridge Campground this morning around 10:00 a.m. and continued west headed for Ludington, Michigan. People on the east side of the state raved about the beach here. And they were right. It's a really, really nice beach and it's a great town filled with plenty of friendly people. We spent the majority of the day at the beach although the dogs weren't allowed at the main beach. No problem there because they've got a beach set aside for the dogs and the dogs took full advantage of it. On (3) occasions they swam today. We did take a break late in the afternoon and walked to the public library for the book sale. Didn't have any luck but it was fun.

I've had another equipment failure as one of the camper blinds has fallen apart. What a pain in the butt. Made a trip to Lowes and bought me a clamp which seems to work fine but of course not near as well as before. I guess problems / issues will be more and more common as my rig is now (8) years old.

I never noticed it before but lower Michigan looks like your hand. I've noticed lots of people give me directions by using their hand like a map. Kinda funny. Plus they talk kinda funny (to me anyhow). I like the folks here in Michigan. I have no regrets choosing Michigan as my first destination this year. Still looking forward to the Upper Peninsula........