Great Lakes! Wow!

Lake Superior from the sand spit
where we stayed in Duluth

Yes, the Great Lakes are B I G !!!!  We have seen Lake Michigan in the past as well as Lake Erie.  But, Superior it definitely is!

We last posted from Big Timber, Montana.  When then picked up steam and chugged through the rest of Montana with a stop in Miles City, then North Dakota with a stop at Jamestown and then into Minnesota for the 4th of July week.

We picked Miles City and Jamestown in order to avoid staying in the area of Eastern Montana and Western North Dakota that is impacted by the Bakken oil fields work and workers.  The Miles City KOA was our home for one night.  Oh boy, the campground is in town and is covered with cottonwood trees which someone described as beautiful. Wrong!!!!  The grounds were covered with the cottony covered seeds which of course, got in our car, our motorhome, everywhere!  Then, the sap covered our car and motorhome.  What a mess!!!!

To compound it, we then drove to Jamestown, ND to the Jamestown Campground, which is a former KOA.  The access road to the park was a mile long dusty gravel road.  Going slow didn't help any and our rear diesel engine exhaust stirred up the dust, covering our car, entering the engine compartment of both vehicles and of course, sticking to the sticky stuff from the night before!!!!  Oh well, we survived!  :)

We didn't see much of Miles City or Jamestown.  In fact, going out for dinner in Jamestown found us at the Pizza Ranch, oh well.......

July 3 found us traveling into Minnesota and arriving at the Cloquet/Duluth KOA which is about a half hour west of Duluth.  The Kampground was okay although without sewer hookups which keep us from taking long showers, washing clothes, etc.  It was the best we could do over the 4th since we didn't make reservations way in advance.

Right in front of our site

On Saturday July 6 we arrived at the Lakehead Boat Basin RV Park in downtown Duluth, right in the harbor.  Not spiffy, but a great location right across the Aerial Lift Bridge from Canal Park with restaurants, shopping, Lakewalk, etc.  We were disappointed that we didn't take advantage of the best sunny days to take the North Shore Drive, leaving it to the last day and it was foggy.

From Duluth we traveled into Wisconsin and spent one night in Ashland, WI at Kreher City RV Park.  There seems to be many city owned RV Parks in this part of the country.  This was a very nice park right on the BIG lake!  We took a drive around the bay enjoying a late lunch, etc. at Coco Artisan Breads and Fine Pastries in Washburn.  (Judy Bowker, don't tell Elwyn!)

The next night we intended to stay at another City RV Park in Marquette, MI but when we got there and saw the layout and drove through with trees hanging down real low scratching the motorhome we decided to backtrack a few miles to Ishpeming and stay the Country Village RV Park which was wide open, more to our liking for an overnight stay.  We were parked next to a 45' motorhome with Florida plates that didn't unhook their car and left by 7:00 the next morning.

Sunset from Aune-Osborn Park

In the lock

We left three hours later and traveled to Sault Sainte Marie and pulled in to the Aune-Osborn City RV Park right on the St. Mary's River which connects Lake Huron and Lake Superior.  What a beautiful setting and great views of the river, Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario and all the ship traffic that goes through the locks to the west.  Parked two spots away from us was the same 45' motorhome from Florida.  The owner saw us come in and told me we were parked next to each other in Ishpeming and we compared notes about our destinations and found that we are both heading for Bar Harbor, Maine before splitting with them heading to New Brunswick and us down the Maine seacoast.  Yesterday he dropped off some info and a USB stick about the campground they stay in New Brunswick that he just raved about.

The Canadian Sault Sainte Marie
from the boat

Also on that first day, I, George, was sitting outside enjoying the view and catching up with things on my iPad when a couple came walking by with their dog and the lady said "Is that George Dumas?"  Hannah and Joe Dubuc, Alfa motorhome friends who we met in Palm Desert a few years back along with their dog, Foxy, happened to be staying at the same place.  What a pleasant surprise.  We spent some time together catching up and comparing notes.  Their Alfa looks like a new creation with a beautiful full body paint job including spiffy graphics.

1000' Freighter

We really enjoyed our stay in the Soo including the Soo Boat Lock tours as well as finding another really good restaurant, Karl's Cuisine where we enjoyed a Stromboli, Greek Salad, UP White Wine and finished off with a Chocolate-Raspberry Truffle cake!  Now, back to the diet!!!!!

Today is the first stop in our trip through Ontario.  We are in a very nice KOA campground on the river in Sturgeon Falls, just west of North Bay.