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…

Where’s the Cool?

Odanah, WI - June 29, 2012 Our current location.

We are now further north than our intended destination in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and it’s still not cool.  Although we shouldn’t complain too much as the predicted high for today is 85 degrees. 

Wednesday we left Wabasah, MN and continued up the Mississippi River through Lake City and Redwing.  We explored Lake City and found a bar and grille claiming to have the best hamburgers west of the Mississippi.  I asked the bartender if that meant the best between here and the Pacific Ocean or here and maybe 2 or 3 blocks west of the Mississippi?  The bartender answered with “Why don’t we just say they’re the best burgers in Lake City.”  With such honesty, how could we not order a burger?  It turns out the meat is butchered and prepared in a local meat market and the beers were ice cold and only 75 cents for a 12 ounce draft.  While that was the only place we ate in Lake City, any other burger would have a ways to go to beat this one.

We just drove through Red Wing as we had gotten a late start out of Wabasha and we were trying to get to Turtle Lake, WI which was about 104 miles away.  Turtle Lake City campground had electric hookups which was a necessity since it the temperatures were on the rise again.  We had enjoyed sleeping with the windows open for the last few nights, but that’s over for now with this new heat wave rolling through.

The Turtle Lake City campground has 6 paved rv pads nestled under a canopy of trees and is part of a larger park. There were 3 other rvs there when we arrived.

For a city of only 1065 people, the park is certainly well used.  While we were there we saw staff meetings, cheerleader practice, what appeared to be a children’s exercise class, and lots of folks taking lunch breaks.

Since we had put in an “exhausting” 104 mile day yesterday we decided we needed a down day to relax and get caught up on some chores.  EJ immersed herself in paperwork and I started installing some of Big Guys replacement parts that we had purchased in Forest City at the Winnebago factory.  So Big Guy now has a new passenger side wiper arm assembly, new seals around the entry door and a new receiver for the windshield lower trim piece.  The wiper arm assembly on EJs side decided to self destruct back in Georgia on the way to Blue Ridge and was being held together with zip ties.  The rubber seals around the door had been chewed up by the door being out of adjustment and the rubber trim at the bottom of the windshield was loose and flopping up and down as we went down the road.

There is always something to repair if you own and use an rv. Someone once said it’s like owning a house that’s in a constant earthquake.  Eventually something is going to break or shake loose.

After hanging around camp all day, we needed to get some exercise so EJ suggested we walk over to the St. Croix Casino we had passed on our way into town.  I’m not much for gambling, but EJ always seems to come out ahead. The casino will send out a bus to pick you up, but considering our bout of inactivity we needed the walk.  After about an hour at the casino, EJ finally talked me into putting some money into the slot machines and it didn’t turn out too bad.  We each walked away with a couple of extra bucks in our pockets and the smell of cigarette smoke in our clothes.

On Friday, we took another walk to The New Frontier Restaurant for breakfast.  We got there just in time too, because they stop making pancakes at 11am.  After lunch we wandered next door to a gift/trinket shop that just happened to have a wine tasting that started at noon.  Naturally we had to hang around for that. And believe it or not, one of the featured wines was a Moscato.  For a wine that no one had heard of 2 or 3 years ago, that stuff is everywhere now.  Once we had sampled all of the wines we went next door to indulge ourselves in our first Wisconsin cheese experience.

Are you beginning to see why traveling 100 to 150 miles in one day is not easy?  We finally broke camp to begin todays journey, but after about 30 minutes we stopped at the cheese factory in Comstock, WI for some more varieties of cheese.

Then, about 30 minutes further, it was time to stop at a McDonalds for coffee to fight off the afternoon drowsiness.  In town we saw this creative use of a small propane tank.

Next there was another stop to see the “World’s largest collection of wood carvings by one man”.  It was not what we expected, but we were impressed as the carver, Joseph Barta, had devoted much of his career to creating the story of Jesus in life size renderings. The Last Supper was amazing.

That was finally our last diversion and we now had our sights on finding a night camp. Using MS Streets and Trips and our Days End guide we decided to zero in on a free camp spot at the Bad River Lodge and Casino.  The important thing was it had electric hookups because it’s still hot.

Upon arrival, we saw that the electric and water connections had locks on them. Turns out back in April they started charging to hook-up. Now we had to register and pay to stay here.  So they had us, at least for one night.

Our route to date…

We've Been Spammed!

Wabasha, MN -  June 25 and 26, 2012 Our current location.


That's right, I finally got to see the Hormel SPAM Museum in Austin, MN on Monday.  And guess what?  It's not mystery meat, it's pork!  And who knew how many varieties and flavors they come in. They even gave out free samples which were pretty tasty because either they were good or we were really hungry.  Our samples were SPAM and cheese on a pretzel stick. The last picture is made of all SPAM cans.



EJ tried working on a virtual canning line and while she made 1 can of SPAM the factory made 116. She did hers in about 5 seconds and I knew I couldn't top that so I didn't even try. All in all it was a pretty interesting place. The Hormel history and products they create are a testament to American ingenuity and adaptability.


Laundry had become a high priority since our underwear drawers were approaching empty. We found a nearly deserted shopping center that had a real nice Laundromat and set up an afternoon camp next door. It turns out the laundry was a popular place and by the time we left it was getting pretty crowded. It was an interesting set up. The washers were 2, load, 4 load or 6 load.  There were no single load machines.
Then we were off to Rochester, MN home of the Mayo Clinic.  I had made an appointment at the Caterpillar Dealer to have Big Guy's engine checked, and we wanted to be in place for when they open at 7am.

After checking out a truck stop (no space available) and asking at a big store named Fleet Farm, we struck out for a place to spend the night.

We unhooked Ele’ and headed for the Fedex office at the airport to try to package and send Jim & Shelley’s “special find” we bought in Clear Lake, IA. It was an interesting challenge and the lady at the desk just kept shaking her head.

While on our way back to BG, we went by the Caterpillar Shop to be able to find it in the morning. It was open late so we stopped in and explained to them how cool the engine would be if we didn't have to drive Big Guy in the morning before they worked on it.  They agreed and said it was OK to spend the night in their parking lot. So we went and got BG and back to Cat for the night.


Tuesday morning we were up bright and early, 6am, thanks to a delivery truck and a fork lift scurrying around unloading and staging boxes in the parking lot.  Just as well, I wanted to be ready as soon as they open. EJ was still half asleep while we readied Big Guy inside and out thinking we would have to pack up the cats and be gone most of the day.  They started working on Big Guy at 7:30 and by 8:10am they handed me the bill. Wow!  In my whole career I never made that much per hour.  But I guess it's all about knowing how big a hammer to use and where to use it.


They checked over the engine wiring harness and found no shorts or loose connections so they replaced the turbo boost pressure sensor.  They were surprised the shop in San Angelo didn't replace the sensor since it is the most common remedy for the problem we were experiencing.

We hadn’t had time for breakfast and were still in shock that we were free to go. We heard McDonalds calling so off we go in search of the closest one.  Along the way we parked Big Guy near a Lowes Store and found a movie theater.  At McDonalds we enjoyed our pancakes, eggs, sausage and hash browns while using their internet.


We checked the listings for the movie theater we had passed and decided to hit the 11:05am matinee for MIB3.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and actually felt a little guilty.  It was almost like we were goofing off in the middle of the day.  As for the movie, no sequel is ever as good as the original, but this one was still very funny and explained so much about questions we didn't know we had.
Then we hooked Ele’ up to Big Guy and took the route through town to see the "giant ear of corn" water tower. Frank uses www.roadsideamerica.com to find all sorts of unique items to see on our travels (i.e biggest ball of yarn, largest frying pan, etc.)




I didn't bother programming the GPS as we were only going about 50 miles.  How hard can that be?  EJ had the PC all set up with the route on it, but I have trouble seeing it sometimes because of the glare.  Besides she's the official navigator and she can see it just fine.

After we got through Austin on SR 14, EJ went back to the galley to make sandwiches and she left explicit instructions for me not to miss hiway 42. Well, between all the traffic, the plethora of signs and just general confusion, I never even saw a sign for 42. When EJ returned to the front with the sandwiches she calmly informed me that I had missed my turn.  Next stop was the Mississippi River unless we found a way to turn around. We managed to reverse our course and we’re off to our next destination, Wabasha, MN.


The Days End guide described a large parking area next to the City Park where we could stay for free up to 72 hours.  There are no hookups, but it's getting down into the low 60's at night, so sleeping without air conditioning is not a problem.

When we arrived, we found a spot in a fairly deserted area of the lot and set up camp. Even after a grueling fifty miles, we still had some energy left and decided to wander around town and see the sights.  Unfortunately for EJ, most of the arts and crafts stores were closed on Tuesday, but we did see the National Eagle Center, Slippery's bar (in the movie Grumpy Old Men) and walked along the Mississippi River.

We decided it was time to call it a day and went back to Big Guy to relax. We got out the camp chairs, opened a bottle of wine and proceeded to enjoy the quiet outdoors.

Then the volley teams started to show up.  The deserted area we had parked in was next to the volley ball courts.  There was grass growing in the courts so we thought they weren't being used.  We counted 7 courts in use and about 50 cars in attendance.  Every time a car would drive by to park, the driver would whip their head around in surprise at seeing someone sitting outside the RV in their parking lot.

We enjoyed the games and by 9:30pm it was finally too dark to play anymore and the last team left.

The Dreaded Orange Light is Back

Austin, MN June 24, 2012    Our map location.

We caught up on some paperwork yesterday morning and worked on the blog some before breaking camp at about 2:30. The motorhomes were rolling in right and left and we decided we better free up our spot so someone else could have a place to park. We needed to dump our tanks and fill with fresh water so we went across the hiway to the Winnebago Itasca Rally Park. This park is the gathering place of the annual Grand National Rally,in July for 6 days, where about 1,600 Winnebago Itasca owners gather gather to attend seminars, have work done on their rvs and generally have a good time.



The camping options didn't look too good at our intended destination so we decided to see if a casino on our route had any RV hookups. It didn't, but there sure was a mess of gamblers.  The parking lot was almost full.

The reason we're looking for hookups is that it is still hot and it had been more expensive to run the generator all night than to pay for a campsite.  We called several campgrounds around Austin, MN and although they had hookups and space for us, they were pretty pricy for just over night parking.  We ran the numbers and figured it would be cheaper to run the generator than pay the excessive prices the campgrounds around Austin are asking. Maybe I'm just grousing because I had gotten used to paying $10 or $12 dollars a night in Iowa.

The dreaded check engine light is back again.  We limped the last 20 miles into Austin where we set up night camp at Walmart. Research on the Internet suggests the problem might be caused by anything from a loose connection to a bad turbo charger. I'm just guessing at the error since I don't have a way to read obdc codes from a diesel engine. I'm assuming it's the same code we had read at the Freightliner dealer in San Angelo, TX that was supposedly fixed. The nearest shop that can work on it is 60 miles away in Rochester, MN so I'll call them tomorrow and see when they can work us in.

Meanwhile, the SPAM Museum is on the agenda for tomorrow. Sam I Am promotes “Green eggs and ham”, I say why not “Green eggs and Spam”?