BACK TO MICHIGAN!

October 7 - Grand Canyon of PA
The Pine Creek gorge is said to be the most extensive wilderness region between New York and Chicago.  Our campsite is 4 miles from the entrance to the state park, the trail heads to the hiking paths, and viewing platforms. This is a beautiful area, and my expectations were not built up to think this would be like THE Grand Canyon so I wasn't disappointed.  The tourist information says the best way to see the beauty of the canyon is on the river while riding in a canoe or raft.  Being that it was about 40 degrees, and I was wearing my fleece hat, gloves and jacket, we skipped that option and took in the scene from the top at the viewing platforms.

Pine Creek Gorge...aka The Grand Canyon of PA

View of the canyon from the opposite direction.

October 8 - Lake Erie
We drove thorough the brilliant autumn colors of the Pennsylvania mountains, and arrived back in the Great Lakes Region near the south shore of Lake Erie, not far from Erie, PA. 

I drove the last half of the day, and when we got to our campground it was a little confusing where to register for the night.  I stopped, we both got out and looked around.  I saw the green  office building ahead .  I got back in the RV and waited and waited for Jim to get back in.  I got back out, looked around and he had disappeared.  I was getting impatient so I pulled ahead to the green office building...which turned out to be the bathrooms.  I called Jim on his cell phone and said "where the hell are you?"  He said "I'm trying to register and you have the checkbook."  By now, he was standing right beside the drivers window.  He was a little irritated with me and said "I can't believe you would drive off without me!"  Now, you can't really compare me driving 1 block away within the campground, to him leaving me at a gas station in Montana, AND not even knowing I wasn't there until he was a half mile down the highway.  I was annoyed.

October 9 - Troy, MI
Leaving Erie, PA, we headed west and soon crossed into Ohio.  Since were were on the Interstate, I can't say too much about northern Ohio except that it was hilly, the leaves were pretty, and we got out of the mountains and back to the flat lands.  We drove by Cleveland and turned north at Toledo.

Our destination today is  about 25 miles north of Detroit, MI.  We are stopping to visit our friends, Ed and Donna Archey, in Troy.  They have a level concrete driveway which was perfect for us to park on, so we set up camp and hoped the neighbors wouldn't call the police about the trailer trash  that had moved in.

Ed and Donna took us to the neighborhood Bar and Grill for dinner.  Our waitress was a hoot and we won't forget her anytime soon; I was still giggling about her antics the next morning.  After dinner we went back to their house, relaxed in front of the TV and continued to reminisce about the fun times we've shared over the past 29 years.   

More fun times with these two wild and crazy kids.

October 10
We haven't been through Lower Michigan so we decided to see more of MI before heading home.  After breakfast, we said our good-byes to Donna and Ed and started driving northwest to Ludington, located on the west shore of Lake Michigan.  We stopped in Sears, (not at Sears) for gas; it started sleeting and snowing. The wind was howling and pushing the RV around while traveling down the highway.

The state parks in Michigan have been gorgeous, and we were not disappointed when we pulled into Ludington State Park.  The road into the park cuts through huge sand dunes along the shoreline of Lake Michigan. 

I'm standing by a sand dune next to the road.

Waves crashing near the Ludington lighthouse.

We bundled up in some warm clothes and built a campfire.  While relaxing and reading by the fire, a monster RV rig drove by our campsite.  I, and my camping neighbors, stood gawking shamelessly at this enormous rig while taking pictures and speculating whether or not they had just won the lottery.

What do they have in that trailer they're pulling?  A Cadillac?  A Hummer and a couple Harley's?

The rig took up 2 campsites, and the two slide-outs on this side hung out over the road.  A little overkill if you ask me.