July 15 Cade Lake County Park, Sturgis
The weather is superb, clear blue skies, high temps and doesn’t seem so much humidity…at the moment.
We drove 2 miles to the shores of Lake Michigan and had breakfast. It is so vast, just like a sea, you can’t see the other side of it, I had a paddle, and the water was very pleasant, could easily have swum in it. Evidently a few days earlier, a 14 yr old had drowned nearby, from the undertow, but the wind had dropped this morning, and there was no surf.
We spotted a big Outlet Mall, so had a visit and bought Ian some Adidas slides, but couldn’t find a pair of sandals for myself.
The day was really warming up, so hit the road and headed east, and stopped at Walmart in Nile, lunched in the carpark as still needed to get a few more things to make life in the RV easier.
The day seemed to be disappearing pretty quickly. We stopped in a little town called White Pigeon, where we thought we would get a coffee and stretch the legs, but discovered a great little store run by an old lady that had Coca cola memorabilia everywhere, and sold chocolate and nuts. Ian had a milkshake, and I had a strawberry soda. A delightful lady and I managed to get photos of her, in her old fashioned world. She told us of a very good campground just east of the next town Sturgis on Cade Lake, which turned out to be an excellent call. Only $18 for the night, with electricity, and our site was under some trees over looking the lake. We went for a walk, and I had a swim in the lake…first ever swim in USA…very warm although the lake (maybe it should be called a pond!) did have an unusual smell.
July 16 George Lake, Indiana…with Marge
I was up before 7 and wandered down to the lake for some early photos, good to be out with dew on the grass, but still very warm. Drove back into Sturgis, to sort out why we couldn’t make calls on the phone last night, got a nice lad in a Radio Shack store. He wasn’t a Verizon agent, and couldn’t work out why, so we drove 15 mins to LaGrange to the Verizon store, and it all seemed to be working again, must have been the locality.
We dawdled along back country roads, saw big harvesters working, and fields and fields of Soya, Wheat and Corn. Came across a Turkey Lake, pulled up and had a sandwich for lunch. It’s a very hot day, expecting it to be well over 80, coping better than expected, and the air-conditioning works well. Spoke with Marge and the registration plate from Richard had arrived, so she was heading up to the lake. We stopped in Angola and got some supplies and out to Lake George…although had a few issues when I chose to ignore GPS, to my peril!
Lake George blew us away, quite a big lake, houses all around it that run down to the waters edge….and more pontoon boats than we could imagine. Marge had brought Heath and Claire, 2 of her 30 grandchildren, great kids, and they spent all their time in the water with the neighbour’s kids. The air is so balmy, and they were swimming until 9pm…no wetsuits like in NZ! Marge took us for a drive in the pontoon right around the lake, about 7 miles. We are so lucky to have this opportunity. We had bought steak which Ian cooked on the Barbie…I made a salad, and Marge cooked courgettes and onions…although I will never let her forget the fact that she sliced up a cucumber first and started cooking it!
July17 Lake George
Once again I slept in until late….8am. Marge’s friend Bill arrived at 6.30, and her sister and husband, Jenny and Herm arrived about 8.30. We had a big breakfast of bacon, eggs and fried potatoes. Ian and I put the signs on to the van…it looks so good, with New Zealand right across the back, and a silver fern, with NZ under it, beside each door.. will be interesting what comments we get from people.
Very very hot, both of us in singlets. We ended up sitting around a table outside and playing cards, a game called 3 to 13. Lots of laughs. Bill had brought pork ribs, so we had a 3 oclock dinner of spare ribs, beans and barbecued courgettes, and potatoes. Marge had simmered the ribs in some salted water for about an hour to cook them through, (although you can precook in an oven dish with a little bit of water ). Then they are barbecued on each side, and barbecue sauce spread over them….yummy. After lunch Marge, Ian and I joined the kids for a swim.,,..the water is sooo warm. Had another game of cards, then Ian and I took the canoe out for a paddle..great way to poke around the lake. All in all, a very lazy relaxing day. In talking with everyone today, we think we may drive right to the top of Michigan before crossing into Canada….but who knows!
The weather is superb, clear blue skies, high temps and doesn’t seem so much humidity…at the moment.
We drove 2 miles to the shores of Lake Michigan and had breakfast. It is so vast, just like a sea, you can’t see the other side of it, I had a paddle, and the water was very pleasant, could easily have swum in it. Evidently a few days earlier, a 14 yr old had drowned nearby, from the undertow, but the wind had dropped this morning, and there was no surf.
We spotted a big Outlet Mall, so had a visit and bought Ian some Adidas slides, but couldn’t find a pair of sandals for myself.
The day was really warming up, so hit the road and headed east, and stopped at Walmart in Nile, lunched in the carpark as still needed to get a few more things to make life in the RV easier.
The day seemed to be disappearing pretty quickly. We stopped in a little town called White Pigeon, where we thought we would get a coffee and stretch the legs, but discovered a great little store run by an old lady that had Coca cola memorabilia everywhere, and sold chocolate and nuts. Ian had a milkshake, and I had a strawberry soda. A delightful lady and I managed to get photos of her, in her old fashioned world. She told us of a very good campground just east of the next town Sturgis on Cade Lake, which turned out to be an excellent call. Only $18 for the night, with electricity, and our site was under some trees over looking the lake. We went for a walk, and I had a swim in the lake…first ever swim in USA…very warm although the lake (maybe it should be called a pond!) did have an unusual smell.
July 16 George Lake, Indiana…with Marge
I was up before 7 and wandered down to the lake for some early photos, good to be out with dew on the grass, but still very warm. Drove back into Sturgis, to sort out why we couldn’t make calls on the phone last night, got a nice lad in a Radio Shack store. He wasn’t a Verizon agent, and couldn’t work out why, so we drove 15 mins to LaGrange to the Verizon store, and it all seemed to be working again, must have been the locality.
We dawdled along back country roads, saw big harvesters working, and fields and fields of Soya, Wheat and Corn. Came across a Turkey Lake, pulled up and had a sandwich for lunch. It’s a very hot day, expecting it to be well over 80, coping better than expected, and the air-conditioning works well. Spoke with Marge and the registration plate from Richard had arrived, so she was heading up to the lake. We stopped in Angola and got some supplies and out to Lake George…although had a few issues when I chose to ignore GPS, to my peril!
Lake George blew us away, quite a big lake, houses all around it that run down to the waters edge….and more pontoon boats than we could imagine. Marge had brought Heath and Claire, 2 of her 30 grandchildren, great kids, and they spent all their time in the water with the neighbour’s kids. The air is so balmy, and they were swimming until 9pm…no wetsuits like in NZ! Marge took us for a drive in the pontoon right around the lake, about 7 miles. We are so lucky to have this opportunity. We had bought steak which Ian cooked on the Barbie…I made a salad, and Marge cooked courgettes and onions…although I will never let her forget the fact that she sliced up a cucumber first and started cooking it!
July17 Lake George
Once again I slept in until late….8am. Marge’s friend Bill arrived at 6.30, and her sister and husband, Jenny and Herm arrived about 8.30. We had a big breakfast of bacon, eggs and fried potatoes. Ian and I put the signs on to the van…it looks so good, with New Zealand right across the back, and a silver fern, with NZ under it, beside each door.. will be interesting what comments we get from people.
Very very hot, both of us in singlets. We ended up sitting around a table outside and playing cards, a game called 3 to 13. Lots of laughs. Bill had brought pork ribs, so we had a 3 oclock dinner of spare ribs, beans and barbecued courgettes, and potatoes. Marge had simmered the ribs in some salted water for about an hour to cook them through, (although you can precook in an oven dish with a little bit of water ). Then they are barbecued on each side, and barbecue sauce spread over them….yummy. After lunch Marge, Ian and I joined the kids for a swim.,,..the water is sooo warm. Had another game of cards, then Ian and I took the canoe out for a paddle..great way to poke around the lake. All in all, a very lazy relaxing day. In talking with everyone today, we think we may drive right to the top of Michigan before crossing into Canada….but who knows!
Comments
Lynn
Marshmallows between chocolate sounds way more dangerous than "doughnuts' in a wine glass!
Can't believe you've been away a fortnight!!
J&D