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1959 tradewind on the road

Posted 08-16-2010 at 04:55 PM by gypsygirl1

Finally getting time to sit down and get the blog started:
This is our Summer 2010 Road Trip from Windsor Ontario to Vancouver Island BC and back. We left home a few days early to attend a wedding in London Ontario.

Day 1 - Wed July 28, 2010
Packed up and away by 10:30AM. on our way to Chatham to pick up our friends and their Airstream to caravan our way to London's Fanshawe Park. We arrived at Fanshawe about 3PM. It was a nice drive, but looked like it could rain. Just as we got done setting up the outside, the thunderstorm hit with lots of loud cracking lightning and thunder. Once it finally stopped raining, we barbequed steaks, canned beans, and our friend made a great potato salad. It was all very good. We took a stroll around the park and found it quite nice with nice showers. Once we got back to the trailer, the mosquitoes were horrible, so I headed for the trailer about 9:30PM.

DAY 2 - Thur July 29 2010
No rain in the morning, but smelled a skunk outside last night. WHEW!!
We were up at 8AM, and our friends made a great breakfast for us -- peameal bacon, omellette and toast. Yum!
After breakfast, my friend and I went to get our hair trimmed and run a couple of errands. The boys stayed at camp with Bones, the dog.
We hung out at the trailer until about 4PM, then headed into London to pick up our friend's daughter. She lives right downtown London, close the park where the annual ribfest was happening. Perfect. We parked at her place and walked to the ribfest. We sampled the ribs, had a couple of drinks in the tent, then headed to the "CPR" outdoor patio across the street from the park. We had a couple of drinks there then headed back to camp. Sitting around the campfire was very enjoyable until Bones, the dog, got sprayed by that stinky skunk!!! Poor Bones. Our friends had tomato juice on hand, and bathed Bones in it until he didn't smell quite so bad.

Day 3 - Fri July 30 2010
Our friends and their daughter were up early and packing up. They're headed to a weekend ribfest of their own on Lake Erie.
We found a laundromat and picked up some groceries. Pork chops for dinner and early to bed.

Day 4 - Sat July 31 2010
Cool night, and cool, overcast morning. Had to go shopping to find a little sweater.
Our niece's wedding is today, but it looks like rain. We lazed around until it was time to get dressed. We called a taxi to pick us up at the campground, but the driver couldn't find us. (??) We couldn't wait for him to find us, so we drove ourselves to the hall.
The wedding was wonderful and the bride was beautiful. The food was great, but the music was little loud for us. I guess that comes with age -- we sound like our parents back in the day. Lots of family at the wedding that we hadn't seen in a year or so, and it was great to see them.
We got back to camp about 11PM.

DAY 5 - Sun Aug 1 2010
Beautiful sunny, warm morning. We cleaned the truck and trailer anticipating our departure on Monday. Our nephew and his family came by for the afternoon. We had a great dinner and visit. They were gone home by 7PM and we got to bed early.

DAY 6 - Mon Aug 2 2010
Packed up, hooked up and away by 8AM. We finally got through the US/Canada border at Sarnia/Port Huron and were away from there by 12:15PM. It was crazy busy there, traffic was slow and of course we had 'document' issues again.
Once away, we headed North on I-75 and spotted two Airstreams travelling together. We caught up to them at Exit 215 (West Branch MI), and caravanned with them until Exit 244 (Higgins Lake MI).
We arrived at Mill Creek Campground in Mackinac City about 6PM. It`s a beautiful park on Lake Huron with cabins, tent sites, and trailers. We paid $15 for the night in the ``Super Saver`` section, with water and hydro. The showers were clean and hot, although a little `communal``. It is a very nice park and would highly recommend it.

DAY 7 - Tue Aug 3
Rained through the night, and we were hooked up and away by 8:30AM. We crossed the Mackinac Bridge in the fog and through the construction on the bridge. We couldn`t see much with the fog which continued as we travelled along the shores of Lake Michigan.
We spotted two more Airstreams just outside Christmas MI on M28. We were westbound, and they were eastbound -- one was a trailer and one was an older Airstream motorhome. It looked like they were travelling together.
We arrived Bayfield WI on Lake Superior at 5PM local time. We found the Apostle Island Campground, and settled in for the night. We paid $32 with full hookup and cable. It is a very nice park, and the owners had a very interesting collection of trailer-related trinkets and such.

Day 8 - Aug 4 2010
Good night followed by a beautiful morning -- away by 9:30AM. We spotted a newer Airstream heading East on US2 at Brule WI. We arrived in Superior WI at 11AM. It was a nice ride, and we crossed the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Now we`ve been to both ends of the Mississippi and various points in between.
In the afternoon, we spotted another newer Airstream headed East on US2 just outside Fosston MN.
We arrived Grand Forks ND about 5PM after crossing the ``Geographical Center of North America`` in Rugby ND.
We found Oakwood Inn & RV Motel-Campground in Rugby, and paid $24 with full hookup. We didn`t find the cable connection until we were packing up in the morning.

DAY 9 - Thu Aug 5 2010
Cool morning, and hot showers!! Yeah!
Packed and away by 10AM, passing field after field after field of sunflowers. We saw a helicopter flying above the highway and by the time we got to where we thought he had landed, he had landed on top of a tanker truck at the side of the road! Quite an amazing sight to see.
We passed many rolling hills, oil ``grasshoppers`` and oil camps.
We arrived Williston ND, near the Montana state line about 2PM. We continued on to Glasgow MT and found the Cottonwood Inn and RV Park. $28 for the night, full hookup, no cable, but we had a pool and hot tub at our disposal. We met a nice couple from Medicine Hat AB and enjoyed our chat with them. We went for a swim and hot tub and slept like logs.

DAY 10 - Fri Aug 6
Cool morning and sunny and 58deg.
Hooked up and away by 9AM, heading towards Calgary AB. We made it to Shelby MT by 2:30PM, just 35 miles south of Sweet Grass MT - the US-Canada border. We had lunch in Shelby, and the food was ok, and gas was $2.82 a gallon.
We arrived in Champion AB at 6:30PM and found the most beautiful little community campground. They had an ``honour`` system for payment. You simply put your $18 in an envelope and put it in a box. We hydro with potable water neaby, spotlessly clean showers and bathrooms, and a dump station. We were the only ones in the park. We had a nice evening, and met three nice men from the community. One guy brought us $5 worth of firewood and then hung out with us all evening until the wood was all burned up.
Very funny.
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