Jun 12
We just started our 43-day Summer RV trip up the California, Oregon, and Washington coasts.
Our first stop was the McClure Point Campground for 3 days. Temps have been triple-digit for all the days so we’ve been trapped inside our RV except for early mornings and late evenings.
It’s been a few months – 7 to be exact since the last post.
Here’s what has been going on . . . but first, here’s the April snow we had today:
PROPANE FURNACE REPAIRED
During our final campground stays last year, our propane heater began making loud whining noises. So much so that we could no longer use it to heat our RV. Not good.
After some research discovered that our furnace fan was kaput. Luckily, the fix seemed straightforward – just replace the fan motor.
Removing the Fan Cover and the Heater Fan was a piece of cake.
Luckily, it was MUCH easier to install the new fan motor and then to put everything back together again.
After a few seconds of running the fan, the furnace ignites, and all is quiet. Success.
GENERATOR FIXED
On our long cross-country trip to the Midwest we had to rely on our dash air conditioner to keep us cool during the hot summer days. We were unable to use the RV’s rooftop AC units because they need to be powered from either an external power or our generator.
Unfortunately we had removed our generator before we left because it wasn’t working.
This made for some VERY uncomfortable driving during parts of our trip, especially in the southwest.
Determined to fix our generator, we had it reinstalled in our RV. It still didn’t work, but at least the “heavy lifting” was done.
After some lengthy investigating, we found out that the generator fuel line was clogged. We couldn’t clear the blockage and it would have been very, very expense to replace the fuel line.
What to do?
Install a new fuel tank. Seems obvious but it was the last thing we wanted to do. However, it worked:
NEW WINDOW BLINDS INSTALLED
One of our three window shades became unstrung but we did not want to fix it by restringing.
So we removed the old shades, purchased new custom blinds from blinds.com, and the rest is history:
STARLINK MOUNT INSTALLED
We decided to get rid of our Verizon Internet hot spot and replace it with a Starlink dish using the Roam plan. Unlike the Verizon hot spot which we have to pay for every month whether we use it or not, the Roam plan allows month-to-month use. That made it a no brainer as Starlink is much faster than our former hot spot.
Sep 10
Whew! It’s been a while since we last updated our trip blog . . . last entry was from Houghton, MI which was about 4550 miles through our trip. And it felt like it.
Although we took our time through Wisconsin, we were getting burned out after all those miles.
Before we forget, here’s a link to our trip’s log which details each park we stopped at, money spent on gas (+ local gas prices), cellular (AT&T and Verizon) data speeds along with campground WiFi info.
NOTEWORTHY CAMPGROUNDS IN 2ND HALF OF TRIP
Though Copper Falls is of course noted for its several beautiful waterfalls, this time at the park we noticed the incredible slate walkways. We found out that the slate came from a local quarry.
Some of the slate pieces were 2 to 3 inches thick.
Just as after we left Wisconsin, we stopped at Prairie Island Campground in the middle of the Mississippi River.
THREE LAKES, WI – Lost Kind Fishing Trip
During my high school days, I was in a garage band called The Lost Kind. Most of the band members went to the same high school so we tended to hang out together.
One summer three of us – Wally, Mel, and me (“Bird”) – decided to take a fishing trip to Three Lakes, WI, where my family used to spend many summers.
The first night we arrived in Three Lakes we had no place to stay so we decided to park off the road near a lake and just sleep in the car. Right.
I’m not sure of the details, but sometime during the night the car was shifted into neutral and started rolling backwards . . . towards a canal.
We scrambled to stop the car and avoided taking a midnight swim.
Here’s the spot where we parked . . .
BEST RESTAURANTS
WORST RESTAURANT
Hands down on this one – Victoria’s Kitchen in Houghton, MI.
BEST GROCERY . . . EVER!
We’ve been to HEBs (Here Everything’s Better), Walmarts, Vons, HyVees, Safeways, Trigs, Raley’s, Pick ‘n Saves, Sendiks, Krogers, Albertsons, Bashas groceries in many states, but this HyVee near Timberline Campground in Waukee, IA was the best.
Judging by the high tech industries and the Maserati driving around in the area, this HyVee is located in a very upscale neighborhood, and the food selection and quality showed it.
OUR RV FRIDGE JUST MADE IT
During the last week of our trip, the RV’s fridge temp kept edging up each day . . . 39 degrees, 40, 41, . . . unit it hit 45. Bad mojo.
We thought our 23-year-old Dometic was finally calling it quits.
Nope. Turned out we just needed to defrost . . .
Until next time!
Jul 23
From Wisconsin’s High Cliff State Park we drove north to the City of Houghton RV Park on Lake Superior (actually the Portage Canal that separates Houghton from Hancock).
We booked campsite #21 in April, but could only get 8 days there. We wanted 2 weeks. It’s a popular place.
Our site was spectacular . . . right on the waterfront.
OUR WISCONSIN FLIGHT PLAN . . .
Jul 16
From the Wisconsin State Fair RV Park we traveled north to High Cliff State Park on Lake Winnebago.
High Cliff is one of our favorite destinations. We’ve been camping at this park since the early 2000’s and made it a point to return.
OUR FAVORITE CAMPSITE
We reserved one of our favorite campsites at High Cliff . . .
STOCKBRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL
Stockbridge, Wisconsin is just a few miles from High Cliff State Park. Tom taught high school English here during 1977 and 78. The school building housed grades 1 though 12 as it was a small community.
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