Leaving Green Bay is a bit more hilly than I anticipated. It is also a LONG drive. Houghton is a great town. Across the river is HAncock. Leaving Hancock is the beginning of wilderness...almost absoulte WILDERNESS. There are bits and pieces of the old mining industry everywhere. Small miner camps, and even a few old miner towns. Half way between Copper HArbor and Houghton is Calumet. This town is still thriving in the wilderness of Keewanaw. Mary counted 6-7 churches--dating back to the 1900s. Most looked to have been abandoned.
Coming into Fort Wilkins, it is a 25 mile drive from Calumet. The LAST stop for diesel is a small intersection of a town called Alleouz. There MIGHT be diesel at the Phoenix Store. There is gasoline available in Copper Harbor in the morniong hours between 9:00 A.M. and 1:00 P.M or upon request by calling the owner at the telephone number listed on the door.
We are having lunch at the Tamarack Inn where there is Wi-Fi. Copper Harbor is also home to the Presque Isle ferry to the NAtional Park.
Too much to see and photograph. Will be posting again...
Tim and Mary
In the final frontier of Michigan
Copper Harbor...
21st century American Nomads
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Returning to vacation mode
We had a brief thunderstorm come through Green Bay last night. I slept through it. Our Lola the Plott hound is terrified this morning, as she always is after a storm.
After some blueberry and cherry pancakes, we are packing and heading to Copper Harbor this morning. The storms we had here in Green Bay are supposed to meet us in the Upper Peninsula by noon or so.
We are going out 41 / 141 from Green Bay. We would really love to stop before crossing the border and pick up some FRESH cheese curds.
After some blueberry and cherry pancakes, we are packing and heading to Copper Harbor this morning. The storms we had here in Green Bay are supposed to meet us in the Upper Peninsula by noon or so.
We are going out 41 / 141 from Green Bay. We would really love to stop before crossing the border and pick up some FRESH cheese curds.
Road ready warriors heading to Copper Harbor
Thanks goes out to Farm and Fleet In the Dells. Obviously they thought it would be best for mre to climb under the Dodge and replace the starter rather than one of their 2o something technicans>?
The Dodge is back up and running....we will be heading to Copper Harbor Michigan tomorrow morning.
The Dodge is back up and running....we will be heading to Copper Harbor Michigan tomorrow morning.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Arrived at Bayshore PArk....finally
Well, the Dodge started after cooling down in Omro. We are set up here at Bayshore Park north of Green Bay. It is a great park. We plan to stay for 2 night (we have reservations in Copper Harbor Michigan for Monday night).
We are going to look for an autoparts store here in Green Bay / Door County and probably have to replace the starter ourselves on Monday. Good thing check out is 3:00 P.M.
Tom and Mary
Settled at Bayshore County Park in Green Bay, Wisconsin
We are going to look for an autoparts store here in Green Bay / Door County and probably have to replace the starter ourselves on Monday. Good thing check out is 3:00 P.M.
Tom and Mary
Settled at Bayshore County Park in Green Bay, Wisconsin
Can we get just a little luck?
We picked up the Dodge at Farm and Fleet yesterday evening. They said it was all good and eveything checked out--including the starter. Hmmmmmm.
It started a little slow when I took it out of the parking lot but shrugged it off as being a low charge.
It started right up this morning as we left the Dells. After driving 130 miles to Omro, we are stopped for lunch. As soon as we turned off the Dodge I tried to start it and the starter refused to turn more than a groan. Guess the techs at Farm and Fleet were wrong? So we are finishing luch here at the Mickey D's (free Wi-Fi) trying to find a mechanic in Appleton or Green BAy that can replace the starter today or tomorrow. So far Craigslist has been little help. We did get in touch with a guy in Pulaski (NW of Green Bay) and he wasn't sure if he would be of much help beings he is 20-30 miles out of GB.
Mary is using this time to shop at the Piggly Wiggly next door. I am getting ready to make a few phone calls to try and get a mechanic who might be able to do this today--which is doubful as it is already 1:39 CMT....
Tim and Mary
Off the road in Omro, Wisconsin
It started a little slow when I took it out of the parking lot but shrugged it off as being a low charge.
It started right up this morning as we left the Dells. After driving 130 miles to Omro, we are stopped for lunch. As soon as we turned off the Dodge I tried to start it and the starter refused to turn more than a groan. Guess the techs at Farm and Fleet were wrong? So we are finishing luch here at the Mickey D's (free Wi-Fi) trying to find a mechanic in Appleton or Green BAy that can replace the starter today or tomorrow. So far Craigslist has been little help. We did get in touch with a guy in Pulaski (NW of Green Bay) and he wasn't sure if he would be of much help beings he is 20-30 miles out of GB.
Mary is using this time to shop at the Piggly Wiggly next door. I am getting ready to make a few phone calls to try and get a mechanic who might be able to do this today--which is doubful as it is already 1:39 CMT....
Tim and Mary
Off the road in Omro, Wisconsin
Friday, July 8, 2011
Every journey has a little RAIN...
July 7 & 8, 2011
We pulled out of Shipshewana at 8:00 A.M. Thursday morning. We had fueled up the night before when we spotted diesel for $3.86 a gallon. I thought I could catch I-94 west after a short drive on the Indiana Toll Road. WRONG…the ramp for I 94 west was closed and the detour ended $14.00 and 25 miles later when we found ourselves on I-94 heading into downtown Chicago. Suddenly we were facing another toll of $14.00!! We pulled out an old I-Pass transponder I had used in 1997 and held it to the windshield. The light went green and we continued on our way. The traffic in Chicago is never easy, especially in a Dodge 2500 with a 33-foot 5er.
We made our way north and jumped on I-90 west towards Rockford, Illinois. By the time we left Illinois at the South Beloit toll, we had paid another $12 in tolls at 6 other toll-ways. Never again will we be on the toll roads of Chicago. In 2002, we paid .35 cents for each toll stop, for a total of $3.50. But to spend $26 in Chicago and another $14 in Indiana is outrageous I believe.
It has been nearly 9 years since we had been this way. Though I had traveled it more than 30 times in 1996, I had a difficult time remembering the route. We did remember the Cheese Shack we stopped at in December 2002 just as we were leaving the Madison city limits heading north.
As we were getting closer to the Dells, the landscape looked more like parts of North Carolina than the area around Janesville. We stopped just outside the Dells at a really nice rest area. We noticed immediately the Prairie School influence. Wisconsin’s native son—Frank Lloyd Wright, made this architectural concept famous.
Just as every maiden voyage looks like all is good, before things go bad, this was not going to be the exception. Now that the Coachmen was relatively happy, it was time for the Dodge to act out.
We had plans to spend 2 nights at Country Roads RV Park while exploring the Dells on Friday. After checking in at Country Roads, the Dodge decided it didn’t want to turn over. I thought for sure the batteries were toast. The engine S L O W L Y turned over—groaning with every turn. The great folks at Country Roads came to our aid and jumped started the Dodge. I worked the rest of the afternoon trying to charge the batteries (our park neighbors had a battery charger) and checking wires and alternator connections.
Today there was NO improvement in the Dodge’s condition. I managed to get it started with a jump, but the engine continued to resist. I now have it at Blain’s Farm and Fleet in Baraboo were they are putting in a new starter for $199 plus labor…OUCH…
Tim and Mary
In the Dells of Wisconsin
We pulled out of Shipshewana at 8:00 A.M. Thursday morning. We had fueled up the night before when we spotted diesel for $3.86 a gallon. I thought I could catch I-94 west after a short drive on the Indiana Toll Road. WRONG…the ramp for I 94 west was closed and the detour ended $14.00 and 25 miles later when we found ourselves on I-94 heading into downtown Chicago. Suddenly we were facing another toll of $14.00!! We pulled out an old I-Pass transponder I had used in 1997 and held it to the windshield. The light went green and we continued on our way. The traffic in Chicago is never easy, especially in a Dodge 2500 with a 33-foot 5er.
We made our way north and jumped on I-90 west towards Rockford, Illinois. By the time we left Illinois at the South Beloit toll, we had paid another $12 in tolls at 6 other toll-ways. Never again will we be on the toll roads of Chicago. In 2002, we paid .35 cents for each toll stop, for a total of $3.50. But to spend $26 in Chicago and another $14 in Indiana is outrageous I believe.
It has been nearly 9 years since we had been this way. Though I had traveled it more than 30 times in 1996, I had a difficult time remembering the route. We did remember the Cheese Shack we stopped at in December 2002 just as we were leaving the Madison city limits heading north.
As we were getting closer to the Dells, the landscape looked more like parts of North Carolina than the area around Janesville. We stopped just outside the Dells at a really nice rest area. We noticed immediately the Prairie School influence. Wisconsin’s native son—Frank Lloyd Wright, made this architectural concept famous.
Just as every maiden voyage looks like all is good, before things go bad, this was not going to be the exception. Now that the Coachmen was relatively happy, it was time for the Dodge to act out.
We had plans to spend 2 nights at Country Roads RV Park while exploring the Dells on Friday. After checking in at Country Roads, the Dodge decided it didn’t want to turn over. I thought for sure the batteries were toast. The engine S L O W L Y turned over—groaning with every turn. The great folks at Country Roads came to our aid and jumped started the Dodge. I worked the rest of the afternoon trying to charge the batteries (our park neighbors had a battery charger) and checking wires and alternator connections.
Today there was NO improvement in the Dodge’s condition. I managed to get it started with a jump, but the engine continued to resist. I now have it at Blain’s Farm and Fleet in Baraboo were they are putting in a new starter for $199 plus labor…OUCH…
Tim and Mary
In the Dells of Wisconsin
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Staying the course
July 07, 2011
As some of you may have read in our earlier blogs, we have our share of misadventures. Our Garmin hasn‘t always been point on. Typically, the 265WT was been used to give us ETA, distance to a point and help us find a location with the POI feature. The Garmin has also been very useful when we want to get off the main road yet continue in the general direction of our destination. Most of the time we know where we are going. But when we decide to get off the main route, the Garmin allows us to stay on course.
Now that summer is here, we have seen more threads discussing various gps . Many full-timers in larger rigs (coaches and behemoth 5ers) are using the 465T, the commercial trucker version. This unit is programmable with your height, length and weight to allow the 465 to keep you out of precarious situations.
Now Rand McNally, the renowned cartographers, have lent their expertise to a system designed specifically for the RV crowd. No one has any real experience with the RMVD as it has only recently been released in the last month or so. As we move closer to our full-time date of 2013, we will be looking at what other options will be available. The Garmin 265WT has been a great asset and has helped us out of more situations than it created---we still remember that detour it took us on in southern Virginia on roads few people have ever traveled--but we are more confident in our blue road travels with the Garmin.
Tim and Mary
On the road to Wisconsin
As some of you may have read in our earlier blogs, we have our share of misadventures. Our Garmin hasn‘t always been point on. Typically, the 265WT was been used to give us ETA, distance to a point and help us find a location with the POI feature. The Garmin has also been very useful when we want to get off the main road yet continue in the general direction of our destination. Most of the time we know where we are going. But when we decide to get off the main route, the Garmin allows us to stay on course.
Now that summer is here, we have seen more threads discussing various gps . Many full-timers in larger rigs (coaches and behemoth 5ers) are using the 465T, the commercial trucker version. This unit is programmable with your height, length and weight to allow the 465 to keep you out of precarious situations.
Now Rand McNally, the renowned cartographers, have lent their expertise to a system designed specifically for the RV crowd. No one has any real experience with the RMVD as it has only recently been released in the last month or so. As we move closer to our full-time date of 2013, we will be looking at what other options will be available. The Garmin 265WT has been a great asset and has helped us out of more situations than it created---we still remember that detour it took us on in southern Virginia on roads few people have ever traveled--but we are more confident in our blue road travels with the Garmin.
Tim and Mary
On the road to Wisconsin
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