Lake Ozark MO to Houghton MI

It has been a while since we have updated you on our travels. Reason’s being: time has become unimportant, days drift by, forgetfulness, and we were without Wi-Fi for a while.
Lake Ozark MO is a fun place for kids of all ages. Giant water parks, arcades, race cars and lots of river waterways for boats and fishing. We had a spot facing a nice wide river. Nice place to watch the world go by. We had a nice evening with a couple from Kentucky.
Then on to Hannibal MO which is a quaint old town. We were planning on staying 2 nights, however with gray and drizzle rain all day and the road ahead looked the same we added another day. The weather cleared as promised, we got out and did some sightseeing! Went into town and found the Mark Twain and Becky Thatcher homes. We then took a ride on the Mark Twain Riverboat. We learned some history of the Mississippi river. Samuel Clemens was a licensed river pilot. The boat term “mark twain” is sounded by the pilot when the water is 3 fathoms or 18 feet deep so it is safe to navigate! Bob said “everyone knows this.” Well, I didn’t and I thought you would like to know

We drove though Dubuque Iowa. Set along the Mississippi River, a nice looking town. We could not find a RV park in the area in our book or on line so when we came upon a RV Park in Monticello, about an hour outside Dubuque, we decided to stop. The registration desk was outside of an apartment building. You filled out how long you were going to stay and to put the money in an envelope and stuff in the box. It was a lovely spot with lots of large trees and green grass and a river flowing through it. Only one other rig was parked there. We parked, started setting up and found only electric hook ups. We travel with our water tanks about 1/3 full to keep our weight down. Well, there was a water hose on the road going out. We could hold out. Monticello is a small farming town. Stores leave their goods out overnight and they are not touched. The campground was beautiful however; the river was backwater which created many bugs. Could not sit outside at all and after weeks of grey drizzly rain, it became summer. High temperatures with very high humidity. Our water light is on red and time to get some water at the water hose and get on our way. The hose is not working. OK, so on we go.
When Bob was growing up, the popular vacation place was “Wisconsin Dells.” And he never got to go there. So that was going to be our next place to visit. We had decided that would be a good place to spend the Memorial weekend. Fortunately we had made reservations at the “Sherwood Forrest” campground. Now this camp ground has about 150 camp sites in a nice Robin Hood forest about 2 blocks from town. When we arrived on Wednesday there were about 6 camps filled. By Friday late afternoon, the campground was completely filled. Tents, campers and RV, all shapes and sizes were set up. Lots of groups and families meet here every year. Down town is like Lake Ozark. Huge water parks, beautiful miniature golf courses with waterfalls, duck boat rides. A vacation paradise for kids 5 through 90. On Friday afternoon a young man came in next to us in a brand new trailer. He explained he had bought the trailer on Tuesday and had picked it up that day. He got settled and the explained that several of his buddies would be coming and it may get little nosy. They came in one by one. These guys were in their early 20’s and they had all grown up together in a small farming town. We had a good time with them. They kept coming over to visit with us during “Happy Hour.” And yes, they got nosy but not too bad. It was Memorial week end. There were flags and decorations all over. One man decorated his whole camp site with flags, and then passed out small flag to everyone! His brother had died in Vietnam and this was his tribute to him! In Wisconsin, when you camp, you must have a campfire. In the evenings, the sky is a smoky haze. Wood burning camp fires do smell good.
Next we headed up to Eau Claire to Bob’s sisters home. His brother and wife from Yuba City met us there. We visited with Phyllis and enjoyed her family and had some BBQ’s. We celebrated Bob’s Birthday there. The Eau Claire airport is about 2 blocks from their house and the Blue Angels were performing that week end. Quite a thrill! And we were so impressed with the Acardia “Soldiers Walk” we went back.
From Eau Claire we and Bill & Joann drove up to the Maple View Resort on Pioneer Lake. It is located north of Eagle River and about 10 miles from the Michigan border. They were in a cabin and we pulled the RV in next to them. We are facing the lake. It was a wonderful view. The first few days it was cold with overcast grey skies, drizzle in the afternoon and rain at night. It was to clear Wednesday afternoon. Well at 7:00PM it was still cold, overcast and hinted of rain. Through “Happy Hour” we were moaning and groaning. All of a sudden on the west side of the lake, a very bright sky appeared just above the trees. The lake became very smooth and glassy. On the east side of the lake, the trees became bright green with light!! It was thrilling and then the sky cleared and was blue. At 8:00PM, the sunshine came out. People came out of their cabins and RV’s to see this sight!
We had access to a pontoon boat for fishing and everyone around us are catching fish, however so far we did not have much luck in the fish department. The people who were catching said “5:00 PM is the best time to go out and fish in this lake.” Well you all know what 5:00PM means. It’s all a matter of priority. We did not catch any fish big enough to keep.
Early one morning around 5:00AM I heard a strange sound. I was awake, so I threw on some clothes and grabbed the camera. Came out to follow the sound and there in its full glory was the most beautiful sunrise I had ever seen! Timing was perfect. I took pictures, then came back to bed and went back to sleep. The funny sound was a woodpecker and I did not see him.
Bill and Joann headed back west and we headed for Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. People at the lodge suggested we see Ontonagon which is on the west coast of Lake Superior. We had a park picked out, however if a bridge has been built or highway change has occurred in the last 5 years or so, Garmin does not know about it. We could not find the park in this small town. However we did see a sign about city park and RV camping. So we followed that sign. What a great place. We were on the shore of Lake Superior. A beautiful location. Amazing sun sets. In June sunset is about 10:30 or later. One evening we took our wine and sat out on the beach. The air and sand were warm from the sun. The fog came in and we were surrounded by white fog. Only a glimmer of sunshine was visible on the water. What a sight.
We are now in Houghton MI. When Bob was a small boy he spent a year here with his Grandmother and Uncle Bev. Houghton and Hancock are set on the banks of river. The Ranger III which goes out every day to Isle Royal is docked here. Both cities are quite hilly. I wonder how they manage in the winter with lots of snow. Houghton is the home of the Michigan Technological University and Hancock is the home of Finlandia University. On the main street, Finnish flags fly next to the US flag. And the MTU has its own ski run which is free to its students!
We are picking up Granddaughter Claire tomorrow night. She will be spending some time with us. We will are going to Copper Harbor MI for the 4th of July! It’s on the northern tip of the Upper Peninsula.

Route 66: CA to MO

CA to MO on Route 66:
Our first venture on to Route 66 out of Barstow we encounter a washed out bridge. OK, back onto Hwy 40. Down the Hwy we again took Historic Route 66. Well, the road had weeds growing in the cracks. We then knew we should not be there. We were parallel to Hwy 40, but could not find a place to get back on. After a few miles, there was an on ramp and on we got!
We decided to spend a few days in Lake Havasu. One day we drove up to Oatman AZ. It was really fun! It’s a funky little town. Burros wander in the street and you can buy carrots and hand feed them. There was a baby burro resting on the ground with several motor cyclist guys keeping watch over him. Korkie barked and tried to scare them but they ignored him. There are a lot of motorcycle groups in this area. Great scenery and fun roads.
Then back on our Route 66. We followed our book maps, checked out some old towns, stopped at some interesting sites, gift and Indian shops. Saw many old filling stations, old cars and old motels. Pretty soon they all looked alike and we started to get a little bored with it.
Then along came the “Meteor Crater” by Flagstaff AZ. We had wanted to see this for years. The crater was formed nearly 50,000 years ago by a meteorite. The crater is 550 feet deep, 2.4 miles in circumference and nearly 1 mile across. The meteor, estimated to have been 150 feet across and weighing several hundred thousand tons slammed into the rocky plain and left a crater. NASA once trained Apollo astronauts here. The tour was really good.
After driving for 2 days in a row, and windy conditions, we decided to rest for a couple of days and found ourselves in Santa Rosa NM a nice small town with several lakes in the area. It also has the “Blue Hole.” This is a sink hole in the desert fed by an underground water supply. The hole is 80 ft. diameter and over 80’ deep. You can swim and scuba dive in it. Of course when we got close to Amarillo TX we had to see Cadillac Ranch.
Oklahoma is beautiful! Green pastures, lakes and ponds. Quite a change from the desert plains we had been on. We drove around Oklahoma City. The roads in Tulsa were all under construction. We had lost track of time changes. We thought it was 2:30 and it was actually 4:30, so we got mixed up in the rush hour traffic. We arrived in Claremore OK at 5:00PM. Either the RV Park we tried to find was not there or Garmen was truly mixed up. So we kept on driving. About 20 miles north in Big Cabin OK we spotted “RV Park”. It was a great find. It was a combination RV Park and Diesel Service garage. Bob had wanted to get the oil changed but the place and time were never compatible. We arrived on Thursday night and on Friday he checked into the office for an appointment. The earliest they could get us in was Monday at noon. Perfect. We had a great view of green grazing fields and cows. So much open grass around that we would let Korkie off the lease and he would run all around and in circles. At one point, Bob came in and said “Korkie got himself in a pickle and I cannot help him.” I came running out and there he was in the field barking at the cows. He finally came back under the fence. We made some trips into Claremore where the play and movie “Oklahoma” was based on. We went to the Will Rogers Memorial and Museum and the J M Davis Museum where the world’s largest private firearm collection is housed. Very interesting town. Well Monday came, the RV got serviced and we left Tuesday AM.
We had met a couple in Santa Rosa NM who were going to spend a month in Ozark MO which is very close to Branson MO. They have family here. We made plans to meet there. Chuck and Connie had lived in Denver then moved to Tucson AZ. We have had a great time with them. They are here working on their daughter’s home during the day, then we meet for “Happy Hour” on our patio, when the weather is good. Branson is quite a place! Hundreds of live shows to go to. We picked two. We went to a “Broadway Dance Musical” then saw the “Sons of the Pioneers” perform. Both were great shows. We heard the saying several times that you never see a bad show in Branson. Great entertainment.
Our weather has been interesting. When we first got here we had nice warm days and evenings. Then we got lots of thunder, lightning and rain, like heavy rain. Last Thursday around 6:30 AM we hear a siren. We had been told that a siren will sound for a tornado warning! Chuck and Connie had said that if a siren goes off, grab Korkie and they will take us to their daughter’s home which has a basement. So we jumped up, got dressed and turned on the computer. It looked like the front had almost passed over so we declined their offer and stayed home. We have found out since we are in the area known as “Tornado Alley” and the peak season is May and June!!! Korkie spends a lot of his time under the chair. He is afraid of rain, thunder, wind shield wipers etc, etc, etc but not big dogs and cows!
In Ozark there is a restaurant called “Lamberts”. On week- ends there are lines of people waiting to get it. We went on a Tuesday night. When you first sit down, a server tosses a made from scratch freshly baked dinner roll to you. Remember this is down-home cooking country. After your meal comes, servers come by with pass-arounds like black eyes peas, mac and tomatoes, fried onion potatoes and sorghum for your roll. Country music plays and when you leave, you roll out. It was fun.
On Saturday the 15th, we left our good friends Chuck and Connie and headed north to see Lake Ozark. Grey overcast day but no heavy rain. We are parked facing a river at Lake Ozark. Then on to Jefferson City and Hannibal MO. Depending on the weather. We need to get to some warm sunny weather very soon!