Pure Michigan

Today was a Turtle day and we did not travel very far but we enjoyed the drive back into the US and up along Lake Huron. Blessed with perfect weather we found a county campground right on the water front. Out came the bikes and off we went exploring the coast line. The only disappointment was the lack of WiFi. This was our first real day of taking it easy and settling in to a slower pace. This afternoon we went for a walk and talked to other campers in the park. So far after only four days on the road we’ve chatted with people from Waterbury, VT, Plattsburg, NY, San Francisco, CA, Rochester, NY and local people from Michigan.

One aspect of this trip that I really enjoy is having my mobile/communication center up front in the truck. My laptop is plugged in all the time I’m driving with excellent directions both video and audio. The large screen makes it easy to see where I’m going. I also have my Android phone Bluetooth to the truck audio system. My I-Touch also Bluetooth to the audio plays podcast. The CB keeps me informed with truckers on road conditions. My wife keeps me awake, what else would a guy want?

That’s what we did and saw today

Turtle Days & Rabbit Days

Day#4
A friend, Andre, once told me about "Turtle and Rabbit days". A turtle day is when you visit and hang around. A rabbit day is when you travel most of the day. Today was a rabbit day. We drove around 325 miles. We are in Ingersoll, Ontario. It's a nice town & we're parked in a small shopping mall parking lot in front of a McDonald's in order to get this blog out through their free WiFi.

Alexandria Bay ~ Thousand Islands

Day #3 of our adventure.
 We left the campground in Ft. Drum around 6:45 am. We then went to the Inn to get internet access. We finally left the base around 9 am. The sun was shinning & it looked like we were finally going to experience good weather!
We stopped at Wal-Mart in Watertown to pick up a few things and then proceeded to find our 1st cache of the day (in the adjacent parking lot). We were off to a good start!
We  then drove to Alexandria Bay (still in NY state).  We arrived there around 11:15 am; decided to get something to eat before taking a shuttle on one of Uncle Sam’s boats to Heart Island to visit the Boldt Castle & gardens. We spent a couple of enjoyable hours on the island.
Upon our arrival back at the Bay, we went in search of the highly recommended State Park in the area.
 We arrived at Keewaydin State Park around 3 in the afternoon. We parked our vehicle & took our bikes off the truck to do a little biking & some Geocaching. We found our 2nd cache of the day very quickly & then were able to bike around the park.
Later, in the early evening, we returned to the Bay area & walked along the water. We spoke to a young family that was fishing with their 2 small children. We tried finding the Information Center along the turnpike so that we could get access to WiFi, but...ended up having to pay $2.50 to go across the toll bridge to Wellesley Island. We turned around & decided that it was time to call it a night! We were back to our campsite around 8:30.

This is the Power House for the Castle.

This is the Boat House above and the Boldt Castle below


Helen standing in front of the boat house.

Two happy tourists.

We’re Off and Traveling

 

JoAnn, Helen, Lucien, Claire and Ed

After months of planning and waiting we left Berlin a little before 9am. The good-byes’ were hard but, the adventure started on schedule. We contacted one of Helen’s cousins in Waterbury, VT and she was our first stop. She whipped up a fantastic lunch and more relatives stopped in to say hello. We had a short, but, wonderful visit!
Then we were off to our 2^nd stop of the day. We headed for Plattsburgh, NY. We enjoyed our short trip on the Ferry across Lake Champlain. We arrived at Helen’s aunt’s house around 4:30 (just in time for another delicious meal!)
Helen’s cousin, Chris, is quite comfortable in the kitchen. He helped his mom prepare a very flavorful piece of pork, with baked potatoes & a Mexican bean salad as a side dish. That was followed by a fresh rhubarb pie, topped with fresh whipped cream! What a way to start our vacation!!

Helen, Aunt Simmone, Chris

  
That is what we saw and did

Truck Camper On Test Run!

We are leaving next Sunday for our cross country adventure and I absolutely wanted to take the truck/camper on the road for a test run and see what we missed on our check lists. This Memorial Day Weekend was perfect time to visit a wonderful World War II veteran, his name is George Sheldon better known as Iguana Jack by many hundreds of his friends. He has a life full of interesting stories to recount and the test run was a good excuse to visit him and show off our rig. He would love to hop on board and head to Alaska with us. The picture of him and I with our Australian hats was taken Sunday afternoon in Franklin, NH.
The afternoon flew by and we left Iguana Jack and headed to Wears Beach to watch the MS Mount Washington come in from its run around the lake. We still didn’t have a site for the night but with our mobile unit we were one secluded parking lot away for the night.
Yes we did find a few things that we forgot. Moving the license plate from the back of the truck to the back of the camper. All in all it was a good test run.

Close to the Road Trip to Alaska

Trial fit

March has come in like a Lion with new snow, but the days are getting longer and the sun is warmer. The Lance camper is ours but it remains at Polar RV until I go to pick it up probably in mid April. I have not been idle in the last few weeks, our truck was factory setup to haul a slide-in camper but I still had to buy or fabricate the tie downs to truck frame, fabricate an electrical extension cord for the camper tail lights and to recharge the camper battery. If you would know me you would know that I elected to fabricate everything. I very carefully checked out the best items online, that I needed and duplicated them. I think that I actually made them structurally stronger and improved in the design.

Nearly ready for paint

The proud new owners of a 2004 Lance slide-in truck camper

This is the first picture of us with our Lance camper. We hope to have many good adventures going across the northern United States, up into British Columbia, North West Territories, Yukon, and final into Alaska.