We had a nice quiet nice parked outside the visitor centre michigan city. I admit I was a little worried about the close proximity to Chicago, but apparently its a safe town. We’d met a few people who have moved here from Chicago to escape the violence there. So we felt quite safe parked up overnight, but driving out today was a different story. More about that later.

This morning we explored the Indiana dunes national park. It’s an interesting one as it’s not a contiguous area, having industrial parts in amongst it. But they created the national park to protect it from future development.

Indiana dunes has a whole lot of white sandy beaches on the edge of Lake Michigan, and it really is like being at the beach. We could see the Chicago skyline in the haze in the distance.

There’s a big sand dune which is on the move, trampling big trees in its path, moving 4feet a year.

There were also some futuristic houses built in the 1930s which had been placed there from a trade fair in Chicago. The houses were ahead of their time with dishwashers, automatic garage doors and one was solar heated. They thought in the future everyone would have their own plane, and one house had its own hangar. It’s crazy considering most people didn’t even have cars back then.

Around 2pm we continued on, and found ourselves in the slums of south Chicago. I really didn’t feel safe so we decided to swallow our pride and drive on freeways, at least until we left Chicago behind.

So the rest of the day was spent on boring motorway driving.

Tonight we’re camping at the largest truck stop in the world! And it’s free! And there’s a cool museum we will explo

Since we left our housesit we haven’t paid for camping so we’re slowly recouping our costs of solar panels and batteries. As well as that, it’s just so convenient to stop at these free places without needing electricity. So far, so good.

We had a quiet night at the rest stop and were able to get some laundry done this morning before heading off.

We weren’t sure how much the toll road was going to cost us and we’re pleasantly surprised is was only $1.75. Money well spent to get a shower, laundry and sleep done.

We’re continuing our drive west. We have about 4000 miles (6300 kms) to travel on the route we’ve chosen to Las Vegas where we’ll be storing our campervan when we head back to nz.

We passed a classic car meetup and stopped and browsed around the neat old cars. We almost though about parking Rodger in amongst them.

The rest of the day was spent driving through Ohio and Indiana. There was lots of farmland and it was cool seeing all the Amish out and about in their Sunday best.

There wasn’t much to do along this route so we thought it best to make up some miles.

We stopped at 6pm at a casino in south bend which had free overnight parking. It was a nice new casino with a no smoking rule, and I think they were pumping oxygen in as we both came out feeling really refreshed.

The sun was still high in the sky and it seemed too early to stop. Then I realised we would be gaining an hour today as we’re heading west. So we continued on.

We arrived at another casino on Michigan city but neither of us liked the idea of staying there. It probably would have been fine as they have security patrolling every hour, but it’s best to listen to gut instinct.

We then tried the national park at Indiana dunes but it was fully booked. But the ranger said we could park at the visitor centre for free.

But first we headed to Lake Michigan where there is a distant view of the Chicago skyline and the sun starting to set.

We were the only ones at the visitor centre to start with, but other campervans arrived to stay the night. We had a quiet nights rest.

We had another nice quiet sleep in the casino carpark. I much prefer it to a crowded camping ground, and the fact it’s free is a bonus.

Today we spent the day exploring the Cuyahoga np in Ohio. We started with a 2.5 hour bike ride along a rail trail. It was a nice flat ride alongside a river. We saw a giant turtle with barnacles on it.

After the ride we visited a waterfall and did a rocky walk.

By the time we’d finished it was 6pm and we still needed to find somewhere to sleep. I’d seen a free place on our iOverlander app with free overnight parking, free showers, and toilets and Burger King open 24 hours. There was a catch though. We’d have to drive on a toll road to get there.

After our bike ride we were both hot and sticky and the thought of a shower won us over. We swallowed our pride and drove on the toll road. We’ve done such a good job of avoiding motorways so far, but thankfully it was only about 5 minutes on the toll before we arrived at the services.

We headed straight for the showers then had Pizza Hut for dinner.

The facilities here are better than some $60 campgrounds. And quieter too!

We’ll see how much the toll was tomorrow when we exit the motorway.

We had a nice sleep in the casino carpark. It was just a 2hour drive this morning to the Letchworth state park, also known as the Grand Canyon of the east.

It was a rainy ole day, but it mostly stopped by the time we got to Letchworth and we were able to explore. There was a drive through the park with overlooks and sheer cliffs dropping into the canyon below. At the end we’re a couple of waterfalls.

We spent most of the day exploring then headed to another casino carpark for the night.

We tried to get a meal in the casino but it was an hours wait being a Friday night. And the casino stunk of cigarette smoke. They still allow smoking in Pennsylvania.

We headed for the over night parking lot which was away from the casino. It was very quiet, and we had another nice night sleep.

We were so excited to get on the road again. Housesitting is great for a little rest and to get things done on the van. I also managed to get some videos finished but not as much as I would have liked. 3 days of “flu” didn’t help.

Today was a big driving day. The weather was yuck so we just fast forwarded towards letchworth state park, which is known as the Grand Canyon on the east.

It would take us 6 hours to get there taking motorways, or 9 hours avoiding them. Guess which option we chose?

I’ll give you a minute, let us know if you guessed correctly.

Today we saw a sign that got me very excited. Hamilton to the left, morrinsville straight ahead. I mean, what are the odds of that? There was even a cow sign in morrinsville.

We also drove through some English towns, Leeds, Norfolk, and even drove through Scotland and Ireland! This part of the country seems to be having an identity crisis!

We drove through many charming villages, some with massive houses.

We made a couple of stops. Walmart for a warmer blanket and some supplies, and a coffee pit stop beside an ice skating rink! Okay, at this time of year it’s just a lake, but still cool to think they ice skate on it in winter.

There were a few free places to stop overnight and we chose the del lago casino and resort. It was 6pm by the time we stopped so that was about 10 hours travelling fort the day. We had a look inside the casino but weren’t tempted. The restaurants looked bland too so we opted for a salad wrap back in the van.

We are still about 2 hours from the letchworth state park.

I’m a bit behind on blogs so I’ll lump them into one.

Monday

We continued our coastal drive, visiting the town of Gloucester. If really feels like we’re in England with all the English names.

We decided we needed to spend more money in lobster, this time as Bobs lobster shack. This one has a lemon and tarragon sauce and was quite nice.

There was not a lot of choice for camping or even free car parks. Plus we’ve decided to get away from the seaside as it’s just too busy.

We found a campground at Cape Ann, which is near the beach. Except you need to buy a permit to park at the beach, although you can go after 5pm for free. we didn’t bother.You

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday

We headed inland and found a nice state park only 45 mins from our housesit. It’s only $7.50 to camp so we’ve stayed here for 3 days.

There are plenty of walks to do but because Mike needs to stay out of the sun we decided to rest. I caught up on some video editing and we tidied the van a bit.

We had a fire in our second night and cooked potatoes, corn and garlic mushrooms on it, followed by marshmallows.

Our last night we went to the Irish pub in town for dinner and it was delicious. We shared a giant pretzel to start which had a hot cheese dip, kinda like fondue.

Mike had fish and chips but the batter was all wrong. They’d put egg in the batter! I had a Gyros with a large Greek salad and it was yummy. we had leftovers.

The great thing about the USA is doggie bags. I’d feel embarrassed asking for one in NZ but here everyone takes their food with them if they can’t finish it. They even ask you if you want a container.

Tomorrow we start our house sit.

We’re kind of at a loose end until our housesit starts on Friday. Everything by the coast is so busy. Camping grounds are packed tight, it’s still stinking hot. Mike is not supposed to be getting too much sun.

So today we tiki toured. First stop was Portland, Maine. We went down the esplanade where food trucks we’re getting ready for the day. We took a walk along the esplanade, amazed by how much it reminded me of Poole with the harbour and the boats. A big boat even had a helicopter on it.

Next stop was the Portland lighthouse, another dinky little thing. The USA doesn’t do everything bigger! There were too many peoples there, so we took a couple of photos and left, continuing our way south following the coast as much as we could. There’s not a coastal drive as such and we occasionally got glimpses of the sea. There weren’t a lot of places to stop, and if there were the car parks were full, or cost $30 for the day. Not my idea of a nice day at the seaside.

So we continued our tiki tour and it was quite relaxing, no aim in mind, just driving and looking.

We arrived in a scenic seaside town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The carpark was packed but someone was leaving as we arrived so we were lucky. And we can park here for free for 72 hours! So we’ll stay the night.

It was bustling for a Sunday afternoon. We sat and listened to a busker for a while, watched a few people quietly protesting on the footpath. One man was complaining about rich billionaires. Another about Black Lives Matter and a gay flag.

We wandered around the town with its many bars and restaurants and the town had a real English look about it. it was really cool town and we had a lovely relaxing afternoon.

We decided on Thai for dinner which was delicious. Then we went back to our carpark to sleep and the carpark was still packed tight at 9pm. We had a good nights sleep. And it cost nothing!

To

As we discovered yesterday, coastal Maine is very busy, especially on a weekend. So today we were up at 5.30am, and away by 6.30am to go exploring before all the masses got out on the roads.

First stop, Owls head to see a lighthouse. But when we got there, we couldn’t find the lighthouse. But this is Maine, there are lighthouses everywhere.

So we drove further on down the coast to another one. But when we got there it was a private road. Strike two for lighthouses. So we asked a couple of guys and they said there was one back where we came from.

So backtrack we did. It was about a mile walk on a granite jetty to see the lighthouse at the end. It was a very quaint lighthouse, basically just a light on top of a house. But it was a nice walk. It was 9.30am by this time and getting hot already.

I’d heard things about A lobster shack called Reds Eats and it’s supposed to be the best lobster rolls in the world. But I’ve also heard of people queuing for two hours to eat there. Crazy I know!

We stopped there just before opening time and a small queue had already formed. I thought it wouldn’t take long, but an hour later I’m still standing there, in the hot sun, baking like a lobster. They did hand our umbrellas and some fried prawns while we waited.

Anyway, I’m not sure why it took so long, but we only ordered one lobster roll to share. At $34, that was all we were willing to pay.

The roll was packed with lobster, easily $70 worth back home. It was juicy and tender, but lacked a little flavour. I would have expected the salty sweet taste like crayfish, but it didn’t really taste like anything.

But… the sauce they served with it was delicious. It was a butter sauce and tasted like butter scotch. We just dipped the lobster in and it was delicious. But they got the lobster to bread ratio way off. You could not pick it up and eat it like a roll as the roll had gone all soggy. They could easily have make three rolls from that amount of lobster.

Was it worth $34? I think so. Was it worth a 1 hour wait? NO!

After that we were so hot and bothered and sick of all the peoples that we got the heck out of there.

I found us a free place to camp in a nice little town called freeport. They had free camping in a carpark for RVs and it was so much nicer than the cramped camp from the previous night.

Friday:

I decided I would drive for a bit this morning to get used ro the van. It’s not the easiest thing to drive with its sloppy steering, and spongy drum brakes.

I started out on a dual carriageway, taking my time getting used to the quirks. When you drive on the other side of the road, it’s not instinctive where to position yourself. So I was constantly checking my mirrors to see where I was on the road, trying to keep in a straight line with sloppy steering, watching my speed and the other cars around me, all the while with Mike yelling at me to stay on the road!

After 30 mins I let Mike drive again.

As we crossed into Maine, we passed about 4 cannabis shops. Of course we had to stop and see how it all worked. You need ID to enter but of course they couldn’t scan our NZ drivers licence. But they let us in anyway.

They have so much stuff for sale. Gummy bears, cookies, oils, pre rolled joints, drinks. It was very overwhelming.

I was heading for a town in Wiscasset because the have the best lobster rolls in Maine. We stopped off at the visitor centre to find out what to do here and she gave us a few ideas and also somewhere to camp. She also said there was a food cart around the corner that did good lobster rolls, so we went there first.

We balked at the price. $24 for a single lobster roll! In New York we’d paid $32 for two, including fries! So we just bought one to share. And just as well we did. I thought it tasted bitter and didn’t like it, so Mike ate it all.

Then we headed for the camping ground. There was a long line of RVs waiting, so Mike parked behind them an I got out and joined the queue.

I must have waited 30 mins before finally it was my turn. but the lady said that I had to go elsewhere for reservations, the queue I had joined was for checking in only.

So we managed to reserve a spot but when we got there someone was parked in it. As well as that, it was a cramped spot between two RVs, one with a barking dog. So we went back to reservations and got allocated a different spot, which was much nicer. But it still cost us $60 to camp in a horrible busy campground!

But it had sewer, electricity and water on site.

Well, that tick threw a spanner in the works.

We had planned to spend a few days hiking in the Catskills mountains, but Mike developed a rash. So we went to the doctor and he is now on 3 weeks of antibiotics to try and kill whatever tick borne disease is in his system. After 4 weeks, he then needs to get tested to see if any disease remains.

Apparently the first doctor we saw should have treated him immediately.

While Mike is on these antibiotics he needs to keep out of the sun. So we’ve bought him a long sleeve shirt and a floppy hat.

So we have a change of plan. We’re going to drive up to Maine in search of lobster.