Final 2008 update- North Georgia

As we slowly head south toward home we stopped at the Mountain Creek RV Resort near Blairsville, GA for a two week stay. We enjoyed the Mountain Creek Resort but have since learned that they have finantual troubles and are no longer open. We hope they can reopen someday.

While in the area we went to Helen,GA to see the german alps styled town. It is a tourist trap but a fairly nice one as far as these places go. Besides the town pictures I've included one photo of a one man band. If you have not had the chance to see one of these guys they are quite interesting. They have cables attached to feet, legs, arms, and hands which can activate the various instruments attached to their bodies. And he was good.

2008 trip update 2- Smokey Mtns near Marion, NC

From Bristol we traveled to the other side of the mountains to the Marion, NC which is about 30 miles northeast of Ashville. We were there while the leaves were changing. We drove up on the Blue Ridge parkway to Mt. Mitchell and were able to get a number of fall folage pictures.

Our campsite was immedeately adjacent to a mountain stream and I've included a couple of photo's of that as well.

2008 trip update- Bristol, TN

Well I've been given the business by a few people for ignoring the blog. They are right.

So I will do 3 posts to update our '08 trip prior to starting the blog with our 2009 trip.

My last post was news that we were in PA and were hit with the tail end of hurricane Ike. The area was hit with winds up to 80 mph which took down many trees and powerlines. We went 4 days without power and my mother went without power for a week. I located a generator for my mother's use and had to service it twice a day to keep power to her home. It's ironic that we leave Florida during hurricane season and get hit with one in PA!

After leaving PA we headed south and stopped in Bristol, TN. While there we toured the Bristol Motor Speedway. The tour there was better than the tour we got at Daytona. They walk you around the stands and into the track owners suite. Then load you into a van and go around the track at the minimum speed necessary to keep you up on the lowest portion of the banked track. You also get to see the world class drag strip that is also at the facility. Here's a few photo's of the track and one from the old railway station in Bristol. As always click on the picture if you want a larger view.

Ike's tail and other things- overdue update

We were last heard from while we were in northern Michigan on the Leelanue peninsula but we fially had to say good-bye to our friends in the area and head south. We look forward to returning next year prior to a trip out west.

From northern MI, we went south to the Kalamazoo area to visit with Linda's mother and brother Mike. Mike was kind in allowing us to park the RV in his drive and hookup to his utilities for a few days.

Next we went east back to western PA for Labor Day and to visit with Terry's mother and brothers during the holiday. Brother Dan flew in from Las Vegas and brother Tim came over from north central PA. We spent Labor Day trimming trees and other yard work.

Next Linda and I moved the RV to Hershey, PA to attend the "largest RV show" as they bill themselves. We stayed in the Highmeadow campground where we were packed in like sardines.

On the Tuesday before the RV show we drove to Gettysburg to see the new visitors center at the battlefield. The center is very nice but we missed seeing the new cyclorama section of the center which does not open until Sept 27th. The next day we attended the RV show and found it to be large but definitely not to the scale of the Tampa RV Supershow that is held every January.

When we departed Hershey, we attempted to go north into north central PA to the Foote Rest campground. There are few campgrounds in north central PA that appeal to us but we have been to the Foote Rest before and liked it. However, I could not get in contact with them by phone. No one answered the phone and they did not return my call even though their message said they would. Oh well, we went elsewhere.

So we ended up at the Kalumet Campground near Cooksburg, PA. Kalumet is a vey nice campground but we had no cell phone service or internet connection. We stayed a couple of days and headed back to the Mercer KOA.

During Hershey trip we developed a problem with our electric steps that are on the RV at the entry door. The steps normally extend or retract without incedent. Now the steps only partially extent or retract and make a very loud grinding noise. I believe the gears are out of alignment. I'll tackle that problem after we have finished with Ike's problems.

Eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania suffered the effects of the tailend of hurricane Ike as it pasted through the area. The big problem was high winds knocking down trees and taking out power lines. By Florida standards this is a small event. But by their standards (or lack there of) this is a big time event here that has left thousands without power. The lackluster emergency respone to restore power and help citizens would never be tolerated in Florida.

Anyhow, we have been out of power since Sunday along with thousands of the locals. My (Terry's) mother also has no power and has been bailing out her basement subpump by hand so that the water would not flood the basement. It took a couple of days to locate a generator, but our friends Lyle and Sandy Johnston (of the Johnston;s Apple Castle) were kind to lone their generator for my mothers use. Good thing, as there are no generators available in the area.

Well that is the catch -up for now. Sorry for no pictures. Will change that in the near future.

Signed- powerless in PA.

Charlevoix revisited

A few posts ago we made reference to the beauty of the village of Charlevoix. Due to circumstances we were not able to get photo's during that trip. This necessitated a return trip!

As previously noted, the main street is lined with flowers, so to save a thousand words here are the pictures.
The marina in Charlevoix is second to none in my book. The marina sits in Round Lake between Lake Michigan and Lake Charlevoix. The west exit of Round Lake takes you out the cut to Lake Michigan and the east exit of Round Lake has you exiting into Lake Charlevoix, which is a substantual lake itself (15 miles long and over 2.5 miles wide). I've tried to capture some of the water sights here. The picture with Linda is the water front area immediately adjacent to the marina.

Of course there are some fantastic homes near the marina, here is one example.

This is the cut from the marina/Round Lake to Lake Michigan.

The Emerald Isle, a passenger and vehicle ferry, heading out onto Lake Michigan to go to Beaver Island thirty five miles away.

The next picture is the exit of Round Lake to Lake Charlevoix. The exit is in the backround of the photo.

Lastly, we include a sailboat that is coming in from Lake Michigan to the marina. There are many fine sailboats all around the state. This one is even equipped with solar panels which indicates to me that the crew spends a significant amount of time on board.

All this maritime stuff here has me (Terry) wanting to buy a good used boat (with galley, head, and sleeping quarters) and keep it in Michigan for our use in the summers!

Boat Show part II

Blogger is a pain to work with pictures, so I divided up the pictures from the boat show for easier posting. Here are more wood boats.

Les Cheneaux Antique Wooden Boat Show

The annual boat show held at the Hessel marina in August is a fine display of wooden boats and one of our favorite festivales. Of course, there are plunty of booths selling other things but the spotlight is the boats.

Most of the boats are made by Chris Craft with boats from the early 1900's to the 1970's in attendance. The owners of many of these boats have spent hundreds or thousands of hours in the boats restoration. And they look it. Some of them are better than new.

Speaking of new, we discovered that you can buy a brand new custom version of these fine wood boats if you have the cash. Hacker Craft makes hand made reproductions and had one on display at the show. If you have a spare $170,000, one can be yours! By the way, that's for a 22 footer.

So it's time for some pictures.