We left home on June 13 and travelled through the hills and mountains of central Pennsylvania. Our first overnight stop was in New Stanton, PA. At this campground we were surprised to find RVs, usually travel trailers, that were in a site on a long-term, or even a permanent, basis. They had decks, landscaping and sheds. This was true in most of the campgrounds we visited. It appears that people are using an RV as a summer cabin. The campgrounds provide entertainment for adults and children - playgrounds, miniature golf, lakes, bingo, karaoke nights, etc. One woman told me that her family had been returning to the same campground for 41 years.

Our first destination was southern Wisconsin, where we set up the trailer in the Happy Acres Campground in Bristol as a base for visiting friends and family. We visited with 95-year-old cousin Bernice, 92-year-old cousin-in-law Millie, cousin Jim, Don & Gail, and Debbie & George.

With Jim we took a tour of the Sprecher brewery in Glendale near Milwaukee. They have a number of specialty beers, sold in 16-oz bottles, which are very tasty, although most of their business comes from selling high-end sodas throughout Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula.

"This Way To The Galaxy" The pipes are lined with paintings of planets, nebulae and galaxies. Moving House can be seen behind the pipe with the heart decoration.	Millie insisted on taking a ride in our truck

From Bristol, we moved a short distance to the KOA near Madison. This was in a flat field in De Forest and there were few, if any, long-term residents. We visited the Vilas Park zoo and the Wallersheim winery with Maija and got together with Edith for lunch.

Gail and Maija in front of the zoo's new lion cub and his parents	Al compares his "wingspan" with an eagle's, a condor's and a vulture's. His wingspan only matches the vulture's.
Al and Edith	Wollersheim's wine cellar

Next on our journey was a stop in Guy's driveway in Stillwater. This involved 300 feet of backing, which was completed with aid from Guy's skillful coaching. It was great to visit and to have a dog to pet.

Gail and Julie with an actress from The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
	From Guy's driveway, we moved to a KOA northwest of the Twin Cities. Bill and Julie introduced us to Cabela's and took us to a performance of the Melodrama of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, performed by students from the University of Minnesota. The theater where the Demon Barber was performed is a showboat on the Mississippi River, but a boat without a motor.

Moorhead's Hjemkomst Ship Prow

After the Twin Cities, we headed to Moorhead for our most westerly destination of the trip. North Dakota and Minnesota had suffered a lot of rain during the spring, resulting in flooding and a general sogginess. We followed directions to the campground provided by Google and found ourselves, trailer in tow, on a road that was closed. We didn't dare back up onto a busy highway, even assuming we had the skill to accurately direct where we were backing, so for a while it looked as though we were stuck with no way out. But Gail found a level field next to the road that was dry enough to drive on, so we were able to take the trailer off the road, make a U-turn, and get headed back to the Interstate. The only open road to the campground at Moorhead was very muddy and rutted. When we got to the campground, many of the camp sites were surrounded by water. The campground itself looked as if it were going out of business. All the vending machines were broken. The pool was closed. The shelves in the camp store were nearly empty. Nonetheless, we had enjoyable visits with Eleanor and Jim, although we decided not to invite them to the Moving House for dinner because of the swamp-like nature of the campground. One of the attractions we saw with them was the Hjemkomst Ship. This is a replica Viking ship built hundreds of miles from any navigable waters by a man of Norwegian descent. In 1984 it was trucked to Lake Superior, sailed to Norway, and then returned to Moorhead. I'm using a photo of the prow of this ship to represent our visit to Moorhead because of the wet conditions and the feeling that someday this ship may float again.

Next it was back to Wisconsin again. It was a 400-mile trip to La Crosse. We were happy to have made the trip before the Minnesota government shut down and closed all the roadside rest areas.

Our campground in La Crosse was on an island in the Mississippi River. The river was high so some areas of the campground were flooded, but the rest was dry, clean and well kept. This campground was a resort. It had a bar in the office where the regulars would gather in the morning to start their day. The campground even had an electrically-operated gate to prevent unwanted visitors from getting in.

We visited with Wayne, Terri and Katie. Wayne got past the gate operator without a pass just by looking as if he belonged.

Wayne, Terri, Katie and Gail	Some scenes from Riverfest at La Crosse

We had never visited the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore so we did it this trip. It was a great escape from the high temperatures in La Crosse. The Independence Day parade on Madeline Island featured some floats that featured strong opinions as well as some that did not, but all were fun. Both La Pointe and Bayfield had amazing fireworks shows for the size of their populations.

Having had very little exercise for three weeks, we wanted to hike the trails in the lakeshore. We didn't succeed in this because the mainland trail was ankle deep in mud following a heavy storm and because we missed the day on which a boat would take us to Stockton Island, where there also were trails. We did take the grand tour boat ride around the islands. We saw several of the islands' lighthouses and, on Devils Island, spectacular sea caves.

Thimbleberry flower, but too early for berries	4th of July float at La Pointe Seeking another planet because we've ruined this one
Slow food float in the 4th of July parade	Real estate sign seen in Bayfield Only men named Bob White need inquire
Gail on Lake Superior's shore near Meyers Beach	Some of the sea caves eroded into the cliffs of Devils Island

From Bayfield, we headed to Michigan's Bewabic State Park on Fortune Lake, where we stayed for 15 days. It was great not to have to hitch up truck and trailer every two to three days. At Bewabic Park, we lacked the WiFi internet connection we usually could get at other campgrounds, but we were able to use WiFi at the local libraries and even at the laundromat in Crystal Falls.

	Gail and Al on Bewabic Park's trail
Here we were able to go on hikes. We hiked the park's nature trail - the trail of the daring deer, the Lake Mary Plains trail - the trail of the thirsty ticks, and the Ge-Che trail - the trail of the tiny toads. The trails of the daring deer and the tiny toads were beautiful - along ridges and down valleys through mixed forest of birch, maple, basswood, hemlock and pine. The trail of the thirsty ticks was less enjoyable. In addition to having to stop every 50 yards to scrape wood ticks off, we found the trail mostly wound through a a pine tree farm, part of which had been harvested recently. We found and ate some ripe raspberries along the trail of tiny toads. One day we tried to find Chicaugon Falls, which was close to Bewabic Park. The tourist bureau's directions told us to leave the main road at a stump painted yellow. There was no yellow-painted stump, and we wandered fruitlessly down a logging trail. The next day we mentioned this to a park employee and he gave us good directions: leave the main road where there was a sign for Camp Stoor Stankewicz. With this information, we successfully found the little cascade. It was quite peaceful. Not surprisingly, no one else was there.
Fortune Lake from the shore trail	Chicaugon Falls

Thanks to pre-planning by Al's classmate Margee, we got to attend events of Iron River's Rum Rebellion celebration. The Rum Rebellion occurred in 1920 during the first months of prohibition. Federal agents in Marquette learned that two Italian grocers were making and selling wine. When the federal agent arrived in town, the local authorities acted to protect the wine makers. Later the federal agents returned with overwhelming force and located the wine kegs hidden in the basement of the rectory of the Catholic church. They broke open the kegs and poured the wine into the snow. It is said that some locals scooped up and ate the wine-saturared snow, thus originating the slushee or snow cone. The celebration in 2011 included a concert by "Da Yoopers", a wine and cheese event at the Museum, a Revue that simulated a radio broadcast in 1920, a street sale, a parade, and a dance at the Museum.

Al gave a presentation on variable stars in Iron River on July 18 and a presentation on Hubble in Marquette on July 22.

	Carl, Al and Ruth Ann waiting for the tall ships
Al's presentation in Marquette was early in the day, 4 p.m., to avoid conflict with a music festival and with the arrival of some tall ships, both of which were occurring at 6 p.m. After the presentation was over, we went with Carl and Ruth Ann to the harbor to see the tall ships come in. Once there we found that the ships were The Pride of Baltimore II and the Lynx America's Privateer, also from Baltimore. It was a long way to go to see our home town ships. One day we drove up the Lake Superior shore northwest of Marquette. Our first stop was Sugarloaf Mountain. The views were great and we enjoyed some ripe blueberries growing on the summit. Then we continued up to Big Bay. There we first visited the Big Bay Point Lighthouse. It is no longer working and has been converted into a Bed and Breakfast. It is for sale so, if living in a lighthouse appeals to you, here's your chance. Finally, we visited Bay Cliff Camp where Al had been a camper when he was eight and then a counselor after he graduated from high school.
Gail and Al at the summit of Sugarloaf Mountain	Al at Bay Cliff Camp

On our way home from Big Bay, it rained very hard. We had left the windows and ceiling vents on the Moving House open. When we got home we found rain had come in the vents, wetting our bedding and the floors in the toilet and the living room. Another learning experience!

Now we returned to Wisconsin for a third time. We made the Pine Grove Campground west of Shawano our base for visiting with Bob and Lolly, and with Linda, and for visiting Bruce and Rae, and the EEA AirVentures. The campground was nice. We were under trees and our dining room window looked over a frog pond. But we were charged an extra fee for internet access, and the connection was reliable only when we were sitting on a patio in front of the campground office. This did not work very well when it was raining.

We had never been to EEA AirVenture in Oshkosh before. Gail had gone when it was in Rockford but that was decades earlier. The number of planes, both those on display and those owned by people who had flown in for the show, was amazing. We walked around the exhibits on a hot, sunny day. The fields were filled with privately-owned fighter jets, World War 2 bombers, many World War 2 fighters, home-built planes, vintage aircraft, DC3s, and so on. There were rows upon rows of nearly identical planes. Boeing's new 787 was on display the day we attended. Eventually heat and fatigue hit us and we retreated to the shade of the NewView hangers where we watched the afternoon airshow. NewView is near the end of one of the runways so when the 787 departed after the end of the airshow, it went right over our heads.

Al in front of the Boeing 787 engine	Rae, Gail and Al at NewView

A few airshow scenes

Replica 1911 Bleriot airmail plane	The Boeing 787 leaving Oshkosh

Gail and Al with Patty the Cub Froot Loops are the secret of a good relationship

Next we returned to Michigan, to a campground near Newberry. Here we visited a refuge for black bears, Oswalds bear farm. On a cool, breezy day we went to Whitefish Point where we walked along the beach and looked for birds. We saw cedar waxwings and gulls, sailboats, a freighter heading west and many interestingly colored or shaped pebbles. We skipped the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point because we had seen it when we stayed in Paradise in 2005. One day we visited Tahquamenon Falls State Park. First, we rowed a boat to the island between the different branches of the lower falls. Then we hiked to Clark Lake. The trail to the lake was relatively easy, but our progress was almost halted by the urge to harvest wild blue berries along the trail. We ate a late lunch at the Tahquamenon Brewery and Pub at the Upper Falls, and then saw the falls themselves. The water level was much lower than when we had seen them in May of 2005, but they were still impressive. They are the second largest falls east of the Mississippi. We saw no moose. The panorama below is of one side of the Lower Falls.

Gail and Al on the overlook at the Upper Falls	The Upper Tahquamenon Falls, 50 feet high and 200 wide

After Tahquamenon, we crossed the Mackinac Bridge and stopped in Empire, Michigan, to see our second National Lakeshore of the trip, Sleeping Bear Dunes. Once there, we climbed the Dune Climb until we could see Lake Michigan and Glen Lake from the same location. We hiked some trails and played in the Lake Michigan surf. We toured a small boat museum and a lighthouse museum.

Gail on the Dune Climb It is far easier to go down than up	Gail on the highest ridge Glen Lake is visible in the back Lake Michigan could be seen in opposite direction
450 feet above Lake Michigan Sleeping Bear Dune is visible in the background	Al and a large maple tree on the Bay View Trail

After Sleeping Bear Dunes, we started home. We took it easy, staying at Michigan's Mitchell State Park - which has a very nice nature trail - and a KOA campground southeast of Toledo.

Our last stop on the road was the first place we stopped, New Stanton, Pennsylvania. From there we visited two attractions: Fallingwater and Fort Necessity National Battlefield. Fallingwater is the most famous house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Fort Necessity and the nearby Jumonville Glen is where the first battles that led to the French and Indian War (in Europe, called the Seven Year War) were fought. A 22-year-old George Washington, later to become famous in the American Revolution, was the British commander in these engagements.

Gail at Fallingwater	Fallingwater and the Bear Run falls below it
Jumonville Glen British forces under George Washington defeated French here	Reproduction of Washington's Fort Necessity The French defeated the British here

Some Lighthouse Photos for Evan North

Lighthouse on Devils Island, Apostle Islands, Wisconsin	Lighthouse on Raspberry Island, Apostle Islands, Wisconsin
Big Bay Point Lighthouse, Michigan Now a Bed & Breakfast	Lighthouse at Whitefish Point, Michigan
Grand Traverse Lighthouse Leelanau State Park, Michigan	Lighthouse on South Manitou Island Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan Seen from the mainland, 10 miles away

Closing

We survived sixty-one days on the road, camping at seventeen locations. We pulled the trailer about 3,660 miles and we drove the pickup another 2,540 miles in local travel and side trips. We did not break any major items on the Moving Home or the pickup. We learned a lot, including to pay attention to the check list when doing something.

We did not visit a truck wash - though our rig needed one after Moorhead. We have yet to use the oven in our range. The internet connections were not as reliable, fast or convenient as we wanted. We were able to hear Morning Edition and All Things Considered at nearly every place we stayed.

We are glad to have had the opportunity to visit with Bernice and Ron, with Gail and Don, with Jim, Nancy, Wes and Julie, with Millie, with George and Debbie, with Maija, with Edith, with Guy, Sherry, Niki and Troy, with Bill, Julie and Kathy, with Jim and Eleanor, with Wayne, Terri, and Katie, with Val, Sherry, Wayne and the others at James Lake, with Margee and Jim, with Harold and Marcia (he's still going strong at 91), with Carl and Ruth Ann, with Bob and Lolly, with Linda, with Rae and Bruce, their children and Darlene, and with Charlie. We also enjoyed talking with a lot of other campers on the way.

In our journey, there were locations we failed to stop at, attractions we did not see, people we did not visit. Opportunities for the future.