MAY to JULY 2021 - GREAT LAKES TOUR

GREAT LAKES - HURON, ERIE & ONTARIO

Sunday, June 27, 2021 – PJ Hoeft State Park, MI

The weather forecast is for a showery day, possibly a dry spell in the afternoon, so not entirely encouraging for travel – both as any sightseeing will be damp and as the roads will likely be throwing up grimy spray onto the RV and Jeep.

So I decided to stay here for another day, hoping not to move campsites as I recalled checking a couple of days ago that my site was available for tonight.

However, checking again online it looked as if the site was no longer available.

Walked down to the entrance station in a break in the rain at 9:00am to get an official word on site vacancy but no-one was there. And on a return visit to the entrance station at the end of the morning, there was still no-one to be found.

So I walked through the campground to check on a couple of potential sites to move to and simply reserved one of these available sites on-line - and sucked up the $8 on-line booking fee.

Backed the RV carefully out of very tight site 35 and drove round to site 82 then retrieved the Jeep, which I hooked up ready for travel tomorrow.

Then a day of desk work, photos, back-ups, and a little route planning and research in the mix with the better cell connection in the new campsite.

Monday, June 28, 2021 – PJ Hoeft State Park, MI, to Oscoda, MI

An early run along a paved bike trail, most of which ran between the road and the shoreline of Lake Huron.

Then the usual post-run routine, heading out of the campground just before 11:00am, by which time the sun was shining and the day warming up.

Stopped at a parking area overlooking the world's largest limestone quarry just south of Rogers City, operational for over 100 years. The quarry and its port on Lake Huron are both named Calcite, after calcite, the principal ingredient of limestone.

My Great Lakes Tour had, up to this point, offered a succession of largely contemporary-looking lighthouses, most with an actual house attached.

But at last I found a properly photogenic old lighthouse – Presque Isle Old Light - sitting peacefully on a small promontory on Lake Huron.

The new Presque Isle lighthouse is much taller (intentionally, thus making the old one redundant) and only a mile away with a good number of steps required to climb to the top where a small door gave access to the platform around the light and a view down to the parked RV... and strong feelings of acrophobia.

A mouthful of lunch taken before winding along the shore road and back onto Route M23 South, only to be faced with a construction diversion... and thus a challenge to find my way to the next planned stop at the Sturgeon Point Lighthouse.

Once I calculated I had gone far enough to clear the construction I peeled off the diversion route onto a smaller road to head back to the coast, trundling along wondering about the increasing cloud cover when a deer decided it wanted to be in exactly the same spot as me at exactly the same time.

Makes you wonder how these things happen... if I had cleaned my teeth for 15 seconds more, or less, maybe the deer and I would both have had a good day.

As it is, the deer is dead in a ditch and I’ve got a busted up fiberglass front end on the RV - cosmetic not functional damage, as far as I can tell, but it’s still going to be a bitch to sort out.

And the lighthouse wasn’t really worth the diversion anyway, so I won't even show a picture of it here... though the parking area there did give me a chance to get out brush and water and wash the generously-splattered deer blood off the driver's side wheels and bodywork of the RV and Jeep.

And to add insult to injury, I had to backtrack over my route as M23 was still closed even though I had gone some way further south to reach the lighthouse.

Headed on to the campground I had reserved for the night, called the insurance company to start the claims process (which all seems rather vague...) and booked a service appointment at the nearest Ford Commercial Vehicle dealership, 90 miles south, for tomorrow.

And then cracked a beer...

Tuesday, June 29, 2021 – Oscoda, MI, to Holly, MI

Waited until 9:00am EDT (8:00am CDT) to call the Winnebago Service Center for their advice on repairs to the damaged front end of the RV and what availability they had in their schedule for repair or replacement.

Surprised to learn that the earliest available appointment was end October... but they did offer to review photos of the damage and give a view on repair.

So got an e-mail together with photos taken of the damage and fired it off...

Squeezed in a coffee stop en route to the Ford dealership, arriving there early for the appointment I had made on-line... the service department entirely unaware of the appointment and not sure they could do what I needed.

But a little gentle persistence got one of their more experienced mechanics on the job while I sat and waited. Ended up with an oil change, A/C recharge and confirmation that there had been no damage to the underside of the RV from the deer strike. No alignment check possible, unfortunately.

Drove south to the KOA Holly campground and tried to get set up in a sloping campsite only to be waylaid by some RV newbies who wanted to discuss various aspects of my set-up... and with the guy being British (saddler to the Queen, no less) I indulged them.

So not properly set up and sitting down with an emotionally settling beer in my hands until 7:00pm.

Wednesday, June 30, 2021 – Holly, MI

Decided to stay another night (beyond tonight’s prior reservation) so that I could relax a little and spend today calling Winnebago and taking the pictures and video of the RV that Progressive Insurance had requested.

Booked myself in for the Detroit Ford Museum and factory tour for tomorrow, took the Jeep to a car wash and picked up some JB Weld epoxy in preparation for temporary repairs to the front grill on the RV.

Beyond those chores, a very poor Internet connection in the campground rather negated the value of me being here as I had to use a tethering connection via my iPhone to upload photos and video to Progressive, and to do some forward planning research... which revealed no campground sites to be had over the coming weekend - as it’s 4th July weekend – so various dry camping options lined up along with some recreational stops on the way at art museums.

Thursday, July 1, 2021 – Holly, MI

Out of the campground at 8:30am in the Jeep for the hour’s drive to the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit.

An enormous venue, including the “Village” (which I chose not to visit), the building somewhat classical in design, with long corridors linking display spaces.

Some of the very specific items on display were interesting... the collection of presidential limousines, including the car in which Kennedy was shot (rather surprisingly rebuilt for Johnson and Nixon)...

...or the "exploded" Model T Ford.

But overall actually rather too much breadth of material on display – not just cars, but trains, planes, steam engines, power generators, home décor – and the more interesting things poorly explained on minimally informative placards.

The F-150 factory visit also something of a disappointment. The production line was running – churning out a truck every 53 seconds, apparently – but the high-level walkway around the lines really didn’t allow a clear view of what was going on at each station.

Understandable, I guess, as it’s an operational factory not a display piece, but a little frustrating.

And the couple of theater presentations there interesting in some historical perspectives and footage of the F-150 but also rather “lowest common denominator” – again understandable as they have to aim for a broad audience.

No coffee or refreshments until stopping at a Starbucks just outside the complex on my way to an RV dealership to look at a larger “diesel pusher” Winnebago.

Had a helpful sales guy show me a number of different motorhomes, including a “Super C” – an RV built on a Ford F-550 chassis – which rather attracted me in a number of ways, particularly the 10,000lb towing capacity of the powerful 6.7 liter diesel engine (versus the 5,000lb specification of my rig) and the more comfortable driving position, as the regular F-150 driving cab is retained. Ride quality “might” be better, too.

Had the dealership run some numbers on trading in my RV, which were even more unattractive than I had expected, and headed back to the campground for a late beer, an epoxy repair to retain the busted front grill on the RV, and some research and pondering on Super C motorhomes.

Friday, July 2, 2021 – Holly, MI, to Dundee, MI

Middle of the night ruminations led me to the conclusion that the Super C I saw yesterday didn’t merit a revisit, both on account of the negative comments found online about the manufacturer, Thor, and the cost to change.

Dumped the grey tank on the way out of the campground, and with the freshwater tank three quarters full I’m all set for a week’s worth of camping – and this long holiday weekend ahead will be all dry camping for sure.

Drove an hour down to Ann Arbor to a Verizon store to get my iPad set up with a SIM card and connected to my iPhone account, as my iPhone “tethering” data allowance seems once again to have been chewed up. So I now have unlimited Internet access on the iPad for the rather insignificant monthly add-on cost of $10.

A quick grocery top-up of perishables at the nearby Kroger store before driving on closer to downtown to see if I could find any street parking near the University of Michigan Museum of Art. Rather a lot of winding around side streets before settling on a largely empty Park-and-Ride lot near the university football field.

Booked in online for a timed entry at the Museum of Art and hopped on the bike to ride the 1½ miles down to the museum.

Very few people inside, so a nice quiet contemplative visit.

Interesting collection and adjacencies of exhibits in a special exhibition area and a broad range of more classical exhibits elsewhere.

A number of the more modern pieces raise a question in my mind, however: “this is something, but is it art?”

The placard beside this piece in the photo on the left, for example, explains: "Untitled (March 5th) #2. 40-watt light bulbs, extension cords, porcelain light sockets. Felix Gonzales-Torres, American, 1957-1996". Hmmm...

Wandered around for a couple of hours – about my limit for museums and galleries...

...and then snaffled a Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream from a nearby store downtown...

...opposite a wonderful art deco movie theater before riding back to the RV and heading on to my overnight stop at a Cabela’s store, conveniently off the highway and with a very large dedicated RV parking area.

Ran the genset and both A/C units for an hour to take some heat out of the RV and settled in to a quiet evening.

Saturday, July 3, 2021 – Dundee, MI, to Port Clinton, OH

Good solid night’s sleep in the quiet Cabela's RV parking lot, traffic noise from the highway effectively suppressed by distance and tree cover.

Out for a run on the roads leading to the store before sitting down with coffee to figure out my day.

No stop at an RV dealership as I had planned, as a call to them revealed that the particular unit I wanted to see had been sold. So I did little desk work (courtesy of the new Internet connection on my iPad), brewed a second coffee and finally got on the road at 12:30pm, stopping for gas before hitting the highway.

An hour’s drive brought me to the National Museum of the Great Lakes with multiple displays describing the historical commercial development and continuing importance of the Great Lakes...

...and emphasizing how dangerous the waters can be – 8,000 wrecks documented.

I even learnt why it is that people often "go down with the ship" when they aren't necessarily trapped below decks.

(click on the thumbnail to the left to open a larger image where you can read the explanation.)

Then an hour spent walking around the freighter Col. James M. Schoonmaker tied up beside the museum on permanent display.

A final hour’s drive to Port Clinton and the Walmart there, my overnight destination, arriving there a little after 5:30pm and tucking myself away in a back corner of the parking lot.

Ran the genset and both A/C units for an hour to cool things down.

Sunday, July 4, 2021 – Port Clinton, OH

Quiet night in the large Walmart parking lot, with a few other RVs for company.

A combination of my recent iPad Internet connection and WiFi from the Walmart store allowed me to get some more desk work done, including a disproportionate amount of time researching firework displays for tonight near overnight parking (non-campground, with everything booked for this holiday weekend).

In the end, decided to stay here another day – firework display promised in Sandusky this evening at the amusement park there (Cedar Point) and this spot at the back corner of the Walmart parking lot is quiet and feels safe and secure enough for me to leave the RV while driving to see the fireworks.

Checked with the Customer Service instore that it was OK to stay a second night, picked up a couple of grocery items while there, had lunch, and then scooted off to check out nearby Marblehead (OH not MA) Lighthouse and head on into Sandusky to scout out viewing options for the evening’s firework display.

Marblehead Lighthouse in a very pleasant spot on the point enclosing Sandusky Bay – a view clearly shared by plenty of weekend holidaymakers as it was very crowded.

In Sandusky I drove to the Battery Park area, identifying my firework viewing spot and parking options for tonight.

A very warm day... and back at the Walmart parking lot late afternoon my RV “box” was pretty hot inside, so after a micro-waved ravioli dinner I pulled out a folding chair and sat outside in the light breeze on the shady side of the RV, catching up on the next episode of House of Cards (the Netflix series that I’ve come to rather late in the day).

Off to the fireworks at 9:00pm and in my viewing spot just before 10:00pm as dusk was falling, enjoying the breeze on the shoreline and watching canoes bobbing about with light sticks decorating them.

Fireworks going off constantly and fairly indiscriminately all over downtown Sandusky and around the bay but the professional display across the water at Cedar Point didn’t start until 10:30pm.

While undoubtedly enjoyable if close enough to see, and particularly feel the percussive effect of the display, it was a little tame from my distant viewpoint (particularly in comparison to displays I’ve enjoyed in the past from various boats anchored in New London, CT), so after 10 minutes I headed back to the car and to my rather too toasty RV.

Rather than fire up the genset for the A/C, I cranked up the extractor fan and opened windows beside the bed to get sufficient breeze to allow me to sleep.

Monday, July 5, 2021 – Port Clinton, OH, to Geneva State Park, Geneva, OH

It stayed warm overnight, but with open windows either side of the bed in the RV there was just enough cross breeze to allow a decent night’s sleep...

...though it was a short night, late to bed after the fireworks and awake at 5:20am with a sweeper truck working its way around the parking lot.

Out at 6:45am for a run... 7 loops around the perimeter of the Walmart parking lot and store. Warm work, with the temperature not having dropped below 70 degrees overnight, and even warmer back inside the RV for my post-run workout routine.

Took the scenic route along Lake Erie shoreline, through a few towns along the way, but as with most other shoreline drives on this trip the lake wasn't visible most of the time, particularly getting close to Cleveland where increasingly large houses expanded to fill the full width of their waterfront lots.

Stopped for a bite of lunch in Lake Avon (in the shadow of the power plant, due to be torn down apparently) and then got onto I-90 for most of the rest of the day’s drive, which terminated in at the state park in Geneva.

Both air conditioners ran for two hours straight from campsite set-up at 4:00pm before the interior temperature of the RV was tolerable... not helped by the sun continuing to beat down relentlessly on the front end of the RV where the black blackout shades actually suck up and then radiate heat into the interior.

I’m sure white-colored shades would do a perfectly good job of providing blackout and would reflect more of the sun’s heat, but probably not an easy conversion for me to make.

Nicely kept campground, with trails down to the beach on the lake and a nearby marina. Might explore those tomorrow morning when the day is cooler – although overnight temperatures not forecast to drop much below 70.

Tuesday, July 6, 2021 – Geneva State Park, Geneva, OH, to Hamburg, NY

Both A/C units ran for 3 and a half hours yesterday evening to get the RV properly cooled down... I guess due to so much residual heat in the structure of the vehicle. And there was pretty consistently cycling of the front A/C system through the night, too. Glad I was on shorepower...

But despite the warm and humid morning – mid 70s at 7:00am – and the fact that I had run yesterday, the paved trail from the campground along the lake shoreline, in and out of woods and around a marina, was sufficiently tempting to have me run again.

Eased my pace on the run – 15 seconds a mile slower than yesterday – but covered 4 and a half miles to make up for it. Quite a treat to return to a chilled RV for my post-run workout routine.

Coffee at 10:00am, a little weather research and route planning, booked a campground for the end of the week, and headed out just before noon.

Although not the quickest route, I couldn’t resist driving down New London Road and through the town of Saybrook (in honor of my old stomping grounds in Connecticut) on my way onto I-90.

Stopped for gas before crossing into Pennsylvania and then for a grocery top-up and a bite of lunch just outside Erie before diverting to the scenic route along Bayside Drive and then along Route 5, following the lake shoreline.

Pulled over for a brief late afternoon snack before continuing into Hamburg and to the RV Gander (ex-Camping World) store there where they were happy for me to stay overnight – missed my best parking slot, however, while in the store and chatting on the phone with Ted, so I’m tucked away in the corner of the lot with only the passenger side slide out, the Jeep unhooked and parked nearby.

But I do have power, somewhat unexpectedly, so A/C cranked up and slowly cooling off the RV.

Wednesday, July 7, 2021 – Geneva Hamburg, NY, to Lewiston, NY

A surprisingly quiet night, but awake and up reasonably early, Jeep hooked up and on the road by 7:30am, heading for Niagara Falls.

Towards the end of the hour’s drive, running happily along a 4-lane highway, I was suddenly confronted with a road sign saying that a bridge ahead has only 12’ clearance... and the specification on my RV is 12’ 4”.

So not wanting to risk finding out if either or both of these things were true, I did an illegal U-turn across the central reservation and plotted an alternative route to the falls that would be clear of any low bridges, finally finding my way to the RV parking lot on Goat Island.

Weather better than expected, occasional brightness instead of rain, though not quite as bright as my last (and first) time here five years ago.

Walked all the falls – Horseshoe, American and Bridal Veil Falls – in the increasingly warm and humid morning.

At the half-way point I was unable to resist a late-morning ice-cream as a substitute for my missed morning coffee (none on offer that I cared for) and to boost my blood sugar levels, probably most of it worked off on the 4 miles I walked around the falls.

Had a mouthful of lunch back at the RV before heading out to the campground booked for tonight and tomorrow, about 30 minutes’ drive north of the falls.

After setting up in the campsite and getting the A/C units blasting, brewed a coffee (in this back to front nutrition day) and checked weather. Rain forecast for the whole day tomorrow, so I decided to head off in the Jeep to Whirlpool State Park and take the hike down to the river to get up close and personal with the whirlpool and rapids.

Great views from the clifftop in the park, and a one-mile hike down 300 steps and into the gorge brought me to the “flats” (seen at the bottom of the picture to the right) and close to the thousands of gallons per second of water tumbling downstream.

A long climb back up the steps from river level, retrieved the Jeep from the parking lot, back at the campground and the RV at 5:40pm, perfect timing to contemplate the imminent cracking of an evening beer.

Thursday, July 8, 2021 – Lewiston, NY

Heavy rain overnight and periodically throughout the day – as forecast - and the reason why I’m staying put in the campground today.

Plenty to be done at my desk, however, grinding through photo triage as well as RV projects (changing water filters, tank fills...) and a load of laundry, but after an early afternoon rain system cleared through I headed out in the Jeep to the Niagara Power Vista – essentially an education center explaining the development of the Niagara hydroelectric power plant and about electricity in general.

At least, those are the stated aims, but I found it a little too interactive, politically correct with its Native American section and overall too “kid friendly”, to the detriment of actual hard content and logical exposition.

There would have been fairly dramatic views from the observation deck down into the Niagara Gorge in better weather, but the drizzly and misty conditions made it all a little flat.

More desk work back at the campground...

Friday, July 9, 2021 – Lewiston, NY, to Rochester, NY

A little more rain overnight, leaving the weather overcast, humid and misty.

Out for a run rather later than intended, so not a lot of time for much other than completing a PC back-up and getting coffee around 10:00am before dumping and flushing tanks, hooking up the Jeep and heading out.

A 30-mile drive brought me to 30 Mile Point Lighthouse, looking a little less than spectacular in the morning grayness.

Continued on the scenic coastal route for a few miles before pulling over for a bite of lunch and embarking on a drive down the Lake Ontario Scenic Parkway... very rough road surface for the first few miles, no other traffic, all a little spooky.

And then the concern was the height of bridges over the parkway, having had my 12’ bridge clearance scare a couple of days ago heading into Niagara Falls.

So my heart was in my mouth as I drove under the first couple of overpass bridges, heights unmarked... unlike a bridge further on, clearly advertised as 11’ 3” in the right lane, but no information on the left lane, though this was clearly higher.

I nervously bailed out at the exit, but then figured the left lane had to be high enough, so doubled back, drove safely under the overpass in the left lane and continued down the parkway... but for only one more exit when the arched bridge ahead was advertised as 10’ something on the nearside and 11’ something on the outside lane.

With no information on the potential center clearance, I decided it was time to get back onto safer inland roads.

Stocked up on fresh groceries on the west side of Rochester and then drove on 15 minutes south to a Cracker Barrel Restaurant just off the highway, pulling into their dedicated RV parking area behind the store. With permission given for an overnight stay, I unhooked the Jeep (as the combined rig was overhanging the 40’ parking slot) and tried to work up some enthusiasm for a trip into downtown Rochester...

...but failed.

Just couldn’t summon up the energy for a late afternoon tussle with city traffic, so snacked on some blueberries and yoghurt and did a little forward planning.

Saturday, July 10, 2021 – Rochester, NY, to Burnham Point State Park, Cape Vincent, NY

Surprisingly quiet overnight in the Cracker Barrel parking lot and I slept well, though finally roused at 6:15am by the trash collection truck.

Had breakfast in the Cracker Barrel to show my gratitude for the free overnight stay – the usual “Old Timers” breakfast of scrambled egg, hash browns and sausage patties, grits on the side, buttermilk biscuits and preserves.

The intended drive along the lakeshore scenic parkway once more blown up by a sign advertising an 11’ bridge ahead, so I had to double back and head along a “regular” highway, eventually cutting back north to the shoreline and Sodus Point. Odometer clicked over 10,000 miles.

Parked at a roadside spot on the way into town and got my 2-mile morning walk in heading out to the light at the end of the entrance channel breakwater.

Houses on the streets around the bay at Sodus Point, and on the waterfront itself, reminded me a little of similar waterfront locations in my previous home towns of Westbrook and Old Saybrook.

And the views across the inner bay a little like some of the Chesapeake Bay harbors I've visited.

I had thought that the light that I had walked to at the end of the channel breakwater was the "Sodus Bay Lighthouse"...

...sought out as my "scenic drives" guide had recommended it...

...but driving around the block to get out of town, I came across the real Sodus Bay Lighthouse (not the entrance channel light) and pulled off to the side of the road just long enough to snap a couple of pictures.

Stopped a little further on in Fair Haven to brew coffee and then in Oswego to detour to the marina where – 18 years ago – I supervised the stepping of a mast on a customer’s Lagoon 410 that had been taken up the Hudson River and Erie Canal on its way to the Great Lakes, and eventually Sandusky, OH.

And the static mast-stepping crane still was on the dockside of the small marina, just as I remembered it.

It's a strange, and not infrequently repeated, experience coming across far-flung parts of the vast US with which I have some reasonable familiarity.

Had a bite of lunch before getting back on the road, stopping next in Sackets Harbor, location of a battle in the 1812 war and now uber-cute and well supplied with high end restaurants.

The final driving stint on this 175-mile day was to Burnham Point State Park - yet another one of my last-minute itinerary decisions and I was lucky to get the last available overnight spot there.

But I wanted to be there specifically so that I could drive the Jeep out to Tibbetts Point Lighthouse for a sunset shot, at the point where Lake Ontario narrows and its outflow becomes the St Lawrence River.

And so with the sun going down beyond the lighthouse, the 2021 Great Lakes Tour is officially over.

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