We woke up our first day in Canada to somewhat warmer weather.  We decided to leave a bit earlier – and Scott decided that, since he couldn’t find the bathhouse he would take a shower in the RV (this was our first site with “full hookups”, which means that it had water and sewer connected to the RV so there was no issue with emptying our fresh water tanks or filling up our gray water.)  The shower was excellent, though a bit cramped.

Our trip through Canada to the Blue Water Bridge was fairly uneventful, though Tom and Steve argued that we had to stop at Tim Horton’s as we were in Canada, after all.  Scott decided that Tim Horton’s web site absolutely sucked – it kept find addresses in the US, ignoring Canada (the country in which we were driving.)  Other technology glitches involved phone connectivity after the border crossing for Scott, and difficulty converting the Sprinter to kilometers so we could know how much we (and everyone else) were over the speed limit (despite ominous Canadian warning signs that said our vehicle could be confiscated on the spot if sufficiently speeding.)  We decided to hit one of the many Tim Hortons in the US for the sugary donuts that Steve and Tom craved, but eat lunch in Canada before crossing at the Blue Water bridge from Point Edward in Ontario to Port Huron in Michigan.  Based on the high ratings and his love of fried fish, Scott chose Purdy’s Fish Fry, in the shadow of the Blue Water Bridge.  Tom declared that, despite the fact that he refuses to eat fish (part of a long list of foodstuffs and seasonings he does not eat,) he could surely get chicken.

Purdy’s is right on the dock, and there was a fairly large crowd waiting at the shack where you decided if you wanted the full perch meal or the half perch meal.  You could also order cole slaw and French fries separately, and four kinds of pop plus water.  What they did not sell was chicken.  Despite the fairly obvious situation, Steve still helpfully asked if they had chicken. The answer was pretty clear – “We’re a fish fry, sir!”  Tom was forced to return to Khan for an acceptable meal of goldfish crackers, a peach, and an apple.  He reluctantly ate a few of Scott and Steve’s French fries.

After lunch, it was back to the US across the Blue Water Bridge. We stopped at the toll and were told, “$20 Canadian please.” We asked about US dollars and the nice young lady said, “Oh, that will be $10.” Then, she looked at the rear of Khan and apparently had not initially realized we were towing Marco. Tom expected an upward adjustment to the rate, but then while we were fumbling to get the exact amount to avoid change in Canadian dollars, she shot back, “I’m sorry, it is $8.” We paid, but afterward wondered how much lower it might have gone had we sat their longer. It did seem more like a negotiation than a government mandated fee.

The wait to return to the US was a little shorter than the entry to Canada.  We were asked about the fruits and vegetables we had – Tom explained that it was all bought in the US, despite having bought potatoes (!), bananas, and mushrooms at Real Canada Superstore.  After we left the crossing location, Tom smiled and said he “forgot” about those, just as it had been rehearsed.

Next stop was Tim Hortons in Gratiot.  Tom decided going to a Tim Hortons in the US was appropriately ironic.  Steve and Tom bought a half dozen sugary donuts – Scott demonstrated some fortitude by not eating any.

In the US, we navigated to the Gratiot Lighthouse, where we found no parking except for a few blocks down the road.  We walked to the edge of the water, and took our third lake selfie at Lake Huron.  We saw four fit young men playing four-way volleyball “crossnet”, then proceeded to Sleepy Hollow Campground , about two hours due West.

At the campground we had our first ugly incident at check-in.  The young girls who were interning had the unmitigated gall to try and extract $7 extra from Tom for a Michigan Parks Passport, even thought Tom had already paid for our site.  Initially Tom accepted the indignity, but when he came back to the camper he decided that the principle was too important.  Another 10-15 minutes of explaining his case to the girls and the ranger reinforced the need for this passport (as it did, in fact, say in the documentation we had in “the fine print.”)

Scott, after learning we had potatoes, ground beef, corn, and maybe half the items in https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/270606/instant-pot-shepherds-pie/ decided to make Shepard’s Pie for dinner in the instant pot.  We learned a few cooking necessities – or at least “good to haves” – that we were missing – like serving spoons, measuring cups, measuring spoons, and spices.  However, with Steve’s help peeling potatoes, and mashing the cooked potatoes with a spatula, we had credible Shepard’s pie.  It was pretty watery, since we didn’t have a measuring cup for the broth (water) and such, but it was pretty good and when we were done we had a cup of soup for tomorrow.

While cooking dinner the nice ranger lady stopped by our campsite to ensure us that the payment for a passport if you had not already bought one was clearly explained.  Scott immediately threw Tom under the camper by explaining that he had read that as well, and Tom was clearly wrong.  Then the nice ranger lady stayed for a brief chat and wrote down owgrv.site to check out our blog.

After dinner we decided that the storm heading this way had past, and we walked to the campground lake and watched kids fishing.  We returned to the camper and are deciding whether to watch a movie or something.

And then the rain came… It started raining heavily about 8:30, and within 10-15 minutes a steady stream of water appeared from above the sink. We grabbed a pot for the drips that weren’t going directly into the sink. Apparently, the rain on the roof was puddling and leaking in through the roof penetration for optional antennas. Bill Martin had recently installed a cellular amplifier there, but we have yet to fully investigate. Stay tuned…