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To view the photos click on “Photos August 2007” above.
On August 8th we hit the road again! Before that we spent the month of July with doctor’s appointments, bicycle tours with the grandchildren, working on Michael’s house, and a few short trips to Elkhart, IN and Dayton, OH. On August 5th we celebrated Katja’s ninth birthday with a new bicycle for her, and then on the 8th we left Fort Wayne for a week of camping at Pokagon State Park (< -- Please Click) north of Fort Wayne with the kids. We only have room for the driver and two passengers in the truck since 2/3 of the back seat is converted to a bed for Lobo that is high enough for him to look out. Underneath his bed is storage. Consequently, the kids couldn’t leave with us, so we drove to Pokagon to set up everything a few days early, and then returned on the weekend to Fort Wayne and picked them up.
entertain a guest. Geza Miler, the husband of Renée’s boss at Abbott in Germany, was in Brimfield, OH to visit their son who, for the past two years has worked there. Michael (their son) turned 30 and Geza was there to celebrate with him. With a few idle days before returning to Germany, Geza came to visit us and do a little sightseeing. He arrived in the afternoon shortly after we set up camp. We had bratwurst and zucchini grilled on an open fire (see photos), followed by a quark |
strudel, which is a cheese curd strudel. Geza is originally from Croatia, where this dish comes from. Geza had brought the strudel with him. (Did I mention that he also made it from scratch?) Boy was it good! The following day we made a short sightseeing trip to Michigan and while Renée and Geza went swimming in the lake, Chuck took a nap. Between rainstorms that evening we grilled steaks on the fire. The following day was Chuck’s birthday. After Geza left for his return to Ohio, we switched camping sites. We did not have advanced reservations and our site was booked for the weekend. We then celebrated the birthday in the Potawatomi Inn (< -- Please Click) On Saturday we picked up the kids and spent a very active week with bicycling, swimming, boat rides, horseback riding, amusement park, go karts, etc. ( see photos). On August 17th we had to leave Pokagon since they were completely booked for the following weekend. This was the last weekend of the summer vacation for Indiana schools. We moved to a nearby campground and spent the weekend. Since there were more people than seats in the truck, Renée rode in the RV to the new campground which was about five miles away. Indiana is one of the few states that permit someone to ride in a towed trailer. She says it wasn’t much fun! Michael came on Friday evening and spent the weekend with us at Happy Acres RV Park (< -- Please Click). Before the weather changed, Keith and Katja had the opportunity to enjoy the pool, which was quite nice. Michael brought the rain with him from Fort Wayne, along with his bike. A bike tour had been planned but it never happened because we continued to receive intermittent rain storms. But Keith, who has an infatuation with Golf Carts, was in seventh heaven when a lady at the campground took a liking to him and became his personal chauffeur (see photos). On Sunday afternoon, Michael packed up everything and left for Fort Wayne with the kids. Well, he didn’t actually pack up everything. He left his special fold up lawn chair that will stay with us until we meet again. It continued to rain and on Monday the entrance to the campground flooded. The water was so deep that they had to build another entrance/exit on higher ground. On Tuesday (August 21st), the water had receded enough that we were able to use the normal exit as we left for Michigan, heading east on US 20 to Toledo, OH, then OH 120 to US 24 to I-94 past Detroit, MI to Selfridge ANG Base where we spent three days on Lake St. Clair. The rain followed us and for most of the time there, we stood in several inches of water. After stocking up at the commissary and buying new front tires for the truck, we headed for the border, crossing into Canada from Port Huron into the town of Sarnia along Lake Huron (see photos). Although we drove along the highway with Lake Huron only a short distance away, we weren’t able to see it until we reached Point Farms Provincial Park north of Goderich. We spent the night at the park and took a walk to Lake Huron, where they actually have a beach designated for dogs. Lobo played in the water for a while and then as we started on our way back to the camp site, the rain began again. Leaving the park wasn’t much fun since the road (paths) are so narrow with trees so near that Renée had to act as a ground guide most of the way. We then traveled along several back roads and through the countryside. That night we had difficulty finding a campground and when we finally did, it was booked solid. A few miles further up the road on the outskirts of Bethany we found a nice meadow beside a gas station and received permission to spend the night there. The following day was partly cloudy but no rain for the entire day. The landscape was hilly with forests of mixed pine and birch on both sides. As we passed through the Algonquin First Nation Reservation area, every ¼ mile there was a roadside stand selling fresh wild blueberries and blueberry products. We reached Ottawa in the early afternoon and paid for a week since we knew we wanted to tour the city and also the Labor Day weekend (celebrated also in Canada) was coming up and we might experience a problem with finding a place to stay. The first night was under a tree and we had no internet connection. The following morning a space became available where we managed to get a signal and spend the rest of the time there. The weather in Ottawa ( < -- please click) began with heat and humidity but suddenly switched to very comfortable days and nights. We took several tours while in Ottawa (see photos). The first day we realized that it would be impossible to travel in the truck so we located the nearest bus stop and began using the city buses to get around. We also bought a Gray Line tour that was good for two consecutive days so we could take the tour at our own pace and use it to get around the city. Parliament Hill (< -- please click) is most impressive. An unusual attraction on the government grounds behind Parliament is the cat sanctuary (see photos). We also toured the center block of the Parliament building and across the river in Gatineau, visited the Canadian Museum of Civilisation. And suddenly the month of August was over. To be continued ……………. |
Travel Journal July/August 2007
Our Motto: Home is, where our RV is.
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| Bambi at the zoo |
| This might be a little difficult to abide by! |