B-10 Rally MI Trip: Home from Home on the Road

Mike and I decided to hit the road early.  We use the macerator for the first time and were happy to see how well it worked. John was up and ready to go, too.  We both pull out about 6:45am.  This time crossing the bridge, we were charged $10.00 as a “motor home” instead of the dual axle $4.00 we paid on the way in. Mike started to argue, but quickly realized it was not worth it.  At Indian River we stopped with John for breakfast at Paula’s Cafe, right off I-75.  The walls were lined with teapots, in every possible style. The owner is a collector and they are not for sale.  The waitress told us that they don’t even have a teapot to serve tea in if a customer asks.  It was a great breakfast with outstanding fruit pancakes. 

The nine hours home went by quickly.  We listened to Pandora radio and I read Mike an internet story our oldest son sent us about the Iditarod.  We reminisced about our interesting new friends from the rally and started planning our next trip. We made it back home to Cleveland by 5:00pm. 

B-10 Rally MI Trip: Social Day (Day 5, May 18)

Another beautiful day. After coffee and pastry, Mike, John and I went for a long walk.  At 10:30pm we enjoyed brunch of French toast, quiches, sausage and fruit – excellent.  At noon, we met people’s dogs on the “pet walk.”  At 3:00pm we gathered to discuss where to have the next Class B rally and how to keep connected. After this, Mike, John and I joined a campfire/cocktail hour with the three brothers and their wives from Ontario.  We had lots of laughs about travels and life.  At 5:00pm we gathered for a pig roast and all the fixings.  A local “one man band” played guitar and horn with a back-up recorded band. He was good at imitating voices from the 1950s through the 1970s.  After dinner, the tables were moved back and many of us danced to these familiar old tunes.  What a fun group. 

B-10 Rally MI Trip: Siberia of the U.S. (Day 4, May 17)

"Siberia of the U.S."

Mike and I are woke early and enjoyed coffee from our Keurig.  About 8:00am, we went over to the “clubhouse” for more coffee and pastry.  We chatted some with new and old friends.  It had warmed up and the wind had settled down, so we went for a walk and passed one of the five prisons surrounding the campground.  Mike said this area must be the Siberia of the U.S.

At 10:30am, we join the group for local “pasties.”  Each pastie is a crescent of pie pastry, about 6-inches in diameter, filled with sliced steak, potatoes, carrots and rutabagas, served with either gravy or ketchup. The story is that in this area, with its Scandinavian heritage, the miners’ wives would prepare these for their husband’s lunch.  At lunchtime, down in the mines, the miners would put these on their shovels and bake them over a fire.  Served with coleslaw, they were good.

Most of rest of the day, Mike, John and I spent either showing off our RVs and visiting with other campers. Mike was invited to look at several other RVs to discuss and measure for installation of screen doors. 

Cocktail hour started at 3:00pm!  Over BYOB beers and wine, we chatted about places we’ve been in our RVs and places we want to go.  At 4:30pm we took a group picture, and at 5:00pm we shared dinner from a local caterer (sausage and peppers on paninis).  We skipped the “Snatch-0-Bingo” to catch up on e-mails, and, again, enjoyed the retreat to our RV home.

B-10 Rally MI Trip: Over the Makinaw Bridge (Day 3, May 16)

Mackinaw Bridge. Photo by John Golden.

With only a few hours left to reach our destination, we got an early start and crossed the Mackinaw Bridge about 7:30am. There were high winds and the trucks were going about 20mph. We stopped in St. Ignace on the north side of the bridge and bought a few groceries, including the makings for a fresh salad for tonight's potluck.  We asked where to find a good bakery so we could get John, our friend driving another Advanced RV to the B-10 rally, something to bring to the potluck. We ere directed back across the bridge to Mackinaw City.  The $4.00 toll each way made for an expensive rhubarb pie!

About 10:00pm we arrived in Kincheloe, found the RV park, and met Bob, our host for the RV rally.  John pulled in right after us and Bob directed us to adjoining spots. There were about eight other RVs already there, including Dave and April from Utah, who had a cabinet and screen door installed in their new ERA at Advanced RV last week. Later, another Advanced RV customer arrived with a new wine cabinet and screen door installed on their Pleasure Way.  All weekend, both proudly showed their Advanced RV installations to the other Class Bers.

After layering on sweatshirts and jackets against the cold wind, we spent the afternoon visiting the other RVers and showing off our new Ocean One motor homes.  At 5:00pm we gather for a potluck, with lots of good food and camaraderie.  About 31 RVs were there, hailing from California, Utah, Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Ontario. They were traveling in every type of Class B:  conversion vans, pop-up campers and Sprinter RVs, new and old. Most had pods and bicycles on the back.  They were a crowd of fun, adventuresome people, many with clever do-it-yourself modifications to their vans.

Mike and I skipped the campfire gathering as the temperature dropped into the 40’s and enjoyed the embrace of our cozy, comfortable Ocean One.

B-10 Rallyl MI Trip: Higgins Lake Hike (Day 2, May 15)

It was quite windy at South Higgins Lake

After breakfast, we took a short hike around the Brighton Lake and came across a bank of lilacs in bloom--lovely! After stretching out legs, we got back on the road, headed north on Route 23, enjoying the trees in bud. We stopped at South Higgins State Park, near Roscommon, where four Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources staffers came out of the office to admire our RV.  They told us that Higgins Lake is “the sixth most beautiful lake in the world.”  The deep parts were a bright turquoise and the shallow areas formed a ring of slate blue. It was so windy, however, that the rangers suggested we go across the road to the more sheltered Marl Lake.  There, we watched a young couple fishing in hip waders while we ate sandwiches at a beachside picnic table.  We took a 3-mile hike on a lush loop trail.   

About 5:00pm, we arrived at Burt Lake State Park, about 30 miles south of Cheboygan--one of the early Michigan state parks built by the Civilian Conservation Core in the 1930’s. We enjoyed a quick walk, and then settled in the late afternoon sunshine at the picnic table, with our computers and a hot spot Wi-Fi connection. 

B-10 Rally MI Trip: Dinner Under a Crescent Moon (Day 1, May 14)

Dinner at sunset, Brighton Recreation Area

Today Mike and I got on the road for the tenth annual RV.net Class B Rally in Kincheloe, on Michigan's Upper Peninsula. We finished packing around 4:00pm and pulled out of the driveway, hoping to beat Cleveland rush hour traffic. The brand-new demonstration Advanced RV motor home we're traveling in, nicknamed "Candy," looks great and we immediately noticed it is the quietest RV we have ever driven.

At 8:00pm, we arrived at the Brighton Recreation Area, about 30 miles north of Ann Arbor. It's a beautiful State of Michigan park, situated on a lake bordering the city of Brighton. So early in the season, on a weeknight, we found the campground almost empty. We selected a site overlooking the lake. Sitting at the picnic table, under a crescent moon, we shared a salad topped with steak, leftover from Mother’s Day, and half a bottle of wine. This was the quietest and darkest park we had ever been in.  We slept well on the new bed with its fitted, custom-made sheet and a luxurious queen duvet over us for added warmth.