Day 60, Thurs, Oct 31, 2024: Mohegan sun Casino in Wilkes-Barre PA to Moochdocking at daughters in Hyde Park, NY.

Although we heard train toots last night and once during night, we did go back to sleep.

A stop at walmart for food and zoom back to daughter's driveway in Dutchess County ny. Arrived “home” at 4pm.

The end of this trip. What did we learn? Route 80 is rough in Indiana...too much construction and rough roads. Illinois not much better AND our rv rides pretty rough despite work on it.

We stopped on the way home...a little detour to Alpin Haus in Oak Ridge NJ to look at a smaller motorhome...a 2025 Jayco Redhawk se 22TF. AND BOUGHT IT...to be picked up following week after we clean it out.

Day 59, Weds, Oct 30, 2024: Cracker Barrel Sheffield OH to Mohegan sun Casino in Wilkes-barre PA.

We were rolling at 8:30am...trying to give Cleveland traffic a chance to be done. Ohio Turnpike/route 80 is another toll road and more gooped up roads. Pennsylvania route 80....is a decent road...would do this one again. Less wind today...yay and less traffic and trucks in general. Arrived at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Wilkes-Barr PA around 4:15pm. Glad to be done with driving/passengering. This casino was also our first night stop on this trip and now the last. We did not go into casino.

Since we are parked in the gravel lot across from lot E, we are letting dog run on long line....she desparately needed that.

Day 58, Tues, Oct 29, 2024: Walmart Princeton, IL to Cracker Barrel Sheffield, OH.

Another long day rolling at 7:30am. Today going through Chitcago there was too much construction putting us on chopped up temporary roads. Indiana did not prove to be better....a toll road that they obviously were not using to better the roads...a joke really to have to pay tolls for crappy roads that have been gooed together...gave our suspension a run for its money. We won't be using this route again to head west...find another way. AND did I mention wind...another windy day fighting the steering wheel for David. We arrived at Cracker Barrel around 4:15pm...so glad to be done sitting/driving. Dinner was at CB tonight.

Day 57, Mon, Oct 28, 2024: Walmart Atlantic, IA to Walmart Princeton, IL.

First light here is not until 7:20am...late! David prefers to not drive in the dark and the lights on this rv are not great...so we waited until first light to start. Arrived at the Walmart in Princeton Illinois at 2pm....so more hours with stops and slow going due to wind/20mph. Glad to be done for the day. We went a little further than planned because more wind tomorrow and so we could get closer to Chitcago. We want to zoom through that mess midmorning tomorrow.

Day 56, sun, Oct 27, 2024: Walmart in sterling, Colorado to

We were rolling by 7:30. A quiet walmart night. It was about 2.5 miles in from route 76. We also discovered there is a welcome rest area north or eastbound and just before route 80 in colorado with a seperate rv area from trucks...right next to 76 and some train sounds.

We arrived at our destination...Walmart in Atlantic, IA around 4:30pm. It was a little over 5 miles off I80...longer than I thought but okay and we were so done. It was somewhat windy today. After the gear heads were done for the night it was quiet.

Day 55, Sat, Oct 26, 2024: Black Canyon of the Gunnison to walmart in sterling, CO.

We were rolling by 7:15am...long day ahead. We went over 3 passes but the mother of them all was Monarch pass (11,312 el)...lots of up, up, up, up and then down, down, down. They could have given me some more guard rails on my side because they cheaped out on that! Of course, snow up there but not on roads. After Monarch Pass it was pretty much valleys to squiggle through/picturesque....but slow going. We just made it to Walmart in Sterling Colorado before dark....5pm.

Just before putting our heads on pillows, we heard the toot, toot, of a train but neither of us heard anymore the whole night.

Day 54, Fri, Oct 25, 2024: Black Canyon of the gunnison

Low 30's last night...we are about 2500 feet up from the town of montrose driven on that squiggly no-guardrail road....so cooler.

Today was spent walking, exploring, relaxing before our 5 to 6 push back to NY state. David discovered that loop b has ELECTRIC. Neither of us noticed it yesterday. DAMN because our solar collection yesterday was not great...david is in charge of that...flipping switches, turning things off and other things on. But we will stay in this site even though electric would be nice. We did use generator today for a short bit...we can ask for forgiveness later. I still cannot believe BOTH of us missed the electric...too intent on how small the sites were and the trimming needs.

Day 53, Thurs, Oct 24, 2024: Mill Meadow Reservoir to

We have decided we are heading home now since we have to be back by November 12^th for a court date. Stopped in Green River, Utah for errands: gas, MELONS/crenshaw, ice cream, propane at ace hardware.

Then off to head to Black Canyon of the Gunneson in Colorado for first come first served camping. Water is off this time of year. No generators...ummm we may have to run it!

So the drive up to the south campground was up, up, up on skinny ass road. We are staying two nights. Here is my review of campground. We checked out loop A, B, C. Most all the trees need trimming in the south campground. Most campsites are not very long; we have a 30 foot class C with two slides on one side. Someone with slides on both sides would not be a good fit for here. It is more set up for small trailers and tents....not todays big units. Some sites are pull through but you will scrape your rv so bring lopers! Most seem to be rv's parked next to your site (next to the road); we have one of those. There are some back ins. $20 with old guy pass for two nights. I shouldn't complain I guess. We will use the trash and recycling. Bear boxes. A total of 12 campers in various units and several tents. Drove part of the rim trail in jeep.

Day 52, Weds, Oct 23, 2024: Sacramento Pass BLM campground to Mill Meadow Reservoir/Fishlake National Forest.

A stop in Delta Utah to do some errands. Then zoomed over some passes to get to Mill Meadow Reservoir near Loa Utah. Relaxing.

Day 51, Tuesday, October 22, 2024: Nameless valley in NV...one of many

Rolling by 7:30am. Got errands today...long way to go today. Ely stop for errands.

Decided to stay the night at Sacramento Pass BLM campground. No cell service verizon. A dumpster! A pit toilet/no thank you. Small fishing pond. 6 sites and possible to squeeze in another couple of rvs. FREE! We love free. Walking trail...bring your horse. There is also an equestrian trail and campground up the hill from this campground. David went to check it out. He said it was great views of mountains....more so than this one. A few more sites. He thinks we could have gotten up there with our low rider 30 foot class A. There are 4 rvs in our campground.

Day 50, Monday, October 21, 2024: A nameless valley in Nevada.

Despite being close to “highway”, we slept well and it was quiet. A lot of Nevada is rural as in out there! We took a ride in a.m. To get cell reception and call daughter...about 8 miles away...lol Walking Mali around our area to check it out. Found a deceased cow...pretty much just hide and bones...the wildlife cleaned it out.

During the day David did more hot spring time...too hot for me in day at around 70 degrees. He's a die hard soaker! I enjoy a nice soak but if too hot its like a neverending hot flash. Evening in hot springs.

Day 49, Sun, Oct 20, 2024: Echo Canyon State Park, nv to a nameless valley in Nevada (lots of those).

We left Echo Canyon State Park to head further into Nevada. Vast areas of nothingness (beautiful). Our ride took us on route 93, then ET Highway (been on this one before). We are seeing that if one wants to do a quick overnight parking/boondocking in Nevada, they seem to have gravel pull offs that are generous enough for tractor trailers (hence rvs).

Today in our travels we went over six mountain passes. Nevada has over 300+ mountain ranges and many valleys...wide flat valleys...some with no ranches in them.

We had three options for boondocking. Plan A was a nope. Plan b was a nope and plan c was a nope. We went with plan d! In a nameless valley in Nevada. Glad to be settled somewhere at 2pm.

David took off to check out a hot spring. Its too warm for me to soak when its 68 degrees so I elected to relaxxxxx and make dinner. David came back after a short soak and we ate dinner. Then hot tub until I got too hot...lovely!

Day 48, Sat, Oct 19, 2024: Echo Canyon State Park, NV

Nice sunny day. We took a ride to Pioche, NV to get ice cream and have a look. We stayed overnight years ago in Pioche in a free area. Typical old Nevada town. Small grocery store, etc. Road was paved which we confirmed with ranger.

Took out grill and grilled up some steak since we had picnic table now and some chicken. Still breeze out but a nice sunny day after thursday and friday WIND.

They do turn off the water in this campground during winter but there is a frost free spigot for water.

Day 47, Fri, Oct 18, 2024: Echo Canyon State Park, NV

Woke to snow in the distant mountains this morning and temps in 30's. Rained last night in Nevada! We usually never get rain this time of year and this is the first in quite a few weeks.

Today, walking and keeping warm. WINDY!

Day 46, Thurs, Oct 17, 2024: Echo Canyon State Park, NV

We saw the ranger this a.m. To ask a few questions and tell him that the campsite numbers in the two campgrounds should be different. The first site 18 we landed in and parked the rv had no electric and we looked all over. So we decided to drive around see if we could find a ranger/nope. But we did find an RV campground with our site 18 WITH electric. Numbers should start in one campground and continue in the next not have two site 18's?

A windy day.

Today we took jeep ride to see what we saw. David also took mali on a nice walk 3.5 miles while I napped. The showers here are okay. The water was not super hot but warm enough with push button start and no adjustments.

Nevada as an annual access pass for non-Nevada residents. $250 and that gets you free entry (otherwise $10 and free campig otherwise $15 to $20). You still need to pay utilitiy fee of $10 if you have a site with electric. Our site here is full hook up and $30. If we were going to visit a lot of Nevada state parks, I would buy the pass. Not this time though.

Day 45, Weds, Oct 16, 2024: Meadow Hot spring to Echo Canyon State park, nv

UGH, with colder than I would like temps coming for a few days (possibly some snow) we elected to move to a campground with electric to really heat up the rv! We drove about 4 hours of wind on route 15 and then cut over to Nevada on route 56 at Cedar City to visit Echo Canyon State Park...because it had availability but first come first served...which I normally hate. BUT reading reviews it usually has availability so we went for it. Even arriving at 4pm (time change now 3 hours behind from NY) we got the site I wanted. BUT we could only book for tonight and book online for saturday night because I didn't want someone somewhere booking OUR saturday night before I got to the not present ranger. The other two days we have to book/pay each day. Nevada doesn't allow you to book online within 72 hours of occupying site....just show up!

Did I say that this Campground is out there. 11 miles down a paved road...with no sign at the “main” road. It is especially “out there”coming from Utah on route 56...over the river and through the woods...blm lands/our lands but lovely.

The park is scenic and has native “landscaping” with fragrant desert plants.

Day 44, Tuesday, oct 15, 2024: South of Vernal Utah to

Quiet night until about 6:30 am. When all the cars started and some trucks. We are right next to 191 so...yeah. In the end after moving onward, we could have stayed in a gravel pull out just off 191 and just south of Duschene, Utah. Before that there was lots of Rez so that would have been a no.

Route 191 south of Duschene took us gradually uphill in a valley of sorts. From there it began to just climb until we hit 9,000+ feet at Indian Summit. LOTS of oil trucks transporting in both directions with MANY oil operations in the area. The down, down, down part was slow for many miles.

Stop for gas in Helper and Walmart in Price. We had ZERO verizon cell service from south of Vernal to just before Helper. Must have been rez and ATT service.

We decided to reroute due to potential for rain. Meadow Warm Springs was now our destination. We arrived around 4pm and walked around to have a look. After arriving at the destination we see that people had no problem buggaring up the roads in...deep ruts. Cars still drove in. Our class A was a big fat NOPE so we set up in entry area. 3 pools. David will test them out tonight. I may or may not after his review.

We discovered that our tail pipe was missing after arriving. Red lights on wall, generator quit. Inspection by David revealed the tail pipe was GONE. While he ruminated on that, he decided first step was to backtrack back to the lumpy surfaced gas station in Meadow, UT. He asked there and nothing and even checked dumpster. As he carefully drove back to our parking spot at the warm spring he kept his eyes peeled (like he had when he drove out) for the pipe. It was roughly 2 feet long and curved. BINGO, he found it...more visible on the return trip due to the angle. A visit to the hardware store in Fillmore got us a replacement bracket to secure it. He had it back on in short time. Time for a soak in the warm spring.

Day 43, Monday, Oct 14, 2024: Flaming Gorge Wyoming (west side) to Near Jurassic National Monument in Utah.

This morning we rolled south on 530 Vernal...to 44 to 191. We have taken this route one other time (the 530 west side of flaming gorge) and the east side a couple of other times. Its a really nice ride with UP, UP, and down, down, down via 10 switchbacks before entering Vernal. It does flatten out before Vernal.

Move day includes: Oil change at Superior Oil and Lube in Vernal (we have used them before/no unhooking the jeep!) and dumping at the same place $10. Walmart pick up. Propane at Sav on: they do bbq tank and onboard but not sure about turning around in the back as we didn't do onboard.

We had intended to boondock somehwere near Jurassic National monument (cleveland Utah) but it was 3pm and we were just leaving Vernal after all our errands. It would have meant 4 more hours of driving with not much choice inbetween...perhaps Walmart in Price Utah (been there/done that). We elected to use the OHV area just south of Vernal and just off the road as a quick overnight parking area.

AC/generator is cranked as it is about 78 degrees of hot.

Just at dusk we had some excitement. An ambulance comes streaming into one of the side roads. Then there were numerous sheriff cars, including one with a side by side. Also a few random trucks including search and rescue. Somewhere unheard in the back was a helicopter. In the end we found it it was a bike accident.

Day 42, Sunday, Oct 13, 2024: Flaming Gorge Wyoming/west side

Sunny and 74ish...with enough breeze to keep it good. Some walking dog. Some jeeping to explore other areas on FR008 to see if we could access with Class A...probably stick with what we have.

Day 41, Saturday, Oct 12, 2024: Flaming Gorge Wyoming/west side

Uneventful day...sunny and 76ish...so pleasant with a light breeze. Some walking dog, some relaxing.

Day 40, Friday, Oct 11, 2024: Flaming Gorge Recreation Area.

Going to be high 70's today...a bit warm.

Mali alerted us to a herd of Pronghorns on the hill...about 12? of them.

Its a Columbus day weekend which we didn't figure out until we got here. We had two trailers pull in and take the sites down from us....now running their generators flat out...can hear them. Not thrilled about that. We have solar so generator not needed. I expect more tonight. Flaming Gorge is about 1 hour if you are coming from the north and 2 hours from the south but many people in the west have rv's of various kinds due to all the public lands available for use for FREE!

Day 39, Thurs, Oct 10, 2024: Yellowstone Trail rv Park to Flaming Gorge Recreation Area (FR008)

Flaming Gorge west side (we do have some cell reception verizon)

Left around 9am. Stopped in Farson to get water in jugs (toilet and drinking)...on far side of the corner store advertising ice cream. Proceed onward to Flying J in Rock Springs for gas fill $2.99 a gallon/cheap. Next up Walmart pick up order and go in store for a few more things.

We then took the western route to Flaming Gorge Recreation Area...down route 530. We have stayed on FR008 in the past with this 30 foot class A and again chose to use the same road and actually same spot. Being a thursday, we got a pick of sites. There were two other rvs in the area but far enough away. Its a hot 78 degrees today with just a lite breeze but it will cool off tonight. We should be here for 4 nights so that on monday we can get oil changed in Vernal.

Set up, some walking, some jeeping, some dinner. Relax. AND just about everywhere the northern lights were to be a great show tonight. Here? If we werent socked in with clouds. We haven't had clouds like this since we left NY? So no show for us!

Day 38,Weds, Oct 9, 2024: Yellowstone Trail Rv Park

David arrived back after his two night backpack adventure in Wind River Range. More laundry, etc.

Day 37, Tuesday, Oct 8, 2024: Yellowstone Trail Rv Park, Pinedale, WY.

A cold 28 degrees this morning. Germans slowly trickled out and were gone by 8am. There were at least 12 rvs. Mali and I hung out in the field.

The lawn guy told me that snow is here shortly and for the whole season. It leaves in June. This campground closes in a week.

Day 36, Monday, Oct 7, 2024: Yellowstone Trail rv Park, Pinedale WY

A quiet night. Mali found a dinner plate size pile of moose poop on the grass in our space in the morning. Apparently they like the young tree branches. Also some deer? Poop. Never saw the moose but now that I know they come close I will look for them early morning and at night...which means I should look before we exit the door. THAT could get exciting really quickly. Took Mali for a few walks around the field.

A convoy trickled in of rental class c's (Germans) during late afternoon/early evening.

Day 35, sunday Oct 6, 2024: Big Sandy reservoir to Yellowstone Trail Rv park.

We selected this rv park in Pinedale Wyoming due to its easy proximity to David's planned 3 night backpack trip and right in town if I needed anything. We were able to pick a site when we arrived at Yellowstone Trail rv park. Mali dog had a field behind our rv to use with her long line. It is not a cheap park at $57 plus taxes but splurge for our purposes.

David finished setting up rv and he took off to backpack somewhere east of here. I did laundry from a good three weeks. It is a very clean park, well cared for and its next to a big field (for dog or kid use).

A quiet evening.

Day 34, Saturday Oct 5, 2024: Walmart Riverton WY to Big Sandy Reservoir.

Probably the noisiest night at a walmart I've had in forever. We were right next to the road BUT....gear head trucks, seemed like racing down the road, police sirens, Fire engine, etc. It did eventually calm down for it being 7am now it is rather quiet still.

Rolling by 8:30am. A stop at the family dollar in Lander Wyoming for an Amazon Locker pick up. This one was in the store so there were hours involved. I made sure the parking lot was big enough to fit one 30 foot class A with Jeep toad. I had three days to pick it up after which amazon sucks it back and refunds my account. Worked well and I have used in the past. I usually look for one that has the locker outside the store and thus no hours but this worked well for me.

We selected Big Sandy Reservoir for dispersed camping. There is a small free campground there (trash and pit toilet) but not to our liking. Cows were on the beach. Mali didn't really notice them until they started moving up the road. Then I had to shut the shade....cows and horses are her thing.

Day 33, Friday, Oct 4, 2024: Powder River Road dispersed to walmart Riverton, WY

We rolled early and had to carefully pick our way out of our spot as it was pretty lumpy/washboard because people insist on riding these roads when its wet/damp. We are a low riding 30 foot class A. I watched undercarriage of rv as he slowly picked his way down the lumps and bumps in the “driveway” . Up to Powder River pass and then down, down, down. A lovely sunny day with no rain in site...which has been this way for awhile now.

First on our list was a soak in Thermopolis. We chose a different soaking operation this time...teepee which was $25 for the two of us. David always soaks longer than I do. I got some things done while he was finishing up.

We were not sure where exactly we would end up tonight but we had a few options. Boysen State Park was the first but we really didn't need anything (electric, dump, water) AND they didn't have electric so no point...passed it by. Next up was Walmart in Riverton, WY and that was what we chose...espectially since it was already 4pm. It was 82 degrees out and 54 tonight so we opted for some AC while we hung out at walmart and did some shopping.

Day 32, Thurs, Oct 3, 2024: Powder River Road Dispersed camping/wyoming.

Neither one of us paid attention to weather last night. How cold was it going to get? So in the middle of the night I got up because I was cold and put on some heat (instead of no heat). I set it to 53 and it was 53 in the coach. I should have upped it more. I never did warm up. At some point David got up and put a blanket on himself (NOT ME). 27 degrees last night....

We need to head back to NY earlier than expected to support daughter in her child custody case...about 2.5 weeks. So we are rethinking the rest of our trip...where to go and where not to go and what route we want to take back to NY. After Hurricane Helene we also need to avoid our usual I40 through Tennessee...just in case.

Mali spotted some deer today. She waits very patiently for her prey. The long line (100 feet?) keeps her from not running off to who knows where.

Dinner was diy nacho plates! Easy peasy...homemade guacamole.

Day 31, Weds, Oct 2, 2024: Belle Fourche Reservoir to Gillette WY and on to Powder River Road Dispersed in Wyoming/Big Horns.

We rolled this a.m at 7:30am. Gillette, Wyoming was our only stop for gas, walgreens/rx, walmart pick up order. The air quality in Gillette was hazy due to wildfires. The online air quality for Gillette said it was good. Donna's take, not good. It said that Buffalo WY was not good for sensitive individuals yet the sky was blue and no wiff of smoke...so not very accurate.

Up, Up, Up we drove to get to tonights destination. 9200' elevation from 4600 or so.

We intended on staying in the National Forrest on route 29/powder river road. This class A is lower and more tricky to maneuvre than our former class c. We were not sure we would be able to get in the same area. However, we were able to secure a spot and no one else is around. So good score with clear blue skies.

While we were watching tv, Mali started barking. Since she is not much of a barker (happy about that) when she starts barking we take note. The two dark brown blobs in the field out our window were MOOSE! So nice to see them.

NO CELL phone coverage here/verizon but we knew that. David pronounced this boondocking site his best ever due to view of mountains.

Day 30, Tuesday, Oct 1, 2024: Belle Fourche Reservoir

Temp was due to go down to 30 degrees last night sooooo, The quilt between above cab drop down bed was dropped to block off the cab area of our small Class A. Tank heaters turned on, bathroom door left open, heat set to 50 degrees. Mali's bed heater turned on. David made lots of improvements to rv to make it a cold weather machine: moving pex, insulating, wet bay has a cute little heater that is turned on with tank heater switch. All good.

Day 29, Monday. Sept 30, 2024: Belle Fourche reservoir

I got woken by big wind coming through my window with sucker fan on. Turned off fan and wind still blowing wildly. Wind whistling. Rv shaking. I hate wind...sleep on and off when I thought we wouldn't tip over..... Luckily calm at wake up.

Did some walking, jeep ride to check out area. More relaxing. Saw a grouse and Pronghorn on our ride.

Day 28: Sunday, Sept 29: Left Tailrace COE campground to Belle Fourche Reservoir, SD

We have verizon service here.

We were rolling by 7:45am and the at that point the winds were mild. By 10am...they had picked up and picked up more than what they were supposed to be and gusty. Not fun. We pulled into a walmart in Rapid City to shop a bit and relax from the windy drive. By the time we rolled and hour later, the winds had subsided enough and we had some rolling hills of the badlands/western SD to tame them...yay! We hit another time zone so now 2 hours behind NY time.

Belle Fourche Reservoir for free camping. We had been here two other times, same area. Usually only maybe one or two other campers but this time there about six. We had a handful to pick from...water front. It is 96 degrees here now...ugh. Generator cranked and AC is running...not suffering needlessly. It will cool down to about 50 tonight and then temps will normalize to cool...YES!

Day 25, 26, 27, Thurs, Sept 26 thru Saturday, Sept 28, 2024: Left Tailrace campground. Just hanging out and relaxing. Not much to do here except if you like fishing. The campground is spacious with a nice campground for kids. Having use of AC is nice in this hot weather but hanging in the shad is okay when there is a breeze.

Day 24, Weds, Sept 25, 2024: Left Tailrace campground!

Its going to be high 80's and low 90's for 5 nights so we rebooked our site at Left Tailrace at $11 per night! For me it was well worth the $11 per nite not to suffer boondocking in those temps, eating through generator gas. Not sure what we are going to do here but....

Day 25, 26, 27, Thurs, Sept 26 thru Saturday, Sept 28, 2024: Left Tailrace campground. Just hanging out and relaxing. Not much to do here except if you like fishing. The campground is spacious with a nice campground for kids. Having use of AC is nice in this hot weather but hanging in the shad is okay when there is a breeze.

Day 23, Tuesday, Sept 24, 2024: North park County Park, Clarkfield, MN to Left Tailrace COE park in SD

We were rolling by 8am. Took back roads to Route 90. Stopped at Souix Falls camping world to buy the rug replacement for the one left at home. We had thrown one out while in florida as it was degrading and leaving turquoise bits all over. We also asked to see their class C's without slides....the one I wanted to see was not there. We did look at other slideless models. Nothing of interest for one reason or another. We want a jayco product as they have a pre delivery inspection facility...which hopefully cuts down on dealership fixes.

Stopped at the Dignity Statue (2016 made) and it was pretty awesome...metal welded. We decided to call it a day and got a site at Left Tailrace COE campground....$11 with old girl pass which includes electric and showers....wooot, woot. Showers were decent, clean, not new. There is a rez next door and a “foghorn” ??? began going off at around 5:30am..... It didn't wake me but....

Day 22, Monday, Sept 23, 2024: Walmart Ironwood Michigan to North Park County Park, Clarkfield, MN

Quiet night last night. Despite my trying to shift Mali to later wake up, later eating due to time changes we will be experience, Mali began to dance around (behind the closed bedroom door) at 5:15am. I did get up at 5:30 because I was awake. Time change yesterday just before we arrived at walmart.

We had intended to overnight at the walmart in Willmar MN but since it was still early, we decided to hit up a county park about an hour from there. We both still had travel time left in us. Found it on freecampsites.net.

Today was a lot of farm fields, grain elevators (almost every town?) and pretty darn flat going thru minnesota from Duluth diagonally down.

Campsite was $10 with no electric.

Day 21, sun, Sept 22, 2024: Twelve Mile Beach to Munising to Marquette, MI and ultimately to the Walmart in Ironwood MI.

What looks to be a windy morning but we were on the road by 8am. Stop in Munising to dump and get fresh water at Munising Tourist Campground. Stop in Marquette to pick up prescriptions. Parking overnight at the Ironwood Michigan walmart...and a pick up order.

We ended our travelling day early...like 2pm...sticking at Walmart in Ironwood Michigan...I couldn't find any place free to park overnight an hour or so away. Walmart closes at 11pm so should be quiet...parked by automotive.

Day 20, Sat, Sept 21, 2024: Twelve Mile Beach at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

Went to Grand Marais in the morning to catch up with family, emails, texts, and get ice cream. Saturday so it was busy. Sable flies continue to be annoying. Cannot leave Mali on her long line due to them making her a meal and my diy doesn't work on them. Its warmer this visit...shorts and t shirts during day versus two years ago it was long pants and sweatshirts. Next year we will be finding a few new national forests to camp in and new sites to see.

Day 19, Friday, Sept 20, 2024: Twelve Mile Beach at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

Raining this a.m. We did put away some things away last night in prep for rain...firewood and chairs that we have not used much...didn't feel like getting bit by flies. It is a prolific fly year...not much wind. Rainy days make me appreciate the fact that I am not backpacking!

Some walking. Grilling dinner for tonight and sunday night on the road. Flies are annoying...trying diy spray again generously. (rose geranium oil mix). We pretty much saw everything we wanted to see last time we were here two years ago so sticking around campground and jaunts to Grand Marais

Day 18, Thurs, Sept 19, 2024: Twelve Mile Beach at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Cool morning and 80 degrees today...I put heat on in a.m. It was a lazy day today for me. David did walk. Epstein barre really sucks the life out of one.

We did attempt to go for dinner in Grand Marais but I batted out twice in trying to find something gluten free or even just a salad. David bought me a novelty ice cream and we gave up and went back to rv. David did get a pricey hamburger for $8.75 off the food truck...nothing special just a burger bun and two pickles...maybe a small package of chips. They were out of gluten free buns end of season....

Day 17, Weds, September 18, 2024: Twelve mile beach, UP Michigan

We ran out of propane in our twenty pounder. Although we do have onboard, experience has shown us that filling onboard propane tanks is not always as easy as the 20lbers so we always bring one 20 lb and use that having the onboard as back up. For the Winter/spring travel to southwest we are thinking of 2 of these 20lbers. There are a couple of places in Grand Marais that we can get our 20lber switched out...easy. If we need basic stuff, we use Grand Marais. If we need something more specific, we would go to Munising but usually avoid that until we leave.

Took a trip to Grand Marais...nice tiny town. Got propane refill and ice cream, chatted with DIL and daughter, caught up on texts and emails, Weather for next few days.

Cooler at 81 today...no Lake superior showers today...i will not get hot enough for that...shower in rv today. Temps slowly creeping down to more seasonable over the next few days...rv showers only.

Bugs are still annoying and my diy “don't bite me” spray doesn't seem to work for them...sable flies.

The backpackers that go thru this park for their walk on the North Country trail (along with shuttle service) surprise me with the assortment of shapes, sizes, ages, prissiness. Because the DNR is so prevalent here and with the comparably greater selection of free camping in state and national forests and paid camping in state parks (than NY), I am guessing camping and outdoor life is much more in use here. Little free camping in NY for families and not around the corner. Yeah, Michigan on our first visit here really surprised me with the amount of camping available; its not all detroit! We did have one older man (probaby our age 68/69) land at the camp hosties site unable to continue his backpacking journey. He made it here from Munising but could not go on. Hostie took him to meet shuttle to get him back to his car and his friend continued on.

Made a delicious Broccoli cheddar soup for us to feed on today. High of 83 today.

Day 16, Tuesday, Sept 17 2024: Twelve mile beach!

David did check for northern lights but moon is just going to be too bright while we are here. Mali let me sleep until 6:33...a record I do believe AND I actually slept until then.

It is not usual to be in the 80's here is september. Walk in the morning with Mali dog. We have not taken her on the beach because its warm enough that people are hanging out down there. Two years ago we could let her run (not supposed to) at beach and no one was around.

David did some walking down the trail today and I chilled (epstein barre...so over it). We made a campfire even though biting flies were still out somewhat because we have a fair amount of wood purchased or procured from people who left.

Showered in Lake Superior...yeah its cold! We are having to run the generator daily to keep up with 12 cf refrigerator and dog freezer. Occasionally if we leave phones on, a message will come thru in the middle of the night....odd because we are in a hole.

Day 15, Mon, Sept 16: Twelve mile beach campground, UP michigan.

David set alarm for 3am and went to check for northern lights...nope...moon was too brite. With fan pulling in air last night and it cooling down enough, we did not need to precool it with AC before Bed. Generator hours are 8am to 8pm here in our section. Section further down is no generator allowed. They resurfaced the road into twelve mile beach...much betterand perahps a bit wider. Some of the sites are a bit sandy in parking area but it didn't keep our clumsy class A from getting in our out.

There is no cell phone reception here (verizon) as we are kind of down in a hole. If we head east to Grand Marais, we can get cellphone/mifi about 15 minutes away from here (not yet in Grand Marais)by Grand Sable Lake overlook...not fast but that is the first area....otherwise all the way to Grand Marais. We did just that today so I could get prescriptions ordered and chat with family.

David took a 5 walk in afternoon and I chilled with Mali...she is not allowed on the trail...boo his. By 3pm the temp in rv was up to 85 degrees despite sucker fan and all windows open. Gen/AC flipped on to cool it down a bit an reload our batteries. Our rv has some shade from trees but still heat from sun works its way in. We were asked if we wanted firewood from someone leaving; we took jeep to get a bunch of wood. Hopefully sable flies will be gone tomorrow...still out today....annoying bites (flies with BIG teethc) but no itch surprisingly.

One thing we noticed is that no one stays here for long stretches. Last year we were here two weeks and this year one week but campers are not here for a even a week.

Completed our day with a dip in the cold Lake Superior. I wasn't quite as bone hot this time so getting in was a bit slower but it served well as a shower. It was brief...COLD

Day 14, Sunday, Sept 15: Lake Michigan recreation area/12 mile beach campground at Picture Rocks National Lakeshort

Good sleep and quiet...road noise is just white noise. Left Lake michigan and dumped our tanks at Lake Brevort campground. The ride to 12 mile beach included a quick stop for groceries and a stop in Grand Marais. Grand Marais is a nice small town on Lake Superior with gas, small groceries, propane, restaurant but could not find an outdoor camping rug anywhere (ours sits forgotten in shed at “home”). We will pick up one at Walmart after our one week stay here.

Site 16 here at Twelve mile beach is a lovely spot on Lake Superior...walk down, down, down the dune to the lake. I was greeted quickly by a few biting flies! Hot 86 today (I am suffering here) and no electric but solar/generator cooled us off when we got here and later for sleeping. Swimming tomorrow or tonight if I really need to cool down. We have seven nights here (down from last years 14 nights).

Tonights dinner is mexican corn salad on corn torts with cheese and mango salsa...except for the cilantro, it is a dump meal...crank up generator to heat it up (or not).

Post dinner temp check in rv with fans running and all windows open...a HOT HOT HOT 87! Okay, I am going in the water.....so overheated. Down, down, down the dunes we went and right in....guessing it was about 60 degrees but after the initial COLD my body was just so hot that even after 10? minutes I still was not cold. Lake Michigan was warmer at 70 degrees but we didn't go in thinking that was cold. Air temp at lake michigan was cooler. Thankfully soon after our return to rv temps began to cool a little with the sun not directly on rv. Approximately 60 degrees overnight.

Day 13, Saturday Sept 14: Lake Michigan recreation area/Lake Michigan at st. ignace depending on where you look. Another quiet night. Last day here at this little strip of a campground next to route 2 in UP as it closes tomorrow...rather early if you ask me. Campground is not full this time of year.

Day 12, friday, Sept 13: Lake Michigan campground in Hiwatha National forest. Half price for us...so nice. This rustic campground boasts toilets (not going in have my own) and a dumpster AND beach access on Lake Michigan Most sites are rather small and not the spacious I usually go for. Our site 11 is little more than a dirt spot for us to park our 30 foot class A. DOWN from our site is another dirt platform for fire ring and picnic table and sometimes our dog on long line but not very long. When we stayed last year that site was similar...narrow. A quiet night was enjoyed. There is background noise of route 2 because it parrallels this campground. It is a bit chilly this a.m. And our sleep last night was cool with fan on to cool down rv. We got good verizon cell service while here.

Took a walk on beach with Mali dog. We did let her run a bit and she was very good girl coming back to check in; I had treats. Even managed to get her to go in the water to drink and ankles...no swimming without a stick to fetch.

Late afternoon we took a short ride for Pasties and ice cream....dinner. Ice cream good; pasties underwhelming but I didn't have to cook. Two pasties and two tiny ice creams $29. !!!!

Day 11, Thurs, Sept 12: Platte River Campground to Gaylord to Lake Michigan at st. Ignace. Uneventful ride and of course took us longer than expected with stops for walmart pick up, gas, laundry (in gaylord). Arrived around 4pm at or Hiawatha National forest campgsite. We picked site 11 as it was one on my list but its waterfront access is a bit inconvenient and its narrow but just enough room for us to fit with 2 slides on one side. We do have verizon cell service and texting. A bit warm at 77 degrees and 58 tonight...I need cooler.

Day 10: Weds, Sept 11: Platte River Campground, Michigan

VERY quiet here and I think our loop is the best after looking at the others. We took a walk to Lake Michigan from our campsite....1.1 miles one way...sandy the last bit. A lovely walk but didn't take Malidog for speeds sake; shes a sniffer and I wanted a fast walk. Hung out there for a bit and back we went. A lovely walk. In the afternoon we decided after seeing that a car was parked further down that there must be a road in. Peterson road is about ½ mile down route 22...a dirt road. Mali came this time around. There was no sign saying no dogs...until we got to the beach. So we sat at end of walkway for a bit because there was another couple on the beach. We didn't want anyone ratting us out.

Day 9, Tuesday, Sept 10: Platte River campground

David made bacon and eggs...a first ever...he needed a bit of instruction. More park exploration today: scenic drive, walk to BIG dunes but not going down to bottom $3k to get back up if you cannot do it on your own. I did see 3 people on the dune...one male at the bottom slow going probably thinking, Oh crap, big mistake. Then there were two youngish females that were booking it back up the dune … like it was nothing. We took a look at DH day campground (not really for big rigs due to low hanging trees in sites and roadway). Found milk shakes in Honor, MI.

Day 8, Mon, Sept 9: Platte River Campground at Sleeping bear dunes National Lakeshore. A quiet night had by all. Mali let me sleep until 6:10...what a good girl. Early bird me is happy with that. Today we took jeep out to explore the park. Hit the beach accesses. Bought some fresh picked apples and peaches. Walked around campground. Sat and sunned for a bit in our campsites...had to keep moving chair as its heavily treed. We do get verizon cell service here!

Day 7, Sun, Sept 8: Proud Lake State Park to Platte River Campground/national so half price for us. Uneventful ride with stops at Walmart and gas in Cadillac, MI. The 4 hour ride took us 7 hours...yup always takes us long because of errands and we are not in a hurry.. The campsite we selected pretrip turned out to be a good one. Platte River campground is national so half for site/$13 plust $5 for electric....$18 per night....reasonable. Well treed and 50 amp service. Walk with Mali and drive campground loops to see what sites we would like next time. It was a bit windy last night...acorns were hitting our roof with a loud ding...thankfully stopped before bedtime

Day 6, Saturday, Sept 7: Proud Lake State Park

Spent the morning chilling. In the afternoon Mark & Sue came to visit us at our campground. Good company.

Day 5, Friday, Sept 6: Proud Lake State park.

A quiet night was had by all....AC on so couldn't hear anything. In the afternoon went to visit our volunteer friends, Mark and Sue in suburban detroit. Take out dinner at their condo. Was good to see them.