Saint Ignace, MI

Wednesday - Today is one of our longer travel days at 285 miles up the length of the lower peninsula of Michigan. We crossed the Mackinac Bridge just before arriving. The toll for the RV towing the Jeep was $14. Not too bad. We are here for four nights and have access to a pool and other amenities at a nearby hotel. It’s okay but would’ve been better outside. The indoor setting echos all the kids screaming. There is a hot tub but no jacuzzi. 

The site itself is fine. Full hookups so I will have an opportunity to flush the tanks. I haven’t been able to do that yet as there is no black tank flush built in. 

Thursday - This morning, we took the ferry to Mackinac Island. It had been raining most of the night so it was only 61°F this morning. No pictures on the ferry since the windows were wet from the spray. We signed up for the carriage tour of the island. This is the Grand Hotel, one of the well known landmarks. 

This was the carriage house for the Grand Hotel and was our first stop. There were several displays such as knife making and a butterfly exhibit. 

Lots of carriages on display. 

Next stop, Arch Rock. Supposedly the most photographed location on the island. 

The next stop, and the end of the carriage tour, was Fort Mackinac. Quite a bit of history without a lot of fighting. But it had a great view! We had lunch with the same view.

The yellow and white umbrellas mark our lunch spot. We then caught the ferry Mack to San Ignace. This time it was blue skies and we were able to ride on the upper deck. 

Wixom, MI - SP

Saturday - It was a relatively short travel day (183 miles) but there was a lot of traffic. We are staying at Proud Lake State Park located northeast of Ann Arbor and northwest of Detroit. And, it’s the weekend. The campground is crowded and the sites are all pretty unlevel. Electric only so I needed to dump the tanks and fill up on water before setting up.

I set up the screen tent as this place looks like there will be mosquitoes in the evening. 

We went to a laundromat and I noticed that they have a small refrigerator with complementary bottled water. I guess they can afford this as the washers are $7.50/load!

Sunday - This morning, we met up with VEC friends Simo and Leila at a pastry and coffee place for breakfast. It was delicious! They drove us to Port Huron to the area under the Blue Water Bridge. This crosses over the St. Claire River which connects Lake Huron and Lake Erie with Lake St. Clair enroute. The current through this narrow section is fast with everything from small skiffs to freighters running through here. 

We then ventured south to the town of St. Clair for some ice cream. It was a wonderful day. We enjoyed the scenery and the company. Simo is someone I had gotten to know through the remote ham radio tests I participate in. 

Elkhart, IN

Thursday - We are staying at the RV/MH Hall of Fame & Museums. We have 30amp power as it’s in the upper 80s (°F) today. We had the generator running until after 9pm yesterday and it was still pretty warm and muggy. 

There are only a handful of power outlets available and there is some sort of event scheduled for this weekend so the parking lot could get pretty busy tomorrow. 

This RV is built on a Ford model “T” chassis. They had several including one with small slide outs. 

This 1929 model was described as the first American travel trailer. It’s essentially a covered wagon. The museum was pretty packed with old RVs both towable and drivable. 

Friday - I spent part of the morning wandering through the museum again and it was pouring when I came out. They have a nice seating area with WiFi. Plus, it’s air conditioned! I turned off the RV A/C around 6am but it was back on by 9. Not for the temperature but the humidity. And we did pay a hefty premium for power. 

La Salle, IL - HH

Wednesday - A 250 mile travel day got us to a Harvest Host in La Salle, IL. It is a quilting store and we are parked in the back of their parking lot. It’s a nice, shady spot that still had open sky to the north. This is needed for StarLink to be mostly unobstructed. 

At 9pm, it’s still hot and muggy so the generator and A/C are still running. For almost 5 hours. I’m glad that I figured out the issue with the generator and the Victron Multiplus. The PowerAssist feature has been working great. With the generator, I have it set to 20amps and there hasn’t been a hiccup. The battery has been charging whenever the A/C compressor shuts off. Tomorrow is a shorter travel day into Indiana.