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 4: Thurs, Sept 5: Shenango Recration Area to Proud Lake State Park in Michigan (to visit volunteer friends). Stops today to pick up rx for me that I screwed up on getting before we left. Suburban detroit traffic is not nice! Settled into Proud Lake Recreation area campground. Here is my review. Nice bathhouse after yesterdays, no laundry. Sites are close and not very level. 3 nights is $104 plus $22 for the recreation permit $126 for 3 nights...normally will not pay this but visiting friends and this is closest.
Day 2: Tues, Sept 3, 2024: Shenango Recreation Area in PA
A quiet free night was had...and that is all you can ask for! Today we drove from Wilkes-Barre to Shenango Recreation Area campground. Uneventful and not a lot of cars or trucks. We arrived to find that the picture of the site I had selected was dramatically smaller than the photo but worked well enough for us to fit...just not spacialy like I had hoped. They also don't do anything about poison ivy so keeping a lookout and not letting Mali pup stick her nose in it. Set up quickly and took a walk to have a look. Still sites available despite them shutting down part of park because its after their main season. No one at gate, didn't see a ranger, hosts are present but are just at their site. I wouldn't need to stay here again but David would...although two nights for $32/old guy pass is reasonable. Crackerbarrel in Youngstown would have been find for me although nice to have a no moving day.
Day 1: Mon, Sept 2, 2024: Mohegan sun casino
We decided to leave son's moochdocking location to head out an afternoon early. The bridge in poughkeepsie has middle lane closed during the day and us being big ass class A, we like the room! We would have had to leave later than we liked tomorrow a.m. to get to our reservation at COE Shenango Recreation Area in western PA. A stop at Walmart to pick up order in Milford PA and we continued on. Being Labor Day monday the roads (except for southbound thruway) were shockingly sparse....route 84 and 81 in PA. Our destination tonight was about 4 hours away in Wilkes-Barre, PA at the Mohegan Sun Casino. Only a van and one trailer there when we arrived and a few trucks but it is a BIG lot and not very level. Dinner was leftover take out. Relaxed in evening...no gambling.
