First Trip Review

The Carpe Diem's first road trip is in the books!  We had an awesome time; we camped a total of 9 nights, traveled over 2,300 miles through five states and two countries!  In a very roundabout way, we made a loop around Lake Michigan.

We learned about how narrow the turning radius is with the basket on the front of the teardrop. Thankfully, the bumper that I damaged pretty significantly at first glance, literally popped back into place after about 45 minutes.  I don't know how it did it, but the plastic coating was all that was 'damaged' on the car.  It returned to its proper place and you would never know that it had been damaged by me turning too tightly.  Adding the 12" extension made a monumental difference.  It is now so much easier to maneuver the teardrop. We learned how important it is to check that the coupler has completely latched onto the tow ball.  Thankfully, we learned this lesson on a backcountry road away from heavy traffic.

Kenosha to Sugar Island.

Sugar Island to Agawa Bay, Ontario and then further north to Wawa, Ontario.

Back to Sugar Island and then onward to Powell and Columbus, Ohio.

From there we went back to Powell, then to Granville and finally to Athens, Ohio.

Then it was time to close the loop and head home.

Google has us at about 1,950 miles, but in fact, we put on just over 2,300 miles in all.

We had one major repair; the caulking and repairing of the area under the doors where lots and lots of rain got into the cabin.  The 'fix' never really properly set up and in fact, we had more rain on the return trip.  Not to worry, we removed everything, yet again and are currently drying out the teardrop.  When it is dry, we'll re-caulk, add a rubber barrier along the seam and try it all over again!

All in all it was a very successful road trip!  We learned a lot about what we want to add to the teardrop and tiny adjustments we will make to make the Carpe Diem even better!

The Carpe Diem Visits Ohio University and Narrowly Averts Catastrophe!

Both my beautiful wife and I attended The Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.  It is in fact, the place we met and fell in love.  It was quite fitting then that the last 'leg' of our first trip in the Carpe Diem go through there.   

The Carpe Diem at the College Gate in Athens, Ohio.

Before we get there, we need to catch up a little on the trip since the last update.  We loaded up and headed to Granville, OH where our good friends Mike and Christina were in town to visit their family.  We met them for a nice brunch at a place called Day y Noche.

Mike and I with the Carpe Diem.

After a great visit with them, we dropped them off at Mike's parent's home.  We were able to see his Mom and Dad too.  I was very close to them too.  

Erica and I turned towards Athens and things were looking well.  Then, near disaster struck.  We were on one of the many small roads that lead towards Athens.  We heard a loud plunk and then the sound of metal scraping across concrete/gravel.  I was able to quickly check to be sure that it was safe to pull over.  I did so and we carefully got out to take stock of what happened.  The tongue of the trailer popped off the tow ball.  Thankfully the safety chains held, the tongue of the trailer actually rode up onto the basket on the front of the trailer.  If we had been on a larger road, or going faster, things might not have turned out as well.  

The basket took a little bit of a hit; nothing a sledge hammer can't fix.

I learned to pull up on the tongue to make sure it has properly latched! 

The road rubbed the tongue a bit, but nothing a little Rustoleum can't fix.  

We took a huge breath, hugged each other and counted our blessings.  We started back towards Athens.  The rain had held off all morning, but it started again along the way.  Almost everything had changed.  Even the freeways were different; the small towns of Lancaster and Nelsonville had bypasses which were terrific for travel, but I'm not sure they will be good for the small businesses in those towns.  We made it to Athens and went to The Strouds Run State Park.  Neither of us had camped there before and mid July, during the week, is apparently the least visited time in the park.  In fact, we were the only people in the park.  It rained almost all evening and into the night.  Something was going on with our battery and it did not fully charge while we were in Powell.  So, the hot and humid weather, and the relentless rain made for a less than perfect night of sleep.  Well, that and the fact that we were the only people in the entire park, in the middle of Appalachia, without any cell service... Nonetheless, we made it and here is the view we had when we woke up this morning.

Here was our campsite.

I love the panoramic feature on the iPhone!

We hitched up and headed back to Athens.  We thought that early morning would be a good time to try to take the photo of the Carpe Diem at the top of this post.  Then, we headed north to pick up the kids.

My parents and my nephew with my kiddos!

The skies looked ominous as we started toward home.  About half way home the skies opened up.  We stopped for gas and I checked on the teardrop.  I was not happy to see a white, milky-type substance dripping from the front of the teardrop.  The caulk was clearly not dry and it was obviously not reacting well to the pounding rain.  I decided to not think about it and deal with it when we finally got home.  

The arch at the border of Ohio and Indiana; a brief respite from the rain.

About five hours later, we pulled into our driveway.  The kids were great; they jumped out and started clearing out the car and the teardrop like a pit crew at the Indianapolis 500!  A little while later, we had the teardrop on the concrete patio, the luggage and laundry emptied and were ready to assess the damage from the rain.

The aluminum 'drip guard' that we had glued in place came off again.  Thankfully, it fell into the basket again and we were able to retrieve it.  One corner started peeling away a bit.  We'll need to re-glue that corner once everything has dried out.

All our gear washed and ready to dry.

The sheet of linoleum on the back of the teardrop drying after being washed of the liquified caulk.  We put the EZ Up overt the teardrop so that we could let everything dry.  Once it does, we'll start all over with the caulking process.  Hopefully we'll get a stretch of dry weather.  We were all very happy to shower and head to a much needed night of rest.  It was a terrific trip, but we are all glad to be back!

Canda: Day Three

When we went to bed last night, we had made a plan.  We would wake early, make hot coffee, jump in Lake Superior and then come back and enjoy the coffee as the foggy morning cleared.  Finally, we'd pack up and head back to America.

This is a panorama of what the lake looked like when we woke.  Slightly foggy, smooth as glass and very, very peaceful.

This is us, before we jumped in the lake.

This is us afterward!

It was so incredibly cold that when in dove in, I literally could not breathe.  Erica was ready to keep swimming, but I was immediately moving toward the shore.  I have always wondered how it felt when people did the polar plunge.  This wasn't even frozen, but it surely was cold.  I just checked the temperatures and it appears that the water temperature was in the low 50's.  Can't imagine the shock one's body must go into when falling into a frozen lake.

We started a tradition.  We want to take a photo of the teardrop at each of our campsites near some sort of sign.  Agawa Bay sure was a terrific place to have our first outing.  

We did a little shopping for souvenirs; sadly, we ended up finding our items in the duty free shop.

Welcome to the United States!  We entered on the fourth of July.  Thankfully, the border was not crowded. A short while after crossing the bridge we were at the crossing point.  The U.S. agent must having a very good day because our conversation went something like this: 

"...Is that a home made trailer?"

"No, I restored it.  It is a 1947."

"You two must get along pretty well to sleep in that thing."

"Yes sir, we do."

"Between the two of you, you have one correct passport."

"Excuse me?"

"Erica needs to sign hers, and Todd needs a new one.  It expired in February."

"Oh my goodness, I did not realize."

"Have a good day."

"Happy Fourth of July!"

With that, we were back to America.  Phew!

We made one significant purchase in Canada.  We purchased a EZ Up Shelter that came with the screens for all four sides.  We put it up yesterday evening to test it out while we are camping here at the island a couple of more days.  It went up quickly and simply.  The screens clipped on in minutes and we now have a 100 square foot addition to our teardrop.  We can put it next to the teardrop as you see here, or we could even put it over the teardrop to provide maximum protection.  I could imagine a really hot night where we left the doors open with the shelter/screens over the teardrop.  Hopefully we'll never have that yucky of a day to deal with, but now we have some alternatives.  As it is right now, the one side unzips to reveal an opening for the door.  We are thinking that the kids might end up sleeping in the screened portion.  We may add one or two 'privacy walls,' in the future.  This will truly extend our living space.  It was a good purchase.

Canada: Day Two

 Canada: Day Two

We woke sort of late today.  Enjoyed some blueberry muffins and coffee and then decided to go north to Wawa.  This is interesting in that many years ago when I would go fishing in northern Canada, we would fly out of Wawa on float planes called Otters.  They would take us an hour or so north of Wawa into remote areas, usually with no electricity, running water or other conveniences.  We would have to bring in all our own water, food, etc.  The only compensation for all the craziness it took to get there was that we almost always did very well with the fish.

Just one short fish story; I was with my father-in-law one late evening when he hooked into a large Northern Pike.  The rules of a small boat are simple.  If one of the fishermen gets a fish on, the other pulls in their pole down and gets the net to help bring in the devil fish.  I call them that because they have massive teeth, huge mouths and they fight like crazy once they 'see' you.  My father-in-law was pulling this beast toward the boat when I caught sight of it.  It was a decent fish; I would say about three feet long.  The water in the area we fished was crystal clear.  As the fish got about five feet below the boat, I saw an iridescent flash below the fish.  The next thing I know, I was face to face with the mouth of another fish, probably a gargantuan Muskie.  This beast had seen the Pike struggling and had lashed out at it.  It bit it square in the back and the moment he did that, my father-in-law's pole nearly snapped with the added weight of this beast.  Within moments, the second, much larger fish, saw me and released his grip on the first fish.  The pole unbent slightly and he pulled in the, now dead, fish with a bit in it easily the width of both of my hands.  That puts the Muskie at easily a foot in width at it's jaws.  Needless to say, we both were stunned.  We had an incredible 'fish story' to share with the guys when we came back that night.  We still laugh about that episode.  Coming back to Wawa brought the story to the top of my mind all over again!

Wawa is Ojibway for Northern Goose.  This town is the only town of any significance at all along route 17.  It was three hours to Wawa from the bridge.  That's a long distance between establishments.  The town has a giant Canadian Goose as its 'mascot.'  This statue has been in this location since 1963 and is in need of some real repairs.  We stopped into the welcome center and learned a bit more about the area.  Best discovery; they had old books for sale.  This was awesome as I had just finished Transatlantic by Column McCann.  I was in need of something good to measure of to that fantastic piece of literature.  I found a couple of books and so did Erica.  

Me being silly.

 The only actual moose we saw.  Lots and lots of road signs for them, but we didn't see a living one.

We were laughing at the great sense of humor the Canadian's have.    One of the displays in the nature center talked about ways to prevent being bitten by mosquitoes or black flies.  They listed lots of items to use, such as mosquito nets, head nets, etc.  Then, on the last display it said that carbon dioxide is the  main attractant .  Humans, it said, expel this when they exhale.  So, "...the best way to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes is to not exhale."  Funny.  Here's another great example of their humor.  There were three lakes in a row.  The first was Dad Lake; then Mom Lake and you can guess what the third was...Baby Lake.  

We decided on our way back from Wawa that we would visit the petroglyphs that the region is famous for.  We had seen the above symbol, which kind of looks like a dragon, on all sorts of signs, but we didn't know what it actually was.  We were in for a treat.

This is looking out past the petroglyphs.  The rocks in the image are the size of houses.  Literally twenty foot tall rocks submerged in the lake.  Getting to the glyphs was not an easy endeavor.  In fact there were all sorts of signs that warned that death and injury have happened.  

This is the path along the lake shore.  There were chains for you to hold on to as you crossed the sheer rock face.  We ended up taking off our shoes to help us 'stick' to the rocks a little bit better.  

This is the symbol that we had seen all over the place.  It's actually a symbol for the Lynx.  The Ojibway believed that the Lynx was a magical creature that was representative of Lake Superior.  These images were painted by Ojibway medicine men somewhere between 500 and 3000 years ago.  They were made with red ochre and animal fat.  It was very intriguing to be so close to something that has lasted so long.

Here is a short video about the petroglyphs.

One of the many gorgeous outlooks we stopped at.  Those rocks don't seem as massive in this image, but for reference, you can see that Erica is sitting on the rock on the far right.  We really enjoyed the warm, shallow coves along the way.  Next time we come north, we will surely plan on visiting one of these coves again.  The waters of Lake Superior are frigid in most places.  In these sun-kissed bays, the sandy shores warm the waters to tolerable temperatures in the the early summer.  More on that, tomorrow.