We Begin Our Journey North, March-April 2022

Posted on April 21, 2022 by Michigan Traveler

We left Key West on March 10th and headed for the Tampa area. We made an overnight stop at our “go to” campground on the Tamiami Trail (US-41), Midway Campground, operated by the US Forest Service. It’s not easy to find campground vacancies in Florida for this time of year, but we were able to get a site at Sundance Lakes RV Park in New Port Richey. Pat’s brother and sister, and their spouses rented a house in the area and we wanted to spend some time with them and our niece, Robin, and her family. After a week of enjoying time with family and friends, we made an overnight stop in Titusville to take our granddaughter, Katrina, out to dinner. She is a freshman at the University of Central Florida.

One of our favorite RV parks in Florida is at the Naval Station Mayport. Pelican Roost is right on the shore of the St. Johns River and ship watching is a favorite pastime. Our morning exercise routine became a more pleasant experience with a nice beach for our walks. We watched a fleet replenishment ship leave port for a shakedown and return. It was interesting to watch the harbor tugboats maneuver the ship away from her moorings, after which it left under her own power. Another significant sighting was watching the Destroyer Orleck sail up the river to Jacksonville. The USS Orleck is a Korean War era destroyer that was moved from Lake Charles, LA to be a Naval Museum in Jacksonville.

Two of our friends, Ray and Harriet, pulled in a few days after us. They joined us for dinner at the Safe Harbor Seafood Restaurant and birthday cake at our rig to celebrate my 73rd birthday. We don’t often have the opportunity to celebrate these occasions with friends, so that made it special.

Our next stop was Joint Base Charleston. We had originally planned to stay at the RV park at Charleston Air Force Base, but it was full. We were able to get a site at the Naval Weapons Station Goose Creek. This is home to the National Nuclear Program Training Center. We had toured several Charleston sites during a previous visit but sought out some new sites.

Our first site was the Boone Plantation. Boone Hall Plantation was founded in 1681 when Englishman Major John Boone came to Charleston and established a lucrative plantation on the banks of Wampacheone Creek.

The farm passed through a series of owners and was eventually sold to Harris M. McRae and his wife Nancy in 1955. The McRaes continued to farm the land, and they opened the plantation to public tours in 1956. Boone Hall is still owned by the McRae family, which has made great efforts to preserve the original structures and gardens. Today, Elizabeth McRae operates an agricultural and historical tourism business on plantation grounds. Mount Pleasant’s Boone Hall Plantation has remained as one of our nation’s oldest and most prominent plantations. The mansion that exists on Boone Hall Plantation today was built in 1936 by Canadian ambassador Thomas Stone. We were only able to tour the first floor because the second floor is reserved for the use of the McRae family. Part of the plantation that remains are the slave quarters. These lodgings are now the site of many presentations that include the history of slavery in the South and the conditions that they endured. I was impressed that there was no attempt to romanticize or “sugar-coat” how the slaves lived and worked.

“Exploring The Gullah Culture” is a unique presentation where the lives of the slaves can be experienced firsthand.  Boone Hall is the only plantation in the Charleston area to present a live presentation of this unique culture adapted by African slaves. We listened as a true descendant of the Gullah people presented the history of this culture through storytelling and song.

Next to the Boone Plantation was a small plantation owned by Charles Pinckney. He was one of the drafters of the Constitution. It is always interesting to see where history actually took place, rather than just seeing a display in a museum.

Our next trip was to visit the Summerville Azalea Festival in Summerville. This is a three-day event to raise money for the Summerville YMCA. The town of Summerville cordons off three blocks along Main Street for a wide variety of vendors and food trucks. We had a great time wandering the vendors, picking up a few items and sampling the food offerings.

On Saturday, we visited the Friends of the Hunley Museum. The CSS Hunley was the only true operational submarine in the Civil War. James McClintock, Baxter Watson, and Horace L. Hunley were the inventors and builders of the CSS Hunley. Hunley recognized the importance of breaking the Union blockade and keeping supply lines open to the South. These three developed two prototype submarines, the Pioneer and the American Diver, before creating the Hunley. The Hunley arrived in Charleston on August 12th, 1863, and the crew quickly began testing the Hunley in Charleston Harbor.

On a moonlit night in February, 1864, the crew of the CSS Hunley had the calm sea they had waited for and embarked on their ambitious attack. The target was the USS Housatonic, one of the Union’s mightiest and newest sloops-of-war. The Hunley’s approach was stealthy and by the time they were spotted, it was too late. As the Hunley approached the ship, the alarm sounded and the sailors fired their guns, the bullets pinging off the metal hull of the Hunley. Below the surface, the spar torpedo detonated and the explosion blew a hole in the Housatonic. The sloop sank in less than five minutes, causing the death of five of its 155 crewmen. However, the submarine and crew disappeared into the darkness of the sea.

After fifteen years of searching, on May 3rd, 1995, best-selling author Clive Cussler and his National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA), team finally found the submarine. Using a magnetometer, the NUMA crew located a metal object about four miles off the coast of Sullivan’s Island. After diving in nearly 30 feet of water, they removed three feet of sediment to reveal one of the Hunley’s two small conning towers. Bringing the Hunley back to land proved to be an engineering challenge of unprecedented proportions. Further complicating matters was the presence of human remains within the submarine. Friends of the Hunley Chairman Warren Lasch brought together a high caliber team to recover the remains of the crew and restore the Hunley.

Our next campground was Myrtle Beach State Park. This is our favorite campground in Myrtle Beach. It is like a forested oasis in the midst of commercial RV parks. This is a place to relax and enjoy the ocean. We got to walk on the beach for miles as well as ride the multiple bike paths. There was a multitude of geocaches in the area for me to find. One day the air was warm and the waves were high – that made for a perfect day for body surfing in the ocean. What a fun time!

That’s me, body surfing in the wave.

Saturday, April 10th, we pulled out and headed to Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point in North Carolina.

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Back to Paradise (Key West) – Dec 2021 – Mar 2022

Posted on March 24, 2022 by Michigan Traveler

We departed from Patrick Space Force Base on Dec 9, 2021 and drove to Sigsbee Island RV Park at Naval Air Station (NAS) Key West in one long day. We arrived after dark and, as required by their policy, we spent the night in the office parking lot and checked in first thing in the morning. As opposed to previous years, we would not be rotating between dry camp and full hook-up sites (a process known as rotation or shuffling), but remain in dry camp for our three-month stay. We knew this from the start and were ready, both physically and emotionally.

We were used to arriving later in December and having around a dozen sites from which to choose. This time dry camp looked like a ghost town. I can only remember one time when there were so many vacant sites. On the plus side, there was no waiting in line to use the showers!

Because we were not “shuffling,” we put up more decorations and made our site more permanent than past years. We had a nice site, close to the shore of the Gulf of Mexico, with a shade tree – life is good!

We got right into the swing of things. I hooked up with the Navy Chaplain to play at Sunday Chapel services. The Base Chapel is always in need of musicians to lead the music during the Sunday Worship. There was already another guitar player, but he was an air traffic controller and his work schedule prevented him from playing on a regular basis. We picked up a third sailor who played guitar and drum a week before we left. It was a unique situation where I was able to select the songs we would sing every week.

We began our routine of riding our bikes all the way around the island (It is only two miles wide and four miles long), and watching the sunset with friends. Snorkeling is fun here as we could snorkel right off the shore in the campground. I found two new sunken boats with loads of fish around them, including a large Goliath Grouper and a Green Moray Eel. I hadn’t seen these kinds of fish off the campground in past years.

We arrived in Key West in time for the annual Army vs. Navy Game and were able to watch it at the Sunset Lounge, our campground Tiki bar. Unfortunately, Army lost 😦

We wanted to participate in some of the Key West Christmas activities and we were not disappointed. There was a Christmas lighted boat parade, Christmas Trolley Tour, and a bicycle parade through old Key West. We had a great time.

Many parts of Key West were decorated for the Christmas holidays. Key West started out as a fishing village, and developed into a tourist town. This has resulted in some unique decorations, such as this Christmas tree made from crab traps.

Happy hour dining is a long-standing tradition in Key West and we visited some of our favorite haunts. One of our favorites, Turtle Kraals, had gone out of business, but was purchased by the Boathouse. The food and service at the new Boathouse at Turtle Kraals was just as good as at its old location.

Kayaking is always high on our list of fun things to do. We were able to kayak with a couple of different groups. We kayaked in the salt marshes and mangroves behind the Key West airport followed by a lunch at the Hurricane Hole Marina. Later we kayaked with another group through the mangroves at Geiger Key with lunch at the Geiger Key Marina and Fish Camp. It was so much fun to share this activity with other campers. We rediscovered the canal that runs through the base housing area. On windy days, it is a quiet and enjoyable paddle. There are always iguanas hanging out on the trees along the shore, sunning themselves, and a variety of fish.

I normally volunteer as a docent on the Coast Guard Cutter Ingham Museum. However, she had been towed to Tampa and dry docked to have repairs made to her hull. She returned on January 1, 2022 and we were on hand to welcome her home. We were surprised when we were pressed into duty to help guide her into her mooring at the Truman Waterfront and help set her mooring lines in place on the wharf. It was a fun night!

We spent the next five weeks cleaning her up and rebuilding all of the display areas. When most of us signed up as volunteers, it was to act as a docent, orienting visitors on the self-guided tour and answering questions. Now there were many other tasks that needed to be done, and we jumped on them. Finally, we had the Ingham open for tours on February 8th and we could put away our brooms, mops, and paint brushes.

Every Friday morning we helped with “Plogging the Keys,” a City of Key West program to keep Key West an attractive vacation destination. In short, we picked up trash!  There was a regular group of volunteers (about twelve or more), a mix of residents, snowbirds, and military retirees from the campground, that made a point of giving back to the community. The City of Key West is actually paid a fee for cigarette butts from an organization that recycles these into another product. Harriett and Ray Riendeau took this to the next level and organized a Plogging event to clean the causeway at NAS Key West.

Music has always been a part of our time in Key West. There are entertainers in many of the restaurants and pubs. In the campground, we have a group of amateur musicians that met every Wednesday afternoon for a “jam session” where we took turns leading a song with the group. It was a great opportunity to learn new songs and improve our skills, and just a lot of fun. Sometimes we even had an audience! I discovered later in the season that one of the guitar players was the brother of one of my soldiers in Company F (RANGER), 425th Infantry and was also a retired Michigan Guardsman – what a small world!

After Christmas, a couple of vacationing, drunken bozos thought it would be a good idea to burn a Christmas tree leaning against the iconic Southernmost Point in the USA marker. While the concrete structure was fine, the paint job was ruined. Pat and I happened to ride by one morning when it was partially repainted and had a picture taken with this “work in progress.” By the way, the two bozos were identified by a local bartender that they had given a hard time, and were arrested and fined.

Pat and I either walked through the campground or rode our bikes around the island for exercise almost every morning. In Key West you just never know what you might see as you ride around town.

The Key West Half-Marathon is one of the most popular half marathons in the country. Conducted every year in January (except in 2021, when it was a virtual race), it draws runners, walkers, and wheelchair racers from all over the country. We have volunteered for this event for the last five years, selling merchandise and staffing an aid station (water point) to hydrate the racers. For all but one year, the weather has been challenging. This year had high winds (20+ mph), blowing water over the seawall onto the course. We got soaked! However, we felt we were providing a needed service, and we enjoyed celebrating with the racers at the finish line party.

We celebrated the Super Bowl with a watch party at one of the campsites. Our friend, Rudy, makes this an annual event, projecting the game onto the side of his fifth wheel trailer. Good food and camaraderie, combined with an OK football game, what could be better?

When the Cutter Ingham was towed to Tampa for repairs, it consumed all of the funds that had been raised for a major overhaul and there was a need to rebuild the bank account. To further that goal, I presented a benefit concert at the Southernmost VFW Post. We had a great turnout, mostly from the campground. I was so psyched by having so many friends in the audience to support me! I had modest hopes to raise a couple of hundred dollars and ended up raising $950 – I was thrilled. Needless to say, the crew of the Ingham was thrilled as well.

Pat and some of her friends visited the Butterfly and Nature Conservatory, a butterfly park that houses 50 to 60 different species of live butterflies from around the world.

I love museums. One day my friend, Steve Smith, and I rode downtown to tour the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum and the 200 years of Key West display at the Custom House.

Traditionally the campground would be the scene of many parties. Due to COVID-19, many of these were small get-togethers. In February, we revived an old tradition of the “Sigsbee Shuffle.” This is like a progressive dinner. We would gather at one of the campsites, be treated to drinks and snacks by a team of hosts, and then move on to the next site. Approximately 90+ Shufflers joined in the fun. It felt like old times!

As the end of February approached, some of our friends were going to head Up The Road, also known as UTR. We hosted a UTR party to send them on their way in style. One thing about Sigsbee, there is always something to celebrate!

With every passing day, we saw one friend after another head up the road. Three days before we were scheduled to leave, we were able to move into a full hookup site. Here we were able to give our waste tanks a thorough rinsing, vacuum the carpeting, and a few other maintenance items. On March 10th we made our last goodbyes and headed UP THE ROAD.

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Exploring Florida’s Space Coast, Oct-Dec 2021

Posted on January 8, 2022 by Michigan Traveler

Manatee Cove RV Park at Patrick Space Force Base is a nice location. The park itself is right on the shore of the Banana River and a short bike ride away from the Atlantic Ocean. On a clear day (or night) you have a great view of launches from the Kennedy Space Center. The downside is that they don’t accept reservations and you drive down with no guarantee of getting a site. We were lucky and we are all set on site #61.

We made contact with a veteran of my old National Guard unit, Company F (RANGER) 425th Infantry. Gary Siedel and his wife, Linda, moved to nearby Melbourne after he retired from the Southfield Fire Department. We shared a meal at the Manatee Cove Marina and an evening of Karaoke at their community clubhouse.

Our oldest granddaughter, Katrina, is enrolled in her freshman year at the University of Central Florida. We couldn’t be this close to her with paying her a visit. We enjoyed having lunch with her and getting a tour of the campus. It’s hard to believe this child I used to rock to sleep is now a young woman, starting out on her own! Unfortunately we were having so much fun together, we forgot to take any pictures.

The shortage of workers is affecting the Outdoor Recreation Department like the rest of the country. It took awhile for them to get activities coordinated, but they overcame that and got activities going as in past years. We now have karaoke once a week in the Community Center and the campground bowling league had its first practice session on November 15th with competition starting on November 20th. The league is fun. While everyone tries to bowl their best game, no one really cares about the score, just having a good time. The league is scheduled on a day when the bowling alley is not open, and we have the place to ourselves. Although no one really cares about the score, it’s pretty bad to get beat by VACANT, a player who isn’t even there!

Outdoor Recreation hosted a Welcome Back Luncheon to kick off the “high” season (when the bulk of the campers are here) and I was able to entertain everyone with a guitar concert while we were waiting for the food to be served. Unfortunately, there were no pictures.

After spending the summer in Washington with almost no rain, we have been blessed with an abundance of it here. Our site is prone to flooding and we have had a small lake next to our door several times. Fortunately, we have a platform so we can sit outside even when the ground is saturated. Thank goodness for small favors!

The Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts at nearby Eastern Florida State College is the venue for many great performances. We have listened to Mannheim Steamroller’s Christmas albums for years. Now we were able to watch Mannheim Steamroller give a Christmas performance at the King Center. What a great performance! Watching the musicians was as entertaining as listening to them.

We were considering several options for Thanksgiving dinner when one of our friends suggested that a group of us go to the “Mansion.” That sounded good to us and we couldn’t have been more thrilled. Tony and Lori invited their neighbors, Josh and Cassandra. While the Mansion was very busy, we had a small alcove all to ourselves. The food was delicious and the portions were huge! All of us took leftovers home with us. After our meal, we retired to Tony and Lori’s RV for a game of Dominoes. We had introduced them to Dominoes the week before and Tony fell in love with the game!

We discovered that Josh and Cassandra were also kayakers. Consequently, we invited both couples to join us for kayaking in the Thousand Islands at Ramp Road. We enjoyed paddling the trail through the mangroves and we checked the homes that none of us could afford in some nearby canals.

I enjoy entertaining with my guitar and I followed up my performance at the Welcome Luncheon with another performance in our Community Center. We had about twenty people show up and it was a good night for all.

One of the benefits of staying on the Space Coast is the opportunity to watch launches from the Kennedy Space Center. For nighttime launches, we only have to walk to the north end of the campground for a clear view of the launch. I want to thank my friend, Jim Belisle, who is a better photographer and has better equipment than I do for these terrific shots.

Every year Wickham Park, part of the Brevard County park system, hosts a fundraiser for the local Boy Scouts with their Space Coast Christmas Light Fest. One of the weekends is set aside as a “stroll though,” with no cars allowed. Two of our Key West friends, Steve and Kathleen, joined us for this. We started with a meal from a group of food trucks and then walked the 1.1 miles of lighted displays. It was a pleasant night for it and we had a wonderful time.

One of the last things we did was to visit the crafts fair at Historic Cocoa with Tony and Lori. There were plenty of shops and street music. One of the treasures we left with was a small steel drum. The jury is still out on how well I can play it!

Eventually, our time at Patrick SPB came to an end. We pulled out on December 9th and headed south to the Southernmost point in the USA – Key West.

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Camp Murray – One of Our Favorite Campgrounds – May-Sep 2021

Posted on September 26, 2021 by Michigan Traveler

There are three military campgrounds in the area of Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM). The Army Travel Camp at Lewis North, the Holiday Park FAMCAMP at McChord Field, and the Camp Murray Beach Campground. While the Army Travel Camp and Holiday Park are operated by the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) Program at JBLM, Camp Murray Beach is located at the National Guard Headquarters at Camp Murray, and operated by the National Guard Association of Washington.

Camp Murray is our favorite of the three and I hesitate to tell everyone about this hidden gem. It is tucked away on the shores of American Lake. The shoreline of the campground is a channel between the mainland and Barlow Island. This channel is blocked by mooring buoys, making it a safe place for swimming and other kid activities.

All of the sites are full hookup sites and, with a couple of exceptions, are pretty spacious. When we first arrived we were fortunate to get into site A-1. I consider this to be the best site in the park and could not believe we were lucky enough to get it. It is right on the lake and your door opens directly onto the beach area. Later in our stay, we moved to C-5 on the back row. The “backyard” areas here are huge with three community fire pits.

As opposed to the other two parks that are limited to 14-day stays, you can get a reservation at Camp Murray for up to 30-days. When your time is up you have to leave for a minimum of three days before you can return. Another benefit is that you can wash and do maintenance on your RV in the park, which is not allowed at Lewis or McChord.

American Lake is a popular destination for boating. Many of the service members live in the housing areas near the lake and take advantage of this great recreational resource. A marina on base supports JBLM families. Weekends find the portion of the lake surrounded by JBLM property a popular spot for boaters to relax and swim. We like to kayak in the lake and found some of the best blackberry plants along the shore for easy picking.

A special attraction of Camp Murray is the opportunity to watch military exercises on American Lake. We have been able to watch helicopter helo-casting by the 2nd Ranger Battalion and helicopter personnel recovery winch operations.

At Camp Murray, there is a green space between two rows of campsites that forms a natural amphitheater. I took advantage of this to present two folk music performances to our little RV community.

We enjoyed bicycling in the area. From Camp Murray, it was a short ride over Freedom Bridge to Lewis Main (the old Fort Lewis) and Unity Bridge connects Lewis Main to McChord Field. Most of the roads in the area have paved bike/walking paths or bike lanes on the roads. On occasion, we would combine our biking with shopping at the Base Exchange or Commissary.

Obviously, we enjoyed our time at Camp Murray. The staff is friendly and cooperative. It was fun having the family join us for fun in the water and dinner.

However, in life all good things come to an end and we hooked up our trailer and started our journey east on September 7th.

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Getting the Gang (Family) Together – June 2021

Posted on July 29, 2021 by Michigan Traveler

For the last several years, we visited the Tacoma, WA area in the summer to see our oldest son, Scott, and daughter, Elisabeth. Then the next summer we would see our other son, David, in Lansing, MI. This year we decided to break the mold and get everyone together in Washington. Dave flew out to join us for a week.

We got everyone together for dinner at our campsite and spent a lot of time catching up and playing games. Sorry, I was too busy enjoying the time to take any pictures!

Scott, and his oldest daughter, Katrina, joined the rest of us (Elisabeth, Dave, Pat and I) to travel to Mount Rainer to hike some of the trails. Our first stop was the Grove of the Patriarchs. This is a small island of HUGE trees. Some are more the 40 feet in diameter and over 300 feet tall. The trail led us to a suspension bridge across the river to the Grove. The National Park Service has limited the bridge to one person at a time. With traffic going in both directions there was quite a wait before we could cross. As I crossed the bridge I recognized the wisdom of this limitation, the bridge was very wiggly as we crossed!

The trees in the Grove are just awesome; to say they are huge is an understatement. These trees are thousands of years old! Where trees have died and fallen, there are new trees growing out of the old trunks.

After we finished the Grove of the Patriarchs, we crossed the road to hike the Silver Falls Loop. What a change from the Patriarchs, with much younger trees on a trail that followed the Ohanapecosh River. We passed several small waterfalls and rapids until we reached Silver Falls. It was a great day for a hike and the scenery was terrific.

On our way out of the park, we stopped at the Henry M. Jackson Visitor Center. The Center is at a higher elevation then the Grove and we were treated to a good view of the snowfield at the base of Mount Rainer, even on June 29th! Many of the trails were closed due to the snow. We were able to give Dave a great view of Mount Rainer.

Thursday Dave and I drove to Everett to visit the Boeing Museum of Flight. Dave and I are both aviation junkies and we loved touring the museum. Boeing has done a professional job in displaying their collection.  

The T.A. Wilson Great Gallery displays more than fifty historic aircraft from a replica of the Wright Flyer to the M21 Blackbird (a variation of the SR-71 Blackbird). Aircraft are displayed on the floor and suspended from the ceiling. The display discussed the development of aviation and aviation services, such as airmail, crop dusters, and bush pilots.

The J. Elroy McCae Personal Courage Wing displays aircraft from WWI and WWII. While we enjoyed seeing aircraft that have been restored to flying condition, the personal stories of the pilots and commanders were more interesting to me.

The outdoor Aviation Pavilion gave us the opportunity to see large aircraft like the B-17 and B-29. We were able to go inside the Boeing 707 (VC-137) Air Force One that supported Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. Secretary of State Kissinger later used it in his “shuttle diplomacy” for the Vietnam and the Middle East. We were also able to tour the original Boeing 747, Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and Boeing 727.

Air Force One

Our final stop was the “Red Barn,” the original Boeing manufacturing plant. Inside we were able to see some of the original tools and replicas of aircraft of the era under construction.

On Friday, we celebrated Dave’s birthday with a special meal and Saturday we were up before dawn to take Dave to the airport. It was a great visit and even better to have our whole family in one place, even for a short time.

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Fathers Day and Ape Cave – June 2021

Posted on July 22, 2021 by Michigan Traveler

It was nice to celebrate Father’s Day with my daughter and oldest son. Scott is also a father, so we were both able to choose what we would like to eat. We all met at our campsite at Camp Murray Beach, where we had a great view of American Lake.

The next day we drove to the southern part of the Mount Saint Helens Volcanic Park to hike through Ape Cave. My first thought was, “Why is it called Apr Cave?” Ape Cave is actually a lava tube. A lava tube is a cylindrical cave formed by flowing lava from a volcanic vent that moves beneath the hardened surface of a lava flow. As the lava in the tube empties, it creates a cave.

This particular lava tube was discovered by Lawrence Johnson in late 1951 when he almost drove his tractor into it. He told his friend, Harry Reese. Over the next few years Reese and his sons explored the cavern. The Reese boys were members of the Mount St. Helens Apes, a local outdoor club, and they led many visitors through the tube during the 1950s. Eventually the lava tube was named the “Apr Cave” to honor these early explorers.

What makes Ape Cave unique from other caves we have explored was that there are no artificial lights in this cave system. The only light is provided by your own flashlights and headlamps. We began with the Lower Cave. It’s a broad lava tube that descends gently to its end. The floor is flat (though a bit uneven at first), then sandy later on from a mud flow that filled the lower portion centuries ago. The end of the cave now is where the sand has filled in to within a couple feet of the ceiling. The Lower Cave is an easy walk, for a 1.5 mile round trip.

From the end of the Lower Cave we retraced our steps to the Upper Cave. It’s a 1.5 rugged miles one way, requiring significantly more time, caution, and some physical agility. It is a more interesting route, with the lava tube shape, size, and geology changing frequently. The passage encounters many rock piles. You must climb up, over, or around the rocks, taking care not to twist an ankle or, in some places, bump your head. After the first rock pile most of us had had enough, but our granddaughter, Sierra, wanted to continue. She and her parents finished the journey, overcoming the many rock piles and obstacles along the way. Some day, I want to go back and hike this part of the cave system.

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On the Mat in Washington – June 2021

Posted on July 18, 2021 by Michigan Traveler

We arrived in Washington on May 26th and set up at the Camp Murray Beach RV Park. Camp Murray is the Headquarters of the Washington National Guard and the RV park is operated by the Washington National Guard Association. Camp Murray is our favorite campground in the area. All the sites are full hookups and on the shore of American Lake. We lucked out on our campsite and got Site A-1. This, in my opinion, is the best site in the park. It is the only site that has your door facing the lake and is easy to back into.

Family was our reason for visiting the area. Our oldest son and his family (including our three granddaughters), and our daughter live in the area. We wanted to be there in time for the year-end school activities.

Several years ago, our granddaughters got involved in wrestling, first as a club sport and now in high school. As with most sports, the girls have had a shortened season and had to follow COVID-19 protocols. They wore masks while wrestling, the number of visitors was limited, and we had to enroll in contact tracing before we could enter the gymnasium. All three girls are very skilled wrestlers and win their matches pretty consistently. Because there are fewer girls involved in the sport, they sometimes wrestle with boys that are in their weight class. While they don’t always win these bouts, it does give them a good opportunity to improve their skills. I think they did enjoy competing against boys and winning!

The primary reason we wanted to get to the area so early was that our oldest granddaughter, Katrina, was graduating from high school – at sixteen years old! We are all so proud of her. She has been able to take classes at Tacoma Community College in addition to her high school classes and, as a result, will also graduate from Tacoma Community College with two Associate Degrees. Her plans are to attend college at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

COVID-19 had an impact on her graduation. The graduation ceremony was held in four sessions to reduce the number of students, parents and guests in attendance. At that ceremony each student was presented with their diploma folder. The next day, they had a drive through at the high school where the students picked up their actual diploma. It was fun to help decorate the car and watch the procession of cars past the high school.

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Prisons in Boise and Hiking in Oregon – May 2021

Posted on June 9, 2021 by Michigan Traveler

While staying in Boise, ID we checked out a new campground, the RV park at Gowen Field. Gowen Field is the Headquarters of the Idaho National Guard and operates an RV park with seven sites. It’s small but nice. All of the sites are paved and full hookups and the proceeds support the base Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) program. There is a small convenience store nearby and the base gym is right across the road with a fitness track and all kinds of equipment. It was nice to walk around the base and then ride a stationary bike to finish my workout.

One of Pat’s cousins used to be stationed here and still lives in the area. We were able to visit with him and have lunch. I was enjoying the conversation so much I forgot to take any pictures.

The next day we drove to the Old Idaho Penitentiary. If you are ever in this area, I highly recommend this historic site. We were able to tour the various cell blocks and see how prisoners were housed and treated over the years. We attended a slide presentation on the history of the prison that was very interesting and informative. Would you believe that an architect who was a prisoner designed the prison dining facility? You can visit the maximum-security cell block that housed death row and the gallows. When I think of gallows, I imagine a large wooden structure, but this was nothing more than a room with a trap door in the floor and a huge eyebolt in the ceiling to attach the noose. Hanging was the most frequent method for applying a death sentence.

After that, we had lunch at a classic Boise restaurant, the Boise Fry Company. After all, we are in potato country and what could be better than an order of Idaho potatoes with a side of hamburger?

On Saturday, May 27th we headed farther west for the Deschutes State Recreation Area in Oregon.

The Deschutes State Recreation Area in Oregon is at the confluence of the Deschutes River and the Columbia River. The campground is right on the shore of the Deschutes River and is an idyllic setting. The temperatures were cool and comfortable but the winds were blowing hard every day. We were able to hike every morning along hiking trails that paralleled the river and we had some great views. We spent most of our time enjoying the nature in the area, but did take some time to visit a nearby winery.

My only issue with the park is that there is no dump station and the closest dump station is twelve miles away at the Port of The Dalles. No a big problem, but I wish we had noticed it in our planning.

On Wednesday, May 26th we headed out on our last leg of this trip. Next stop is Camp Murray Beach Campground near Tacoma, WA.

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Paddling Lake Havasu and Exploring Nellis AFB – May 2021

Posted on May 21, 2021 by Michigan Traveler

Lake Havasu has been highlighted on many of the RV groups that I follow on Facebook. In reading the various posts, I was intrigued by the place and always wanted to visit. This year worked out to be the best time to do that.

In 1938, Lake Havasu was formed by the Parker Dam on the Colorado River to store water for two aqueducts, and provide hydroelectric power. It is a very popular boating area.

On our first day in Lake Havasu State Park, the high temperature was 100°. We hid inside our air-conditioned trailer. We looked at the weather forecast and determined that the winds would be low the next morning so the next day, we woke up early when the temperatures would be cooler, and rode our bikes to the London Bridge and onto the island. We rode past a few RV parks and I was happy we were staying at the state park. The state park may not have full hookup sites, but the individual sites are more spread out and it feels like you are camping.

In the afternoon, I toured the Lake Havasu Museum of History. This is a small, but well organized museum that made it very easy to understand how the area was developed. I was amazed how much the area owed to two visionary men, Robert McCulloch and C.V. Wood.

The community started as an Army Air Corps recreation camp on the shores of Lake Havasu, called “Site Six,” during World War II. In 1963, Robert McCulloch, owner of McCulloch Motors, was flying over Lake Havasu looking for a place to test his outboard engines. He thought that the land surrounding Lake Havasu had great potential for an emerging city. Lake Havasu City was established on September 30, 1963. McCulloch and developer C.V. Wood joined efforts and founded what would be a thriving community. C.V. Wood had previously designed the Disneyland amusement park in Anaheim, California.

In 1964, there was only one unimproved road into the city. McCulloch needed a way to get prospective buyers to the new city so he chose air charter. Between 1964 and 1978, 2,702 flights brought 137,000 potential land buyers to Lake Havasu City. This huge sales push that targeted mainly people from colder states. In 1978, the last parcel of land was sold, and the city was incorporated. By 1981, Lake Havasu City boasted a population of 17,000. In subsequent years, the city experienced population growth at a steady flow of about 1,000 people annually. Most came in search of refuge from big cities to enjoy Lake Havasu City’s laid-back lifestyle. McCulloch even moved his chainsaw manufacturing operation to Lake Havasu to provide the community with a core business to build the economy.

Lake Havasu City’s claim to fame is the London Bridge. This purchase did not come out of a sudden impulse. The London Bridge built in 1833 in London, England was gradually sinking into the River Thames and had been for sale by the London Council for quite some time. McCulloch placed his bid for the bridge of 2.4 million dollars in 1968. Completing the project took three years. Each block was marked and numbered, then shipped through the Panama Canal, unloaded in California, and transported to Arizona. The bridge was reassembled by matching the numbered stones. The bridge was built as a conventional structure and covered with the original granite to retain its antique look. The bridge was reconstructed on a dry piece of land. The land was then dredged from underneath the bridge, creating Bridgewater Channel and “The Island” across the bridge. On October 10, 1971, the completed bridge was formally dedicated in a ceremony attended by over 50,000 American and British spectators and dignitaries.

The next day we decided to walk and I was able to check out some of the lighthouse replicas that line the shore on the island and the mainland. When one thinks of lighthouse locations, they rarely consider a landlocked, desert state such as Arizona for their location, but it just so happens that Lake Havasu City is home to more lighthouses than any other city in the entire country. These scaled-down replicas are actual functioning navigational aids built to the specifications of famous lighthouses on the East Coast, West Coast and Great Lakes. The Lake Havasu Lighthouse Club is a non-profit group of independent citizens dedicated to the preservation, improvement and promotion of Lake Havasu and the City. They wanted to make the lake a safe place for night boating and fishing. Instead of just settling on simple and mundane lighthouses that could be cheaply produced, they took pride in their development and chose to highlight the famous lighthouses in the U.S. by making smaller replica lighthouses. These fully-functional replica lighthouses make an already adventurous boating experience even more beautiful and unique. All of the lighthouses on the west side of Lake Havasu are replicas of famous lighthouses on the West Coast, while the east side consists of East Coast replicas. The lighthouses around the island are all replicas of lighthouses from the Great Lakes.

On our fourth day the winds were low again and we launched our kayaks from a small beach a few sites away from our own. As we paddled around the island, we saw the ferry to the California side of the Colorado River. There was a lot of boat traffic on the lake, including many “cigarette boats” that didn’t believe in mufflers. You could hear them coming a long way off. It was a longer paddle than we planned on, but quite interesting. At one spot, we pulled in for a short rest. The local groups are doing their best to keep the area clean. They provide stands with large trash bags to prevent littering. It was pretty sad that I was able to almost fill one bag with trash that included two other partially filled bags that had been left behind. Ours ended up in a dumpster.

We try to go out to eat at least once wherever we stay and we chose a place called the Burgers By the Bridge. It was in the English Village, in the shadow of the London Bridge. Our table was a surfboard and we had a view of the boat traffic on the channel as we ate.

On Monday, we paddled down the Bridgewater Channel under the London Bridge and walked on a trail along the shore. It was a great day for a paddle and to see some different sites along the trail. We enjoyed cooling off with a short swim at “our” beach. These short dips sure helped to deal with the 90 plus degree temperatures we had been feeling all week.

Tuesday morning we made a relatively short drive to Nellis Air Force Base, near Las Vegas.

When we got to Nellis AFB, we breathed a sigh of relief – there were mature trees in the campground and we had a couple that provided shade on the trailer. The FAMCAMP at Nellis AFB has received recognition for its quality and customer service, and continues to deliver on that reputation.

Nellis AFB is home to the USAF Weapons Center and is the host of the Red Flag exercises that train fighter pilots from the United States and around the world. Nellis is also the home of the Air Force Demonstration Team, the Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds have been representing the Air Force as ambassadors since 1953. There is a small museum at the headquarters.

Our primary purpose for stopping in Las Vegas was to see some friends from our RV caravan to Alaska in 2014. We met George and Ann for dinner and caught up on how they had been dealing with the pandemic. One of the stories they shared was that as they were driving to an airport to board a flight to Ecuador, they received a call telling them not to board their flight because their tour had been canceled. Talk about cutting it close! We had a great visit and we may be able to see them again in the fall.

On Tuesday we headed north for Gowan Field in Boise, Idaho.

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Hiking Around Big Bend National Park – April 2021

Posted on May 10, 2021 by Michigan Traveler

Big Bend National Park had been on my “to do” list for years. This year our route from Florida to Washington State made that stop possible. Big Bend is right on the Rio Grande River and shares a border with Mexico. Big Bend refers to the southwest Texas U-turn in the Rio Grande River – something that defines the park boundary for 118 miles. There are campgrounds in the park, but only one can handle a rig of our size. We were unable to make a reservation, so we had to stay in a commercial park, Big Bend Resort and Adventures, in nearby Terlingua.

If you plan to visit Big Bend, be prepared to do a lot of driving. The park covers a lot of ground, 1251 square miles, and some of the most direct routes are unimproved roads. During the four days we were there, we drove over 150 miles in the park.

Big Bend Resort and Adventures is as nice a park as you will find here. If you want big shade trees, green lawns and level concrete pads, you are in the wrong part of the country. This park is well organized, clean, and the staff was great.

We explored taking a raft or kayak trip down the Rio Grande, but discovered that the water levels were too low for that. In fact, the local raft companies had cancelled their one-day trips and only offered 2-3 hour trips. We decided that kayaking would have to wait until we found some good water.

We decided to drive down the unimproved Old Maverick Road to the Santa Elena Canyon. The road was rough and wash boarded, but not terrible. We explored some side roads, looking for blooming flowers on the cacti. The Santa Elena Canyon Trail is an easy hike, but scenic. It follows the Rio Grande River. It is interesting to look across the shallow and narrow river that is easy to wade and see Mexico. Of course, in the canyon, there is no way to exit the river into Mexico, as the canyon walls are sheer cliffs.

From Santa Elena, we drove along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive to the Castolon Visitor Center. There wasn’t much to see here as much of the complex had been destroyed in a fire in May, 2019. The rebuilding is still in the early stages. We stopped to eat lunch in the Cottonwood Campground and it was obvious that we would have never fit into any of the campsites. We did enjoy a picnic lunch under a shade tree.

From there we drove north along the Maxwell Drive through the Mule Ears lookout, and stopped at the Homer Wilson Ranch. I was struck by the hardships that the early ranchers had to endure to make a life in this area. The Sam Nail Ranch was our last stop, here we saw where Sam and Nena Nail dug a well with a windmill to pump the water, built livestock pens, planted a garden, and dealt with drought, predators, and isolation.

The next day we drove the entire width of the park to the eastern end, to the Rio Grande Village. We began by hiking the Boquillas (Bo-KEY-las) Canyon Trail. Boquillas is a Mexican village, just across the Rio Grande. During non-COVID times, visitors could cross the river at a Point of Entry and shop in Boquillas; however, the border crossing has been closed due to the pandemic. To make up for the loss of income, families from Boquillas have set up small camps on the Mexican side and ride across in canoes or horseback to set up small “stores,” some attended and some not. There were even a couple of men on horseback selling fresh tamales. The river was clear and reportedly has some great fishing. The canyon walls were interesting, with caves caused by erosion.

Our next stop was the Rio Grande Village where we hiked the nature trail that began with a beaver pond. Beavers in this area do not make beaver huts like they do up north, but tunnel into the riverbank. They do build dams that create these ponds. It was amazing to see this green oasis in the middle of the desert. In the space of a few miles we walked through a pond with fish and turtles, rocky foothills, and barren desert. Talk about a diverse ecosystem!

We ate lunch in an empty campsite near the trailhead. As we were eating, a javelin (a wild pig) approached from the other side of the road. It was ironic, I had just finished reading a notice to not leave food outside because of javalinas and now we had one almost walk up to us!

On our way out, we stopped at the Dugout Wells. Here we hiked a short nature trail and saw another example of the challenges that the early settlers faced. Around 1900 a settler dug a well and improved the flow with a windmill.

We didn’t think we were going to be able to hike in the central part of the park, the Chisos Basin. The whole area had been closed due to a fire on the south rim of the canyon. Fortunately, they reopened it shortly after our arrival. It had been getting hotter every day, and the road to the Chisos Basin area was being resurfaced and was closed between 8:00 and 11:00, so we decided to get there before the road closed. We arrived at the campground about 7:45 and began hiking the Windows Trail. We saw the sunrise on our drive out and we were able to see it again over the mountains as we began our descent along the trail. It was nice to hike in the cool morning. The trail was interesting with a variety of plants along the way. The end of the trail was amazing! The canyon wall opened up in a window that overlooked the basin.

Our last day was forecasted to be the hottest day of our stay and we planned for a day off.  The winds were light in the morning and we took advantage of that to ride our bikes. I integrated some geocaching with my ride and found a geocache called the Dinosaur Egg. It was an easy find, but required a little rock climbing to reach it.

The next morning we were on our way to Fort Bliss in El Paso, TX

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