1000 Islands and Singer Castle

Our goal when we left western Washington was the little town of Medway Maine, and it took us 56 days, 3,984 miles and we stopped at 26 locations.  Had the pleasure of visiting friends and family as we traveled across our great Country.

But before we share some of Maine's fall colors we need to finish up a few places we visited before we arrived here. So lets go back to up-state New York where we hiked into salmon falls and wished that it was about 2 weeks later so the leaves could have had more time to turn.  But you get what we saw.

Only 120' of falling water but sure was a great place to visit.  We hiked to the top of the falls and got some pictures shooting down from the side of the hill.  CC got to go with us on this one, and seemed to have a good time.

Another day we drove to Alexandra Bay and took a tour boat for a 3 hour trip to tour the Singer Castle.  It turned out to be a foggy day so it was hard to get some good clear shots.  This is the 1000 Island part of New York and we sailed by lots of  islands, both small and large.  This one looked like a battleship to us.

This was 3 islands that they put in a walkway between them to form one complete island with a lighthouse.  One of the islands we saw was so small that the small house (not pictured) that was built on it cantilevered over the water on two sides.  When you own an island we guess you can do with it what you want.

But the surprise an hour out was our destination, the Singer Castle.  A part of American history and local folklore meet at Singer Castle on Dark Island, located on the St. Lawrence Seaway. Singer Castle is the only castle on  the river to be completed, fully furnished and resided in during the heyday of the 'great builders' and industrialists in New York. The Castle remained in the possession of the original Bourne family from its construction in 1905 until the mid 1960's.  The castle was built as a hunting lodge by the 5th President of Singer Sewing Machine Co.  It is not currently occupied, but one can rent the guest suite for $700/night which includes a catered dinner and breakfast.  Any takers?

This castle was on another island.  We could have got off the boat and toured this one (self-guided), but opted not to.  (next time)  It is currently being completed.  (Construction ended in the 1930's when the owner's wife died unexpectedly.)

Although it was a foggy day, we thoroughly enjoyed the boat trip and the history lessons.
On the way back to our home (motor home) we had to turn around after driving by this so Dick could stop and take this picture to share.  We like to close our blog with something a little fun so hope you enjoy this shot.

To be continued...

Michigan, Ontario Canada, New York

Another great stop was to visit Jackie's high school classmates Bob and Margie (Scheiler) Stephenson in Williamston, Michigan.  They have a nice long driveway next to their beautiful old (over 100 years) home with lots of room for our rig.  We spent two days there but had to leave because of the weight we put on eating there.  Thanks Margie and Bob for such a great time.
Margie has a beautiful garden with lots of beautiful flowers.  Dick was out early one morning and found the morning sun just kissing this tall grass.

We spent one morning walking the gardens on the campus of Michigan State University where Jackie found a new friend. 

After leave Stephenson's, we stopped briefly (overnight) at MOC friends Charlie and Nila's.  It was fun seeing them again and catching up.  Good luck on getting your home ready to sell.

The shortest way to New York from Michigan was going through Canada and while there we had to stop at Niagara Falls.  It was a warm and sunny day with lots and lots of people taking the boats down on the river or just strolling along the walkway.

See we really are there in Canada.  Dick was worried about bringing what booze we had in the motor home across the border but he explained to the crossing security "this is our home and we have several bottles of odds and ends of booze, the same as most people have at home."   He just looked at us and said "have a good day".  It was about the same  getting back into the USA.  Both were more worried about firearms.  All that worrying for nothing.  (Now you know why he has white hair!)

Just could squeeze both falls into one picture so for those that have not been there can see what it's all about.

This shot is from our lunch table on the second floor of a very over-priced restaurant.  But what the hey, it's only money we are sure the kids don't want it. 

Two days in Canada and then to Parish New York in the Parish of Parish New York, figure that one out. We spent a week here just relaxing and enjoying some of the sights. 
On one of our excursions we drove to Oswego NY to see the Fort of Ontario.  It was closed on the day that we went to visit but they forgot to close the gate.  We did get inside to get a few pictures. 

`Oh look this door is open and we can go inside and take some pictures out the window.

After taking a self guided tour we found that they realized their mistake and closed the gate.  But Dick in his infinite wisdom figured out how to get it open so we could escape.

Did we mention that on the way to Oswego we took a short trip to Mexico?

This is for Uncle Dave, sorry to say the limit of salmon is 5 per day in Lake Michigan, maybe it's time to run the Discovery east and get in on some of the salmon there.

For those who have been following us on facebook, know that we have left New York and traveled through Vermont and are spending one night in New Hampshire at a forest service CG and tomorrow will be at our final destination in Maine that will be the 31st State we have spent a night in.

To be continued...

Still heading east with lots of stops

We are continuing east and got about 200 miles west of Sioux Falls, South Dakota where we had another problem with the engine on the motor home.  It turned out that I State trucking in Billings had failed to install a clamp on the turbo and we lost just about all power.  We limped in to Cummins, Sioux Falls on Labor day and set up camp like we owned the place.  We talked to them on Tuesday morning and they said they would get us in and fixed and on our way.

We took a tour of the town and spent a half day wandering around Falls Park.  Beautifully done park with a good place to have lunch near the heart of town.

This was once an industrial and quarry area of the town but they finally cleaned it up and what a great place to spend the day.  We even walked the legs off CC!

We got the rig fixed and headed out of town to visit friends who are camp hosting at Oakwood Lakes State park north of Sioux Falls, where we ended up staying 3 nights and got our picture taken on one of our hikes.  Dick wanted to show off how his beard is growing so he can be Santa this Christmas.

We ran across our first really green frog so of cource Dick had to get down and get a picture to share.

We spent about an hour at the beach in the evening taking some shots of the sunset with the unique cloud formation and reflections on the smooth lake.

It took some time to figure out what the black line is that originates from the center of the picture and came to the conclusion that its a shadow cast from the thick cloud in the center.  If you look closely you can see its reflection in the water.  First time Dick got a photo of a shadow reflecting in the water.  Oh well we thought it was cool.

Got to keep moving, so our next stop for only one night at a local winery in Winona MN.  Google Harvest Hosts and for a membership of only $30 per year you can stay for free at wineries and farms around the country.  Did we mention "FREE"?!  Looking down over the town of Winona with a lake in the forground and the Mississippi river in the back.

Walking the downtown area among some of the old buildings was interesting.  This one jumped out at Dick and he had to share it; see if you can figure out what it is.

The deep red brick behind the green ivy was a startling contrast in colors and if you look closely at the top of the picture you can see the ivy growing over the windows.  Hard to see but its there.

The First United Methodist Church that covered a city block had some very unique towers...

as you can see here.

Not sure what use the window is but sure would have liked to try and see it from the inside.

From Winona our next stop, where we are writing this, is West Bend WI where our dear friend Ardith Rehfeld has decided to spend her remaining days with her family.  We spent some quality time reminissing about our travels Sunday evening and again on Monday.  If you are a friend of Rod and Ardith, then you can leave a message and follow her strugles here at CaringBridge.  We love you Rod and Ardith and will continue to keep you in our prayers.

To be continued...

Washington State to South Dakota

Off again breezing through Idaho except to stop and have lunch with a classmate of Jackie's (thanks Charlotte Bouley) it was great seeing you again.  We then continued into Montana where our next stop was at a BLM area East of Butte and found a nice place to pull off in the trees for the night.  Woke up surrounded by cows but C C scared them away!

Another 160 miles to the little (very little) town of  Reed Point Montana for just another night.  Went for a drive in the afternoon and Dick had to stop and get some pictures of the area.

Far out in the country on a narrow gravel road we found nice farms and beautiful pastures and one or two very sad abandoned places.  Not shown but very funny was a street sign pointing to "Retirement" and when you turned the corner the sign read "Dead End"; we sure hope not.

If you have followed our blog you will know that we had some overheating problems in the motor home on the way back to the NW.  We thought it was fixed until we headed over Snoqualmie Pass and found that it still needed fixing. 

After leaving Reed Point we headed to IState Truck Repair in Billings on Wednesday the 24th in hopes of getting it repaired.  They checked it out and said "they might get us in on Monday".  Long story short we finally got it fixed and on the road again Thursday morning.  We spent 7 nights in their parking lot testing out our new solar (worked great) and one night in a hotel when they had the rig in the shop.  Sorry but this one is a little dark, well it was night and it cooled off from the mid 90s to the mid 60s.

We spent two evenings sitting outside with a great couple from Austria sharing stories and a little wine; thanks Petra and Tino for sharing your time with us and hope to see you again in the future.

We made the best of our time there meeting up with Rick Young and his lovely wife Laurel for a craft show in Bridger and then a wonderful dinner at their home.  Great to see old friends again.
While in Bridger we went to an area above Red Lodge where Dick's great grandfather homesteaded in 1899 and where his grandmother was born.  This is a picture of Dick standing over the rootceller that was on the ranch.

Keeping up with a day of genealogy we went into Red Lodge and had lunch at the Pollard Hotel and we think found a picture of his great grandfather tending bar in 1907.

We also spent part of two days with Dick's cousin that he has not seen in years.  They shared some old pictures and stories about the family.
We spent one afternoon visiting Pompeys Pillar National Monument.  This was another stopping place of Wm. Clark of Lewis and Clark fame and is the only visible record of their journey with his signature inscribed in the hillside.

We tried to get a picture of his signature but this is the best we could do.

As we said, on Thursday we finally got the heck out of Dodge (Billings Montana) heading for De Smet Lake near Buffalo Wyoming.  But on the way we stopped at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument that used to be called Custers Last Stand.  Kind of a sad place to realize that about 300 people, both whites and native, died here.

Most of the graves are marked where the soldier fell and was buried except the remains of the officers were moved to another part of the country.  The natives took their dead with them and buried them.

But now there is a very well done monument to the tribes on the battlefield.

With a little research we found our next stop on the lake with very few if any people around and had a great view out of all the windows on our rig sitting on the end of a long point.

After setting up we decided to head out on another back road and saw 20 or 30 Pronghorn Antelope.  Very hard to get a good shot because as soon as they hear you, off they go.  Snuck up on this one.

We had to stop at this old abandoned home out in the middle of nowhere so Dick could get some pictures.  Some one had big hopes and dreams here and this is all that remains.  The inside was lath and plaster with most of the plaster gone and the floors and ceilings totally rotted.

Not sure why it had two front doors and one back door.

A closer look in black and white at some of the years of patching to keep the weather out.

Dick stuck his head into the house saw a critter in the attic so he very carefully went through the house and out the back in time to see a large owl looking down at him.  Just as he raised his camera the owl turned away and took off so this is the best you get of this guy.

We are now sitting in Box Elder South Dakota for the weekend and plan to head out on Monday along with the crowds heading home from the 3 day weekend.

To be continued...

Back to the North West and family..

Hey, remember us?  It's only been a little less than two months but a lot has happened and we got to see a lot of family and friends during this time back home.  It was time to spend more time with family and friends and leave the computer at home.  Dick also left the camera at home most of the time.  He would rather take photos of landscape than people.

We left Arches National Park on June 27 and headed for Canyon View RV park in Spanish Fork Utah.  A paved parking lot with water and electric, but OK for one night.  Our motor home overheated on the mountain pass.  We then headed to our favorite camping place near Wells Nevada where we spent 3 nights; see the picture of our rig above.

On the way out of town we stopped at a truck wash and had them hydro blast the radiator and clean out all the red dust from Arches in hopes that it would solve the overheating problem.  As it turned out, it made things better but we found out later that it did not solve the problem.
Off we go again to Bully Creek Park on Bully Creek Reservoir in Vale Oregon for one night but ended up staying two.  Tried to go to the local United Methodist Church on Sunday morning but after checking the time for the service on the board in front of the Church on Saturday they changed the time later that evening so we missed service.

On the 4th of July we ended up at 1000 trails Sunriver Oregon and played tourist.  We visited the Lava Lands and drove up Lava Butte to view the huge lava flows.  And then it was off to "The Big Obsidian Flow" and what a pile of  glass.

This photo is not a black and white shot but sure looks like it.  Black obsidian and white snow.

Dick had to add these photos for our good friend Ray Howard and a very talented flint napper that we met in Delta Utah,  Danie Kersey, who makes the most beautiful knives, arrowheads and spear points from obsidian.  If you are interested in purchasing any of his work let me know and I will forward your address to him.

Another shot of the acres and this time with a little green in the background.  There is a trail that runs about 1/2 mile through the flow.  If you go there take it slow and easy, you sure don't want to trip and take a tumble on this path.

A close look at some of the obsidian.  Sure would like to load the motor home up with a pound or two of this stuff.

Really tough to get a picture with pure white and black but there is a little color in Jackie's shirt.

While in the area we fought off the mosquitoes and took another hike to view a very beautiful waterfall.

Another view from another direction.  Glad we took the time to spend some time in the woods after several months in the desert.  Wow, what a difference and we are glad to be back in the northwest where there are real trees.

7/6  Another day traveling but this time to get some big changes to our rig.  We spent two nights at AM Solar in Springfield Oregon where we had 3 solar panels put on the roof and the battery and solar controllers in the bedroom.  We are now totally self contained and don't need any stinking RV parks. (As long as the sun is shining, of course.)

After spending one night at 1000 trails in Chehalis Washington, we finally ended up at our destination in Poulsbo on July 9.  We spent lots of time with all three girls and all grand kids for a few weeks.

On one of our free days we took a drive to Sequim for their annual lavender festival and found a field or two of plants close to harvest time.

Another day we took a ferry to Seattle where we both were born.  What a beautiful day to stroll the waterfront with Deanna, Daisy and Dani.

After a few weeks with family and friends on the west side of the mountains we headed off to Ephrata where our trip started over three years ago.  After getting a new windshield in the motor home, we ended up at Dick's brother and S I L for a great week plus visiting with them and all our super
friends.  Thanks all for sharing your time with us, and thanks Guy and Joan for your wonderful hospitality.

We left Guy and Joan's to spend two nights with them camping on Lake Roosevelt where we had our first chance to use the new solar and it worked great.  While there we got the chance to take our boat out for couple of hours on the water.  Near our campsite was a large old dead tree with a very large Osprey nest with two little ones and Dick was able to get some good pictures but for some stupid reason they never downloaded.  If you really want to see them let us know and we will send copies to you.

We ended our trip to Washington by spending three great days with some very special people near Spokane Washington before starting our trip to the east coast, Dave and Kelly Anderson.  Thanks for a wonderful three days and fabulous food.  We also got to see Jim & Carolyn Retzer, MOC friends who Kelly invited for dinner.  Such fun catching up on what everyone's been up to.

While in Quartzsite

The light you see radiates through the rock in this 45 second exposure.

Thanks to all our friend and family for sharing yourselves with us during our trip back home.  Now it's time to head out on our next journey.  We departed the Anderson's for a trip to the east coast to see the fall colors.  We will try and update this blog a little more regularly as we travel across our great country.

To be continued...