The Ray Adventures: October 2019

Time is flying by, before we know it we'll be back in Texas.

Tuesday, Oct. 1, we left Duluth for St. Clair, Michigan, we zipped through Wisconsin, the UP and down to St. Clair, about 740 miles in 3 days. St. Clair is on the right side of the "thumb" of Michigan on the St. Clair River, the border of Canada. Our water pump has been "testing" us since we left Washington, it finally gave up the ghost. Fortunately we were able to pick up a new pump near Jeff and Suzanne's place.

Saturday, Oct. 5th., Gary and Jeff put the water pump in, yea! We have water again. Jeff and Suzanne treated us to a concert at the historic Fox Theater in Detroit, it opened in 1928, the interior is a mix of Burmese, Chinese and Persian motifs. The theater operated continuously until the 60's. The aging building then sat empty for 20 years before the Illich family (Little Caeser's) restored it at a cost of 12 million dollars. It is truly amazing! Downtown Detroit has been under renovations as well, The sports venues, lofts, funky restaurants, theaters and stores have brought life to the city but just a couple blocks away are the empty buildings and blight. So sad. We saw Sara Barelles, a pop, rock and soul singer at the Fox, none of us had even heard of her before. She has an amazing voice.

Sunday.,Oct. 6th, we drove in to Marine City (on the St. Clair River)for lunch, Suzanne and I did a little shopping and walked along the riverfront. A beautiful day. We then spent the rest of the day playing several games of Mexican Train.

Monday, Oct. 7, we headed off to Grafton Ohio to visit Rockport friends Dick and Fran.

Tuesday, Oct. 8th, Dick, Fran, Gary and I drove down to Canton to the Football Hall of Fame. Peggy and Jeff from Akron (also Rockport friends and Fran's sis) joined us for lunch at BJ's then all 6 of us went to the Hall of Fame. Since our last visit 4 years ago they have gone through a 200 million dollar renovation, In one exhibit (in the bust room) you could ask Michael Strahan questions on a screen with the hologram of Michael. Also new is the Black College HOF and a diorama of 100 years of football and an enlarged stadium.

Wednesday, Oct 9th, we left Dick and Fran's for Atlanta. The Ark Encounter, a Christian religious attraction near Williamstown, Ky. The centerpiece is the representation of Noah's Ark, based on the Genesis Flood narrative. It is 510 feet long, 85 ft wide and 51 feet tall. The 3 decks of the pairs of animals, vessels for food and water, dioramas of Noah and his family, indoor garden,carpentry and black smithing rooms. Outside is a zoo, petting zoo, restaurants, ziplines and the ever present gift shops. We spent the first night on the road at a Wal-Mart parking lot in Georgetown, Ky.(295 miles)

Thursday, Oct.,10th. We got the last available RV site in the Chattanooga area. Between the 3 day weekend, fall break for students in the area plus many snowbirds heading south, there aren't any places open. We stayed at Holiday RV park close to Chattanooga located on a Civil War Battlefield, preceding the Chickamauga Battle in 1863.

Friday, Oct. 11th, no place to stay so we're spending the next 2 nights in Cabela's parking lot (next to a Costco) just over the Georgia/Tennessee border. Much better than Wal-Mart. After lunch we drove to the nearby Chickamauga National Military Park. The fall of 1863 proved to be victorious for the Confederates but a huge loss of lives for both sides including President Lincoln's brother-in-law who, strangely enough fought for the south. The self guided driving tour takes you to the 8 locations of the battle. Memorials mark what regiments fought there, the leaders and the losses. The 765 monuments are of various sizes, 25 years after the battles veterans from both sides established the land as the first military park. To mark where the soldiers fought they placed stone and iron monuments.

Saturday, Oct. 12th, a gray and gloomy day, we dressed warmly for our trip to downtown Chattanooga, we'd heard their aquarium was good. As we walked toward the aquarium so did most of Chattanooga, we kept thinking "do we really want to do this with the crowds?" After waiting in line to buy tickets we saw the price, between the crowds and price (no discounts for senior or military) we jumped out of line. A car and boat show was happening down by the river, it too was pricey. We decided to get a cup of coffee to warm up, we stopped at Downtown Dough, they sell eggless raw cookie dough to eat, yuk! But, they owner gave us several suggestions of places to see. We walked the Walnut Street Pedestrian bridge across the Tennessee River just in time to see a boat parade of classic Chris Craft boats, then walked through the Art District to a Sculpture Garden overlooking the river. We had lunch at Confusions Brew Pub. Included with your entree was a trip to the brunch bar - fruit, salads and desserts. MMM. Yum! You can't go to Chattanoga with out seeing the Chattanooga Choo Choo made famous by the Andrews Sisters in 1941. We had happy hour in Cabela's parking lot with out neighbors Bill and Joanne from Jacksonville, Florida, they also could not find a place to stay. They are also retired military and have been traveling for 10 years. Chattanooga, a new favorite city, scenic, historic and very funky.

Sunday, Oct. 13th We left Cabela's about 10:30 for Jellystone RV park near Bremean, Ga, yes - we found a place to stay for our last 2 nights in Georgia, only 125 miles from Chattanooga. Along the way our GPS (Miss Sally) basically died. Gary was able to purchase a new one then she came to life! The price of Garmin's have dropped, our new one cost about half of the one we bought in 2014. The good news now we have two, one for the car and one for the coach.

That's it for now, enjoy the pic's, TTFN,

Gary and Pam

Outside of Fox Theater

First floor

Beautiful ceiling

Pedestrian bridge across Tennessee River

Classic Chris Craft boat

Hunter Art Museum

Chattanooga Train station

Chattanooga Choo Choo

Jeff, Suzanne & Gary playing Mexican Train

Luci and Zeus sharing ball

L-R Fran, Dick, Jeff, Peggy me and Gary at BJ's

Same group, hall of fame

Fran and me trying on helmets (very heavy)

Ark Encounter

Animal pens

Noah

Chickamauga Visitor center

One of many monuments

Many deer in park

Wednesday, Sept. 17th, one month from today we'll be in Natchez, Ms. for the great Mississippi River Hot Air Balloon Race, oh boy, do we need to pick up our pace? We left Great Falls Montana about 9:30 for our 276 mile drive to Glasglow, Mt. We stopped in Big Sandy to make a bank deposit at Wells Fargo, what a great old bank building inside and out, the poor town looks like it's dying, I noticed a sign on the door, the bank is closing permanently in November. While I was at the bank Gary stopped at the local deli/bakery/coffee shop, he got a maple bar and didn't bring me anything!!! so I had to go get coffee and a piece of lemon poppy seed bread. Yum! Just before Glasgow we stopped at a Rest Area, Gary felt we'd been there before, sure 'nuf we'd picked up a geo cache there 5 years ago. Funny what sticks in our heads. We pulled into Glasgow about 3, grabbed a quick "linner" then walked down to the local quilt store then picked up a geo cache on the way back to the RV park.

Wednesday morning we headed out for our 235 mile drive to Regina Saskatchewan, we filled up in Plentywood, Mt. before entering Canada. It only took 8 minutes to get through the border check point. The border agent noticed we had not signed our passports, we've had them for 6 years, last summer we were in and out of Canada and no one agent noticed. We're staying at Buffalo Lookout RV Park, in Regina, so far we haven't seen any buffalo but a lot of Canada Geese.

Thursday, the 19th, we overslept waking up at 9:00 but there was the time change. That's our excuse. Regina, population 176,000 elevation 1930, Saskatchewan is one of the 3 Prairie Provinces, Alberta and Manitoba the other two, the roads are straight and rolling. Regina is a nice town except I think all the roads were under construction! The Legislative Building, located in Wascana Park, a beautiful setting at lakeside and lovely gardens. The building was completed in 1912 at a cost of 1.8 million dollars. The Legislative Assembly Chamber has 61 members, 48 members on one side to make the laws and 13 across the room, the opposition, their job is to is to criticize the government, They are all elected by the people. Good work if you can get it. No visit is complete without a trip to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Museum, remember Sgt. Preston? A journey through the history of the RMCM, created in 1869 to maintain law in the new country, I especially enjoyed the exhibit about protecting the peace during the Klondike Gold Rush. Made me cold! The interactive exhibit was fun - we got to sit in the drivers seat of a police car and run the sirens.

Friday the 20th started out cool and overcast, we were way over dressed, the afternoon was a sunny 75 degrees. We visited the Government house, the historic home of former lieutenant Governors, now a museum, completed in 1891 at a cost of $50,000. After lunch Gary visited the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, amazing lifelike exhibits, dioramas covering everything from evolution to dinosaurs, indigenous people and life scenes. I walked the 3.1 mile trail around Wascana Lake, beside the Legislative building. A great walk, after Gary finished the museum he joined me for the last bit. In 1980 the lake was full of algae, silt and seaweed, they excavated the lake in 4 months, from December until April. Brrrrr.

Saturday the 21st we left about 9 for our 365 mile drive to Winnipeg. the road was straight and boring. Near the border of Manitoba we saw two eagles flying close to the freeway, We got to Town and Country RV park about 5 Central time. The adventure begins. Winnipeg got the remnants of Hurricane Dorian, needless to say the park was soaked. The first sign of trouble - we almost got stuck on the corner, we had to disconnect the car, dodging huge puddles. Gary got out of that mess, I followed him to our site, I watched in horror as he pulled in and he he sunk to the axle. ARGHHHH! We had to call a local tow company, after about an hour he arrived. It took 2 hours to get us out, he gently pulled us out backwards. I couldn't watch, I stayed in the coach (besides it was raining again). No damage to the coach, we went back to the front parking lot to spend the night. Luci was so confused. It was about 8:00 o'clock before we got settled. For sure we needed a little "drinkie" after that was all over.

Sunday the 22nd was beautiful and sunny, the owner directed us to another site without any further stress. I've never seen such "sticky" mud, I tried to clean the mud blobs off the wheels with a spoon and a fork, I had to beat the muck off the utensils. Winnipeg, population 762,000 elevation 762. We took Luci to Assiniboine Park and Zoo and Leq Mol Sculpture Garden. The bronze sculptures were set outside in the natural woodsy setting.

Tuesday, Sept.24 we left for leg one of our two day trip to Thunder Bay, Ontario. Good news, bad news. The good news, it poured most of the way to Lake Wabigoon (not a spelling error), washing away most of the muck underneath the coach. Bad news is well, it rained. The landscape changed from rolling plains to outcroppings of rock and lots and lots of lakes. The leaves in the area are just starting to turn color. We settled in for the night at Lake Wabigoon RV park for the night after 225 miles.

Wednesday, Sept. 25, leaving Lake Wabigoon, Ontario, we woke to clear skies. Yea! On to Thunder Bay, another 205 miles, a beautiful town population 108,000 elevation 653 feet.

Thursday, Sept. 26, close to our RV park is a memorial overlook dedicated to Terry Fox, resident of BC who was fighting cancer, after losing his right leg to cancer he planed a 5,300 mile marathon to raise money for cancer research. Starting in Newfoundland, running 26 miles a day, he had to give up due to recurring cancer in Thunder Bay. He raised 24 million dollars after only 3,340 miles, and died a short time later.    About 45 miles west of town is Kakabeka Falls, know as the Niagara of the North. A series of falls, the boardwalk give you up close views and a shower.    After lunch we drove back into Thunder Bay to see Fort William Historic Park. A reconstruction of the Fort William fur trade post as it existed in 1816, the tour guides recreated that year in dress and talk. The town of Thunder Bay grew from there.

Friday, Sept. 27th we left Thunder Bay for Duluth, a 203 mile drive along the North Shore of Minnesota, again it took only 8 minutes to get through the border check. And yes, we did sign our passports. A beautiful day and drive, the leaves are turning, we saw more reds and oranges than we did in Canada. We stayed at Lakehead Boat Basin and RV Park, close to Canal Park, a gentrified funky area full of shops, restaurants and hotels. The waterfront area in the 70's was a junk yard, now a walking path leading up to the Shipping Canal and lift bridge, one of Duluth's most photographed subjects.

Saturday, Sept 28th another beautiful day, we hated to tangle with the weekend traffic along the North Shore but weather forecast for Sunday and Monday was lousy. We turned into Split Rock State Park only to be stuck in stop and go traffic, we said "forget it"and drove up to an overlook for photos. Goosebury Falls State Park was the same but we did get a parking spot. In the 30's the Civilian Conservation Corps built the log and stone features and stairs allowing you to see the Upper, Middle and Lower Falls, great hiking trails.

Sunday, Sept. 29, we wanted to see Glensheen Mansion but again, no parking and crowds. Tomorrow. We spent the rest of the afternoon geo caching, finding an especially cool one on the waterfront - a post with 100's of padlocks, we had to find the correct padlock and then figure out the combination from clues. We were successful! Dinner was pizza and beer at Old Chicago in Canal Park.

Monday, Sept. 30. Ah ha! We made it to Glensheen Mansion and even found a place to park. During the night into morning it poured again, we took advantage of the break in the deluge to view the gardens first.   Completed in 1908 the 20,000 sq ft mansion sits on 12 acres of waterfront property on Lake Superior it has 39 rooms, a carriage house, gardeners cottage and a boat house, one of the first on Lake Superior. The furnishings are all original to the family including a collection of ladies gowns.    More rain, in fact after dinner there was quite a thunderstorm.

Tuesday, Oct. 1st and 2nd we start our first and second leg of 3 to visit Gary's sister in St. Clair, Michigan. Peak leaf season in the UP, we spent the night at Ishpeming, Mi a 250 mile drive. Up and out early we made it to Gaylord, Mi., about an hour south of Mackinaw City where we had lunch and tried to buy Pasties but the restaurant was closed. A Pasty is a baked pastry which is filled with beef, potato, turnip and onion. Several years ago when we were here with Jeff and Suzanne they introduced them to us Yum!!! So disappointed that we couldn't get any. Tomorrow off to visit with Sis.

That's it for now, enjoy the pic's,

TTFN,

Gary and Pam