Saturday, August 12, 2006
We spent the night in Jackson, Michigan (near Kalamazoo and Battle Creek) at a monstrous RV park called Greenwood Acres http://www.greenwoodacrescampground.com/ There are 1080 spaces and it looks like they are all filled. It’s a pretty terrible thing. A huge pasture, a few trees and rows and rows of trailers. Along the way we found that we like to be able to hook up to power, water, cable etc.
We are traveling, not camping, but this is too much. It’s bigger that most towns we’ve seen since we left. Michigan, itself, is weird as well. We have a Woodall’s Campground Directory and have been using it across the country to find places to stay. We have been able to use it to drive right to the driveway of the campground in America…except in Michigan. They are very vague. We had been trying to see Lake Michigan, the Great Lake but can’t 
get anywhere near it. I guess we were near it but we couldn’t see it. It appears to be all State Parks but they won’t even let us go in with dogs. The highway system is unreal. Here is an example: We are trying to go east on 94. We are driving south down Sprinkle Dr. We know that there is a good chance to get on the freeway east we will have to go left. 3 blocks before the actual highway there is a sign saying 94 east & west turn right. So we begin to try and get over, everyone is mad at us. Fairly heavy traffic, much more than we are used to and in a 23ft motorhome. When we signal everyone gets in that lane and rushes around us. We get over and turn right. 1 Block down a sign says 94 east and west left. It wants us to make a U-turn and go across Sprinkle Dr. and continue on the wrong way. Probably just to make a U-turn again later. Instead we go right on Sprinkle Dr. go down 3 blocks, ignoring wrong signs all the way, turn left and get on 94 heading east. East 94 is like a dirt road paved as are many roads this direction. If it weren’t for Paige’s friend Jodi we would head south. In spite of all of the trouble we are having fun and are in good spirits. We have been driving a lot the last few days, even if it’s in circles, and the dogs are tired. Toward the end of the day Loki looks tired and his
eyes plead us to stop. He doesn’t sleep well as we drive because it’s so bumpy and noisy. Travel makes them very thirsty and we all pretty much drink bottled water. We read that tip in a RV book because even though the water at RV parks is drinkable, the mineral content varies and can upset digestive systems. They said traveling with a dog with a sick dog is unpleasant, 2 would be unbearable. So it’s bottled water all around. The weather here is very pleasant. Sunny and cool. We can’t get internet or television here so all we know about the weather is sunny and cool. We are looking forward to heading south. We don’t think we’ll be trying too many more touristy things in the east this trip. The Woodall’s Guide I was talking about before is indispensable. We can search for places to stay before we get there and know what sort of hookups and amenities are available as well as pricing etc. Another great guide we have is The Next Exit which tells us, by exit #, what food, gas, shopping is available. Both of these make traveling easier. It’s about time to trade in the Woodall’s North American Campground Guide for a Woodall’s Eastern Campground Guide. Today we are going to skirt both Detroit and Flint, Michigan and end up in Lake Orion, MI.
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