The Water Pump - AGAIN!

 Odanah, WI - June 29 to July 2, 2012. Our current location

We decided to extend our stay here at the Bad River Lodge and Casino to a total of 4 days.  It turns out that there is an overabundance of things to do and see in the area. And, we did good enough on the slot machines in the Casino our first night there,that we earned enough to pay for a nights stay.
On Saturday we drove into Ashland, WI to check out the Northern Lakes Visitor Center and get some information about the area.



This is where we found out that most of the area is marshy and not very good for farming. But the fishing and mining opportunities make up for it. Frank also got to meet a celebrity.



There are a series of 10 murals throughout the city and we found most of them.  Some of these murals are a block long and difficult to capture on camera.

We also found the only brewery in town and just had to check it out.

On Sunday the sky was clear and the temperatures were supposed to get up into the mid 80s so we decided it was time to seek some waterfalls. Off to Cooper Falls State Park we went to go hiking.


We paid $10 for the privilege of parking our car on park property.  The hike was on a well maintained trail where we got to see Brownstone Falls, Copper Falls and the Cascades. The water is a “root beer” color due to tannin.


     
In one spot where we got off to go feel the water (Yup!  Water's still wet and cold.) we almost ran head on into a deer.  The deer didn't seem to be the least bit concerned and we froze in our tracks until it wandered off.


As a reward after the hike we had to stop at the concession stand and get a scoop of Butter Pecan and and a scoop of Moose Tracks ice cream. Can't deplete the calorie reserve too much.

It was mid afternoon by the this time so we thought another falls hike was in order.  This was a real obscure location and thankfully we had really good instructions on how to find it. And what did we find after we arrived?  Another pay parking lot, miles from any civilization, in the middle of the forest.  Thankfully they accepted our Interagency Pass. This hike was marred by murderous deer flies that were a constant irritant along the entire hike to and from the falls. But, still, it was good to be in the woods.




This last hike convinced us to make a stop by Walmart to pick up a pair of mosquito nets to wear over our heads.  That should take care of the little buggers.

On the way back to Bad River Casino and Lodge, EJ convinced me it was time for a hair cut.  Apparently I was getting a little bushy and my upper lip had disappeared.  When we arrived back at Big Guy, I saw water all around and remarked that it must have rained while we were gone.  WRONG!!

We unloaded the car and went inside, turned on the water and nothing. We both thought, not again, we just replaced the pump less than three weeks ago. We checked the level of the water and it showed empty. It turned out that the entire contents of our nearly full fresh water tank is what we saw in the parking lot. Since the tank was now dry as a bone and wasn’t going to leak anymore and since my hair wasn’t getting any shorter,  EJ brought out the clippers. I got the extension cord and chair and she proceeded to cut my hair for about 60 seconds.  Then the electric clippers decided to go belly up and refused to work anymore.  Hmmm.  What else will go wrong?  She managed to finish my haircut using scissors and it looks pretty good.  However, that is not her preferred mode of doing the job. Another project for Frank, or a trip to Walmart?

Then I dug into the cause of the empty water tank and found that the ShurFlo water pump had developed a crack in the impeller housing on the discharge side. This caused the pump to sense a drop in pressure and it tried to build up pressure to compensate and pumped the fresh water tank dry. Needless to say we had a mess in that bay and lots of drying out to do.


We had originally planned on spending Monday touring Bayfield and hiking out to see some sea caves on the Lake Superior shore.  However those plans needed to be altered so we could procure a replacement fresh water pump.  So instead we did a brief tour of Bayfield and drove up to Sand Bay. We we had a great conversation with an Apostle Island National Park Volunteer who gave us some ideas about places to visit in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia.  The other really neat thing about Sand Bay was that the wind was blowing in off of Lake Superior and the temperatures were in the mid 70s.  NICE!


But the main focus of the day was getting to the far side of Duluth, MN to get that water pump, a distance of about 90 miles.  The drive was fairly uneventful until we got to the point of trying to cross the St. Louis River. The Garmin GPS kept trying to route us over the I535 bridge but it was closed.  We found an alternate route over the river but not without numerous protests from the GPS.


We arrived at Bullyan RV and they were ready for us.  They had already called ShurFlo and were ready to swap our bad water pump for a new one. Just so y'all don't worry, we now have a brand new spare in reserve, plus the old original pump that still works at about half pressure.  So  when this new one fails we have two backups.

Stopped in Ashland to fill up and were surprised to find Diesel prices a nickel less than regular. That was a first and of course we were in the Element, so we needed regular!



On the way back we drove past a place that had chainsaw wood carvings and made a quick u-turn to take a closer look. There were carvings of eagles, seals, bears, roman warriors, and even a sasquatch. Really nice work and incredible detail.



We got back to Big Guy about 8:30pm and the girls (Taz and Mocha) were quite unhappy because their dinner was an hour and a half late.  EJ and I had a quick bite and then headed over to the Casino to see if we could make enough to pay for the nights camping fee.

Our route to date…