MI to MA (07-19-19)

Having secured reservations for the weekend of July 4, we could relax and enjoy the journey, so to speak.  We arrived at the Muskegon county park, in Michigan, right down the street from gorgeous Lake Michigan, and promptly walked to the beach.




I didn't get any pictures that do this lake justice, partially because I didn't bother, and partly because the lake water levels are at near record high, which means there is more debris and mud than usual. Still gorgeous, unsalted, and warm though!







Our July 4th was spent in the small town of Montague.  We know we are spoiled as far as fireworks go, and after this display we were thinking we could have skipped it.  Little did we know that two nights later, we could have been at the best fireworks display that Michigan has to offer- in Bay City MI. Unfortunately we found out about it when we saw it live on T.V.  Oh well.






This campground had no availability for the night of July 5, so we packed up and moved to a different, nearby county park.  With temperatures in the mid 90s, we were anxious to get there and get the AC working.   Well, best laid plans and all.....

 We plugged in at the post, and our power management system promptly shut our system down.  Tried it again- no joy.  Paul got out his meter and long story short, there was Too Much power coming from the post -132 volts. We reported to the office, and went looking for another open spot, to see if it was better.  Nope.




Along the way, we met a neighbor, who happened to be a lineman for the county.  He checked the power at HIS post and immediately unplugged his rig.  He called his buddies, and within an hour there were 4 bucket trucks in the park to figure out the problem. By then we had decided we couldn't wait it out, so we left.




"Luckily", our next destination had lots of room, so we just went there early. Its pretty much in the middle of nowhere, so there wasn't much to do while we waited for our tour of the Avalon and Tahoe Manufacturing facility.

We did make a day trip to the town of Bay City, walked along the riverfront and tried to get to a beach so we could get a glimpse of Lake Huron. Seems like most of the water frontage is privately owned, so we didn't get to see much of the lake.

Paul did get some ideas at the park where we walked...

Avalon is the brand of pontoon boat that we have.

















The facility in Michigan where it was built gives private tours, upon request.  We made an appointment and got a pretty interesting tour .

Paul had several questions, and of course, several suggestions for them.









While we had some free time, we made some plans for the rest of our route to Boston.
Our first major stop was Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio. With only one day to explore, we did some research and came up with two hikes that we could do in one day.

Our first hike was through and around the Ritchie Ledges.

Interesting rock formations made for an interesting hike.












The park, in part, showcases the history of the canal system- we checked out the visitor center in between hikes but were more focused on being outside

Our second hike was to Brandywine Falls. This is a popular, well used trail, so we were definitely not alone.

From Ohio to New York, we made our next destination Letchworth State Park, known as the Grand Canyon of the East.  We have hiked here before, and really didn't have much time this time around, but we did manage a two mile walk along the Genessee River.

Once we head through New York towards Massachusetts, campgrounds become pretty scarce. We had to drive pretty far one day to find somewhere to stay.


And then, one day later, we arrived in Massachusetts, just in time for the wedding of our friends Linda and Alan.













As Alexander McCall Smith said " You can go through life and make friends every year- every month practically- but there was never any substitute for  those friendships of childhood that survive into adult years."


 That felt so true as my friends and I posed for a group photo.  We have all know each other since the age of 5- more than 50 years!

The following week was spent visiting family and friends....lots of dinners-

And although we had plans to play miniature golf with my family, the high temperatures turned it into a bowling outing.  My hips wonder what the heck I was thinking!














On Saturday we moved from the campground to my brother's back yard, where our vehicles will be stored for the next 6 weeks.














Tally Ho- my next post will hopefully be made from London, England!

Grand Canyon of the East (Letchworth State Park, NY-6/17/11)

    We made reservations at this park based on a recommendation from a couple we met in PA, and it is a great park (although the “real” Grand Canyon has nothing to be worried about), but I thought it was much closer to Joe and Judi in Rochester than it actually was.  It took us about an hour and twenty minutes to get to the boat on Saturday.   Also, I had to cheat the system.  They had no more “pet” sites available so I said I had no pet.  Poor Dozer had to stay inside, with the shades down, the whole time we were there. Not an ideal situation, and I don’t think I’d do it again. 
   

  The Park was partially built on land donated by William Letchworth after his death in 1910.  He was a conservationist during his lifetime and spent a lot of time and money collecting artifacts to preserve them for future generations.  The land is along the banks of the Genesee River and includes 3 major waterfalls.  No one is allowed along the riverbed unless they are part of a group rafting trip, however, which is very odd, except in most places the gorge is a few hundred deep anyway.    Things really got built up here in the 1930s, when the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) came in and built most of the structures, trails and picnic areas.

  

       One of the longest and most popular trails here is the Gorge trail but at 7 miles long (with a 7 mile return), its a bit much to do in one day.  The ranger suggested starting at one end one day, hiking halfway, returning, and then doing the other half another day.  We took the advice and ended up hiking about 7.5 miles the first day.

We also saw all 3 major waterfalls the first day.  Hiking here is pretty easy- the trails and waterfall views  are pretty accessible by road, all along the way, so we didn’t really have to hike as far as we did, but we wanted the exercise anyway. 

    We spent one day exploring by truck, driving down tiny little dirt roads that we probably shouldn’t have been on, and we found a trail that follows an old canal that was built in the 1800s to carry lumber and materials to distant towns. The canal was used, by a series of locks, to raise and lower barges over 900 feet in elevation. Not much of the locks are left, but it was still an interesting day.  Our travels also brought us past a small town that didn’t have many stores, but did have a great place to get ice cream!