North Country 2011--Day 17

Bummer, another day without getting our repairs done.

Spent the morning waiting for the RV dealer to call about working us in to get the slide topper awning repaired. No call came. We finally decided to get out of here and go see something. Figured if we didn't venture too far away we could always hurry back if the call came. So we headed back over to Marquette to see their Maritime Museum and Harbor Lighthouse. Although this is operated by the City of Marquette the property is still owned and maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. There is a Coast Guard station still operating there. The museum was not that large but did have some good displays about the old Life Saving Stations, shipping on the Great Lakes and the lighthouses that dot the lakes. The lighthouse sits up on a cliff a short distance from the museum. The building is two stories with a basement. The basement was a work area while the other two floors contained matching apartments for the Assistant Lighthouse Keepers and their families. The Lighthouse Keeper lived in a nearby house that is now occupied by the Commander of the Coast Guard Station with his family. There are two smaller lights in the Marquette Harbor, the Upper Harbor Light and the Lower Harbor Light. These are located out at the ends of seawalls that protect in inner harbors. The Upper Harbor Light was quite a ways from where we at and the seawall goes out over three miles. We did not attempt to go out to that one. The Lower Harbor Light was not far from the main lighthouse. We did walk a ways out on the seawall but it was fairly narrow and uneven so we turned back after taking a quick picture. All these lights are now automated and no longer require full time Lighthouse Keepers. Actually, most of the Great Lakes Lights have been deactivated and are no longer in use. With today's radar and GPS tracking lighthouses are a thing of the past. Kind of like us old retirees. Since we do enjoy the old lighthouses we'll continue to seek them out as we travel around the country.

North Country 2011--Day 16

Another day of waiting with just a little sightseeing.

We spent another day waiting around for the RV repair guys. The Service Manager finally called about 4:30 PM to say they were sorry they could not get us worked in. They hope to get us taken care of either tomorrow or Saturday. That means we are stuck staying close to the coach so we can take it over there as soon as they call. We came to Michigan because we had never been here and thought it would be a good place to visit. Never thought about all we'd see was the campground. We did see a strange aircraft this morning. We heard a funny engine noise and went outside to see this contraption flying above us. Really don't know what you would call this thing. The unit has three wheels mounted to the frame with a motor with a rear propeller. Definitely a one person flying machine. He made a couple of passes over us and then headed back to the west.

We did do a little sightseeing here in Ishpeming. Close by is the Cliffs Shaft Mine Museum. We decided to drive over and check it out and still be fairly close if the RV guy called. This was a very large iron ore shaft mine that closed in 1967 after almost 100 years in operation. They had three main shafts that went down to several levels that then had many miles of mining tunnels. The bottom level at the time it was closed was over 1250 feet down. The picture to the right is of the housing for the elevator above "C" shaft. This was the shaft that brought the miners into and out of the mine. The main mine is now sealed off and has filled with water. We did go down through the underground tunnel that connected all the buildings to "C" shaft. (Several years ago we went to a mine museum in Northern Minnesota that actually took us down several levels and then took us by mine train well into the mining tunnels.) The picture to the left is of a truck used to haul the ore away. This is the smallest of the three sizes of these trucks that were used in this area.

North Country 2011--Day 15

A day of waiting and then a little sightseeing.

Yesterday's wind kept coming all night and into today. The Service Manager at the nearby RV dealer said they could not get anyone over here to see about our slide topper awning until after lunch. It was about 1:00 PM when the guy showed. He thought he would be able to remove the awning to see if they had the parts to fix it. If not, I could at least store it away and wait until we returned to Oklahoma to have it repaired. Currently, there is no way we can drive the coach until it is either repaired or removed. After going back to the shop to get a helper and another ladder it was decided that the wind was just too strong for them to get anything done. Now we'll have to wait until they can work us into their shop. Fortunately they are directly next door to the RV park so I should be able to ease over there without tearing up the awning. Anyway, once they were gone we decided to get out and look around. First stop was the Welcome Center that we found closed yesterday. This is the place that has a great view of Lake Superior.

After picking up some tourist info we took a drive around the downtown area of Marquette and then headed back to Ishpeming. Here we went to Da Yoopers Tourist Trap. Basically, this is a large gift shop that has many unusual decorations around the outside. Whoever put this all together definitely had a good imagination. One of my favorites was "Big Ernie", a huge rifle mounted on the back of an antique truck. This is a working firearm. It is loaded with a projectile through the muzzle and is then fired using a 12 volt electrical igniter system using propane and oxygen. Another item was a 3500 pound chainsaw that was operated by a 350 cubic inch Chevrolet engine. The place was surrounded by these outlandish pieces of equipment. After returning to the coach for dinner we relaxed and watched the sun go down.

North Country 2011--Day 14

Left Wisconsin behind, hello Michigan.

Pulled out of Green Bay this morning and headed north to the Michigan Upper Peninsula, or the UP as it is called up here. We are now set up in the Country Village RV Park in Ishpeming. The weather is much changed from what we were used to in Wisconsin. For one, the humidity is considerably less than down south. Also, the temperature is much better. At 4:00 this after noon it was 69 degrees. Looks like instead of running the air conditioner tonight we'll be running the heat pump. We had a pretty good drive up. Ran into a detour due to road work that added some miles but still drove less than 200 miles. The scenery was very nice including a small waterfall at a road side stop we made to let the dogs stretch their legs. We did cross into the Eastern Time Zone a little ways into Michigan so we lost an hour of our day.

After we got set up in our campsite it was time to go wandering around. First was a stop at Wal-Mart to get a couple of prescriptions refilled then it was off to find the local Welcome Center to pick up any information on the area. Unfortunately the center was closed for the day but it is located right on Lake Superior at a picnic area. This is a nice area of the lake with nice sandy beaches. On the way back to the coach we stopped at a shop that sells pastys. This not something I had eaten before but they turned out very good. It had been trying to rain all afternoon and finally started up pretty good. Also, the wind came up and while we were sitting in the coach we heard a loud noise and the coach shook. The wind caught the slide covers (roll out awning) over one of the living room slides and completely unfurled it. In the process it appears it broke the spring in the end of the roller so I cannot roll the fabric back in. It currently if flopping in the wind. Hopefully it won't tear up during the night. There is a RV dealer next door to the park that I'll go check with in the morning to see if they can send a Tech over to repair it. This will slow down our sightseeing for awhile but we are scheduled to be here until next Monday. As the day ended the storm seemed to have moved out and we had a nice sunset. Just a few winds gusts now to flap the loose slide cover.

North Country 2011--Day 13

A bunch of old buildings, a stop at a brewery and some trains with a train ride.

We decided to do the museums today. First stop this morning was the Heritage Hill State Historical Park. This is a living history museum devoted to the preservation of its buildings and artifacts and the interpretation of the history of Northeast Wisconsin and its people. The park is on the grounds that was once Fort Smith back in the 1820's. Fort Howard was directly across the river. Nothing is left of Fort Smith but some of the buildings from Fort Howard were moved to the park along with the building of some replica buildings from the fort. Many other historical buildings have been moved to the park. There are four sections: Ethnic Agriculture Area, Fort Howard Area, Growing Community Area and La Baye Area. When we got to the very back side of the park, in the La Baye Area, we came upon a strange looking animal. It did not run from us and actually got within about 20 feet before it turned and wandered away. We saw this animal several times while in the park. We finally decided it was a very sick fox. Several people had reported it to the people running the place who, in turn, called the city's animal control people. By this time we had seen it leave the park through an iron fence that goes across the front of the place. It was friendly enough we were afraid a child might be bitten or have some other problem, since it did look sick. Looked to me like it had the mange like dogs get.

After the State Park visit we decided it was time to get lunch and decide what our afternoon would be. We headed to downtown to the Titletown Brewing Company. One of their claims to fame, beside their beers, was a good root beer called Sno-Cap. Not only was the root beer good but so were their sandwich's. After lunch we decided to go to the National Railroad Museum. This is a very large museum with a great collection of trains, including the train that General Dwight D. Eisenhower used as his command train in Europe during World War II. Another of their trains was one called "Big Boy". This is the largest steam driven train in the world. The picture to the right is of "Big Boy". They also had a working train that takes visitors on a ride around the perimeter of the grounds. It was a slow day, apparently, so they decided to take us around twice. All in all a very fine museum dedicated to the history of trains.

North Country 2011--Day 12

A move down the road and a visit to a famous place.

Now that the rally has ended we have moved on. Got up this morning to see about half of the coaches had moved out. Most of these were lining up in a big parking lot to caravan to Madison for the big Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) rally. They pulled out about 7:30. The folks that were not going to Madison were asked to stay in place until the caravan was on the road. At about 7:50 the power went off. The folks holding the rally had arranged for huge generators to provide us electric power for the length of the rally. The rental company was to turn them off by 8:00 AM and start removing all the cables. We got around about 9:00 and headed northwest toward Green Bay, which was only 51 miles away. We are now in the Apple Creek Campground in De Pere, Wisconsin. This is actually just on the south side of Green Bay. Coming in we missed our turn into the park and had to go up the road to find a place to turn around. Wound up in a housing addition that did not have a place to turn. (There is no backing up when you have a car hooked on the back of the coach.) Decided to unhook the car so I could turn around in a driveway. As Joanne got out of the coach to come back to drive the car little Bridgit escaped. As I've said in previous blog entries she is a runner. She took off and the chase was on. She covered close to a quarter mile, with Jo and I in hot pursuit. Finally, when she got to where she could not see us any more she turned around and came back. Needless to say, we were all three out of breath.

After getting set up in the park we decided to head into Green Bay itself to see what there is to see. Being a Sunday we figured it would be easier to cruise as tourist, with less traffic, than it will be tomorrow when everyone goes back to work. First stop had to be Lambeau Field, the home of the Green Bay Packers. In the winter this field is referred to as "The Frozen Tundra". With training camp starting late this year, due to the NFL lockout, there was a lot of activity going on at the stadium. We did not go in for the stadium tour since I figured I was the only one in the car that would enjoy that. After driving around the stadium we headed to downtown Green Bay. It is very interesting with all the really old churches, buildings and houses. We stopped at Erbert & Gerbert's Subs and Clubs for lunch. This was supposedly started by Erbert & Gerbert Herbert and are only located in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and Colorado. Regardless, their sandwiches are very good. From there we returned to the coach to plan out tomorrow's activities since that is the only full day we will be in this area.

North Country 2011--Day 11

A stroll on an island and another rally comes to an end.

With this being the last day of the rally the required business meeting was held after breakfast this morning. After that there was nothing scheduled for the rest of the day until dinner time. We used this time to hit Wal-Mart for some items and do a little sightseeing since we have had time for neither during the week we've been here. Since we are usually seeking out lighthouses it was only natural to go see the one here in Manitowoc. It is a smaller light and is at the very end of the breakwater at the entrance to the harbor. It's actually on a extension from an island down at the main marina on Lake Michigan. It was quite a walk across the island and then on out to the light, at the end of a long concrete stretch out into the harbor. Anyway, we did get another lighthouse picture to add to our collection.

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing in the coach. We have been pretty much on the go all week long and both of us are very tired. This evening was our final dinner at the rally. This was "Monaco Night", which means the Monaco RV company was picking up the tab for both the prime rib dinner and the bar. They have had a bunch of new and used motor homes here for sale and this is the night they recognize the folks who traded during the rally. Even with the market way down they did manage to sell three brand new coaches and two used ones. The least one they sold would fall into the $250,000.00 price range. Also, I wanted to get a picture of the stage in the main rally hall while no one was using it. The Rally Masters, the people who put this whole thing together, did a good job of decorating the stage with a Wisconsin theme. In addition to the outdoor theme they had a 1/5th scale model of the breakwater lighthouse that is shown above. The couple designed and built this structure themselves. The cities Mayor, who was here the first night, as requested that the model be donated to the city for display at City Hall. All in all we have had a good time here in Manitowoc. Many of the folks here will be going to Madison tomorrow to participate in a Family Motor Coach Rally. They will start lining up in a caravan around 6:30 in the morning to go over together. It's about 100 miles over there. We will probably sleep in and wait until the caravan is all gone before breaking camp and heading north to Green Bay, a whole 51 miles away.

North Country 2011--Day 10

Another beautiful day in the north country and another great evening of music.

Arose to another wonderful day. The weather has really leveled off here in eastern Wisconsin and is very pleasant. Mild sunny days with a reasonable humidity. Nothing like when we first arrived. Today we had some work done on the coach. A Tech from Monaco came over to fix a couple of drawers in the bedroom that did not want to work right. One is fixed, the other needs a new slide arm. He also attempted to fix our passenger side review mirror. (Last March, in Georgia, while trying to exit a parking lot a tree "jumped" out and grabbed the mirror. Now it will not stay in the most upright position while driving down the road. Turns out the shaft it sits on that goes into the arm attached to the coach is broken. This will probably require replacement of the entire chrome mirror housing, including the electric remote mirror. I'll have to deal with that once we return to Oklahoma.) Also, Jo had a leather repair guy come to fix the leather upholstery on the driver's seat. It appears that over the past few years the dogs jumping up in that seat have taken it's toll from their claws. They did a fantastic job and it looks as good now as when we bought the coach.

In the afternoon I attended a meeting with the new man in charge over Monaco RV. After the Monaco Coach Corporation went bankrupt in 2009 that company was dissolved. The entire assets of the company were bought out of bankruptcy by Navistar Corporation, the maker of International Trucks along with other products. They reopened the company as Monaco RV LLC but retained the management team from the old company. Now, two years later, most of that team is gone and new, Navistar, people are being brought in. The new man in charge of the Monaco unit of Navistar appears to know what he is doing after 25 years with Ford Motor Company, including many years over their Ford Truck Division. After his talk and the question and answer session most of us feel much better about the future of the Monaco brand of coaches.

We finished off the evening with a good dinner, served by the caterers, and then were entertained by the group called "The New Odyssey". This is a group of three guys who, between them, play 30 different instruments. The are from the Chicago area and have been together for 30 years. In addition to performing great music they also are entertaining with their comedy and their interaction with the audience. We first heard this group at a rally in Brooksville, Florida, in February of 2007. This was the last night for entertainment to be scheduled. The rally ends tomorrow with no entertainment scheduled for after the dinner hour. We have been to many rallies in the past 10 years and have seen a bunch of good entertainment. We've also seen some not so good entertainment. I have to admit that this rally had the best mix of entertainment and did not have a "dud" on any night.

North Country 2011--Day 9

Beautiful weather and great music.

Started this day off with a fantastic start. First we got up to mild weather with a much lower humidity than we have been experiencing. Next, after breakfast our friends, Ron and Kay Rivoli, did a gospel music concert for anyone wanting to attend. They do these shows separate from their contractual performance of last night. They do ask for a "love offering" of whatever anyone wants to contribute. This money goes to a Christian charity for disadvantaged youth. Joanne and I were privileged to pass the baskets around to take the collection. In the picture to the right Kay is signing while Ron is getting the audience involved. A wonderful show was enjoyed by all. After this show Ron and Kay had to catch a plane to Minneapolis to join up with a Tea Party Express group for a three day bus tour/campaign on behalf of the embattled Wisconsin Governor, who is facing a recall petition backed by the Wisconsin public employees union. The best thing I can say about our friends is they live their convictions. We'll see this couple again in October at the Monaco America Fall Rally in Marksville, Louisiana.

Most of the day was spent attending some seminars, ordering a small addition for the coach and an afternoon ice cream social. We also had a detail company here at the rally give the coach a well needed bath, from the top down. This evening we returned to the rally hall for dinner and the evening entertainment. Tonight it was a group called The Doo-Wop Daddies. This is a group of "old" guys that do mostly 50's doo-wop music. Most of these guys looked to be in their 50's or 60's but did a really good job performing their music. Our crowd related well to these guys since most of the folks attending these rallies are 60's plus and mostly retired.

North Country 2011--Day 8

Decent weather to start the day and a great show to close it.

We woke up to clear skies and decent temperatures. The rain has blown on out of this area, the temps have dropped some and the humidity is way down. It turned off to be a really pleasant day for the first full day of the rally. Started off with a good breakfast served by the caterer here. Afterward Jo took in a couple of seminars, one on convection oven cooking and one by her favorite Mary Kay lady. In the meantime I attended a seminar held by the Vice President for Sales for Monaco RV about the future of the company, the consolidation of manufacturing and the new product line. Later we looked at some of the new coaches they have here for sale. Didn't find anything we'd trade our 2007 model for, especially at the prices they are asking for the 2011 and 2012 models they have here. We closed out the evening with dinner, again served by the caterer, and then the nightly entertainment. Tonight's entertainment was by our great personal friends, Ron & Kay Rivoli. Anyone who has been following this blog very long know about Ron & Kay and their Rivoli RV Revue. They do wonderful, original music about the RV lifestyle. Kay writes the songs and Ron sets them to music. A great show of music and comedy. The crowd seemed to be pleased with their performance and I did not notice anyone leaving early. We got to visit with them for a little after the show and, of course, have our picture taken with them just as we have done every time we see them perform.