7/15/2026

 7/15/2026  We spent part of today driving around the Leelanau Peninsula.  We've done this drive many times.  (Sleeping Bear Dunes, Leeland, Glen Arbor and lunch at Fischer's Happy Hour Tavern.)  Tomorrow we head for Evart for the Dulcimer Festival.

7/14/2026

 7/14/2026

Today we traveled to Traverse City and then to D. H. Day Campground, Sleeping Bear Dunes, MI. We will be here 2 nights. We've spent lots of time in Traverse City. In 2011, we waited here for 3 months to have our new Nordic Tug ready for launch, so we knew where to find ice cream! And Sammy visited the dog park.

It is HOT! The heat spell is supposed to improve tomorrow..

construction on Mackinac Bridge

Michigan flowers

The entry to Charlevoix from Lake Michigan.  We boated here many times.

Traverse Bay

7/13/2206

 7/13/2026

Marquette, MI to 12 Mile Beach Campground.

We made a few stops at overlooks and hiked over a mile (round trip) to a waterfall. Our campground was in a forest adjacent to Lake Superior, but the trees completely blocked Starlink so we had no cell service or TV last night.

7/12/2026

 7/12/2026

We left Duluth and traveled to Marquette. We encountered a strong thunderstorm coming across Lake Superior and pulled over to wait it out. After 270 miles of travel, we pulled into a Marquette Walmart for the night.

7/10 and 7/11, 2026

7/10 and 7/11, 2026

We stopped by to visit Nancy Ziegler in Duluth and spent 2 nights in her driveway. Time flew as we visited and caught up on our travels. She is a true adventurer, having traveled all the Canadian Provinces by bicycle or canoe. Her dog Rosie and Sammy did not hit it off right away. Rosie was protecting her territory and Sammy just wanted to play. Nancy's place (a mile from Lake Superior) is really nice with a huge yard, garden and chickens. And she was gracious enough to let us do laundry there.

We attended St. Joseph's Church, founded by Polish immigrants. They even sang a communion song in Polish.

Living room

Another view of living room

gorgeous flowers

Sammy in the poenies

St. Joseph's-all wood interior

7/9/2026

 7/9/2026

Unlike yesterday, we had a lengthy travel day. We stopped first at a nearby town (Valley City, ND) for fuel, a few groceries and a dog park to burn some puppy energy. Fortunately, two year old Zoe was there and wanted to play. Valley City is known as the city of bridges. This trestle bridge was built in1908 for freight trains. It is 1000 feet tall and over 4000 feet long and is still used today.

We entered Minnesota in the afternoon and the terrain changed to a land filled with trees. Our campground tonight is along the Mississippi River at the Pokegama Dam Campground.

Zoe:  "I'm going to get you"

That's what you think

Trestle bridge

A patriotic town of 300 people had these lovely light poles and flags.

And then there were trees!

7/8/2026

 7/8/2026

We had a fairly short day today. Scenery was limited to farmland and grain elevators. By chance, we stopped in a very small town looking for a park where we could have lunch. Instead, we found a small diner frequented by farmers. Food was excellent and we were able to talk with the locals. Tonight, we are in the Mel Reiman Recreation Area (Corps of Engineers Campground). The weather is lovely!

Wide load, narrow road

Our lunch stop

7/7/2026

 7/7/2026

The case of the missing hat!

It was pouring down rain this morning and Ron could not find his Chicken, Alaska hat, his only souvenir from our trip two years ago. Acquiring that hat involved traveling on a rugged dirt road for miles to get to Chicken, a town with one store/gas station and a post office. I did not want to return for another one. Aha! He left it in Dickinson at our lunch stop on the 4th of July. Yep! They had it!! So on our way out of town we picked it up.

We headed northeast through very fertile farmland and saw this beautiful yellow crop everywhere. Our destination today was Downstream Campground, Garrison Dam on the Missouri River. The rain is supposed to end this afternoon. The last pic is of the rainy campground.

7/6/2026

 7/6/2026

We are at TR's new Library in Medora, ND. It is very interactive. When you arrive, you type your name and email into a kiosk and a photo of you is taken. When you walk around, your armband allows you to see yourself in various "old time pictures". Here are some of both of us.. Note the wrist band matches the pic on the wall for interactive displays.

After 4.5 hours at the museum, we headed for Medora for ice cream. The outside tables were full so we shared a table with this lovely family. The boys taught us a lot about soccer!

Our batteries needed recharging since we had the air conditioning on for Sammy, so we rode around the Park one more time before heading to Cottonwood Campground. We leave tomorrow, heading east.