Sep 4, 2019 - Getting to know Rome

We got an overview of Rome today by riding the Hop on/Hop Off bus around several of the major sites. After lunch at our apartment & a siesta we headed to Campo de Fiori. Along the way we passed many little shops, vendor shops & restaurants and MANY people. A few minutes later we discovered the reason-we were at Trevi Fountain! What a beautiful sight. This is the fountain used in the classic movie "Three Coins in a Fountain". The tradition is you throw a coin over your shoulder into the fountain to insure a return to the beautiful city of...

Sep 2, 2019 - And the adventure begins

We are about to leave home for Rome, Italy. The anticipation has been over the top. I hope we have all we need! Since I wasn't able to check in online, we are going a little early to make sure all is okay. Not fun to start with a glitch. The weather forecast for the next week in Rome shows rain almost every day. Let's hope that is wherever we aren't!

Aug 23, 2019 - Logging Musuem and Shipping Graveyard and waterfalls

First stop was a Logging Museum ... offered low cost stay while we drove about 35 miles to see Whitefish Point... the shipping graveyard of the Great Lakes. They have a nice museum with an emphasis on some deep diving technologies to reach depths of over 500 ft. Of course there was a lot of attention paid to the Edmund Fitzgerald. Interesting fact: the days of the high traffic of iron ore freighters is over. At the trades height, there were over 3000 trips annually (no wonder there were so many sinkings at the bottleneck at the eastern end...

Aug 22, 2019 - Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

2019-08-22. Traverse City, Michigan Before waxing poetic about the beauty of Great Sleeping Bear Dune National Lakeshore, a word about camping in state or local fairgrounds. We have stayed at many different fairgrounds on this trip. Check ahead of time for when the events are happening at the fairgrounds, but if there are no events, you may have the place to yourself at low cost but with at least electric and a dump station and often, water as well. Yesterday, we spent the night in the Upper Peninsula State Fair Grounds ("Upstate") in...

Aug 18, 2019 - Michigan and home

From the Blue Mound State Park in Minnesota we traveled northeast past Minneapolis, through Northern Wisconsin. We traveled along the northern shore of Lake Michigan and crossed the Mackinac Bridge. On Monday the 19th we arrived in Greenville, Michigan, where Randy lives, and camped at Wabassa County Park. A very nice campground. On Tuesday, I rode mountain bike with Randy and 8 other friends. Wednesday, traveled south to Middlebury, IN. We went to the Grand Design RV factory and took a tour of the facility. Excellent tour! We found a nice...

Aug 17, 2019 - Boondocking at the winery

We are implementing a slightly different tact on campground expenses. Often we can get discounted camping during the week (Sun through Thursday) while the weekends cost more. So this time we relied on the Harvest Host program to reduce overall cost. We can park free in many wineries and farms. This time we checked out a couple for Friday and Saturday. Then we went to a more upscale resort on Sunday.

Aug 12, 2019 - Visiting our "new neighbors"

Our next stop was to visit our new friends. Mike and Pat Mandjack are our neighbors, living across the street from us at our new home in Bradenton, FL. They invited us to stay with them as they have electric hookup for us and water. We were treated royally as we learned about the area, going to evening music concerts and touring the area. One highlight was attending a bonsai club meeting with them. John golf a couple of times. We thoroughly enjoyed the visit.

Aug 7, 2019 - Mackinac Island, a Blast from the Past

This is another one of those places in our country that if you have never been there, you should make a point to go. I won't bore you with a bunch of dates and statistics, but this area has a very long history dating back the the 1700s between the French, English, Native Americans, and New Americans. Mackinac Island and Mackinaw City are separated by the straits of Mackinac, about a 15 mile stretch of water that joins Lakes Michigan and Huron. Although the spelling is different (nac) and (naw), they are both pronounced (naw). Only Mackinaw...

Aug 6, 2019 - St. Ignace

2019-08-06.Alpena to St. Ignace, MI Last night we had one hell of a storm. It thundered, then rained, then stopped, then rained, then thundered etc...There was so much rain that we were surrounded by a lake that was at least 3 inches deep. Thankfully, the RV was on higher ground, but taking Roadie out at night was...well, wet.... This morning was nice and we left Alpena for St. Ignace which is on the upper peninsula side of the Mackinaw bridge. We drove along the shores of Lake Huron most of the morning and while, windy, it was still a...

Aug 5, 2019 - St. Lorenz and Alpena, MI

2019-08-06.St. Lorenz and Alpena, MI As I mentioned, we stayed in the St. Lorenz Churchgrove Campground in Frankenmuth, Michigan. It's sign says: "Gott Schutze Unsere Camper" which translates to "God Protects Our Campers" and this Lutheran congregation owns not only this campground but much of the prime real estate in Frankenmuth, including a day care, elementary school, adult school and a stunning church. Sunday morning, I got up early while Bob slept and took Roadie to find the cathedral. It took me 20 minutes but, it wasn't hard to see...

Aug 4, 2019 - 8 Mile Road

From the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Os and I started the trek back south. First stop was the capital of Michigan in Lansing. I truly love visiting state capitals, but for some reason, I totally forgot Lansing was Michigan’s. As we arrived in the city, I actually had to look up what we might want to see while there. Oh, I don’t know...the state capitol building? And, maybe Michigan State??? Duh. Although the state capitol building was not overly impressive compared to others I have seen, it was the very first state capital to use the dome...

Aug 3, 2019 - On the Road again!

It was a close call, but we actually left home on August 1st as planned. Between work (that four letter word), our parents, and issues with getting the RV inspected (as in six new tires needed), we really thought we'd have to delay the trip. But, we scrambled and managed to leave when planned. The first day, we (Bob) drove 374 miles! We arrived at Shenango River Lake around 6:30 p.m. but, it was worth the drive. This is a wonderful corps of engineers park in Pennsylvania about four miles from Youngstown, Ohio, in Sharon, PA. We've stayed...