Copper Harbor Michigan

As we spend our last day in Michigan it is yet again raining. Paddle Boy almost inflated JoJo last night because there was no rain in the forecast and we are at a campsite with close access to tranquil Lake Fannie Hooe.

But he agreed to limit his morning slumber, to pump up JoJo so I could paddle in the morning. I looked out the window at 6:30am and blue sky and I thought this is gonna be a perfect paddle day. But the next thing is 8:30am I awoke and am scrambling to pull the chairs in because droplets are coming down fast and it is now dark and gray. Patches of rain come and go unpredictably here in Michigan, sometimes morning sometimes evening showers, and forget the forecasts. As of yesterday afternoon when we went to the Wi-Fi building, it was gonna be nice for the next 5 days. This turned out to be a small system and the sun came out by noon and I was on the lake to see Fort Wilkins.

It turned out to be the most perfect paddling day for which I had been so dutifully planning.

The river raft tube, purchased after Lake Higgins, was inflated for the first time and after a solo paddle by both Paddle Boy and me, we took off with the river tube in tow, taking turns to paddle and sprawl in the headrested river tube. Photos will need to wait, but hopefully not too long because it has been over a month with not optimal weather for such an outing.

John is realizing the tranquility of paddling, especially in a lake like Fannie Hooe where there are very few motor boats speeding all around, and the water is warm and peaceful for him to gain his SUP legs.

After an early dinner, I went out for another paddle and before you knew it, there was Paddle Boy wanting another turn. But as he returned, the droplets began falling once again.

Heading up to the bathrooms for a bit of Wi-fi weather revealed serious thunderstorms tonight; there is absolutely no cell service here. Yikes, drying off all paddle equipment and stowing into Vinny half damp and sprawled out for some evening dry time. We are headed out tomorrow with many damp dirty foot towels, not to mention damp bathing suits and sunshirts, all items that indicate fun has been had. This is just the reason our bathroom floor has a stack of about 6 bathmats folded in half.

There is not too much in the way of mountains in Michigan, but we found one on our third day at Copper Mountains area.

As it was a rainy day plan, we drove up the Brockway Scenic Drive

(wouldn’t want to bike up this) which gave a commanding view of Lake Superior

as well as lake Fanny Hooe and Manganese Lake.

We had kayaked the entire length of the lake

from our RV park (only $30 rental for half day). What a peaceful paddle

to a sandy spot at the other end where we met 8 year-old with downs syndrome, Brady, who was quite inquisitive and wanted to know our names.

His extremely nice nanny made us feel quite welcome on their beach. And it even had a tiny island.

She was the one that said we should go to the Jam Pot for muffins.

The Jam Pot is a business where the Monk entrepreneur commandeers a $25 for a small jar of their famous ThimbleBerry Jelly – we thought we may as well not get hooked on this stuff. We just got two muffins and two $12 jars of interesting jam, evidently their fruit cakes are well known and a regular loaf pan was about $45. Yikes….There was a 30 minute line into the JamPot. As one party left, the next party went inside, and we found out more interesting facts about the area and about the restaurant, Fitzgeralds, that two different people in our travels had raved about. It is located in Eagle River and there is $10 a person reservation fee that is required..hmm never heard of that before. Well, we have found the food and beer in restaurants and breweries to be very reasonably priced compared to California, not so much the grocery stores. They seriously need a Grocery Outlet.

Copper Harbor, Michigan is named for the area’s rich history of copper mining, which dates back to an ancient people as far back as 7,000 years ago. The copper rush hit in the 1840’s when the land was officially ceded to the US Government, and several small towns popped up around the industry. Today, the small town on Lake Superior is a destination for those who love the fresh air and year-round outdoor adventure. Copper Harbor is home to one of the world’s best single-track trail systems. I think that means one-way and riders go fast and don’t need to worry about head on collisions. We saw trails that had One-Way warning signs posted. There are a lot of mountain biking and water sports since it has both Lake Superior and smaller Fannie Hooe as well as other small lakes.

It is a gateway to Isle Royale National Park which is supposed to be an exceptional experience and the 3 ½ hour ferry ride there leaves from Copper Harbor. We met several couples at the local beer joint (a brewery bike ride is always the first stop after relocating to a new campspot). They had just returned from Isle Royale NP, one of whom went on a water plane to get there. We were warned to bring food because the camp store has very little and there are gear limits on ferry vessels, although there are restaurants on the Island. If we plan a trip, it will be to stay at the Rock Lodge. The woman in the Jam Pot line said they had a three-meals-a-day plan here.

Day 3 at Copper Harbor, a planned overcast rainy day, so we decided to do the Brockway Scenic Drive into Eagle Harbor as we had planned to drive to Fort Wilkins State Park that day. We drove along Lake Superior and enjoyed the variety of lakesides.

Between Eagle Harbor and Copper Harbor, there were several very protected coves with scenic shores of rocks and trees,

and those of sand beaches, like Esrey Park, which would be fun for paddling on really hot days, none of which we had during our month-long stay in Michigan. Falling into Fannie Hooe would be much warmer than Superior.

The “planned rainy day” ended up to be quite nice as the afternoon progressed, and we did a bike/hike. We started out mountain biking with our street bikes, but when the banked curves came up, wanting to protect our bones for Canada, we decided to tie up the bikes and hike. There were nice up and down on the trails that would be really fun on a mountain bike.

We stopped and had a beer at the brewery before playing music at our campfire where our next-store camper came over to sing a few with us. The evening was absolutely still and beautiful and one of the reasons I had such high expectations for this morning.

Hiking in a green canopy of trees among the ferns and relatively flat, is one of my favorite things about Michigan, and as much of our country is in high heat warnings, we always need jackets at night and hiking and biking is quite comfortable.

The woman in the Jam Pot line also said we should kayak the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin. After a quick Roadtrippers check, it was nearly on our way to the Pine Acres, our next spreadsheet plan in Orr Minnesota, so off the spreadsheet we go and will only spend one day in Minnesota, but will get a day in Wisconsin kayaking at what look to be a beautiful place.

I sit here at the Wi-Fi bathroom, brought my towel for the damp seat at the picnic bench, but the severe thunderstorms that were to happen last night never did, and blue sky is upon us, but I am constantly looking up for the droplet signs. The sun is out and a late start as we needed to to some drying!

Pictured Rocks Seashore

Pictured Rocks gets its name from the streaks of mineral stain that color the cliffs. Groundwater seeps out of the cracks and runs down the rock face giving it that gorgeous colorful pattern. Iron (red and orange), copper (blue and green), manganese (brown and black), and limonite (white) are among the most common color-producing minerals.

Pictured Rocks is among the most beautiful places in the world, and there is no better way to see it than via Kayak when you don’t need to assess the weather and think about anything, but the sandstone and mineral streaked cliffs as the luscious green water slaps gently against your vessel.

My Paddle Boy provided the majority of the thrusting, while I simply took photos. It was absolutely a tour of a lifetime with Pictured Rocks Kayaking tours, as we were pontoon-boated out to the site where kayaks were launched and the tour began.

It was 5 miles of kayaking as our singing captain chose a downwind paddle and it was also extremely easy for me to snap photos, although John said it was quite a core workout. We had perfect weather and the temperature (as John says I only have a 0.5 degree tolerance from being too hot to too cold) was perfect, as we had some clouds but no downpours.

Evidently the guide for each group could radio to the captain, and he would pontoon over and pick you up for whatever reason, and then you could return to the group when your issue had been mitigated. Then at the end he met us, and there was no backtracking, just a leisurely, awe inspiring experience. Never needed to use the pontoon boat safety or paddle fiercely into the wind.

Pictured Rocks from the Land

Chapel Beach / Mosquito Trail allowed us to see the same pictured rocks, but this time from cliff edge and not kayak edge, was our next adventure.

And yes, there were many treacherous edges on this 10 mile hike. We were now on top of 100+ foot cliffs this time. There was only one place on the trail that the edge was just a bit too treacherous and they had a small spur detour.

But the views were incredible and we were thankful to have done our water view of the Pictured Rocks on the prior day when it was partly sunny.

We had planned to rest and to have lunch halfway at a lovely scenic spot. I even brought my hiker’s chair, but it started raining 20 minutes in and never really stopped. So we just carried on, without stopping too.

My .5 degree temperature discomfort alarm never got activated as it was relatively warm, but wet it was.

Many places on the trail were mud piles that would last from a few feet to 20 yards. Most had pretty well established detours around if they were large, so we didn’t need to test our Hoka hiking boots waterproof ability, but there were some mud splash sink downs as you tried to step across on a log, but no slip and falls that could have made the trip very unpleasant.

As we were expecting the loop to veer off of Lake Superior, we must have not gotten the White Birch Log memo nicely placed across the trail indicating that there was a better detour, I suppose. So we wandered through the woods for about 20 minutes backtracking and finally saw a constructed bridge going over a stream and we bushwhacked to it, never really understanding how the original trail would have taken us there. It was the first time I thought, good thing I packed the headlamp.

We had not started until about 3pm, but still had over an hour of daylight after our 5 hour excursion. The Michigan long days fit well with our leisurely morning schedule, and we usually roll into our campsite around 10pm to eat dinner. There has been little time for campfires and music.

Next time.. Chapel Beach looked so inviting for swimming, and would be perfect after a warm sunny hike. The loop we took had Chapel Beach as a 3 mile hike or a 7 mile hike from the parking area. Only the 7 mile hike had views of the multiple Pictured Rocks, although Chapel Beach has a single very nice view too and the water looked so clear and calm.

Log Roll Point Hike

That’s where they used to roll the timber down steep sand bluffs to waiting vessels. We never saw any evidence of logs rolling just people rolling down.

Log rolls and me bring back bad memories when I thought I should be able to run across them like the other young people. These particular 18 inch diameter logs were chained together and provided the borders for the swimming area at Baker Lake Washington. Instead of splashing playfully into the lake, I decided to come in contact with one before sliding gleefully down into the water. And as I write I am just getting over a little slide on my bike where my handlebar came in contact with my rib, not as bad, but laying down position was uncomfortable for 5 days.

Ok back to Log Roll, now it is a place where people can roll down this great hill of sand into Lake Superior. There are all kind of warnings that it is exhausting to climb back up and rescues are expensive, and since we just hiked 3 ½ miles to get here, and needed to do the same to get back, and there are no showers at our campsite, in fact there is only a small water fountain at the day Use Parking area, we decided the only way John will be seen log rolling is if I do some photoshopping. When we got there we discovered a parking area right nearby so if you wanted to do the rolling, better idea to park and roll.

This was one of those beautiful Michigan hikes through the rich green fern covered forest, only this time Lake Superior accompanied us along the way as we saw the beautiful White Birch Trees, of course nostalgic memories of the famous Saint Ann Birch tree paintings all our kids created. We had a bit of an incline as we started at lake elevation and had to climb up high enough where the logs would have enough Oompa to roll down and not get into a log jam at the water’s edge. Right from Hurricane Lower Campground, we did the first 1 ½ miles (gravel path) to the lighthouse and then onward. Log roll was in a cove where there were no crashing waves like we heard as we walked to the lighthouse.

I had just listened to an I-phone photography lesson about taking photos at sunset with glistening water and came up with a bunch of my all-time favorites of those beautiful White birches.

At this time, I really don’t know if this whole logging thing is just our creative juices flowing or reality.

Pictured Rock is a for sure a return-to spot in Michigan, but next time would consider the following :

Hurricane Campground and Twelve Mile Beach are beautiful campgrounds, but they are about 50 minute drive to Munising which is the lovely town where all kayak tours, ferry to Grand Island, and many hikes are located, as well as nice restaurants and By George Brewery (10pm Peanut Butter Stout/Pizza – maybe that’s why we had trouble sleeping). Although, the Log Roll Hike we took from Hurricane Campground was perfect, we would not recommend staying there for too long; rather mosey down the M-58 and stay in Munising for a bit. We enjoy having some delicious white fish at the abundance of fish and chip trucks and being able to re-stock some food. We have scored an RV spot in Munising for our last night and will leave our Hurricane remote camping where the Camp Host Spot has been vacant since we have arrived. We will get on the laundry facilities as we have many damp items and it’s supposed to rain more today.

Mackinac Island and City, Michigan

Mackinac Island/City, MI

Mackinac Island is a picturesque Victorian community dedicated to the tourists who are on a severe car-diet because none are allowed on the island.

Biking or walking is the major get around mode and paved trails run throughout allowing one to go to all kinds of historic military buildings,

gorgeous Victorian homes and hotels, and butterfly sanctuaries to name a few where we stopped.

But watchout for the horse droppings as there are many tourist wagons and taxis as well as work wagons running around the streets.

As you get off the 18 minute ferry ride, the crowd pours out onto the main downtown where bikes are everywhere and the horse drawn carriages wait to carry you off somewhere else in-time except that there are E-Bikes whizzing by. The town is bustling with tourists and eateries and bikes line the streets, it is busy, busy but we enjoyed lunch at the Pink Pony at the Chippewa Hotel with Ann and Ed. Fudge,Fudge,Fudge – it’s everywhere and I have never seen so many fudge shops in any one location in my life, as the typical tourist shops and restaurants line the streets.

There is an eight mile bike loop around the island that is an easy ride and affords many views of Lake Huron and of course the Mighty Mac, the 5 mile long suspension Bridge that connects the Michigan Mitten to the Upper Peninsula and as of 1957 defines the division between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.

Lake views and forest canopies, gorgeous Victoria lake front estates where people come out in their horse drawn carriages and workers whizz by with half a dozen paint cans hanging from the handle bars.

The Grand Hotels abound and a quick look seems like $400+ a night and could no VRBOs. The most beautiful ornate homes sit on the wooded bluffs that view the lake, but we didn’t see a single swimmer, although it was somewhat of an overcast day.

I could probably count the docking and boating areas on one hand that were not in the protected waters of the main jetty and town docking areas.

Biking around the Island was so easy and relaxing that I would highly recommend this route and there are all types of bicycles for rent and even adult tricycles for those who are skittish on two wheels.

St. Anne church with grandma, Anne, Mary and Jesus, where Annie relieved suddenly her name and connection to,this painting.

Arch Rock is one of nature’s best on the island as you stop at the pull-offs along the trail and see all the different tree specimens that are plaquered. We had already walked up to the Fort and along a beautiful nature path to Arch Rock with Ed and Ann the day prior.

And then there is Wings of Mackinac, the butterfly and insect preserve. We lucked out and observed one of the twice daily butterfly releases into the warm humid climate of the protected preserve space.

John found a compadre with one that sat on his hand the entire 30 minutes we were there; he appeared to be licking the sweat of his hand with a long antenna. He finally had to brush it off while I went observing the butterfly bullies , and had to protect a just released beautiful purple one that sat on the pavement camouflaged until she opened her wings. I situated her between my feet so no one would step on her, and then she climbed onto my shoe.

I hope she survived and had to get the attendant to move her. She was so beautiful.

Our first time in a butterfly preserve, I forgot to ask if they relocate the larvae or what happens in the winter when they are closed. No pictures of the tarantulas, and bugs from the the next room, but it was delightfully cool after the hot butterfly habitat.

We played what I call Scottish rough putt-putt golf where the views are incredible, but the greens and fairways have some severe rough areas and there is no difference in turf, just like putt-putt, but what do you want for $15 for 18 holes overlooking the Lake Huron.

We rode the 8 miles once and decided to do it again after we went to butterflies, golfed and ate at the yellow umbrella Mission Bistro overlooking the Putt-Putt.

Here the horse drawn drawn taxi and luggage carriages among the gardens and the white adirondack chairs along the green overlooking the Lake just seemed to put one back into another era.

It was a 20 mile day of easy riding by time we added in the bike ride from KOA campground to the Shepler Ferry – both times we got on with our bikes in the last minutes before it pulled away.

The auto absence and Victorian architecture make it a delightful day getaway.

Mackinaw City, is the gateway city on the mitten to this step back in time of Mackinac Island. We camped at the Mackinaw Mill Creek Campground where Ed and Annie had rented a cabin too.

Cousin, Billy Stenger, rode in his motorcycle and we and a delightful time exploring and relaxing by campfires.

The water was beautiful and did the toes in but the Irish bright white of the Parkinson side of the family did not encourage getting out into the sun, and it was not optimal for paddling.

Annie was quite happy with her mosquito lamps and bug shirt life was good at Mill Creek

Michigan never seems to disappoint when it comes to bike trails and both Mill Creek and the KOA had trails right from their grounds. Of course Mill Creek had the best Camp Store ever, even featuring our favorite Ole Smoky Salted Caramel Whiskey and the lake was right there so why leave.

Well except to go to Rusted Spoke Brewing where we also learned much about Romania as our server,Jessica. She presented Billy with a Romanian candy bar after she told us they did not serve dessert. We just connected with her and had a particularly lovely evening drinking beer and enjoying the interactions with her.

Transfer to Mackinaw KOA afforded us an on-site laundry mat and the washers were loaded before we even got pulled into our campsite. And oh the superb Wi-Fi here, although as I type, the weekend traffic or rain has slowed it considerably, but it is still existent, not like at Mill Creek. All photos have been loaded safely to the cloud ! Why do I love Dropbox ? Because you can see the files that are waiting to upload and the progress they make, all be it ever so slow when there is poor connection, unlike the Cloud where you just hang out for days.

The KOA dirt bike trail through the woods leading to the paved trail that leads directly downtown and also ferryside is less than 2 miles, and the long Michigan days make a noon start no problem for a full day of outdoor activities.

After clean clothes, we rode downtown and to the Might Mac bridgeside park for a look from along the shoreline,

Both over and under

The extravagant and cute houses alone Mackinac City shoreline built up our appetites.

You should have seen the shoreline view of this one. We thought it was a hotel and not a private residence.

The Keyhole Restaurant covered with keys veneered on the bar, on the tables and floors, locks and keys hanginging everywhere was a busy and another place for the delicious Michigan White Fish that is common here as this time I had it on a Rueben sandwich.

And luckily there are no sharks on the Great Lakes

Traverse City MI

Cherry Festing is an annual event – big here in Traverse City and we were lucky to have the TART Bike Trail Entrance right from our campground for access to the city in 25 minutes. Evidently Traverse City has a top bike trail system in the state, and we found that to be the case, riding at all times of day and night into the city.

A $5 Cherry pin got you in and out of the festival and this is like other festivals except they are big on the Cherry Pit Spitting contest and Cherry Pie eating contest, none of which we observed or partook. Similar to not being into amusement parks, we are also not into the fair fare and being in an enclosed area, but we found a nice seat in the shade and talked with a delightful couple, Sharon and David. They do a farm experience at AirBnB called BuckWild Farm just north of Traverse City.

Our days were spent bike riding and chasing breweries. And yes we found some favorites during these very humid hot days. The FIlling Station, old railroad station right off the Bike Path where Piper’s Porter was John’s favorite and the create your own pizza firesauce, brie, spinach and chicken was superb.

After making our way downtown into the crowds we found the Taproot Restaurant which had an excellent Monk Fish entree, and John had Brussels and delicious pulled chicken sandwich.

The earthenware mug regulars above was really interesting looking. One of the best meals in Michigan so far and the selection of Ciders was amazing.

Boardman Lake Loop starts right at the Filling Station and about a mile into it, comes Right Brain Brewery where Pin ball machines abound and from a photo Mackie even recognized the World Cup Soccer machine as one they had before the house fire.

And we even met four British Colonials who were critquing the Right Brain beers. We will need to save the Boardman Bike Loop for next time because it was just too stinking hot and, we snuck into Kilkenny’s Irish Pub which was basement level and very cool and perfect to weather the downpour which was happening and riding through neighborhood after the rain.

An afternoon nap with the AC was in order, so back to Vinny we rode. 4th of July ended up being a 20 mile day and our undercarriages were complaining by evening. Lovely fireworks from the beach and a night ride home with many people on the trail tonight.

A sailing schooner adventure was the finale of our Traverse City experience, and John even got to help hoist the mainsail. The wind was brisk to start, but then died down as we got out into the bay, and needed to enjoy the libations and conversing with the crew for the most part on the way home.

I was told to try and book the Scout Yacht for a smaller, more hands on cruise, maybe next time. Wanted to stop back at Silver Spruce Brewery and here we met another couple, Jill and Bill from Denver who also had 3 girls and were attending a family reunion in Traverse city.

We stayed there for quite a while reminiscing, and on the way back I took a small spill on my bike. And won’t you know it, I have bruised a rib again, not nearly as bad as the jumping from log to log incident at Baker Lake, but about the same as Duke pulling me down to chase a cat a few months ago. I got new bike tires as mine were getting bald and I don’t want any more slippage. It’s already feeling better.

Well it was about time that we made our way back I to town and finally got some cherry pie, and dark chocolate covered cherries, and some cherry barbecue sauce.

DH Day Sleeping Bear Dunes NP

The highlight is the Sleeping Bear Dunes Heritage Bike trail that runs for 20 miles from Empire to Northward to the Sleeping Bear Dunes Lakeshore.

Right from the campground, you can hop on your bike and ride two miles to have a smaller dune climb experience by doing the Sleeping Bear Point Trail that takes you to Lake Michigan without having to do the killer 6.8 mile loop Dunes Climb Trail.

Instead we had a lovely walk along the lake after getting to the Point,

but I was still inspired to quick dip in the beautiful clear, but very cold Lake Michigan.

Had to stop by the Maritime Museum so John could take the Edmund Fitzgerald for a spin.

About two miles in the other direction from the campground is the lovely tourist catering town of Glen Arbor where we had 4 hours of outdoor music on a Thursday. Jimmy Olson was at the M22 wine bar where he was rocking two keyboards and singing originals and covers. We got the skinny about where to see music in Key West as the Michigan native heads there in the winter..

The Boondocks down the street was next stop where John was invited to play bass for Horse with No Name with Manitou Blue. 2 of the 3 played there regularly with the visiting percussionist who winters in Tampa and had a 60+ something desirable setup, that means not blaring loud even though we sat right in front of him. In addition to shakers, he had a set of congas and bongos, a cajon, and a bass foot pedal drum that was not like one in those cars that drive by and you think they must all be deaf inside. We were glad to be healthy and not Knockin on Heavens Door. It was an intimate and beautiful night on the deck. And, oh those long Michigan Summers, where you still had daylight to ride home for another hour after they stopped at 9pm. We were trying to get primed for the upcoming Traverse City Cherry Fest and had Cherry Cider, Beer and Cocktail. Although I read Cherry juice has naturally occurring Melatonin, we both had a hard time getting to sleep. The laptop as only a wee bit of battery left after my blogging and John’s late night computer gaming. We didn’t even need to set up the 25ft booster here either. Also nice, is from the campground, it is only a ¼ mile trek to Lake Michigan, and they even provide a boardwalk for most of it so setting up there for the day without a total body workout is quite doable.

Sleeping Bear Lake Michigan Walk

Platte River Sleeping Bear Dunes

Platte River Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park, MI. The Platte River campsites are big, wooded and private; the new 25 ft extension pole cell signal booster mounted on Vinny proved itself without a doubt making website access possible.

The best thing is the hiking trails that start right at the campground from several Loops and that go through the beautiful fern covered forest. After battening down in Vinny for 24 hours when a rainstorm came through, the 30-minute stretch legs through the campground walk turned into our longest hike ever at 9 miles. The damp cool weather and super easy grade through the soft dirt path kept us wanting more and All Trails kept us knowing the way home. We started a Lasso Loop trail, at the campground Loop 3, turned right and then seeing another trail immediately heading into the woods. After hiking a bit on that we saw signs for Deer Lake and Bass Lake Loop Trail, and after hiking a bit to Deer Lake, turned around and took the Bass Loop back.

We were on the lookout for bears.

No they were just the cutest shy black Michigan squirrels.

It was definitely a Salted Caramel Whiskey and Advil night after the over indulgent hike.

The other popular thing to do here is a Platte River Paddle trip. There are vessel rental companies right outside NP and they have ice cream.

We rode our bikes there on the first day after riding the Lake Michigan Road (nice paved wide shoulder, but fast whizzing cars) to where else, but Lake Michigan where we spied our first glimpse of this magnificent Lake.

Here we saw the piles of canoes and tubes for pickup by these companies because the Platte River ends right at Lake Michigan is usually a leisurely experience for tubing or paddling. As we are snowbirds now and big warm weather babies, we have decided not to paddle this trip since this is best on a splash pleasant weather not the 66 degree overcast weather that is forecasted for the better weather day.

We had also hiked to lake Michigan from the campground and got a taste of what the Sleeping Bear Point dunes hike would be like.

As we approached the Lake the quad work-out commenced as the terrain turned to deep sand.

Severe Thunderstorms were in the forecast so we decided this short hike would be perfect.

After our overzealous 9 mile hike through the fern forest, we decided biking was in order for the day and found the Peterson Road dirt road to be perfect. What a difference a storm makes on Lake Michigan.

Two days prior the lake from nearly the same place was tranquil.

This was the constant muffled rushing sound that we had wondered about on our unexpectedly long 30 minute turned 3 hours hike without Greenie, my iconic water bottle, that I generally bring everywhere after living in the desert. But the damp cool on that day didn’t even get us thirsty.

The Platte River experience was beautiful despite the less than desirable weather. We have seen only a pair of people on all the hikes and bikes in the campground much different than the hopping Higgins experience. Finally, the sun is coming out and today is transfer day heading to the duney part of the Sleeping Bear National Park for 2 nights.

Michigan Mitten Central -Higgins Lake

Mitten Central, The UP MI (Upper Peninsula Michigan) that’s where South Higgins Lake state beach with a mile of shoreline is located and has incredibly aqua, clear warm water.

Perfect for John to have his second standup, paddleboard board experience.

He only dumped into the luscious warm water once when his body carried the momentum in the constant path forward, but the board decided to bounce in a wave instead.

He claims his big long toes make getting into a standing position evermore difficult than a typical size 10 for someone of his stature, but I think the surface area should make them ever so so better for gripping.

Waist deep for about 80 yards off-shore, the sandy lake bottom is extraordinary for the newbie doing water sports who is expecting some spills. People walk out to their boats that are anchored off the beach, floating out their coolers and holding gear bags high. They can zoom, fish, or paddle along the 4 by 7 mile lake;

I didn’t see a single sailboat,Caroline, better get your Laser out here, but I did see a Sea Monster. The campground was a hopping place on the summer solstice weekend and the campsites are not very private, but oh the beautiful water and we were about 150 yards from the lakefront, a short carry for Paddle Boy. Certainly not a serene View of the Lake from the shore, but it was not so crowded that you were constantly maneuvering around water vessels once you were about 75 yards off shore, and you could still see the sandy bottom

A one mile bike trail runs along the lakefront from the store (which delivers firewood) at one end all the way to the furthest campsites. Another mile down the road and you can be at the Cut River Grill on the deck listening to a fabulous singer with 3 guitars (need to step up your game Bo).

Back at camp, Bud came running over with his white guitar to play tunes with us and he got really jiggy singing some of the songs to provide for an enjoyable evening at the campfire. Florida neighbors said we should check out Largo Florida

California – Strawberry, Fallen Leaf and Lake Tahoe with the Radlers

California Strawberries, not just a fruit but a festival. The Debbie broken hip/shoulder of 2022 Strawberry music festival brought me back to California to use our rain check tickets in 2023. It was the most beautiful weather imaginable. And we had the most amazing camp spot with a view of the smaller Forest Amphitheater.

The Radlers,German for Bikers, are my three camping soulmate girlfriends. We started camping together and haven’t stopped, doing the West Coast up to Orcas Island, Sedona, the Grand Canyon, and Hawaii(well not camping).

Since Vinny VanGo is with John in New Jersey, the Radlers planned to host me in a tent, and thermal underwear, new air mattress, and hot water bottles, and lots of blankets, as we decided to do another try for Fallen Leaf Lake near South Lake Tahoe after the Strawberry Music Festival; The weather forecast was cold, dipping into the 30’s on some nights near Tahoe, yikes.

We took our first camping trip to Fallen Leaf in 2018, and for the last two years our plans had been altered due to fires, but the first days of this year’s reservation have been canceled due to the extreme snow and melting, and the need to clear the campground of fallen trees.

Returning to California also meant a stop in the Vista area to visit all of the girls and my favorite IT guy and the big black dog. This included Jenny’s annual ear, cleaning fetish, lots of great food and laughing at my antics.

Julie transported me to Debbie’s house and we were off to Strawberry after dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant with margaritas.

Intown Campground in Nevada City where we were camped at a beautiful redwood forested campground that had a path into the old, western mining town of Nevada, City.

I am always on the lookout for campgrounds where you can walk to a nice place and have some libation and good food. We had the best halibut, risotto, and asparagus at Lola, a restaurant on Broad St.

We were specifically told not to line up early in the Strawberry newsletter. But somehow, although we only got there five minutes before the time, we jumped into a line. It was a bit chaotic, but the Strawberry way is to keep calm and jam gently.

The vibe at camping music festivals is like no other. People are in their happy place and are cordial and Zenn like, even though there are a lot of bodies trying to fit into a relatively small space. We eventually got there, and it was no problem. After turning into a very crowded camping area that we would later discover to be the crazy Lizard Lounge, fate brought us up into a hilly area near the Forest Amphitheater Stage. Caroline, who would arrive on the second day, had to be able to nuzzle in next to us without her having to run over any festival goers or their tents or instruments. Debbie and I contemplated the lay of the land for over an hour to situate our living space within the confines of the festival chalked paths, while minimizing the hills that were a part of the landscape. We finally found the perfect spot where we could set up her awning as a saved place for our sweet Caroline who would arrive later.

We were taking up a bit of real estate and felt a bit selfish when we met hula hooping David who was trying to squeeze in between several trees and the chalk covered border lines right next to us He was extremely friendly, and also was saving a tent and car spot for his friend Kathy who was coming the next evening. After claiming our real estate space, Debbie and I set up my carpeted palace, including a headboard backed air mattress and side table, adorned with blankets of various thickness perfect for the soon to be cold evening.

Debbie received a record amount of gawking at her trailer and had over 20 people in one day get all googly eyed over it. Once Caroline got here, and the awning was placed over her little teardrop, and people couldn’t see how cute it was, and then the gawking stopped.

Kathy arrived Thursday evening and after the typical where are you from exchanges, she offered to let us park at her house while we were in Southlake Tahoe as we were in quite a pickle because our reservations at Fallen Leaf Campground were canceled due to the bad recent weather, and needing to clear away trees. Luckily, I had found a super great deal at the Marriott Timber Lodge in South Lake Tahoe for only $133 a night for the entire two bedroom condo, but according to their information, they could not accommodate trailers or vans that were oversize. Kathy is the most outgoing and present person to whom you could ever talk, and her delightful home in Lake Tahoe is exquisite.

Kathy’s beuatiful Tahoe Home

Fate had brought us to befriend her and she was able to help us with our dilemma.

Our favorite bands included Rainbow Girls,Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands, Achilles Wheels, Big, Richard, and Della Mae who featured Jocelyn Sky, a 14 year old girl, who we all needed to repeat her name because she will be big in the future

We would later learn from Gertrud that Jocelyn played harp and sang at Parkfield Bluegrass Festival because Amber, who was supposed to open the festival, was ill. Della Mae had discovered Jocelyn because she did one of their original songs on Instagram in many different instruments and singing and this is why they brought her on stage with them during Strawberry.

Rainbow Girls Clip

The many music camps that happened at night were incredible. All over the camping areas, there was music going on and you could stop and listen in.

Wandering Strawberry at Night

The Lizard Lounge experience was certainly just that. Kathy told us about this place where people can learn to play bluegrass music. Decided to check it out at a late night jamming session after the main stage entertainment. And it was quite the place where over 50 people were gathered round under a tent outside the tent, trying to play along with the leader. Then they played your Mama Don’t Dance and Your Daddy Don’t Rock ‘n’ Roll and of course I got into singing. It was really fun but a bit chaotic.

Your Mama Don’t Dance and Your Daddy Don’t Rock and Roll Lizard Loung Style with 58 Musician Enthusiaist

Oh sad, Strawberry good-bye and we departed for Campground by the Lake in South Lake Tahoe, not bad for in-town Tahoe. But first a side trip to Scott’s Lake near Nevada City where the water was clear and warm compared to the frigid water, temperatures of Lake Tahoe and surrounding areas which would soon be our environment. Scott’s Lake campground in the earlier part of the summer is beautiful and clear for paddling or swimming, much warmer than Lake Tahoe.

Warm Beautiful Water in Scott’s Lake

Incline Village would be the next stop and where we would explore the kayaking possibilities that I so enjoyed in 2007 and 2013.

Jaz Kayaking in 2013

Marriott Timber Lodge, right under the Heavenly gondola and hub of tourist activity. Gertrud would meet up with us here and Radler resorting would commence.

Perfecting the I-phone burst mode, as we tried the art of synchronized jumping into the warm swimming pool waters, was quite the undertaking.

A sunset boat trip around Emerald Bay was enjoyed even though the bartender was initially mistaken for the captain, and it was not long before we all got to take the helm of the Spirit to Tahoe. The bartenders were dressed in whites like you would expect a captain to be, and they did an exceptional job of keeping the champagne flowing during the whole trip where we met lots of nice people.

The moon rose over Gunner Mountain as we dined at the German Restaurant, Himmel Haus, where we had excellent Schnitzel, Apfel Strudel and Pilsner, a definite repeat restaurant.

Fallen Leaf Lake – we got in the first day of the season, back to this campground and serene snow covered mountain surrounded lake in which to enjoy paddling.

Paddling 2023 June

No swimming this time, well except if you are Caroline and bring your wetsuit. No accidental fall into the freezing water either, even though the wind went from 5 mph to about 50 mph in 3 seconds as a thunderstorm blew through as we sat on the beach.

Fallen Leaf Thunderstorm

There is always an abundance of paddling options with the Radlers and this year is no difference. Added to the fleet was the SUPYAK, stand up paddle board with a super cushie seat that was perfect for Debbie with her first paddling since receiving the bowling nickname Hipster after her fall and hip replacement of last year.

“NeuToy”, nickname for Gertrud’s, NOYO inflatable, better for heavier wind, is much more stable than the very light easy to Red Bullet.

A new inflatable full body raft which will hopefully keep the body above water in the frigid Tahoe waters during a tow. Gertrud didn’t venture too far off shore with this one.

Beside Carolines pink fins to propel her along in the water while wearing a wetsuit,

she also had along her kayak and SUP which she graciously let me dominate in our Radler paddling togetherness.

Afternoon thunderstorms or rain events were a regular occurence in the area, and we took refuge in G’s Card Room (Gertrud’s Van) where we played Spades and enjoyed delicious cooking, not to mention heat and laughter to keep us warm until the next beautiful morning would warm up for another paddle.

Meeks Bay Resort would be the next destination and our little cove was a shorter walk than at Fallen Leaf Lake. The water was beautifully clear, sometimes smooth, sometimes not, but made for a lot of peaceful paddling except when the wind would suddenly change, and what should have been an easy paddle back to our cove was a fierce fight.

On one occasion as we paddle to Sugar Pine State Park, Gertud would have to abandon the lake, deflate the Red Bullet and hike back to the Meeks Bay Cove. Debbie and I paddled along the shoreline, even though a guy who came on a dock told us that the waves could rise to 2 feet in a thunderstorm, and he didn’t like to have dead bodies on his beach in his exclusive Chinkapin Cove. We made it back in the fierce wind just as Gertrud appeared on shore as well, very excited to have found the West Shore Bike Trail.

Paddling Back to Meeks Bay in Wind

During the past 25 yearsy, we have stayed at Lake Tahoe almost a dozen times to escape the heat of Ridgecrest in the Summer in many different locations from the Tahoe Keys to North Star near Truckee,

to Incline Village with our friends, to Marriott Timber Lodge where we so enjoyed the 4th of July Fireworks and swimming at the Beach Club.

Eating at the Base Camp Pizza while enjoying music on the patio, or swim/jumping in the heated pool, there is lots to do for everyone.

My favorite kayaking spot among the boulders near Crystal Bay near Incline Village has turned to Stand Up Paddling in Meeks Bay and Fallen Leaf Lake. Seeing He’s My Brother She’s My Sister in a Tahoe free park concert in 2012, started the whole music festing, camping van lifestyle that has changed our lives.

Biking/Walking up the Angora Ridge Rd and hiking to Angora Lake where the Radlers would cement into existence – all life changing.

Many boating trips over these years from M.S. Dixie II Paddlewheeler, to Sunset Catamaran Cruise with Ridgecrest friends (2007)

Biking around the South Camp Richardson, Pope Beach Baldwin Beach and now discovering the West Shore Bike Path starting at Meeks Bay and heading North, there is alway something new. We observed that this paved bike path went on for many miles along the lake crossing back and forth along Route 89 turning into the Homewood Class 1 Trail. Kathy, our Strawberry friend, had told us that road bike paths were being constructed all over the Lake in recent years and we hope to ride it next time. Lake Tahoe is truly one of the most beautiful places on earth where the landscape is breathtaking, now if the deep waters could just be a bit warmer !

Favorite Tahoe Videos

He’s My Brother She’s My Sister 2012

Carrying On Poppy’s Tradition – Julie Pumping Biceps 2012

TahoeHorseback2012

Blue Ridge and Skyline Parkway

It’s all in the Isoprene that scatters blue light in the air. Isoprene is generated from decaying trees that are abundant in the area and hence the namesake for the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Smoky Mountain National Park. It was designed to connect Great Smoky NP and Shenandoah NP and it does except when there is a bridge problem or slide along the 469 mile of curves, mountains (hills in California), and Overlooks. Then there are numerous small state roads to traverse over the rolling farm country to get back and forth from the Interstate or State Highways or to towns where there are things like the Floyd Country Store Experience.

The navigator failed to assess a static of how many miles Vinny traversed over the Blue Ridge Parkway, but for various reasons we estimate to be under 100 miles. One reason is that the route planner had us in the western corner of the Smoky’s when we set out rather than a campground a bit more eastward, but we were certainly happy to have stumbled into the Cades Cove Bike Trail day on Wednesday so switching around too much was not possible given the American Legion Gig schedule in Fernandina Beach and wanting to visit D’Ann and Bryan in Tennessee.

The Parkway upon arriving in Asheville would have taken us down a curvy way south and then back north and when deciding how to divide the trip, we took faster roads, then hopped back on so we could hike Craggy Gardens. There are no businesses along the parkway, mostly overlooks or trails or exits on and off to state roads, so actually staying on for all 469 miles is not so doable for Vinny on one tank of diesel. And after a while it’s nice to see something different. Our only Asheville stop was at my sister-in-law’s recommended Tupelo Honey restaurant where I had a delicious beef and grits specialty. It was a really cool place and yummy food and then we stocked up at the Trader Joes.

Craggy Gardens was a beautiful 360 view of the Blue Ridge Mountains with only about a 3/4 mile hike up. It was more of those breathtaking expansive mountain ranges and was a perfect fit after our marathon drive that starts at Cades Cove that morning. After Craggy Garden we traversed the Parkway and made it to the very peaceful Linville Falls Campground in time to have a fire and play a bit of music before bed. But first more testing of the signal strength because here we both only had one bar, exciting stuff to justify the setup. Cades Cove had been a complete fail since we had no bars to start with. The extension was almost fully extended on this beautifully calm night and yes the coverage was improved ! Didn’t we feel self-satisfied with this data driven purchase. Well unfortunately we never did make it to Linville Falls Hike the next day because in our true to form cadence we didn’t get out until 11am and we needed to be at the Blue Ridge Music center to hear Bluegrass on the Breezeway which was about 100 miles warranting getting off the Parkway to make the journey quicker. We drove through some of the quaint small towns like Crossnore, Linville, Grandfather (winery/highland games ) and Boone, that had restaurants, wineries, out-door consignment market Saturdays and other cool businesses with absolutely no traffic.

Jumped into the second set of Cedar Ridge Band for a very enjoyable hour of bluegrass at the Blue Ridge Music Center. It also had some trails and we got in a 2.5 mile hike along a mostly wooded trail that was perfect. Here we first heard about the New River Bike Trail from some fellow vanners who said it started in Fries and meandered along the river and would cover almost 50 miles. Well the scheduler had too much planned and back tracking was not possible because the next day required us being at the Floyd Country Store for a bluegrass jam session in the afternoon.

Cedar Ridge Band – Blue Ridge Music Center

But the first stop along the way was the Black Ridge Loop, near the Rocky Knob Rec area on the Parkway.

Although the view from the trailhead was beautiful and started out in the woods, it went through a lot of exposed fields with no view and parkway zooming. There were even monsters along the way.

Wouldn’t do it on a warm sunny day for this reason, but rain clouds were tormenting the sky and the temperature was perfect for us.

Along the way we discovered a possible Family Compound property – Julie is on the lookout for cheap land where there is water for when the west runs dry. This abandoned looking huge structure looked in pretty good shape and it was for sale.

Some 50 yards down this trail was a perfect tiny home for John and I, and it also had a small stream. Let’s have a family meeting!

Tonight it would be Utts family campground with excellent Wi-Fi for a change. Got the blog posting done for the Smoky Mountains at this quiet place on the hill. Floyd Country Store was a definite gem on the trip.

BlueGrass Jam at Floyds Country Store

Don’t know if the music, food or just the general atmosphere is best. But they push back the T-shirt racks on Saturday and Sundays for the music. And there was a belt rack of my former leather crafting exactly how I had made them in the basement in Wilmington. The soups and desserts were incredible.

Floyd is a town with a quaint main street and there was another Open Mic going on at the Pizza Bar down the street. The planner will plan a bit more time here next year. A bit of a drive north to Limestone Park conveniently located but buggy as we did a quick overnight and in the morning our little screen was thick with nats.

Destination Crabtree Falls, but first we veered off the spreadsheet to discover Natural Bridge in Virginia. The National Park Service Signs and Autio got us here and we were glad not to have missed this 215 ft high, 40 ft thick and 100 ft wide rock arch formed 500 million years ago when water that flowed through this underground river collapsed, all except for this Natural Bridge.

During the short 1 mile hike through the bridge, we were looking for George Washington’s initials because legend has it that when he surveyed this area he was the first official National Park Graffiti policy violator. Thomas Jefferson bought the land and mined the natural occurring Saltpeter (potassium nitrate) used for gunpowder.

Natural Bridge

FYI: Autio is an App that has points of interest according to GPS so one can learn about the places you are driving through. Some are just historical accounts but here we learned about Josie Bishop, radium queen of the Mojave Desert. Evidently she bought land in 1937 that ended up having the richest radium deposit of the time and at one point she was the richest woman in the country. At that time radium was $72,000 per gram which is 1.3 million per gram in today’s money. That’s the kind of stuff you can learn on Autio in addition to the typical tourist attractions. We learned about Harvey House Girls which is an historical marker that we always would see on the way to Vegas.

Back to Crabtree Falls. Wow that was hike up 100 ft Fall with 5 major cascades the tallest of which is 50 ft. It is a smaller version of hiking the Mist Trail at 317 foot Vernal Falls in Yosemite.

You are much closer to the Crab Tree falls and don’t get nearly as misted. The path would wind around upward and then you would come to another cascade.

Crab Tree Falls Hike

This was one of our favorite hikes which also had our first injury slip. Ironically John had told me 30 seconds before to be careful on the way down and he ended up doing the slipping. His account of the story: “While traversing a large boulder my hiking boots slipped out from under me. Thanks to my massive upper body strength and trekking poles, I was able to break the fall with my hands, ending up with only a sore left shoulder. No blood or swelling, but the boulder suffered three major fractures and is not expected to survive” He was able to resume spousal duties and built what he has deemed as his best fire ever. With Firewood at 50 cents a log, we loaded up and the warmth and the glow was unrestrained.

Crabtree Falls Campground was old and rustic and we had the best spot with our own little falls stream that our fire pit sat commanding the view. With no connection to the world, we listened to 70’s music from my phone and finished off another Tennessee Moonshine.

Camp Fire

Crabtree Falls Campsite

The next day I would find out that Wi-fi was available at the store all along, and good thing because I had a reminder to make a British Columbia Camping Reservation. By the way the website doesn’t seem to work well on phones and I ended up calling from our Lunch/Diesel Stop in Waynesboro. Not only did Vinny need diesel but a downpour was happening. We opted to enter Shenandoah a bit more up north, but we ended up having to turn on the hazards, 15 mph drive through many foggy spots so needless to say we didn’t see much from Skyline Drive. Well it cleared a bit when we got to Front Royal, the northernmost end.

Thankfully my memory kicked in during the Crabtree Falls Hike. I had noticed there were a lot of Vineyards in Virginia and since we had no reservations thought about finding a Harvest Host Vineyard along the way. Then boom it all of a sudden hit me that Ashleigh, our Justine’s wedding adopted daughter, had a family-owned vineyard in Virginia. Luckily I had gotten her address after the wedding and the spreadsheet would take us right by Front Royal where she lived. I quickly Instant Message over Crabtree Wi-Fi and now we had a place to stay. Her girlfriend had an apartment, complete with 6 inch Broodmare window from the dining room, on a lovely horse farm, perfect to bed down Vinny for the night. So nice to meet Jess, and her two cute little girls, and catch up with Ashleigh during this gorgeous dinner sunset.

John’s retirement bottle of whiskey was finished as we talked about the universe and the power of love, and I made them go to bed just before 11pm as everyday is not a Saturday for them. Even I slept until 930 am this morning in these peaceful horse hills.

Off to see Ashleigh’s Glen Manor Vineyards in Front Royal. She gave us the grand tour of this quaint vine to bottle vineyard showing us all the aspects from washing, crushing, testing, storing, tasting and then we drove through the hilly vineyard to see the operation and where Skyline Drive looked down on the farm land which has been in her family for generations.

Glen Manor Vineyard – Ashliegh’s Family

On the way up to NJ we had decided to stop at University of Delaware and eat lunch at the Deer Park Tavern, where we had our first date about 41 years prior. It is an official historic landmark so its location and building had not been altered, although now there was a patio with seating out front.

We strolled around and to our horrification the Blue Hen was gone from in front of the Chemical Engineering building, but the mall with its stately trees and original colonial style brick buildings were still intact and especially lovely on this nice warm day.

A walk down memory lane is always nostalgic especially when doing it at the place you found the love of your life over 40 years ago.

Next time on the Blue Ridge Parkway

It was actually somewhat difficult to stay on the Parkway because google maps navigation invariably took you off opting for routes through towns. We had found the parkway to be much less traveled than I had anticipated, and there were many country roads that navigation took us down. Cell service was quite poor or non-existent in There appears to be lots of campgrounds and Harvest Host along the way

Great Smoky Mountains

It is our second rainy weather camp experience in Vinny, but this is supposed to last a few days, not optimal for us fair weather hiking types, but we have compensated by doing about 16 miles of day hiking in the last three days prior to this rain event, and our quads say they need a break. So it is almost 1pm and John is still sleeping, rejuvinating all those broken down hiking cells with sleep. With the pitter patter of the gentle drops, I remain bundled in my winter coat and boots typing away, no gloves needed yet, but I had better keep these fingers moving. It is supposed to let up a bit at 3pm at which time we will walk or bike into Bryson City, only about 2 miles from Deep Creek Campground in the NP, where guess what, we will try out the local brewery and visit the bike shop with John’s persistent leaky front tire.

Luckily, we a had already gotten hiking fix in, as we did 6.5 mile hike to Looking Glass on our way to North Carolina

2 miles on Rocky Knob, and 7.5 miles on the Deep Creek waterfall extravaganza trail right from our Deep Creek campground in which we experienced no bears but three lovely water falls (Tom Branch, Indian Creek and Juney Whank). Looking Glass was our first glimpse of the the Smoky Mountain Range and its vastness after hiking up for three miles on the narrow tree covered path and suddenly coming to the flat 100 ft rock plain, the hike’s namesake, where you can look out onto the entire range. It was truly moment splendor just like lyrics to the song “America the Beautiful” says.

Rock Knob trail, a part of the Sky to Sea Trail that runs through the Carolinas, was the shorter yet most elevation gain hike of the three hike, making our already taxed quads to complain a bit on the way down

But we were coaxed on because Frog Level Brewery including the barbecue mac and cheese, not to mention the stout and the tranquil seating on the stream as per the last blog post. Another incredible glimpse of the Smoky’s from the Blue Ridge Parkway, all while sharinging the tranquility with Bryan and D’Ann.

Deep Creek Trail and the figure eight including Indian Creek Trail to the Falls

and a little Juney Whank cut-off where she showed off her flowing veil,

making Tom Branch’s Falls seem small.

Although, All Trails said people had encountered bears in the last days, we saw none but decided to have a third day of hiking since the rain was on its way. Luckily our campsite was scattered with wood suitable for burning, and we had raided a stash of unoccupied empty campground before the hike, so we enjoyed the warmth and mesmerizing fire that John made as we rested our quads after devouring our dinner. Two things I regret is not wrapping up baked potatoes to have them done this morning, and not employing the bike seat covers. Oh well.

With our raincoats, umbrella and the Eagles pancho we were off walking to find the Bryson City beer establishments. After about a mile walk we got picked up a young women and her 7 year-old son is a metallic orange/yellow sports Mercedes (10 cylinders she told us) offered to drive us into town and we accepted. We offered to buy her a beer and next thing we new she was heavy duty phishing us is what it seemed like, and said she was on her way to her sons grandma tomorrow because she needed to get out of town..anyway needless to say we resisted these attempts. She definitely had some issues and moved onto other people while we got to hear the Open Mic night that was going on in the brewery. Got chat with some nice folks and John even sang Gimme Three Step

and Wish You Were Here with a guitarist !!

We got offers of rides back to campground from those who appeared to be a bit more on the normal scale, but there was no rain we decided to walk this time. Bryson City is a delightful small town with a main street area to walk and shops and restaurants, but not too overwhelming like Gatlinburg. Cherokee seemed very spread out with numerous tourist shops and a casino. There were several museums, Land to Farm and Cherokee. that may be on the docket for next time. Bryson City was the only National Park that had cell phone service within the campground another vote for Deep Creek Campground in my book.

The rain ceased a bit as we arrived at Smokemont and we ceased the opportunity to get a bit of activity in before dark. The Bradley Fork Trailhead was the perfect place to head up a bit and turn around before dark. Here we saw our first bear cross the trail about 100 yds in front of us. As we made noisy singing and fanning out coats to act large, we went by the spot where he headed down to the creek and there was no sight of him. Well the rain was coming down after our first night at Smokemount and we decided to drive up to the highest point on the Great Smoky Range which had no classic smoky blue tinge, rather the flowing fog scene, with not much of the mountain range to be seen made even cooler looking by time lapse feature on the 12 ProMax.

We would return here while camping at Cades Cove in a few days on a beautifully clear day and find the alternative trail to the dome instead of going up the 3/4 mile trail of 8 foot wide asphalt.

Luckily, I had downloaded the All Trails of this area and this time we hiked part way down on the Appalachian Trail, to the Clingmans bypass trail to the Forney Ridge Trail that took us right to the parking lot. So much more enjoyable on a hiking path, and now we can say we hiked the Applachian !

The view from the dome was an incredible 360 degree experience whose magnificence cannot be captured on an Iphone 12 ProMax.

At the end of the first foggy Clingman’s Dome experience, the rain had started to come down hard and we decided it would be a much better day to spend at a brewery than to be holed up in Vinny with no electricity and it was unseasonably cold to boot.

So the spreadsheet was abandoned for April 28th and we decided to head to Pigeon Forge in search of beer, and there was some blue sky in that direction that we were following.

We arrived at the Casual Pint and John found a smoky porter to go with the smoky mountains, and there was a town parade that was scheduled to go by with a perfect view from our pub chairs view, and it was NOT raining.

The parade parents were rolling in and we were enjoying the free Wifi and I got a half price campsite just up the road at Waldens Creek Campground and tickets to a show at the Listening Room featuring Mason Caviness, Southern Call, Michelle Pereira and Regan Stewart, We had a private showing for the first 30 minutes, before 1/2 dozen other couples showed up. Evidently the Listening Room in Nashville is a bit more frequented, and it sounded like all of these musicians came down to help out this Pigeon Forge Listening Room location which hopefully will still be in business. There were tables and room for over 100 people with an excellent sound system(we could understand all the lyrics) yet less than a dozen of us had this wonderful private concert. I asked for their last song to be a group effort and we actually got our Vinny VanGo theme song on that night with “What are You Waiting For?”

We decided to go right to Dollywood on Saturday since Sunday was yet another scheduled rain day. Highlights included seeing the bald eagles at the Dollywood Bald Eagle Sanctuary up close.

The Hall Sisters, truly sisters, and such tight harmonies and strings talent, were my favorite.

I want to be a dancing flower on a flexible pole that extends about 30 feet into the sky.

We decided that we are not amusement park types as John does not like roller coasters or other rides. The grounds were beautiful and there were rose parade style butterflies and statues throughout the park.

We were ready for Margaritaville which is a year old RV Resort that came highly recommended from my Stress Less Camping podcast. This would be the perfect place to get some laundry done and to have a game day on the scheduled rainy day tomorrow.

But first down to the Fin to hear some live music on the porch and Tennessee bantering between two locals who we could hardly understand.

We had a rainy grand competition day, but had to bypass the outdoor venues of lazy river, corn hole, ping pong and pickleball. But we had some intense duckpin bowling moments with John winning the first game, I won the second and then he dominated in the third game, but I ended up with the all time high score for a game.

Then the sawdust style shuffleboard would round out the evening not to mention a few games of a modern pong in the game room. We were happy to be at our resort and be able to turn on the little space heater that night.. It was cold.

If you ever visit Pigeon Forge, Nashville or Branson take the Redneck Comedy Bus Tour not only are you protected from the elements, but you learn a bit about the city while laughing your ass off at our standup comedian guide. And we even had redneck speak lessons complete with spelling poster reinforcement. John and I sang along to Rocky Top as our comedian played on his banjolele as part of the show. Of course, no redneck experience is complete without a stop at the Ole’ Smoky Tennessee Moonshine Store for some tasting and acquiring.

Since these products are consumable, 1/2 dozen bottles made the cut, including some moonshine soaked pineapple. These are the same people that make our newly discovered Salted Caramel Whiskey and we took along some Margarita and Blackberry/Lavender bottles for the campfire – don’t worry these are not real moonshine strength only 40 proof. People in the hills would use moonshine to barter for various staples back in the day, and it was much more convenient to carry a jug down the mountain than to haul corn. And the supply/demand issues during prohibition drove up the prices for the poor mountain people. FYI. During our final day at Pigeon Forge we found the Eddie Bauer Outlet and John’s signature yellow rain jacket for the last 30 years has been replaced by an Eddie B Purple.

Back to nature, Cades Cove back in the Great Smoky Mountains NP, but first another hiking experience where we were trying to find wildflowers

But then there are always waterfalls

but instead found Elkmont, an old ghost town that came into being as a result of the war machine demand and close proximity to an Aluminum plant. Scattered along the old gravel Little River trail, were many ruins in various states of decline.

Further down there was a newer abandoned resort style housing and a grand hotel (not as grand as what Henry Flagler built in St Augustine). Probably our least favorite hike and the wildflowers were a bit of a disappointment, but we never found an unexpected ghost town before in our travels. A small stop in a town called Townsend from some groceries, diesel and wouldn’t you know it, they had a brewery too. We always seem to arrive at campsites at dusk and our ears delighted at a bluegrass group a few sites down. They played each evening and it was a wonderful way to spend the evening by the fire.

Wednesday at Cades Cove is Bike day on the loop. The 12 mile loop starting from our campground, connects historic cabins and churches and other dwelling It is closed down to auto traffic and this hilly freshly paved ride complete with bears and birds was delightful.

We decided to hike the Abrams Falls trail (5.4 miles) whose trailhead was located about halfway around the loop. We have this habit of not being able to get going until after noon so it is not a popular hiking time and we had the falls to ourselves when we arrived at 4pm.

But just then three young people came jogging in, and in Julie Stenger-Smith style, had to jump in the base of this flowing freezing water.

The Abrams Falls were the most beautiful we had experienced thus far, and the hike/bike left us feeling we had a great workout. Hopping back on the bikes to complete the Cades Cove Loop back to the Campground, there were way more hop off our un-motorized bikes to push up the hills than we had on the other side of the loop. Then there was the bear experience where a group gathered to watch a mama bear stow her cubs high in a tree (at least 50 feet – we could hardly see but the other people had watched this happen) Then mama decided to meander down the loop road so there was quite the bike traffic jam as we needed to wait until she decided to disappear into the woods.

Safety in numbers and a group of us sped past the spot where we had seen her disappear. It was after 7pm and who knows how many more uphill biking events or more bears we would experience on our return to camp. Luckily uphill usually involved some downhill, and we made it back to camp before dark. So nice to hear bluegrass in the distance and some moonshining for our tired bodies.

One more beautiful day at Great Smoky NP and we decided to head back up to Clingmans Dome to see if we could see more than blowing fog.

Our final night enjoying Cades Cove of Fire and Bluegrass.