Sunday, September 9, 2012

Blue Water and It Ain't the Atlantic!

St. Clair, MI     High:  67    Low: 46 (!)

The Blue Water region is 140 miles of Michigan's eastern coastline in the thumb of the Michigan "mitten". It's the Lake Huron coastal towns of Port Huron and Marysville along with  Clay, Algonac, Marine City, St. Clair (where we are, at the base of the "thumb") Lexington, Port Sanilac and a few more. Port Huron is a harbor town of 30,000 with a lot going on and it's the location of the big beautiful bridge to Canada.

Nearby is the Blue Water Bridge, connecting Port Huron with Point Edward and Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. It looks like there are multiple lighthouses in this area, like SIX. We are here just for about three days so not much time to explore, but it looks like this area is going to be a GREAT stopping point when we come back through a second time around the middle of the month.

Here's what we've found out so far we'd like to check out: St. Clair Flats--hundreds of "out" islands creating the largest freshwater delta in North America....St. John's Marsh--a 3,000 acre wildlife sanctuary, Algonac--birthplace of Chris Craft Boats, Marine City--shipbuilding center of the Great Lakes and a pedestrian ferry available to Sombra, Canada....watch the freighters in St. Clair, visit the shops and galleries in St. Clair, check out Fort Gratiot Lighthouse--Michigan's oldest working lighthouse, the Heritage Water Trail and kayaking in and around Port Austin. Oh, and Mary Maxim, THE exclusive needleworks and crafts company, in business since 1956, has a BIG store in Port Huron. Guess where Sparky will be while Eldy watches the Notre Dame game this weekend. YEP! Sounds like a plan!

Eldy's back is bothering him a LOT, so today he went for a massage and some acupuncture today. He's not sure what's wrong, but he has terrible pain in the butt area (Sparky could have a field day with THAT, but she's gonna be nice and not say a word) and at the beltline on one side of his back. It's kind of seems like a sciatic problem but it's not getting any better. Being that we have high deductibles, Eldy doesn't want to visit a doctor. He's waiting for Medicare to kick in in April. Geez, he might be flat on his back by then! Nurse Sparky has him on the tennis ball regimen, which is laying on his back using a tennis ball to put under the painful area as an acupressure point and taking Aleve. That has helped a lot, but he is still having trouble so he finally went to find a massage therapist to try and help him relax the muscles in the area and see if they can relieve the pain a bit.

Sparky said she was going to tell you about the Thousand Trails park here in St. Clair--St. Clair Preserve, so here's the dirt: It's VERY nice! Much nicer than many of the TT parks we've seen. It has an atmosphere like staying in a state forest. The park is located just over the bridge at the I-94 interchange, but you don't hear the road noise at all. It's very quiet and peaceful. Surprising, being that's it's so close to Detroit and the freeway! It's really pretty here.....

Free wi-fi at the family lodge, nice laundry and reasonable rates--1.25 to wash, 1.00 to dry, activities during the busy season, beautiful, large heated pool.....

Full hookups--30 and 50 amp, but no cable (sigh! says E.) sports court, mini golf (not much to speak of), nice playground, nice clubhouse, dirt and gravel sites, level for the most part, shady but you can be out in the sun if you like.....

A little store, propane available, honey wagon if needed...Very friendly people in the park, VERY nice staff running the park...We would definitely stay here again, and not just because it's FREE with our Thousand Trails membership, but because of the beauty of the park. This Thousand Trails park is not as dated looking as many of the TT parks are. The rate to stay here is about 30.00 a day for non-members, I believe. We really like it here, and it's only about an hour from my sister, Lyle...another plus!  Time for a little bike ride...no carriage roads around here ...sigh..... See you later......

11 comments:

  1. Having a "high deductible" is something that I have trouble getting my head around. I mean, if I run my car into a brick wall and need to get it fixed, then I'll suck it up and pay the deductible, but when it comes to medical stuff, it's a concept that is foreign to me.
    How do I "drive my body" more carefully? I can't just park it in the garage and turn off the key.

    April is a long ways off, and to feel crappy all that time is really a bit of a burden. At least I think so. To each his own.

    Sure hope Eldy figures out what's important.

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    1. Eldy is much better...he had a terrific massage and the combination of everything we've been trying has helped. We had to take high deductibles because our monthly insurance cost was going to be so sky high we couldn't afford the monthly payments! Neither one of us takes meds of any kinds except for an occasional Aleve, and we are both in excellent health except for this back problem Eldy has been having. The particular health plan we chose has a ton of wellness benefits to it, like an annual physical, routine stuff that we don't have to pay for. If he thought there was something more than than a balky back going on, he'd be seeing the doctor, high deductible or not.

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  2. Try icing that back, with 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off, over and over. That will help with the inflammation and should give real pain relief, in addition to the Aleve.

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  3. Yup, ice then heat 20 minutes off and on. I have sciatica too, same symptoms. Used to have a chiro rider on our plan, got massage and adjustment for $35. No longer! George is my adjuster now..he does a good job :)

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  4. Good luck with the back, Like Laurie and George said, ice, then heat. I have had back problems for over 30 years and when it flairs its a the chiro, massage the cold and heat. No coverage but can usually get a chiro for about $35. and massage about the same, then am good to go.

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  5. Love that area of Michigan so much to see and do. We have explored many areas there over the years.
    Our home ROD park is about 40 minutes from Sarnia/Porthuron. We took the walk on ferry from Sombra to Marine City a couple weeks ago, was a nice scenic trip.
    Enjoy you time there.

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  6. Couple other things to think about. If Eldy keeps favoring his back clear until April, he may well cause other problems. And if you are basically on a cash basis for health care, I believe you can negotiate some good discounts. Give it a shot.

    JC

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  7. LOVE...LOVE...LOVE that area of Michigan. As a child I visited it so many times and as an adult it was nice to bring Jerry through it, we just didn't spend enough time there but plan to revisit several more times.

    Take care of that back!

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  8. Nice looking campground with lots of space between and trees and stuff. I like that.

    Hope Eldy's back continues to improve and he can get back to fun stuff!

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    Karen and Steve
    (Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com

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  9. I love reading your everyday escapades. Its so exciting that I might go on a trip myself. That place in Michigan looks like a cool place.
    hire hummer sydney

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  10. now that we are headed therre, St Clair Preserve, so happy to read how much you liked it, and how nice it was. . .I was a little concerned as to what we might find. . .adding this link to my calendar, so I can research all those "things to do" when we get there. . .thanks!

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