Monday, July 30, 2018

Too Big Breakfast of the Week

I've been in Michigan's Upper Peninsula for the last ten days or so enjoying not being in the Southwest's triple digit temperatures.  Here in Pickford it gets to the low 80's in the day and the low 50's at night -- great sleeping weather!  Whenever I camp in Pickford I eat one (and only one) breakfast at Big D's Diner.  Why only once?  Check out the portions.

Big D's Southern omelette.  I couldn't finish it.

I also got to attend another Spartan wedding this month.  My lovely niece Rachel got married on the Spartan campus and my daughter and I had a great time at the reception at MSU's Kellogg Center.

Two lovelies.  My daughter Nickelle (L) and cousin Rachel (R).


Got a blogging enhancement coming (foreshadowing) that I'll intro in my next post.

Thanks for reading!

Friday, July 20, 2018

Solar Water

One of the few quibbles I have regarding the Mini is a problem with the water heater.  When I have hookups the electric side of the heater works great, heating 6 gallons of water quickly.  My problem is the propane side of the heater, it worked originally but doesn't anymore.  Don't know if I managed to crimp the propane line going to it or what and it's such a small problem it wasn't worth dragging the Mini back to Ohio to the dealer to get warranty work done on it.  Plus they'd probably  keep the Mini for a few days so I'd get to pay for staying in a motel during that time.  So I researched solar water heaters and found this one:

It works for the same reason you don't wear black on a hot sunny day.

You pour about a gallon or so of water into it then set it in the sun (here it's on the hot hood of the pickup) and about 3 hours later you have water that's up to 120 degrees.  I touched the bag to determine when it'd be comfortable to shower with then took it onto the Mini's shower and had a decent shower!  I only used about half the water in the bag.  Simple and effective, just like me!  Beats driving to Ohio!

I got back to my campsite in the Lake Michigan Rec area as quick as I could and, fortunately it was unoccupied so I jumped on it.

"My" campsite!


Why keep coming back to the same site?

Hard to beat this backyard!

No mosquitoes (surprisingly), great hiking, almost ideal temps, almost total quiet (except for birds), usable Verizon (with a cell booster) oh, and it's free for up to 14 days!

This was my second stretch at the site this summer and I'm not ruling out a third!

Thanks for reading!

Wednesday, July 4, 2018

Happy 242nd, America

A nice big steak to celebrate the 4th in the Manistee National Forest!

Got my work cut out for me.

I'll need more than my usual hike along Greens Road to burn these calories!

Shady Greens Road.

Have a Great 4th!

Thanks for reading!