Interlochen State Park, MI

Leaving Orchard Beach, we wanted to stay in the Traverse City State Park, but it was booked solid for the holiday weekend. Instead we got a spot at Interlochen about 15 miles to the southwest. So Morty instigated a trip to Interlochen -- a very interesting park that adjoins the Arts Center. I suppose I’ve heard of this as the origin of some classical music festivals, but never paid it any more attention than that. Biking through the arts center is really an experience, especially when it is about ready to partially close for the season. The buildings must number in the hundreds, with large lake front amphitheaters, visual and theatrical arts centers and so much more. You can look it up yourself here: www.interlochen.org .

The drive up was an easy trip through gently rolling hills on country roads, with very little traffic for any day, much less a holiday weekend. Interlochen is between Duck Lake and Green Lake, along with a tiny town, and dense woods. The campgrounds were huge. The beach had signs warning that “swimmers itch” might be present, so one should towel off thoroughly! If that’s the remedy I say “no harm, no foul.” This campground even had a store, but when we walked through it just before its 9PM closing, things were pretty shabby. Our campsite was even a little larger than usual for the state parks of the land to the north.

Since we were staying two nights, we called some old friends from Ohio, and popped in for a visit after lunch. On the way we stopped at the Tuscan Bistro for a bite. I had the spaghetti fruiti di mare and Lynne had a flank steak panini. Both were outstanding. Our friends were in a Traverse City retirement apartment and making a great go of it. I guess we hadn’t realized that this new locale placed them right at the crossroads of their family’s comings and goings, and so they enjoy a constant stream of nieces, nephews, and grandkids.

On the way back to the campground, we stocked up at the local Meijer. One weird thing we’re noticing is that unlike Ohio, every item is price stickered. That must really do bad things to their operating costs in the age of the bar-code scanner. In Ohio, if the customer needs to check the price, he has to find a remote bar-code reader. These little items are non-existent here, as far as we can tell.

Still in the grips of the final summer holiday weekend for camping, we gritted our teeth and made another $8 on line reservation for the state park at Petosky for Sunday. Just as well, too, because there were only three spaces available.

Interlochen State Park, MI

Leaving Orchard Beach, we wanted to stay in the Traverse City State Park, but it was booked solid for the holiday weekend. Instead we got a spot at Interlochen about 15 miles to the southwest. So Morty instigated a trip to Interlochen -- a very interesting park that adjoins the Arts Center. I suppose I've heard of this as the origin of some classical music festivals, but never paid it any more attention than that. Biking through the arts center is really an experience, especially when it is about ready to partially close for the season. The buildings must number in the hundreds, with large lake front amphitheaters, visual and theatrical arts centers and so much more. You can look it up yourself here: www.interlochen.org .

The drive up was an easy trip through gently rolling hills on country roads, with very little traffic for any day, much less a holiday weekend. Interlochen is between Duck Lake and Green Lake, along with a tiny town, and dense woods. The campgrounds were huge. The beach had signs warning that "swimmers itch" might be present, so one should towel off thoroughly! If that's the remedy I say "no harm, no foul." This campground even had a store, but when we walked through it just before its 9PM closing, things were pretty shabby. Our campsite was even a little larger than usual for the state parks of the land to the north.

Since we were staying two nights, we called some old friends from Ohio, and popped in for a visit after lunch. On the way we stopped at the Tuscan Bistro for a bite. I had the spaghetti fruiti di mare and Lynne had a flank steak panini. Both were outstanding. Our friends were in a Traverse City retirement apartment and making a great go of it. I guess we hadn't realized that this new locale placed them right at the crossroads of their family's comings and goings, and so they enjoy a constant stream of nieces, nephews, and grandkids.

On the way back to the campground, we stocked up at the local Meijer. One weird thing we're noticing is that unlike Ohio, every item is price stickered. That must really do bad things to their operating costs in the age of the bar-code scanner. In Ohio, if the customer needs to check the price, he has to find a remote bar-code reader. These little items are non-existent here, as far as we can tell.

Still in the grips of the final summer holiday weekend for camping, we gritted our teeth and made another $8 on line reservation for the state park at Petosky for Sunday. Just as well, too, because there were only three spaces available.

Muskegon State Park

On Wednesday, September 2, 2009 Morty motored on to Muskegon where he found another state park campground right on the inlet to the Bay from Lake Michigan. Another intensely beautiful venue! We walked down to the beach on the Bay from our campsite, and found that it connected to the inlet and more than a mile of walkway on the break- water.

We saw lots of ducks and swans and people fishing from the docks and boats. The biggest surprise was a big fish that was in the jaws of an eel or snake jumping out of the water in an apparent attempt to free itself from a death lock. Four jumps was about it before the ferry from Milwaukee plowed through the inlet disrupting everything in its path.

Wine and cheese was out in the 5 o'clock sun in the recliners. Then a couple of calls to check up on the family. Luckily we decided to dine inside Morty. By the time we had finished we had a mini-swarm if fruit flies on the screen door. No small testament to the culinary skills of the chef. After dinner the moonrise was also spectacular, during which a lake-going barge weighed anchor and got pushed by its tug across the bay and out the inlet.

Tomorrow we may push on to Orchard Beach, or not.

The pictures tell most of the story.

Ionia Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Monday night was clear for sky photography with a nearly full bright moon that overpowered a lot of the other things to see. I did get a couple of decent pictures, one with a little meteor streaming through the shot.

Today we hiked the woods, and just experienced the perfection of  this place. We rode our bikes downhill the couple of blocks to pay for the second night, and Lynne returned, while I rode on halfway around the lake to the beach. The hike around the southeast quadrant of the lake was unusual because we saw almost no birds or animals except for a family of mute swans on the lake. This was nearly two hours, out and back. Of course the fact that we set out at high noon, when most forest critters are on siesta could have been a factor. We went as far as the destroyed bridge over Sessions Creek. Although we could have forded the creek on stepping-stones and bridge fragments, there would have been over two more miles to go vs. the one mile of return. The most interesting pics were of the fungi.

Then just the old routine, of recliners in partial shade until the wine and cheese tasting, followed by showers, and a light dinner. We walked the campground at sunset, and noted that nearly half of yesterday's population had departed for other venues.

The new pics are in the same Ionia folder as before.

The nest two destinations look like Muskegon, and Orchard Beach:

http://tinyurl.com/mva5z5

Ionia State Recreation Area, MI

Last night we tried out the furnace for the first time as the temperature plunged to 40 degrees - in August! If global warming is real, then what about this part of the globe? At least the magical propane tank continues to  fuel the three appliance that we need it for - refrigerator, hot water heater and furnace. Still have yet to turn on either the range or oven, since the microwave does such a good job at minimizing the hassle of food prep. The tank gauge is showing  more than 3/8 full, while the coach lights indicate 2/3 full.

Today, we found the Ionia - the Holy Grail of camping. A perfect campground, sparsely occupied, in an absolutely beautiful setting, with perfect weather, state of the art plumbing, and we are situated just off the end of a country landing strip with sail planes. We almost ditched this destination when we found another casino was just about as far for today's jaunt. But Lynne pointed out that I was probably more interested in the buffet than the gambling, and she was right. So we continued on our original plan to Ionia.

Along the way, we detoured through Grand Ledge to pick up supplies at a Meijer. Wow, event that was an experience. Much bigger store that what we are used to in Ohio, with larger selections, and very noticeably fresher, cleaner, and better organized. But then we are getting close to home base for the Meijers's. Here is obviously where the brightest and fastest rising stars in store management come home to roost.

We bought a 3 liter box of Chardonnay wine for cocktails and dining. This replaced a somewhat strange chillable red that, at 5 liters, seemed to be lasting a really long time. We also took advantage of a half-price sale on Lean Cuisine - a welcome change from the steamer meals that had been a regular. Then just had to stock up on the orange pumice hand cleaner. The $3 bottle was on sale, but so was the $5 dollar jug, then we found the keg for $6. Lynne dutifully un-shopped the smaller bottle so I could have a 15 year supply right at hand in our traveling garage.

To set up camp here, we pulled just about everything out from Morty's garage: the recliners, camp chairs, bikes and helmets. Then we rode down to the lake and looked around a the fishing and picnic area - deserted. Then we pedaled on over to the beach and found some other users. The 800 foot sandy beach, had one couple and a single taking a little sun in basically street clothes. The college intern who checked us in to the campground was on his last day of vacation before returning to school to study natural resource management - he might have just been filling in while the regular was out to lunch. We saw him again mowing the grass around the bathhouse at the beach.

I am anxious for darkness, so that I can work on some more dark sky photos. The sky has been perfectly clear today, and I am hoping that it will hold into the night, even though we are supposed to plunge back into the forties again. It's starting to look like we will want to spend another day here before moving on to the western shore of Lake Michigan. At least here, we have a local propane dealer right in town if we suddenly find out that we have to be a lot more pessimistic in interpreting our propane gauges! He might even make house calls.

Pinkney Recreation Area Bruin Lake

Ann Arbor

On Saturday, Morty took us to Ann Arbor. Lots of traffic. Could they already be in session? No, not that much. We parked on South State St at a meter and a half, just about at the main entrance of the UM Museum of Art, and indeed the main campus itself. The collections and buildings were impressive, and I mean in a good way. Many permanent collections. Conservators and curators that obviously are at the top of their game.  Sadly, OSU has nothing in this league. Took way too many photos, so will share a few with you.  I still need to photograph museum exhibits in order to properly enjoy them. Without the picture, I forget 99% the same day -- of even what I really like. I also think that the pictures are better than the original in many cases.

Later in the afternoon, we headed further north to the land of Green and White. Pinckney Recreation Area Bruin Lake campgrounds is about three quarters full, but we are in a large quite corner that is still close to the showers so now everyone is happy - except for the fact that tonight it is too cold for showering. Once again, we find ourselves walking to the boat ramp and along the shore, but this is only about a twenty minutes of actual exercise. Well, we did cover two buildings including six floors of the museum for two hours of walking earlier.

Thinking about heading northwest now. Ionia rec area is about halfway to Manistee casino and commercial campground on the shore of Lake Michigan. We will stay at Pinckney until Monday.

By the way, if some of my wacky references are not clear, it's just me having fun. Anyhow, we're always happy to elucidate, as my younger sister says. Just ask.

Lake Hudson Recreation Area, MI

We have a little Garmin Nuvi GPS that we let do most of the navigation as long as it's not too wonky. We don't expect a lot from it, since it came free for opening a new credit card a couple of years ago. And we haven't used it much since we have GPS in our cars. But with Morty, we have it on all the time. Today, it chose a series of mostly county roads to be the quickest route to Lake Hudson. I would have understood shortest, but quickest too? We must have been smack in between the highways and interstates. So the google map that I sent a link to was nice but not as interesting as the many small towns and country roads we experienced today.

Many of these little towns are right out of the 19th century. The town of Harrod's State Bank is a prime example: Sandstone building with big windows and bold gold leaf lettering that hasn't changed in nearly 150 years. Another bank in Napoleon advertises "Bailout-free since 1897." Journeys like today's are every bit as good as the destination. We were a little surprised to drive through some huge fields of cherry tomatoes, in an area that seemed well in the ruts of corn and soybeans.

Lunch was a little Chinese restaurant in Napoleon -- very reasonable, and way above average in cuisine. Dinner was relegated to a couple of micro waved calzones around 9PM.

The campground was about what you should expect from a state recreation area at this time of year: dirt and pebble roads, electric-only huge sites, very low population since the start of school. The nightly fee is only $16, but you also need a pass - annually $29. We were a little disappointed by the intermittent rain, but it did hold off for our walk of a couple of hours through the campground and down to the boat ramp. Got some decent pictures of the flowers and trees, but totally missed the huge white tail that bounded across the road fifty feet in front of us. The lake is man-made, and pretty shallow, but the DNR uses this for fish brooding, so the fishing is supposed to be excellent. The bad news is no cell or wi-fi here, so this update will be delayed somewhat.

This campground is the first Dark Sky Preserve in the Land of the North - no or minimal lights to enhance night time sky observation. Lynne woke me around 4AM to say that some stars were peeking through the clouds. When I finally got up around 5, the sky was clearing substantially, so I tried to get some star photos. A tripod is mandatory since you just get glow worms hand-held. Otherwise some interesting results.

Lynne had an article about the UM Art Museum at Ann Arbor, and we might make that tomorrow's intermediate stop. I guess its about 80 miles from here. Then we would continue on further north to Pinckney State Recreation Area.

Indian Lake, OH

Leaving Letchworth

Happy Independence Day, all.

Friday morning, we slept in, moseyed on back to the Glen Iris House restaurant for lunch, watched the staff prepare for another wedding, and then decided, rather that tangle with the holiday weekend campground throng, we would head for home with a stop inDamascus to check in on Lynne's mom -- who is looking marvelous.

We saw more deer on this trip than any other, probably because we went so late into the evening. Sadly, no pictures of this day. Lynne did her share of the driving on a couple of legs. We were amazed to find the price of gas just inside the Ohio border to be 40 cents cheaper that our last NY fill up. We monitored the progress of the corn crop with some amazement -- from six inches or even less in much of New England, to nearly 4 feet tall in lots of Ohio.

So we're home again as of about 10:30 last night. We parked Morty in the driveway, unloaded the refer and a few essentials, and set about catching up with the snail-mail. So it's back to normal for a few more weeks, probably til I head up to Oshkosh to see planes at the end of the month with Morty, and neighbor Bob. Morty need a bath, and a few more enhancements for his next trip.

Thanks to all who provided feedback and your own updates. Keeping in touch was great for us too!

Letchworth St Pk, NY

Wednesday, was a day to move relentlessly southwest for another 120 miles. We had spotted a major state park on the camper brochures we got from Fair Haven, but it wasn’t in any of the camp directories. The name was a little strange also: Letchworth, a park that bills itself as the “Grand Canyon of the East”. We now know that it is in Castile, NY. But without cell or internet service, was impossible to enter as a destination into the GPS. The helpful gal at the Fair Haven desk printed out Map Quest directions, so it was no problem. There were, in fact, road signs all the way from Geneseo NY which was the provisional destination I used for the GPS.

Lynne called for reservations as soon as we had cell service, but they put us off saying that walk-up would be “no problemo.” Needless to say, the ranger at the entrance was quite skeptical that enough sites were remaining when we arrived at 2PM. We drive to the office and ask for a site. The gal asks whether for just tonight or tomorrow also. I say having the option for a second night would be nice. She says that they’re filled up tomorrow with the holiday weekend and all. I say “well then I guess you know the answer to your question.” We have her pick us a site, and she runs the paperwork. Did you guess it? Yep it’s for two nights. Tomorrow afternoon may bring it’s own special adventure if another family shows up to claim our site.

The park runs for about 17 miles on both sides of the Genesee River, encompassing three major waterfalls, and covering over 14,000 acres.

We are once again settled in. Morty is just barely leveled, using all 10 of our leveling blocks – a new record . Leveling is not just for comfort, the gas refrigerator needs it to run when immobile. The afternoon thundershowers have shortened our initial walk around the park. So, we’re cooling our heals, and the camper itself. We are hooked up to electrical power only, and even that is just household outlet quantity, not the 30 amps we usually get. Probably means we have to shut off the TV to run the microwave. We are really “roughing it” now.

My bicycle has been out of service since Grand Isle because of a glass shard that punctured my rear tire. I got the patch stuff at aWal-Mart stop, but haven’t been able to find an adapter to pump the tire back up. I have the Euro presta valves instead of the USA Schrader type. Very few bike stores even carry such adapters, so it seems that I’m a pedestrian for the time being. Got to make sure that little item is on the “go list” next time.

First impressions of Letchworth are that it is huge. $6 fee per car just to enter. Yet the camping fees are very reasonable. Vast areas of forest and neatly manicured lawns. Hardly any people even in the camping area. Very well run and maintained. The magic continues. We thought we were in the same weather pattern as yesterday, with a clearing evening. So just as we set out on a hike to find the river gorge, the rains returned and we turned around. I was then ready to prepare dinner, but Lynne objects to the potential for steaminess. It doesn’t seem warm enough to be a problem, so maybe we’ll do battle on this one.

Fair Haven St Pk, NY

Mortimer R V Turtle headed South on Tuesday, determined to make some progress towards home at the end of his third week of the shake-down cruise. About 130 miles again, with 90 of those on I-89.

I used to have an abiding aversion to anything NewYork, ever since my earliest days as a Cleveland Indians fan. The drive north a couple of weeks ago through the City, and over the George Washington Bridge [$16!], even aggravated this hostility. Now, this stint in the state parks of the Empire State seems to be adjusting that attitude. Now, I marvel at how smooth and efficient their interstates are, even though showing sings of wear and tear. Similar Ohio roads would be shaking our fillings out. How clean and pleasant their camping areas are, at prices less than half the going commercial rates. Lynne is even amazed at how frequent the parking areas and rest stops are encountered along the highways and freeways.

Today we stopped at Fair Haven State Park on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario. This was originally a Civilian Conservation Corps project. Rainy weather is threatening, and making it difficult to get out exploring and photographing. That coupled with another evening without non-roaming phone and Internet make for some added detail in this commentary. By 6PM the day cleared, and we went for a two hour walk through the forest, past the beach and out to the end of the breakwater with lots of pictures.

When we pulled into the campground, we were greeted by a mother and two baby deer munching on the flora. We stopped to watch, they looked back, and strolled off into the woods across the road. Too surprised to get a picture, but it would have been a great one otherwise. Then we were walking along some tent sites, and noticed a squirrel trying to pick the lock of an unoccupied tent – quite amusing, except for the fact that upon closer inspection, we noticed that one or two more squirrels were already inside the screening and bouncing off the tent walls. Must have been some mighty happy squirrels, and less happy campers.

On today’s drive, we stopped for brunch at McDonalds, and asked if they had WiFi. Well, they didn’t but Burger King right across the street did, if it has recently been repaired since it went down six months ago. We gave it a try, and were pleasantly surprised to find it working, fast and free. So we got our email, put in some stock orders, and uploaded the most recent pictures and commentary.

Lynne has also taken to making comments about the shower facilities and other less important amenities at each campground, on our trip log. So if you ever have questions about where the good ones are, we will have you covered.

One of the most amazing things about Morty is his LP gas tank. We filled it from about ¼ full at our first gas stop on June 10. The LP gas runs the refrigerator and water heater 24/7 with the exception of when he is in storage mode, and the furnace, which has not been used yet. We’ve been checking the gas level every couple of days, and it seemed to go from full to about 5/8 in just a few days. But then it stopped moving, and is still at 5/8 full now three weeks later. I hope we don’t get a rude surprise some day, when the refrigerator shuts down without warning. Otherwise, we are very happy with the efficiency of the LP gas appliances on board.