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Michigan 2022

May - October 2022
A 146-day adventure by Katboz Read more
  • 65footprints
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  • 146days
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  • 4videos
  • 5.4kmiles
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  • TravelerMichigan 2022
    Day 1

    The summer begins!

    May 26, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 79 °F

    Even when you think you are almost all ready and packed, the act of leaving always takes way more time then you plan for!? We actually left about noon, about 2 hours later than I had hoped for. But we're did have to essentially close up the house while loading up for the summer.

    We had a nice drive to Loomis RV Park where we will be staying for the event if the summer- Matt and Sara's wedding! Park is okay, but really need a lot of maintenance and TLC for it to be a good park. Restroom was horrible! Roads and sites were gravel and weeds, dog "park" small fenced in dirt lot. No chair, no water for pups. However, because this is an older park, the trees provided lots of shade and were a nice feature. Called to get picture of site, but had photos of restroom to use with online review of park. It wouldn't be so bad, but we paid $65 a night for full hook ups, but park had no WI-fi or cable.

    We pretty much checked in, walked the pup, had some leftovers and went to bed!    Read more

  • TravelerMichigan 2022
    111
    Day 2

    Waldron Wedding

    May 27, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 68 °F

    Wow, it was such a happy, fun event! Lots of family and friends! The Shepard/Adams/Hibbs contingent are now fully integrated with the Waldron family.

    The ceremony was outside on a beautiful summer day. Location was the Flower Farm Inn in Loomis, Ca. Officiating was Steve, Christie and Simon's brother in law. He was a great speaker and had lots of fun and personal thoughts to share. It set a light and joyful mood for the whole event. People were ready and quite willing to celebrate!Read more

  • TravelerMichigan 2022
    Day 3

    Sacto to Sparks

    May 28, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F

    It was a wonderful wedding event! 💑 lots of friends and family all celebrating the marriage of Matt and Sara.... but the festivities were not over yet!

    After packing up RV and jeep and gassing up the RV to the tune of $310 to fill the tank ($6.10 per gallon) we headed across town to the Waldrons for a final goodbye to the newly married Mr and Mrs Matt Waldron! Christie and Simon, (parents) laid out a beautiful brunch which we enjoyed outside with most of the wedding party.

    With hugs to all the old and new family, we got on the road about 12:30 pm for our journey back to Michigan.

    Since it had been a fairly late evening (clean up done by midnight) we just decided to give ourselves a short drive day. Only got to Sparks and while Tom drove most of the way, I pretty much snoozed....which is actually too bad because really 80 over Donner is a beautiful drive. The highway itself is in terrible shape, but the views are great.

    Tried Cabellas in Verdi for overnight stay, but this location does not allow overnighters. We continued up the road to a truck stop in Sparks, Petro. Very busy, lots of trucks! Chatted with a couple of drivers (and their dogs) and had dinner in the onsite restaurant.

    Walked Charlie, and they had lots of healthy, thick green grass for her to roll in. While I am completing my journal for the day, she is demolishing a bully stick! Early bedtime tonight, falling asleep to the "hum" (?) of our fellow big riggers!    Read more

  • TravelerMichigan 2022
    Day 5

    Across Nevada on I-80

    May 30, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 55 °F

    We both slept great at the truck stop, even Charlie didn't wake up until almost 6! Enjoyed our coffee and breakfast burritos, and were on the road by 8. (Which is actually very good for us!)

    Lots of driving today, excellent highway, road surfaces were nice and smooth. In an RV every bump, crack, or pot hold magnifies the noise inside and makes texting or surfing much more challenging!

    Pretty cold and overcast today, had some rain and at one time as we stepped out of the RV to give Charlie a "break", we got hail! As with all moving tools, (brooms, vacuums, wisk broom, rags used for wiping), the wind shield wipers are "intruders" that need to be warned off!

    Not many cities to pass through, mostly all high sort of desert. This area, along with most of Nevada, is part of the Great Basin and is very arid and dry. We followed the Humboldt River a lot of the time, and had some nice views. Saw some deer and a coyote.

    Since last night at the truck stop in Sparks was so successful, we are overnighting at another truck stop in Wendover, right at the Utah stateline. Almost 400 miles today which is a pretty dang long day for us. And we lost an hour; we are in Mountain time.    Read more

  • TravelerMichigan 2022
    1
    1
    Day 5

    Into Wyoming

    May 30, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 46 °F

    Up and on the road by 8 am. Between our coffee time, devo, and making sure Charlie has a good walk, that is still a good start time for us.

    Pretty much a drive day again sticking to I-80. Interstate takes us south of the Great Salt Lake and then heads due east out of Salt Lake city. Spent most of the morning in a light rain until it actually became snow at Parleys Summit, about 7,000 ft.

    Got into Wyoming about noon and filled up with cheaper gas, &4.55 per gallon and got some wraps (easier to eat while driving then a sandwich) from subway and got back on the road.

    We only went as far as Rock Springs, about a 350 mile day, because we wanted a little extra evening time for showers. We stayed at the Sweetwater Event Complex (an extra large fairground sort of place) that had pretty good reviews. Only $33 a night for full hook up, no trees or grass on sites, but they had recently remodel restrooms. Each restroom had its own shower, with good pressure and hot water. Not only that, each restroom was heated, much to Toms delight!

    The facility also had a nice large (!) dog park. Charlie was so happy, she got to run like mad and the park had all this nice, deep green grass. She almost went a little crazy rolling and running. After about 30 minutes we took her back to the RV and she refused to get back in. I didn't have her on a leash, (so few people are here) and she simply would not come... and then she found a (slightly) running faucet and finished her play time in the mud! I was cold and mad, and now have muddy shoes and clothes! Since she did NOT like me trying to wipe the mud off of her she got snarky with me. Still not convinced we will be coming home with this dog....

    A nice hot spaghetti dinner and bed for us all. Oh we also did have a little ice cream!    Read more

  • TravelerMichigan 2022
    1
    Day 6

    Thru Cheyenne to Sidney, NE

    May 31, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 55 °F

    We left Rock Springs expecting to get to Cheyenne, WY for the day. Still raining slightly and it was cold. Made a couple of stops and were on the road by mid morning.
    Drove most of the morning in light rain. I had hoped we could take a little detour and drive the Snowy Range Scenic Byway, but Tom was worried about getting into snow at the higher elevations so we stayed on I-80. Just kept driving and ended up stoppng for gas at laramie about 1:30 still thinking we would continue on to Cheyenne. Since it was so late we decided to have lunch there. As we walked back to RV it started hailing on us again. Since it was late in the day, cold and wet, we ended up staying in RV park with power to better enjoy the evening. "Wallydocking" isn't bad.... just quieter and cleaner in a park instead of a parking lot.

    Got up the next morning (wednesday, june 1) and drove the grade out of laramie. Glad we hadn't decided to continue yesterday because we would have been driving in snow.

    Blew past Cheyenne and stopped in Sidney to see the Cabellas store. Their main headquarters are here so I thought this would be a pretty good store to see. It was good, but not as built out as some others we have seen. It front they also have a monument to the Pony Express riders as this was part of the route they road.    Read more

  • TravelerMichigan 2022
    Day 7

    Overnight in North Platte

    June 1, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    After leaving Sidney we kept driving east on I-80. We have finally outlasted the bad weather and have pretty blue skies for driving Nebraska. Pretty flat land, green, lots of farming, feedlots, snow fences, some wind turbines, and not many trees. Most have been planted to manage the snow in lieu of fences.

    As we headed into North Platte we finally got on a parallel county highway that took us straight thru a couple of typical little farm towns. Older brick buildings that were there since the town started and quite a few "steakhouses" (typical of the area) that we need to try one night.

    We wanted to stop in North Platte because it is home to the Bailey train yard. This yard is one of the biggest train yards in the world. 8 square miles of yard with over 400 miles of track in the yard to accommodate the building and rebuilding of various train cars depending on final location. The bowl tracks, and two "humps" help to accomplish this resorting of cars ( all with computer chips to identify each one) in this huge train hub. There is also a huge engine repair shop for Union Pacific. We visited the Golden Spike Tower and museum that serves the yard. Your visit includes going up the tower to the 8th floor to get a "birds eye" look of the yard. They always have a volunteer that has retired from the train industry to answer any questions and share info if you don't know what to ask. Eldon was the volunteer of the day. He retired from Catapillar which provided and serviced all the generators used in the yard. He was excellent, we could have enjoyed his stories for hours. He actually grew up in a train depot not to far from North Platte. Reluctantly we pulled ourselves away, we needed to go find a spot at the local Walmart for dry camping.    Read more

  • TravelerMichigan 2022
    Day 8

    It all ended good....

    June 2, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    It was as we were leaving the Golden Spike Tower that Tom noticed something hanging under the RV that does not normally "hang".
    He crawled under and saw one of the clips that holds the sway bar just hanging by one bolt.
    At 6:00 pm (all shops closed) it created a little bit of anxiety for him!
    We carefully drove to our overnight choice, Walmart in North Platte, and spent quite a bit more time on our bellies, under the RV, assessing and discussing the situation. Nothing we could do but wait until morning.
    Next morning Tom was able to locate a mobile mechanic who promptly came out, evaluated situation, bought new bolt, and reinstalled bushing and clamp. He was great! It was difficult to get the new bolt in place and he had to work some time at it, but completed the job. And his final bill?? $155.76!? It would have been that much to have an approved dealer just diagnose the issue, much less complete the work! We were so fortunate, This could have been a challenge... the one dealer I spoke to said he could do the work, but couldn't work us in to his schedule for a week and a half. Just feel like God had His hand in this! ❤️
    We lost the morning due to repairs and our next stop we had actually booked a reservation since we're staying in Omaha. So pretty much had to drive straight there after repair. We did stop at a museum, the Archway, that I thought would be good, but just walked around outside to stretch our legs. Really nice weather today!
    Got to our reserved site at Lake Cunningham about 6 only to discover that the Jeep battery was dead. So at the end of a long day we had to drop the jeep in a location that would allow us to bring the RV along side to jump the battery. All great "fun"?!
    However this little park is really nice. Only about 40 sites, power only, and we are right on the end of the lake. It has a cute little dock with boats, shade trees, mowed lawns and geese! And you all know where there are geese you will find LOTS of their droppings. YUM! Charlie "loves" to smell and taste all the droppings... so walks are a little challenging! Regardless, we have enjoyed this nice, clean and quiet overnight as compared to the parking lots we have been staying at! It is nice to put shorts on again!    Read more

  • TravelerMichigan 2022
    Day 9

    Glenn Cunningham Lake campground

    June 3, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F

    Since we were at a such a nice campground we spent a little more time in the morning to enjoy the scenery. We walked the lake side path over the bridge to the little marina. This is also a location for several summer concerts, would be a nice setting.
    Finally on the road by about 10 am    Read more

  • TravelerMichigan 2022
    Day 9

    Walked to Iowa and back for lunch

    June 3, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Arrived in Omaha about lunch time. The only thing we are"seeing" here is the Bob Kerry pedestrian Bridge. Just a nice, no charge, outdoor experience. This location is also home to a Lewis and Clark trail museum, but we have been forgoing most of these so we can keep driving. The pedestrian Bridge is sort of the anchor for the development of the river front, so there is still ongoing work. But the plaza and water feature was fun and the bridge allows you to walk across the "Big Muddy" (Missouri River) to Council Bluffs, Iowa. It is a 0.9 K walk to the other side.

    So we walked to Iowa for lunch!

    Council Bluff side is nice as well. Sat in their plaza and enjoyed our lunch. Warm day for a walk so thankfully had a little shade structure to use. Pretty quiet, but I guess since it's still a week day with school in session not as many out and about.    Read more

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