Westward Ho

 After Washington DC, we turned our nose west and headed out with any real destination in mind.  We had a vague idea of stopping in Branson Mo for a show and Picher Oklahoma where we have family history.

A storm our first night inspired us to stop and overnight at a Walmart in Virginia, right at the border into Tennessee.

We then crossed into Kentucky and while meandering along decided to visit Mammoth Cave National Park.  There was a Thousand Trails nearby that had room, so we updated the GPS and changed course.

We were at the Thousand Trails only for two nights.  We went up to the National Park the morning of the second day and unfortunately found that all the tours of the cavern were sold out.

Oh well.  But the grounds of the National Park were quite nice and Ginger got a good workout on a nice long walk.

After Mammoth, we got back on the road and again headed west.  We then made a wrong turn and ended up on the road to St. Louis.

We hadn't planned on going to St. Louis, but figured what the heck.

We got into a Casino RV Park just across the river from the Arch.  The Casino was undergoing renovation with most of the features you'd expect in a Casino closed - Just one bar and a corner Deli for food.  We decided the Casino wasn't really for us, so we took the Metro across the river to the Arch. 

The Arch was quite fascinating and you can ride to the top in little pods and experience one of the best views we have ever seen.  

We highly recommend it.

We have had a couple of mechanical issues.  

First, our steps broke.  A rivetted part came un rivetted.  We discovered this when we were preparing to overnight in the Walmart we mentioned above.  We got some nuts and bolts from the hardware section in the Walmart and proceeded to "bush fix" the steps.  The bush fix will probably hold until we get home.

The other major thing was that passenger side mirror glass fell out of the mirror while running down the highway.  The heater wires kept it from hitting the asphalt and we managed a probable permanent fix while in St Louis.  Just in case though there is a bit of duct taped helping hold the glass in for a while.

Duct tape makes it all better

Just  as we were getting ready to leave St.. Louis, the dog decided to puke on the bed.   While we have laundry equipment on board, the stuff that needed washing was too big.  That necessitated a 1.5 hour stop at a roadside laundromat.

We eventually made it to the Oklahoma border and decided to spend two days in a Casino RV park in Quapaw just outside of Joplin.  Other than the fact that the Downstream Casino is a very fine Casino/Hotel resort with an excellent (no sewer) RV park, the reason we stopped here was to explore the town of Picher Oklahoma where we have family roots

October 9. 2021

Michigan to New York

 We decided we were driving too much and took a 10 day stand-down in St Clare Michigan at a Thousand Trails just outside of the town.

We needed it.  The rig had racked up the need for a number of minor repairs and we were very tired.  The stop at the Thousand Trails gave us time to rest, get the rig repairs done (all DIY) and to do some local sightseeing.  We also used St. Clare as a general delivery address to get our mail forwarded to us.

Draw Bridge in St. Clare

We were close to Port Huron, so we went over there and took a lake/river tour on a boat out onto Lake Huron.  Walking around the beautiful town of St. Clare with it's river front boardwalk was also a very highly thought of activity.

We took a trip (quite a distance) to Frankenmuth, which we think is German for "Tourist Trap".   It was worth the trip just to see the the town and to enjoy their little river cruise on a stern wheeler.  They allowed our dog Ginger as a passenger - though boats are not Gingers favorite thing.

This is first place in Michigan we thought was over-priced.  I guess the Disneyland like experience is expensive.

Fully rested and repairs on the rig complete, we left St. Clare and proceeded along I-90 with a goal of getting to upstate New York.  We stopped at another Thousand Trails in Ohio, Kenisee Lakes.

This Thousand Trails is notably simply for beauty of park.  A lot of Thousand Trails are...ummm..rustic.  That is needing work to modernize or restore the amenities that are getting worn.  

That was not the case with this one.  Everthing was in pristine condition, with the grounds well maintained.  

We pulled in and did something we had never done before:  we extended our stay just as we checked in.

While at Kenisee Lakes we decided to back track a bit and drive the car to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. 

Long Live Rock!!

This was quite an interesting stop, with all the artifacts and history of the some great and some not so great musicians of the past.  It had a pretty liberal interpretation of the Rock and Roll since Johnny Cash's Tour Bus was parked out front as one of the exhibits.

Cleveland surprised us.  They apparently have done some serious urban renewal - particularly around the water front.  We were time limited (Dog are not allowed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Ginger was back at the Campground) and didn't get to explore much, but next time we are in the Cleveland area, we will.  This was a far cry from the "Mistake by the Lake" designation Cleveland used to have.

We we returned to Kenisee Lake we discovered that part of its charm is that there is nothing to do in the area.   There are some modern covered bridges in the area and some state parks by the water front, but the state parks are dog-hostile and therefore not visited by us.

We then continued our run along I-90 to upstate New York and Niagara Falls. 

Manchester Beach California July 4, 2016

Some relatives came out to escape the heat Arizona by staying at a small resort in Point Arena California.  Since we didn't think we could also stay there (turns out we could have), we planned an RV trip to the Manchester Beach KOA - about 5 miles north of Point Arena.

We looked at the map for the best road.  We knew it *was not* California 1 north of San Francisco.  That road is twisty-turny enough to challenge the mini-cooper.

Instead we chose US-101 North to Route 128 to about 20 miles north of Manchester Beach.
So we tried it.

The road is somewhat twisty and there are a couple of sections where there is a sharp drop to the side, but it was navigable.  Just not my favorite road.

We had a short jog on highway 1 south the Manchester Beach KOA.  The short jog on 1 was sufficient to reassure me that highway 1 and RVs do not mix well.  There was one 180 degree hairpin that a)  If there had been traffic on other lane we would have been screwed and b) I wasn't real sure the coach had enough power keep going up.

But, we made it.  The KOA at Manchester beach is a very nice RV park (aren't all KOAs?)
Point Arena Lighthouse is nearby and the very good and friendly Rollerville Café which claims to have the "Last coffee till Hawaii" lies on the road to the lighthouse. 

Less palatable was the Bird Café and Supper Club in the town of Point Arena. 

Overpriced - perhaps too sophisticated for my palate (and everyone else in our party of 6) and will not get a return visit from us.  Their wine was pretty good though.

We also toured the B. Bryan Preserve just outside of Point Arena.  This preserve is operated by a couple to try and preserve some species of Giraffes that are endanger of becoming extinct.  They offer tours of their operation riding around in vintage Land Rovers.  They also have zebras and other animals. 

The highlight of the tour is the Giraffe kiss.  They give you a piece of vegetable to hold in your mouth and the great and gentle creature will reach down and take it from your mouth - giving you a gentle kiss.
We highly recommend this tour and good karma that comes from supporting these people in their cause.

The only other thing of note that occurred was the failure of the front blinds on the RV.  Our coach has two large, electric roller blinds on the front windshield.  The solar shade - a semi transparent blind, fell as we were lowering them at the campsite.  We noted then that the night shade - the opaque shade - was off its roller.  Holding it we could roll it up and down.  The solar shade was beyond home and with a couple of cable ties (every RVer should have a bunch of these) we tied the blind up and out of the way pending repair.

Even though we were somewhat discouraged by the 128 road, we put Manchester KOA on the return visit list.  But we remained convinced there has to be a better way to get to Mendocino and Fort Bragg.