The Vagabonds in Vermont

Evening descends on Lake Champlain.

Our site in Grand Isle State Park.

Dinner is almost ready!

I really don't scream for ice cream, but I sure do love it!

Ah, "Nirvana" for ice cream lovers!

On Monday, August 31st, we wound up staying at the Grand Isle State Park, located in Vermont. It's one of the islands on Lake Champlain. State Route 2 took us on small, winding roads through 3 long and skinny islands before it reached the town of Burlington. Staying on Grand Isle was peaceful, since the sites were huge and it wasn't crowded. The only downside was the fact that we had to dry camp. No electricity meant no access to the laptop! Horrors! Is there such a thing as Internet withdrawal? We bought firewood, and Sherry got a great fire started so we could cook our evening meal and have coffee. We also cooked breakfast over the fire.

On Tuesday morning, we left and traveled across Vermont, not a long trip at all. Made an important stop.......at Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory! The free sample at the end of the tour was a combination of orange sherbet and vanilla ice cream, which tasted quite similar to a 50/50 bar we had when growing up. Of course, that whetted our appetite for more ice cream! Each of us wound up getting our favorite ice cream waffle cone before heading on down the road.

Niagara Falls & Westcott Beach

View of Lake Ontario from Wescott State Beach.

A lifeguard stand, but no lifeguard! It was way too cold for anyone to be in that water!

This is the site we shared at Wescott State Beach. It was more than big enough for our two rigs.

Choppy water on Lake Ontario.

Gary and Sherry take a moment for a picture at Niagara Falls. It was a cold and cloudy day.

Us with the American Falls in the background.

Wind, spray, clouds and the famous falls.

The rain and clouds continued to follow us from Michigan, through Canada and over to Niagara Falls. Fortunately, it stopped raining about 10 AM, so we headed over to Niagara Falls State Park, on the U.S. side of the border. We didn't want to waste precious time trying to get over to the Canadian side of the falls, since it looked like it could pour at any minute! We stayed in the Niagara Falls North KOA on Friday and Saturday night. On Sunday morning, we drove to Wescott State Beach, which is near Watertown, NY, and right on Lake Ontario. Boy, was it ever cold and windy there! For us, it felt like winter time, only they kept reminding us it was the end of September.

Michigan Meandering

Us at the start of our bike ride around Mackinac Island. We look a bit more spunky than we did at the end of the ride!

Gary, Sherry, Laure and Don at our lunch stop on Mackinac Island.

Our site in Manistique, Michigan backed right up to Lake Michigan. Awesome!

It's August......and Laurel is wearing a sweater. This definitely is NOT Phoenix!

Gary, Jon and Don look like they are up to something.....

The sun followed us from Wisconsin to Manistique, Michigan, which is located in the Upper Penisula. However, once we got to Mackinaw City, it was replaced by clouds and rain. Wish we could trade some of the cool, cloudy weather for some Arizona sun and warmth! Our meandering took us over to Mackinac Island for a day of biking around the perimeter and also over to Allegan, Michigan to visit Laurel's cousin Jon , and his wife Barb. They fed us well (almost too well) and we had to leave while we could still button our pants and fit into our clothes. We also indulged in wonderful Michigan peaches, sweet corn, tomatoes and blueberries. By the time we reached Port Huron, we were feeling a bit "portly".

Wisconsin Wanderings

The Algoma Lighthouse on a foggy day.

Cana Island Lighthouse.

Roy, Char and Don enjoying the view at the top.

First stop in Door County: special coffee and a sweet snack!

The Von Stiehl Winery, which is in Algoma.

Our destination in Wisconsin was the small town of Algoma, which sits on Lake Michigan, just south of Door County. Our trailer was parked in Roy and Char Beyer's driveway, a great place which not only provided us with a free spot, but fantastic meals, and free laundry facilities. You can't get much better than that! We gave them a 5 star rating. Roy and Char are parents of our daughter in law, Kim.

Once there, we seemed to find all the important places: the Von Stiehl Winery, Door County Coffee company, Not Licked Yet, which has the BEST ever butter pecan frozen custard, and Roy & Char's favorite places that sell Wisconsin cheese curds and fresh smoked Cajun salmon. The cheese curds were good, but the squeaky sound they make as you chew them really felt funny in the mouth! Hopefully, we worked off some of the extra calories through walking & by climbing the 97 steps to the top of the Cana Island Lighthouse.

We got to Algoma just in time for their Shanty Days Weekend, complete with a parade, craft booths and a pancake breakfast on Sunday served by the local firemen. We enjoyed attending church on Sunday at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, where Bret and Kim were married at 11 years ago, on the 4th of July, 1998.

Chicago Capers

Once again we realized just how big Chicago is compared to Phoenix and how many blocks we had to walk to get to the Wendella boat ride and then to lunch. I think we walked off the extra pounds we had mysteriously obtained while on the farm in Ornaga. The bad part was that it was all off the bottom of our feet! Laurel's cousin, Jan and her husband John treated us to a wonderful day in the Windy City. We loved the old buildings, which had a lot more character. Lunch at the top of the Hancock Building provided us with wonderful views of the city below and Lake Michigan. The weather was perfect, in the mid 80's and a little breezy.

Farm camping in Illinois

"Camping at an Illinois farm for 3 days was a blast. We enjoyed all of the home made food, freshly picked corn and tomatoes that actually tasted like tomatoes. Our "campsite" was about 10 feet from the horse corral, so we were really glad that the wind was blowing from the other way the whole time we were there. The farm is owned by a cousin of Sherry MacFarlane, our friend from Arizona. Good old fashioned hospitality made us feel right at home. We woke up in the morning to roosters crowing and horses snorting, so different from the highway traffic, sirens and train whistles in other campgrounds. Laurel and Sherry partcipated in a wet t-shirt contest....and NO, it is not what you are thinking! We threw the wet t-shirts. One with the greatest distance got the prize. One t-shirt wound up on the roof! Don't you like the pic of Don sitting on the tractor. That could be labeled as "two antiques"! We rolled out of the farm on Monday morning, a bit heavier than when we got here. Time to start a diet.

Wartkin's Mill State Park

We stayed at the Watkins Woolen Mill state park campground, which has 100 campsites that are heavily wooded. Enjoyed the fireflies in the evening and sitting around the campfire with our friends and some of Don's cousins.

We had the chance to tour both the house and the mill. The mill is a National Historic Landmark and is the only 19th century textile mill in the country that still has the original equipment intact. Watkins not only built the mill and house, but also a kiln, smokehouse, grist mill, sawmill, school and church.