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| Perry's Peace Monument |
Harry intends on getting lots of use out of the spiffy new
electric fold up bikes that replaced the little fold up bikes he sold down in
Florida. We folded them and packed
them into the cavernous back area of the minivan and headed east to the shores
of Lake Erie and the passenger ferry that hauls people and cars from the
mainland out to the popular tourist island of South Bass Island where the
Perry’s Victory and International Peace Monument anchors the center of the 3
mile long island.
The 325 ft tall monument honors the battle of 1812 in Lake
Erie. It has just been refurbished and
is now back open to visitors on the
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| View from the TOP! |
bustling weekend tourist town of Put In
Bay! We left our bikes at the base of
the towering granite column and climbed the allowed portion and then safely
finished the trip to the observation deck at the top via the air-conditioned
elevator! The views in each direction
were stunning in the calm noonday sun!
Since it was still early in the season the harbor was almost void of
pleasure boats that would soon be moored off of each other in their quest to
reach the land and local eateries and bars.
Put In Bay is known for it’s partying crowds on the weekend! The streets will be full of bikes and rental
golf carts! Now, from high atop the monument
– the quiet scene below looked almost serene.
Up and around the rolling hills and back roads, our trusty
steeds carried us along – sometimes under our own power and sometimes not! A stop to check out the island’s state park
campground and launch area gave us a cool spot to soak in the rocky cliffs that
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| View from South Bass State Park |
encircle this historic island. Our last
stop was to visit the South Bass Island Lighthouse that was built in 1893 and
is on the southern tip of the island.
It is the only lighthouse owned by a university! Yes – the Ohio State University. Our return ferry ride was shared with a
group of zealous and tired school kids but our new bikes
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| 1893 South Bass Lighthouse |
passed them up as we
cranked the throttle and sped quickly up the steep drive and headed for the van
once the ferry was back to the mainland!
The gardens are well and the grass is mowed. The boat has been in several lakes and
several fish are now in the freezer.
H’s doctor appointments are behind him and our next trip is in
front!
As our usual summer trip planning goes, the direction dial
is ALWAYS set to due north! The “train”
has 4 new, AMERICAN made, 10 ply tires (instead of 8 ply), new brakes and new
equalizer bars on both axles. My
beloved 12 yr old Chrysler Town & Country minivan has been replaced with a
2019 Jeep Cherokee Latitude PLUS! This
cute little granite colored vehicle will do most everything except the
dishes! It has a huge front to back
sunroof (for me!) and the 4x4 tow package (obviously for him!). The back-up camera and braking system is
taking a bit to get used to. Ask H how
much fun it was to try and back the Jeep up to hook up the boat trailer! It wouldn’t let him! And how fun it was trying to back that
trailer into the garage - - with the parking assist turned on! This frustrated
little car didn’t want H to back into the trailer - that was attached to its
own back bumper!! Thankfully H found
the button on the dash that turns that off!
So now we are ready to go north!
SPMB - See Previous Michigan Blogs! Our trip to the North Country is normally up
Rt 52, breakfast in Chelsea or Owosso and a jaunt over to Rt 127. Breakfast was in Chelsea but this time we
headed straight north out of Owosso –staying on Rt 52. H is pulling the “train” and me ‘n the
little Jeep, pulling the Tracker fishing boat - are following behind. Our own little parade! About 4 miles north of town, smoke begins
to billow out from the right
rear corner of the train. Grabbing the walkie-talkie, I yell into it
to pull over NOW – there’s smoke!
Scenes of a similar incident with the Rockwood Trailer, on top of a
mountain in North Carolina, filled my mind!
The blowout on the new tire was caught in time to avoid further damage
to the heavy trailer that it was supporting!
I’ll now give a plug to the emergency road service of Safeco Insurance
Company since they quickly found a serviceman who came to our rescue. He got us back on the road soon after the
spare tire was secured in place of the damaged tire - that had a
chunk of metal
gouged into its tread. Our trip was
further hindered by road closures and bad back road detours but our first
nights rest was in the lovely St Louis Church of God Campground, just east of
the tiny town by the same name! Up and
out early Sunday morning, we cruised up Rt 127 and then melted into traffic on
always busy I 75!
Camp Petosega is now our home for the next 2
weeks! Site #62 is mostly shaded and
only a short walk thru the woods to the always clean bathhouse! The weekenders have now gone to their
respective homes and jobs and we are left with the peaceful beautiful scenery
and the music of the many birds that sing us (ME) awake each morning! The boat has been in 3 lakes so far –
Pickerel, Crooked and Burt Lakes. No fish have been injured in any of these
ventures as of yet. Darn. Soon tho!
