August 2005

Home Up

[Calgary - Pine Creek Campground - 50.52 N / 114.02 W].

August 1st, 2005 - Day 3 of our visit to Calgary - Monday was forecast to be a hot day, so we cancelled our plans for the zoo and decided to go white water rafting on the Kanansikis River.  We had to drive about 65 miles to get there, back in the direction of Banff.  On the way there, we heard a news report discussing the hot dry conditions locally and the danger of forest fires.  The white water rafting was fun, but at Level 2-3, not nearly as exciting as the trips I had taken on the Lehigh River in PA.  After completing the trip, we noticed that the highway back to Calgary was stopped up with traffic.  We then heard that there was a big brush fire on the way back, and they were fighting the fire by dropping water from airplanes and helicopters.  Traffic was really slow going back, but we soon passed the area where the fire was (it was out by then) and made good time the rest of the way.  

On Tuesday, August 2, we traveled about 125 miles from Calgary to Waterton Park, one of Canada's National Parks.  In fact, it is an international park in combination with Glacier National Park.  Anyhow, the road passed by many miles of bright yellow canola plants.  In addition, there were many acres with horses and cattle grazing as well as bales of hay.  In addition, we saw a huge windmill farm with huge windmills.  There was also an area of cutout silhouettes.  After we got settled in the campground, Shelley decided that she wanted to hang out for a while, so the other three drove to the entrance to Waterton Park to find about things to do and see in the park.  On the way back, we drove through an large enclosed area where there were 8 bison hanging around the road.  After dinner in our coaches, we drove back down to the park where there was a ranger lecture about invasive plant species in the park.  Norm was called to volunteer on the stage.  We drove over to the National Park and stopped off at the information center.  There were no ranger talks, so we took the car and drove about 10 miles to Red Rock Canyon.  It wasn't anything like the Grand Canyon, but the stream had cut a narrow canyon about 75 feet deep.  The rock on the canyon sides was all red; the rock contained metal ore and was exposed to the air many years ago and turned red from rust.  There was a nice, very short trail up one side of the canyon and back the other.  We also went down to the stream bed and took another 1 kilometer trail that led to Blakiston Falls.  Afterward we drove to Watertown Village where we walked around and stopped for lunch and some ice cream.  Later we took another drive to Cameron Lake, a beautiful place surrounded by mountains.  They even rented canoes and row boats there.  If we had time, I probably would have rented one and gone out on the water for an hour or two.  We then stopped at the Prince of Whales Hotel, a large building that looked like a huge A-Frame overlooking one of the many lakes in the park.  We got back to the campground by about 4 PM.   [Waterton National Park - Waterton Springs Campground - 49.08 N / 113.51 W]

Shelley in Red Rock Canyon bed

Cameron Falls

Wildflowers

Front of Prince of Wales Hotel

backyard of hotel

rear view from hotel

On Thursday morning we drove past the entrance to Waterton Park and headed south.  After a short distance we came to US immigration.  It sure felt good to be "back home."  And amazingly, almost as soon as we crossed the border, our cell phone service resumed.  Shelley was so excited.  Almost instantly she listened to the 15 voice mails that had accumulated and made a quick phone call.  She had to put the phone down when we arrived at the KOA (Kampgrounds of America) that was almost right at the entrance of Glacier National Park.  While Shelley hung out for a bit, the rest of the crew went to the Visitor's Center at Glacier.  We saw a short slide show about the park and found out information about what was going on.  Later, Marsha and Joe went back to the park for a ranger-led hike while we rented a canoe from the campground and went for a ride on St. Mary Lake.  Because of the layout of the lake, we had to go downwind first and then we had to fight our way against the wind to return to the dock.  But it was great fun being on the water.  After dinner on the coach, we went to a ranger talk about grizzly bears.  Petty interesting stuff.  Friday, August 5 found us looking forward to a 52 mile drive on the "Going to the Sun" road through Glacier National Park.  It is the only road that goes through the park and is supposed to be one of the most beautiful roads in the world.  And it was a spectacular trip.  Glacier National park is not named for the glaciers there, but for what beautiful scenery has been made by the glaciers of old.  We drove as high as 6646 feet as we crossed Logan Pass, a point where water can flow into the Gulf of Mexico, Hudson Bay, or the Pacific Ocean. There aren't many places like that around, and we went from one amazing vista to another.  We stopped at one point where you could turn in any direction and find a scene beautiful enough to sit and stare at it for 10 or 15 minutes.  One thing that we all saw was the beauty of the wildflowers.  All shades of purple and yellow were everywhere as well as large patches of white flowers.  Absolutely stunning.  We also got to see two big horn sheep, spotted by Shelley, our ace animal spotter.  The road was packed with sightseers like us, and many pulloffs were packed, with no place for us to park.  We returned to the campground mid-afternoon, and Shelley, Marsha, and Joe went swimming in Lower St. Mary Lake.  [St. Mary, Montana - KOA Glacier National Park - 48.45 N / 113.26 W ]

Clements Mountain

Logan Pass Mountain

Norm on "Going to the Sun" road

"Going to the Sun" Road

"Going to the Sun" Road

Field of Wildflowers

We left Glacier on Saturday morning.  We now had about 600 miles or so to get to Minot, where our FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) rally was to begin on August 15.  Joe and Marsha headed for Grand Forks, and this was the first time we were separated (except when we had our radiator repaired) since the end of May.  Initially we drove south through some mountains and foothills and passes, and eventually we turned east through some rolling countryside.  We now know why Montana is called the Big Sky state.  The blue skies overhead seem to go on forever as you turn your head from one side to the other.  The land on either side of the road was mostly used for growing wheat, and there were occasional fields with horses and cattle grazing.  Grain elevators popped out here and there as did small towns of a few thousand people, like Cut Bank and Havre, Montana.  We arrived at our campground in Havre during the middle of the day, and Shelley noticed one of the digital thermometers at a local bank reading 100 degrees.  YUK.  The campground was sort of unique, in that our parking space was along a curb, and we had to parallel park, like you would do with a car in the city.  That's a first.  We got the rig settled and then Norm went off to tour Havre Beneath the Streets.  The story goes that a huge fire destroyed the town in 1904.  At the time, it was hard to get a large supply of building materials quickly to rebuild the town.  So the local merchants built downward, and created an early underground mall that flourished for about 10 years, before the town was rebuilt on the surface.  The tour took us through some actual sites of old businesses as well as some recreations.  It was pretty interesting, except that the tour guide wasn't too good.  On Sunday, Shelley stayed behind with the coach while Norm went to see one more sight in Havre.  That was the Wahkpa Chu'gn (say wock-pa-jew-kon) Buffalo Jump.  This was an area surrounded by very steep hills on three sides.  The native Americans learned to stampede herds of buffalo so that they fell over the steep hills and either killed or injured themselves.  There are layers of earth full of all sorts of buffalo bones that have been dated as long ago as 2,000 years.  It was really an interesting stop.  [Havre, Montana-The Havre RV Park-48.33 N / 109.40 W ]  We then drove due east along US Route 2 until we came to the town of Glasgow, Montana.  Again, we saw lots of wheat fields and many fields full of grazing cows and horses.  We found our campground and settled in for the evening.  After dinner, we spent some time in the heated indoor pool and the hot tub in the nearby hotel.  [Glasgow, Montana - Cottonwood Inn RV Park - 48.12 N / 106.37 W]  We planned to take a short trip on Monday, but at the last minute, while enroute, we decided to go the whole route to Minot.  The trip east on Montana Route 2 was a continuation of our last two days.  The road was one lane in each direction and continued crossing mile after mile of ranchland, wheat fields and horses and cattle.  There were frequent grain elevators and small towns every 75 miles or so.  We finally pulled into Swenson's. the campground in Minot and found a place to spend the night (no hook-ups and no fee).  After we got settled in, our friends Jay and Donna Blumenthal found us and came over to chat for a few minutes and discuss FMCA politics.  [Minot, ND - Swenson's CG - 48.13 N / 101.16 W ].

Bedroom, underground Havre

Bordello, underground Havre

Buffalo Jump

Buffalo bones

Farm & farmhouse along highway

Grain elevator

We spent Tuesday morning finding a campsite with full hook-up (water, sewer, and electricity) and doing some shopping in a Minot Mall.  We also got involved in FMCA politics.  We were visited by 2 area Vice Presidents and also one of the candidates for organization President.  Its a shame that even in an organization like this, politics gets so dirty.  When we returned to our coach, our Chai friends, Laura and Shelley Singer were parked in the next site.  Within a short time, Ralph and Sue Marino as well as Bernie and Marlene Dobrin also arrived at Swenson's.  We got out some chairs and spent the afternoon shmoozing.  Just as the eight of us were leaving to go out for dinner, Marsha and Joe arrived, and we managed to fit them in our cars as we headed for Applebee's.  We spent the evening in Laura and Shelley's rig, sharing ice cream, pound cake, chocolate syrup and coffee.  From Tuesday until Thursday we stayed at Swenson's and either hung out with friends, did FMCA stuff, or prepared for the rally by stocking up our pantry, filling up with fresh water, and emptying our holding tanks.  It was a pretty quiet time with some unwinding after our long trip to Alaska.

On Friday morning, the 5 coaches of the Chai Chapter plus our friends, Jim and Judy Ploesser formed a caravan and drove the short distance to the fairgrounds where we were to spend the next week.  The parking crew led us to our spots with the other volunteers in Lot M.  We were amazed that the fields were just dirt (oh, we hope that it doesn't rain) and at how far they were from most of the activities.  And we were supposed to have preferred spots because we were volunteers.  The power was scheduled to get turned on about 9 in the morning on Saturday, so we spent the first day just living off our batteries.  During the next week, we schmoozed wit our friends, participated in FMCA business, went around to the booths where they were trying to sell us things that we never knew that we needed, and met people.  We wandered through the rally site, and had time to go see some new motorhomes.  Norm went on 6 Prevosts, each costing about $1,250,000.  The chassis alone was about $600,000.  It was absolutely amazing, but the glitz and showiness that seemed to permeate these coaches are definitely not our style.  These rigs have plenty of really nice features, but I just wouldn't feel comfortable in one.  There was entertainment at the rally.  On Tuesday night, there was a group called New Odyssey that was a lot of fun to watch.  Wednesday brought Roy Clark, who was once one of the leading entertainers in the country, but has gotten old and is clearly over the hill.  And Thursday brought on the Lettermen, a trio of singers who were at their prime in the 60s and 70s and they put on a really enjoyable show full of nostalgia that was enjoyed by just about everyone.  The weather held for most of the rally, but on Wednesday night there was a torrential downpour that turned much of the lot into a quagmire.  Several coaches tried to leave in the middle of the storm and some got stuck in the mud and needed to be towed out.  Because of the dirt and the mud, it was a battle to keep the coaches clean, and all of us spent significant time sweeping and vacuuming.

On Friday, August 19, the rally was over and everyone started leaving to do their own thing.  Jim and Judy Ploesser and Laura and Shelly Singer joined us as we headed east through northern North Dakota.  We continued through the same sort of country side that we traveled through prior to arriving in Minot.  We did pass one interesting place.  It was in the town of Rugby, North Dakota, and it claimed to be the geographical center of North America.  I'm just not sure what that means.  We arrived in Larimore, ND and found a campground in a local park.  The sites were large and grassy, and we all enjoyed these accommodations after leaving the rally.  We spent the afternoon relaxing with some wine and nibbles, doing some wash, and straightening out the coaches.  We all cleaned the front part of the coaches, which are always filthy from all of the bugs that we meet as we drive along the roads.  We got up Saturday morning, and to help Judy celebrate her "double nickels birthday" (55) we all piled into Jim and Judy's coach for a delicious breakfast of pancakes and bacon.  Wasn't that a great way to celebrate Judy's birthday??  Having them cook for us??  LOL!  After we all attended to some chores, we loaded up our laundry and headed into Larimore.  We got our dirty clothes cleaned and stopped off at a local place for lunch.  The prices were ridiculously low and the portions ridiculously large.  We asked around for a place to go for dinner, but the locals that we asked said that there was no decent place to eat out that was closer than 25 miles away.  We came back to the campground and, after putting away the clean clothes, we engaged in a friendly game of horseshoes.  It was a really dangerous game, since our throws were far off the mark, and nobody was safe.  We returned to the coaches and had some wine and noshes.  We decided that we needed to take a break from eating, so we returned to the coaches for an hour or so.  At 6:30 we left to go out to dinner at the Brass Boot in Grand Forks. [Larimore, ND - Larimore Dam Recreation Area - 47.56N / 97.37W ]   

Hanging out laundry

Jim & Shelly relaxing

Searching Woodalls for next campground

Rags & Max

Jim, Judy & Max

shelly, Laura & Brook Lyn

Shelly, Norm & Jim

Sunday morning was bittersweet.  Jim  and Judy had to head south while the other 2 coaches continued east (and a little north).  The Singers' and we headed for International Falls, Minnesota.  I know that, during the winter, this town is frequently the coldest place in the 48 contiguous states.  This was another trip that was primarily along a small 2 lane road (one in each direction) with a 65 mile speed limit.  At the onset, there were large farms with fields that seem to go on forever, but eventually wooded areas frequently appeared.  The land was as flat as a table and we often drove many miles with only minor variations in altitude.  We ended up at the International Voyageurs RV Park, a small park that was well kept but without many amenities.  We only had extended network on our cell phone, so we couldn't use it as a modem.  Also, our Earthlink service was useless as there was no local phone number for that service.  Oh well, we'll survive.  Shelley had a rash of some sort that was moderately itchy all over....hopefully it will go away soon.  We all had dinner together at Shelley and Laura's coach. [South International Falls, MN - International Voyageurs RV Park - 48.34 N / 93.24 W]

We had a busy time on Monday morning.  We were up at 7 AM and detached our tow car.  The 4 of us piled in and off we went to the Boise paper mill, where we were scheduled for a tour.  Nearby, we saw another paper mill, owned by Abitibi.  That mill seemed like it was right in International Falls, but we were surprised to learn that it was actually in Canada, across the river.  The Boise mill operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year round. except for about a week a year when the place is closed for maintenance.   They produce about 1,500 tons of paper each day, about one half million tons each year.  Most of the output is for computer printer paper.  Most of the wood is aspen, birch, maple and ash as well as pine, tamarack and balsam fir.  There are piles of wood chips on one end of town, and these are sent over to the paper mill via high pressure air which blows the chips through a large pipe at speeds that average about 70 mph.  One of the machines that we saw was 32 feet by 670 feet long, and this produced a roll of paper that was 40 tons, 29 feet wide and a circumference (including the spool) of about 10 or 11 feet.  Following our tour of the mill, we all felt somewhat strange, no doubt a result of all of the bleach and other chemicals used in the papermaking process.  This was despite the protestations of our tour guide who spouted the company line about the lack of odors and how much the company spent on meeting OSHA standards.  Anyhow, following the tour we stopped at the post office to pick up our mail and also to send the contract and other forms for selling Ahneya.  Hopefully this deal will be wrapped up this week.  We stopped for breakfast at the Chocolate Moose before heading back to the campsite where we hooked up our tow car and pulled out ready for our trip to the Duluth area.  BUT WAIT.  As we started to roll forward, Laura started yelling on the CB.  We had unhooked everything but our electric before we left the campground earlier in the morning, and that was still plugged in.  Fortunately nothing was damaged, and we left on our way south.  We decided to spend the evening in the Walmart at Cloquet, so we had plenty of time.  In fact, we stopped in Virginia, Minnesota for a few hours so as not to arrive at Walmart's too early.  We did some food shopping, ate in the Applebee's across the street and got to sleep reasonably early.  [ Cloquet - Walmart - 46.42 N / 92.27 W ]       

On Tuesday we drove from Duluth to near Minneapolis - St. Paul.  The drive was uneventful and we arrived at our destination in early afternoon.  It was not a campground and not a Walmart!!!!  Instead it was a Sioux Indian casino called Mystic Lake Casino.  We parked in an empty lot and three of us took a drive (Shelley stayed back) and went to see the Mall of America, the largest mall in the country.  I don't have any idea how many stores are there, but the place was 4 levels high, and in an hour of wandering around, we didn't see more than 25% of the ground level.  And in the middle is a gigantic amusement park with adult as well as children's rides and lots of excitement.  There were so many places to eat that I'm sure that you could eat three meals a day for a month and never go to the same place twice.  We saw people writing down a description of where they had parked so that they would be able to find their car.  After dinner in our rig, the 4 of us went into the casino.  We got $5 for free for enrolling in some sort of club, and we all lost our $5 plus another few dollars while playing in 5 cent slot machines.  When we got back to our coach, there was a note telling us to leave because we were parked in an area that didn't allow overnight parking.  Since we had no where else to go, we just spent the night where we were without further incident.

On Wednesday we left the casino and headed east into Wisconsin and then down to Baraboo.  We stopped at a cranberry museum in Warrens where they had stuff to sell and a little museum portraying the history and cultivation of cranberries.  We continued a little further south and stopped in the town of Lake Denton.  We plan to just tour the area for the next 2 days.  [Lake Denton, WI - Country Roads CG - 43.35 N / 89.49 W].  We just realized that we have made our way south until we are almost at the same latitude as Rocky Hill.

Thursday was a day that we kept pretty busy, at least some of us.  In the morning we drove a short distance and visited the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, WI.  There are 15 species of cranes worldwide, and 11 of these are either threatened or endangered.  Two of the species (Whooping Cranes and Sandhill Cranes) are native to the Wisconsin area.  At the foundation are representatives of all 15 species.  The birds are beautiful and very large, between 4 and 6 feet tall) and almost all of the species are characterized by spots of red on their head.  The 225 acre site contains large areas of recreated prairies and wetlands.  The foundation is involved in projects all over the world and is working hard to save the threatened species.  Many of the cranes were loud as they spoke to there partners, who they mate with for life.  We even saw a crane get released and fly about 1/4 mile to where we were standing and where there was food as an attraction.   After lunch, the two men drove to Baraboo to the circus museum.  There were lots of things to see there, including circus posters and a building full of circus wagons, many pf them covered, at least in part, with gold leaf.  Some of the wagons were 100 years old, and they weighed up to 10 tons.  They could even carry circus bands.  Because many circuses merged with others during the years, the wagons followed suit and were owned by lot sof different organizations.  They even had a 0ne hour circus performance under a big top.  There were only a few hundred people in the audience, and we had 2nd row seats.  The show was really fun; it was hard to tell whether the4 performers were (a) people who had played in the large circuses and were over the hill, (b) performers on the way up who are working for a break to play Madison Square Garden, or (c) people just not good enough for the big time.  We all had lots of fun.  Then, in the evening we all drove to Wisconsin Dells.  This is a resort town par excellence.  The area is surrounded by hotels, motels, campgrounds, amusement parks, waterparks, and lots of other places designed to attract tourists.  We parked in town, and walked up and down the main street.  It was typical touristy, with t-shirt stores galore and other places just designed to help people leave some of their funds in the area.  But it was lots of fun to be there, and we succeeded in doing a good job in holding on to our money.  All-in-all, it was a fun and busy day.  But it was a good day in another way.  Our dog, Rags, was suffering with diarrhea for a number of days, and we were concerned about him.  We took him to a local vet who said that he would probably be OK and he prescribed some meds to speed up his getting better.  

Dancing Whooping Cranes

Whooping Crane Reflections

Whooping Crane

Grey Crowned Crane

Brolga Crane

Circus Museum Carriage

Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe Carriage

America Carriage

Friday was another day full of some sort of adventure.  We left the Country Roads Campground and drove to the nearby Wonder Spot.  There was a big flat rock that was slanted so that it was tilted   On top of the rock was a small building that was tiled even further.  After spending some time in the building, we got the illusion that the laws of gravity were suspended.  It seems as if water ran uphill and things hanging from a chain didn't hang straight down.   There are other places like this, it was really hokey, but it was interesting to see.  However, I think it was just one big optical illusion.  We had lunch at the Pizza Pub and then drove to the Dells Boat Tours.   We took an hour tour of the lower Dells where we saw rocky formations that rose out of the water making interesting shapes.   If you had a big imagination, you might be able to see an old fashioned milk bottle with Elsie the Cows head imprinted on it.  Like some places where we sailed, the rocky shoreline was vertical and the water was very deep just a few feet away, so the boat was able to get into some really narrow places.  After Shelley took a nap and Shelly and Laura went shopping, we all drove to the Chula Vista Resort where we had dinner and then watched the Fab 50s musical review that featured the music that we grew up with.  Shelley even arranged for them to dedicate a sexy torch song (Fever - originally by Peggy Lee) to me since it was my birthday.  By the way, the Singers bought me Superman boxer shorts for my birthday!!!

We were all up early on Saturday morning since it was get-away day and we all had reasonably long trips.  We got ready, filled our propane tank and sadly, we left Laura and Shelly as we were making plans to try and get together in Florida next winter.  Since we had a long trip, Shelley volunteered to drive part of the way.  However, as luck would have it, shortly after she took the wheel, construction signs started appearing alongside the road and then there were detour signs.  The route twisted and turned and soon we switched seats as Shelley resumed the co-pilot's seat.  Soon after we entered Michigan, the orad started running along the coast of Lake Michigan.  The many boats and marinas nearby reminded us a little of Block Island, although the land here is flatter and there are trees here.  After driving about 350 miles, we realized that we had switched time zones, and the later hour somehow made us tired.  As a result, when we came to the Kewadin Casino, in Manistique MI, we pulled into their parking lot.  Shelley went over to inquire whether we could spend the night in the lot besides the other RVs that were there.  She got an affirmative response to that question and also discovered that they were having a pig roast for $5 a person.  That made it an easy decision, so we found a spot and stayed the night.   [Manistique, MI - Kewadin Casino - 45.58 N / 86.10 W ]

On Sunday we left the casino and headed to our campground objectives in Cedarville, MI.  As we parked our rig in late morning, we met some other campers who recommended that we spend the afternoon taking the tour through the Soo Locks.   We boarded a boat in Sault Saint Marie and headed up the St Mary River which connects Lake Huron and Lake Superior which is 21 feet higher.  There are 3 parallel locks and we entered the one closest to the US.  This lock is about 700 feet long, and it takes about 10 million gallons of water to fill the lock and raise boats 21 feet from Lake Huron to Lake Superior.  This happens in about 10 minutes.  The other locks are about 250 feet long (nearest to Canada) and over 1000 feet long for the largest Great Lakes freighters.  The locks, built about 150 years ago are free for the users.  After the tour of the locks, we went cruising through the town looking for a hot spot so that we could down load our e-mail onto our computer.  Unfortunately we didn't meet with any luck.  [Cedarville, MI - Cedarville RV  Park and Campground - 45.60 N / 84.21 W]

250' lock at Ste Saint Marie locks

700 foot Lake Huron Lock

Lake Huron Lock

 We got up on Monday morning ready for our trip to Mackinac Island.  We drove to St. Ignace and boarded the ferry for the fifteen minute trip.  The little ferry boat really moved out, with speeds of up to 30 knots.  In a short time, we approached the island, and huge homes on the cliff became visible - sort of like the Newport mansions.  The Grand Hotel came into view on one of the cliffsides.  The hotel has the longest covered porch  in the world, of some 650 feet.  There were 2 small lighthouses and the breakwater and we were in the little harbor, where a number of small boats were anchored.  After we tied up at the dock, we got off the ferry and walked around.  In some ways, this was just a typical tourist town.  There must be at least 15 shops where the sold fudge, another 15 where T-shirts were on sale and lots of other places where they sold the regular resort stuff.  BUT - there was something very unusual on Mackinac Island.  Powered vehicles are not allowed.  The island is about 2 miles by 3 miles in size, and there are roads around.  But there are only 8 powered vehicles licensed to be there.  These are fire engines, ambulances, and an SUV used by emergency services.  [In fact the highway around the island is reported to be the only highway in the country that has never had a passenger car accident.]  Travel is by bicycle, horseback, or horse and buggy and all services are limited to these.  We saw groceries being delivered by wagon from the docks to the supermarket and garbage being collected by some kids in a wagon.  There was no question but that the lack of cars seemed to slow down everyone's pace and that was really very pleasant.  We stopped for lunch and I had a pastie (rhymes with "nasty") which is a variety of meat pie popular in the area.  After lunch, we took a 2 hour wagon ride around the island.  The horses that pulled the wagon were gigantic, very different than the sleek looking animals that people usually ride.  There is a butterfly conservatory at one of the stops,  Inside a hothouse were hundreds of butterflies fluttering around free, and we walked among them.  The butterflies are imported in chrysalis form and they hatch in the observatory.  There are all of the butterflies favorite plants in the hothouse and they fluttered from one meal to another.  It was a really neat place to visit.  Apparently these butterfly observatories are becoming common throughout the country.   After the wagon tour was over, we wandered around a bit more and then caught the return ferry.  We stopped at Bessie's to get some pasties for dinner.  Shortly after we returned to the campground our friends, Carol and Paul Rosenberg arrived.  They are Chai members who live in Rochester and we were with them at the FMCA rally in North Dakota.

The Grand Hotel's taxi

Butterfly from the conservatory

Carriage ride on Main St

Garbage truck on Mackinac

Grand Hotel

Mansions along Lake Huron

We didn't push things much on Tuesday morning.  We washed down the front of the motorhome and not much more.  At 11 the four of us (including Carol and Paul) took our computers and went to the Cedarville Library, where they had Wi Fi for all to use.  We stopped off at the supermarket and then had lunch at our coaches.  Then, after some schmoozing, Paul pulled his inflatable kayak out of the basement in his motorhome, and Norm and Paul went kayaking in Lake Huron.  They were out for a few hours and had a really great time.  Afterwards it was time for wine and nibbles and then dinner.  Later on we went for a nice walk before turning in for the night.

Wednesday was another relaxing day.  We left the campground with Paul and Carol and headed back up to Sault Saint Marie.  We visited the locks, but this time from the land side.  It was amazing to watch one of those big freighters go through the locks and get raised 21 feet with no use of energy, and we got to see it twice.  We learned a few more facts about the locks.  There are 3 of them and they are actually 1200 feet, 1350 feet and 800 feet long.  More than 11,000 vessels use the locks each year carrying about 90 million tons of freight.  Most of the freight is either iron ore, coal, stone or grain.  We had lunch and then went to an Internet Cafe' where everyone went on the net and downloaded e-mail and other stuff.  We stopped off at Walmart to do some shopping and on the way back to the campground, we stopped to investigate a sign.  It was a big sign across a path off the side of the road - the sign said Camp David and had a gold Jewish star next to it.  Our investigation proved fruitless however, there was nothing there but an abandoned house.  When we returned to the campground, Paul and Norm went kayaking again for a short trip.