It’s been two years since my fabulous summer 2011 travels around Nebraska-Utah-Nevada…and I’m off once again on another CAMPER ADVENTURE!  My destination this time: The Great Lakes – Superior, Huron, and Michigan.

SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2013 –

Around 25 friends came to my “Camper Open House” at my condo in Palm Springs.  That was a brilliant idea, if I may say so myself!  Folks got to see my [2005] Lance 1121 camper – right on top of the big [2006] Ford F-350 Dually that little ole me has been driving around – and get a better understanding of what my day-to-day is like when I eat, sleep, work, etc. inside the camper.  By 4:00 p.m., the party was over and I spent the next few hours doing laundry and other departure preparations.   

SUNDAY, JUNE 2 –

My cats, AJ and Navidad, had suspected - or rather, they knew! – for several days that something was up.  First thing this morning I got them both out in the courtyard.  The idea was to make it easier to grab them out there and put them in their carriers when it was finally time to go.  At the front door, the human me inevitably erred and the crafty feline Navidad managed to slip by me, run and find blessed shelter under the bed.  Telling the poor dear we had to go, he lost to the broom and we were on our way at 8:00 a.m. 

TUESDAY, JUNE 4 –

After three days of driving north on I-5, we arrived at Lisa’s place on Lake Wooten (WA) around mid-afternoon.  This last leg, the approach to Belfair/Tahuya was the best ever.  Usually there’s low hanging clouds but today the sky was so clear I could see Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helen’s, Mt. Rainier, and the snow-capped range of the Olympic Mountains.  That was a treat!

Prior to picking up my camper on May 31^st, I had a list of repairs for David and his crew at Galaxy Campers [in Ontario, CA] to fix.  They also filled my propane tanks and inspected the refrigerator, the air conditioner, the stove, and other items to make sure everything was operational.  The day after I arrived at Lisa’s, I discovered two additional “wear and tear” problems that I wanted to fix before leaving Washington.  I delayed my departure by a day to address these issues --

a) The latch keeping the bathroom mirror secured (very important when you’re in motion) snapped off.  Unable to find a similar latch, Velcro was recommended…and it’s working fine. 

b) The strings that lower/raise the pleated shades for the big dining window need to be adjusted.  In the meantime, to keep the shades propped up (so I can see outside, which is the whole point!), Lisa helped me cut a dowel into two 21” pieces…and those are working out fine.

SATURDAY, JUNE 8 –

Saying “bye-bye” to your kitties is always hard, but Lisa has a lovely home and AJ and Navidad are going to love the summertime smorgasbord of grass and flowers and pine trees…not to mention the cooler weather!  They are in good hands -- thank you, Lisa and Flippy and Sunshine!  After getting fuel and groceries, I left Belfair and headed for I-90 E, through the mountains to the Soap Lake RV Resort in Soap Lake, WA.  I have a view of the lake, straight ahead, and to my right (thanks to the dowels!) a view of the resort’s swimming pool.  I spent about an hour organizing things in the camper and by 7:30 p.m., I could finally relax outside with my first cocktail of the trip!

SUNDAY, JUNE 9 –

Taking my time this morning I left Soap Lake at 10:30 a.m. and took a scenic loop route back to I-90.  The interstate is generally not always my first choice when I travel in the camper, but this was a lovely drive through the mountains, through the Idaho Panhandle, into Montana.  As I approached St. Regis, I watched 99,999 turn into 100,000 on my truck!  My stop for the night was at the Campground St. Regis. 

I have just now discovered I seem to have battery problems, with my Nikon camera AND with the camper’s batteries!  Even after charging the camera battery, the camera won’t come on.  I’ll have to deal with this before I reach Lake Superior.  As for the camper’s two batteries, the monitor inside the camper shows “green” when I’m using shore power (electricity hook up).  In this scenario, the fridge is set on “AC” mode.  When I’m driving, the truck’s batteries are supposed to keep the camper batteries charged, thereby enabling me to set the fridge on “dc” mode.  I discovered the problem when I stopped at a Rest Area to get a Diet Coke from the fridge and the fridge panel was flashing the “lo-dc” warning.  My alternative in this scenario is to switch the fridge to “LP” mode but I really don’t want to drive with a propane tank open, if I can help it.  Gotta do something about this…and soon because my ice is a very important staple, ya know!  So’s my milk!

MONDAY, JUNE 10 –

It got COLD during the night!  I forgot I’m up at a higher elevation.  I got up during the night, shivering in my t-shirt, shorts, and bare feet to the toilet, and I went back to bed wearing sweatpants, socks, and a flannel shirt.  Moving about slowly this morning, I didn’t leave St. Regis until 11:30 a.m. and, back on I-90, arrived at the Sunrise Campground in Bozeman around 4:30 p.m.  It was a nice drive along rolling terrain with views of snow-capped mountains in the distance.

Oh, and I discovered, either today or yesterday, that the handle that cranks open/close the vent cover above my bed no longer does.  I opened the cover, with some effort, and then couldn’t close it.  What me do-do now??  You can’t drive with that cover open…it will break off.  Getting my screwdriver, I removed the handle.  Getting my pliers, I gripped the socket and managed to close the cover with about 20 turns of my wrist.  Gotta get this one taken care of, too…

TUESDAY, JUNE 11 –

David Yavelak [of Galaxy Campers], who sold my Lance camper to me in 2006, responded to the email I sent him regarding the various problems in my camper.  Since the batteries were my biggest concern, he agreed with my assessment that the batteries were probably now too old/weak to sustain sufficient power for the fridge, and possibly for the slide-out as well.  He offered to locate Lance Camper dealers along my route and just before I closed up my I-Pad and got ready to leave, he emailed back and informed me that there was a Lance dealership right here in Bozeman!  Oh, blessed be that I lingered around for as long as I did!

Arriving at the combined Ford/Lance dealership, a lovely young woman named Lara assisted me.  She called this guy over to test the batteries and they did turn out to be weak.  While he was doing his thing, Lara and I got to talking about life in Montana versus life on the East Coast (she’s from Connecticut).  We exchanged other tidbits of information about each other and I asked her about her job at the dealership.  She seemed to appreciate my comment about not many women knowing stuff about Fords and campers.  I nearly forgot, but we then went inside the camper so I could show her the broken vent cover handle and she took care of that in a matter of minutes!

By noon I was back on I-90 E heading for Hardin.  Montana’s beautiful mountains fell behind as I drove on and the terrain morphed into gently rolling hills of rich green grazing land.  I stopped for the night at the Grandview Camp and RV Park in Hardin.  My site is right next to a county road and my “grand” view is a filling station.  Peering out the window, I saw dark clouds approach and I managed to close all the windows AND the vent cover just seconds before the rain hit.  Ah, I got cable here for the TV!

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12 –

Today I switched from I-90 to Rt. 212 E, a very pretty drive though the Crow and Cheyenne Indian Reservations.  I passed the site of the Little Bighorn Battle and as I looked all around me, I tried to picture all the Bison and Indian families that, not so long ago, thrived on this land.  Along the way I saw a lot of pronghorn – always a delight to see this beautiful species of deer – horses, cows, sheep and lambs.  Rt. 212 traversed through about 36 miles of the northeast corner of Wyoming and I then crossed into South Dakota.  I got a site at Chris’s Camp in Spearfish, SD and decided I would stay here for two nights.  Time for a driving break!

FRIDAY, JUNE 14 –

I found out yesterday at the RV park office that there was a Radio Shack nearby that might have a battery for my Nikon.  They didn’t but the cute fellow there suggested I stop at Batteries Plus in Rapid City, about 50 miles further east on I-90.  I copied the directions from the online map he showed me, thanked him for his assistance, and got back on I-90.  Took the exit for Haines Avenue.  Found the store right away.  Explained my plight to the fella there.  They had a battery!  He put it in my camera.  The camera came on!  “You need to charge the new battery, ma’am.”  “Yes, I will do that.”  “That will be $47.69, ma’am.”  “Did you say forty-seven and what?”  Whipped out my credit card.  Said thank you.  Got back in my truck.  Got back on I-90.  And this took all of 15 minutes!

Wall, South Dakota, on the edge of the Badlands, is famous for the Wall Drug Store.  Having traveled around this area in the past, I’d seen billboards – tacky but effective – about the “Wall Drug Store.”  Since I’ve got all the time in the world (truly the beauty of RV travel!), I decided to swing by Wall and visit the drug store this time.  Ted and Dorothy Hustead purchased this small drugstore in 1931, but after several years the store was not doing very well.  The Husteads observed travelers constantly driving by but not stopping at the store.  Located right along a hot and dusty prairie road, Mrs. Hustead determined that those travelers certainly must be thirsty and she came up with a brilliant idea - put out road signs on the highway telling people to “come in for free ice water.”  The tactic worked and the drug store prospered.  Today, it’s a “tourist trap” full of gaudy t-shirts and merchandise.  But they still serve free ice cold water directly from their well!  The Sleepy Hollow RV Park is about a block from the Main Street and I decided to get a site here for tonight.

SATURDAY, JUNE 15 –

Today is a significant day.  Had he lived, Ernie Hoffmann would have turned 68 today.  I didn’t plan it this way, but it’s quite meaningful that I should be here in Wall, this morning, because Ernie’s birthplace, Faith, is just north of here.  Lordy, how I miss Ernie!

I was on the road for seven hours today!  Back on the interstate (I-90) I headed for Sioux Falls and as I was driving along I decided I wanted to get in touch with nature.  I took the exit for Rt. 19 and headed north towards the Oakwood Lakes State Park, near Arlington/Brooking, SD.  It didn’t occur to me until I was well on my way there that today is Saturday…and tomorrow is Father’s Day…and the chances of finding an available site might be, well, nil.  I found the park – the lake was beautiful and white pelicans were everywhere.  But they were indeed full!  Back on the road for about another 45 minutes, I arrived at the Sexauer City Park in Brooking and got a site there.  This is the second time I’ve stayed at a City Park (the Faith City Park was actually my first back in 2008 when I stopped there to visit Ernie’s family and his gravesite) and this one is pretty nice.  There’s hardly anybody else here and for $20 I have electricity, lots of big trees and a nice spread of green grass and lots of birds and, of course, the ever-present gnats and other flying insects. 

SUNDAY, JUNE 16 –

I crossed into Minnesota today, by way of I-29 N, Rt. 12 E, and a couple of 2-lane state/county roads through farm and grazing land.  Wide and smooth was the state road.  Narrower and patchy was the county road – the most fun to drive on!  I forgot to count but I probably passed seven or eight of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes.  By 2:30 p.m. I was all settled in at the St. Cloud Campground and RV Park in St. Cloud.  I had a PB&J sandwich for a late lunch.  Take it from me, these sandwiches taste really good when you’re sitting outside under a tree after driving for a while!  I guess anything will taste good when you’re hungry.  Except liver.

MONDAY, JUNE 17 –

Driving east, Rt. 95 [in MN] became Rt. 8 when I crossed into Wisconsin.  I stopped at Weyerhaeuser, a small village in Wisconsin’s Rusk County.  The village is named for Frederick Weyerhaeuser, Lisa’s great-grandfather, who started his lumber business in Wisconsin and Minnesota before moving the company to Washington State.  I hung around for about two hours, taking pictures of the Frederick Weyerhaeuser School and other buildings.  I had lunch at one of the village’s two restaurants and the guy there told me how to get to the Murphy Flowage Recreation Area campground, just off of County Road F. 

There were two other campgrounds in that general area that I checked out first but ended up going to Murphy.  At one point along the way, I got on the wrong dirt road and after about ten minutes on that road, I realized my error and turned back.  There was a lake off to the side and twice I passed something on the edge of the road that I thought were turtles.  Further up I saw this black thing in the middle of the road that hadn’t been there before.  I stopped, got out of the truck, approached the thing and it was a turtle.  It was as big and black as a cast iron frying pan, with a 10-inch tail, large claws, and an overall leathery appearance.  It was probably quite heavy, too.  A few feet away was a smaller green turtle, like the ones I had just passed.  No matter what I did, the big turtle wouldn’t move an inch and I wasn’t about to try to pick it up.  In hindsight I suppose I could have picked up the smaller turtle, but I managed to do a shuffling quick-step in the dirt and shoo-shoo that one off the road far enough so I could maneuver the truck around the bigger one.  Getting lost sometimes, even for a few minutes, can turn into quite an adventure!

TUESDAY, JUNE 18 –

I wasn’t certain until I arrived at the Murphy campground yesterday evening but I’ve concluded that I’m still having problems with my camper’s batteries.  Even though I now have two new batteries, and they register on the monitor as fully charged when I’m using electrical hookup [at RV parks], they are not being charged by my truck’s batteries while I’m driving.  Something must be wrong with the connection between truck batteries and camper batteries – a “failure to communicate,” as Cool Hand Luke would say.  And then this morning I discovered my mobile wouldn’t come on!  They must program these things to quit working after two years!  I’ll have to keep an eye out for a Sprint store, but in the meantime I can use my I-Pad and laptop to send and receive messages.  For that to work, however, I obviously must have internet access.  Jeez!

I drove east, then north, then west, then north again from Weyerhaeuser, WI to Duluth, MN.  I’ve got a site overlooking a beautiful pond at the Ogston’s RV Park, just outside Duluth.  No more zigzag driving now.  My Great Lakes Tour starts with Lake Superior, in Duluth.  I’ll be going north…into Canada…

 

Photo taken by self with I-Pad. In Montana I think.