Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Ashland and Boondocking and beyond


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Ice Cream at Buddies!
We stopped in Ashland, WI for a bike ride around the waterfront and town.  I love the riding, everything we've done is reasonably flat, we ride as long or short as we want, we see historic towns, lake views, and places we don't see from the rig.  The BEST part about this stop was BUDDIES, a little eatery on Main St.  A small cone ($2.50) consisted of more than a pint of good ice cream packed firmly down in a full size waffle cone. We each had one about 4:00 and really didn't need dinner.  One of those spectacular finds!

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Boondocking at Barb and Don's
A few months ago I had signed up with an organization called Boondocking.  For $30/year you get online access to 1000's of RVers who offer up a parking space on their property for free!  All you do is contact them via email a few days (or more) ahead of when you will be arriving.  If it is convenient for them, they give you the address and off you go!  We did our first boondocking in Park Falls, WI on Aug. 22.  I talked to Barb on the  phone, we drove there, backed into her driveway, plugged into their power and WIFI, chatted and went to bed.  They left early the next morning so we slept in, Thayer did some more work(!), and I rode my bike around town and did some thrift store shopping.  I have contacted a few other possible boondockers down the road, it is nice to have a place to stay and it's a fun way to meet people.  It's also a good way to get that valuable local knowledge. There are boondocker opportunities in every state (except ND, SD) and quite a few in Canada. 
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Lake of the Clouds- Porcupine Mtn. Wilderness SP
 After checking the tires and plumping them up, we actually did some driving and drove to Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, located at the base of the Keweenaw Peninsula on Lake Superior.  We got there in the nick of time to check into the visitor center to buy an annual State Park Pass for Michigan.  Then we drove up   to the "Lake of the Clouds" overlook on the lake side of the park.  PMWSP is the largest state park in Michigan, it almost grew up to be a National Park.  It has a very interesting geology and I'll make you look at some rock pictures to prove it in my next post.  As evening came, we watched the sun set in a flaming puddle of light in the lake.  We found a nice pullout on the boundary road for the night, dang moon was so bright I had to wear my eyeshades.
sunset over Superior
happy campers

3 comments:

  1. I must join Boondockers. Do you have to own an RV? I went kayaking in a canyon outside of Ogden today and then we went to a concert. It got rainy so we came home. We are back to the Payette to see Stu next weekend. We camped in Albion Basin a week ago, what a great place and so close. I have never done that before. Drive safe, I do love the blog!

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  2. Thanks Bar, to take advantage of Boondockers you must be self contained, toilet, water...you are basically dry camping in someone's yard. You could join and be a host however, meet folks from all over.

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  3. What a gorgeous sun set!!!

    Barbara ... I am a member of Boondockers Welcome in Niagara Falls, Canada. Meet Thayer & Jill here. It's a great way to travel and meet new people. I've used it myself now half a dozen times and have have 7 DBW guests stay at my place this summer.

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