The Adventures of Lewis and Clark in the 21st Century: Moving day, Walmart parking, Mackinaw City and the Great Lakes

Friday dawned dry and we were ready to move. Mountaintop was a great location for access to the US Open but it was time to go.
We got Lewis and Clark prepped and just as we were pulling out, we did a key count. We have a key basket and we check to make sure that all the keys not being used are in the key basket. Rob did a count and realized we were missing a set of keys. We spent the next hour looking and did not find them. We notified the camp owners and left. I will keep the suspense short and say that we found then about an hour and a half later. I will not say where or how they got there. No room for the blame game in the RV. We just laughed about it and kept moving.

We had decided to travel to Saginaw, Michigan for our first stop on the way to Mackinaw City. It was more that half way but we knew our stop would be short so no need for lots of extra time once we arrived. The trip was fairly easy. The PA turnpike is a bit crappy but it turned into a much nicer Ohio turnpike and the road north into Michigan was wide and much less hilly. We made a good lunch stop at a state rest stop and arrived in Saginaw at about 7. We had picked out a Walmart Supercenter for our stop. Many Walmarts will let RVers stop for the night. We made sure we were well out of the way and got set up. This arrangement was particularly useful to us because we needed a new battery for Clark and a few groceries. The battery would have to wait until Saturday morning since the auto center was closed but we got some food, had dinner, took the girls for a walk and watched a little TV before bed. It is interesting taking a shower in a Walmart parking lot but we had everything we needed to make it happen so....

We got up Saturday and Rob pulled the car around to the Auto Center while I went into the store to grab a few more things. The battery did not take long to install and we decided to go for a run before we hit the road. There was a really nice rail to trail type route and we made good use of it. With our run done, a new battery and food in the pantry, we could just hear upper Michigan calling us. We were on our way!

We left Walmart and headed due north on I75. We had little to no traffic and had a really pleasant trip.

We arrived at Mackinaw Mill Creek Campground by 3. Check in was easy and we made our way to our site. We have become a well oiled machine when it comes to setting up. (our machine sometimes runs out of oil but overall, we are getting the hang of it) Rob does most of the outside and I do the inside. The girls just dance all over the place and provide entertainment.

Once set up, we got the girls in their harnesses and went for a walk. We are on Lake Huron so Penny Lane got to go for a late afternoon swim. She met a one year old Lab named Thor and they had a good play. I did not get pictures of him because they were as wild as grass playing but they had so much fun.

Annie got a dip in the water but it was against her will and she did not want to be photographed whilst soaking wet.

We got a good walk and returned to the RV. We had a bite to eat and got in the car to go to the Mackinac Bridge area to watch the sunset. The Mackinac Bridge takes you to Mackinac Island and crosses the Mackinaw Straits. The Mackinaw Straits are the dividing zone between Lake Huron to the East and Lake Michigan to the West. We found a great place to park on the shore of Lake Michigan and watched a spectacular sunset.