Hermit Crabs in Ocean City, Maryland

Hi peoples!

     I'm back! I took a break from blogging for a bit. I don't know if my dad is still going to post a little more. My parents said that if I didn't put dates as my titles, I wouldn't as stressed about keeping track. So here goes.

     When me and my family were visiting ocean city, Maryland, I would go biking out to the pier on the bay in their neighbor. And almost every day I would find Hermit Crab shells. One I found actually had a Hermit Crab in it. In the morning birds grab crabs and other kinds of sea creatures from the bay and drop them on the pier to crack their shells so they could get to the meat. So when I went in the morning I had more chance of finding Hermit Crabs that didn't have a broken shell, or hadn't dried out from the sun.

     The one that I found that was still alive died over night in the garage because I did not know how to take care of it. So after that happened, I Looked up how to care for a Hermit Crab from the bay. My research said that all you really need is a cage with sand, a bowl of water, and a log. And that they could pretty much eat anything. I never did find another one that was still alive. :(

     When me and my family went to the beach, my cousin Tommy and Uncle Tom found all kinds of little Hermit Crabs with really pretty shells in the sand! So me and my Aunt Louise went to a store that was along the boardwalk next to the beach, to get a cage. But it turns out that those Hermit Crabs were salt water ones. Which means I would have had to keep them in a tank of water instead of a cage. Bummer. So we had to release them back into the ocean. I guess there are different kinds of Hermit Crabs.

     Here are some pics of the beach and board walk.

My Uncle Mike and Aunt Louise are to the right. In the pink in my mom. And to the left are my cousins Tommy and Savanna and Aunt Pam and Uncle Tom.

Here's Uncle Mike, Uncle Tom, and Shane in order on the boardwalk.

-Rusty

The Henry Ford Museum

Visiting the Henry Ford museum in Dearborn, Michigan

We traveled south from the northern part of the Michigan mitten in order to visit the Henry Ford museum in Dearborn, MI.  We stayed at the Wayne County Fairgrounds in Belleville from Oct 8 to the 11th.  

We drove up to Dearborn on the 9th to see the museum and to tour the Rouge Factory where they assemble the F150 pickup.  The Rouge tour guide mentioned that from the top of the plant we could see the headquarters of another automobile manufacturer that took bailout money (GM).  :)  They showed a short film on the history of the Ford complex as well as a film/light show on the making of the F150.  We then went into the plant itself for a self-guided tour of the F150 assembly line.  We were able to look down on the line as workers assembled the body in various steps.  While it was interesting to see how the steps were performed, I imagine after a while, the work would be tedious.  Basically doing the same steps over and over.  We were not able to see the chassis being assembled.  

On the 10th we toured the Greenfield Village which to me is similar to the Main Street part of Disneyworld.  There are people in period clothing demonstrating historic equipment like an old school printing press, glass blowing, tin shaping, looms, clay firing, etc.  One of the best parts was riding around the complex in original Model T cars.  Everyone enjoyed it.  We also checked out a train engine turntable and round house.  We were able to move the turntable easily.  It was very well balanced.  

In the machine shop, the kids made candlesticks from a brass rod on a 1917 lathe.  The instructor was very nice and patient, and the kids liked it a lot.  The shop was typically used to repair equipment in the village.  They have several tall bikes around the shop.  It would have been fun to try one out.

Other activities included taking rides on a steam-powered train, horse-drawn carriage, Model AA bus, 100 year old carousel, and touring the Wright brothers' bike shop.  The bike shop included a small wind tunnel and a model of their plane.  

On the last day at the Ford Museum, we finished seeing the museum itself.  There are too many things to see in one day.  Some of the highlights included the Lincoln chair from Ford's theater, presidential limousines (FDR, JFK, Reagan), Rosa Parks's bus (restored and looking new), many automobiles, Ford's personal violin display, an exploded Model T that was suspended from the ceiling, and a Model T car that was disassembled and assembled every day by employees and visitors.  Renee has an interesting story about the JFK limousine.  I'll ask her to post on it.

Overall it was a very enjoyable experience.  I would like to see it again, since I didn't get to see everything.

Michigan

I'm guest blogging for Evelyn.  We are currently in Delaware, but I'm going to summarize our activities from her last entry on Oct 2 until Oct 15.

We stayed on Lake Superior at a township park in Ontonagon, Michigan.  The park employees were very nice, and it was reasonably priced especially since we were right on the water.  We were able to open the patio and see the lake out the back.  As Evelyn mentioned, we rented kayaks and a canoe and paddled around the lake.  Renee and I paddled to a small lighthouse while the kids returned their canoe.  We got back just before a large rainstorm hit.

I rode my bike around the town a few times.  It's very small.  There is a nice walking trail in the woods adjacent to the campground.  It was an Eagle scout project.  It is very quiet due to the tree canopy, and it feels like a rain forest.  We walked Sammy there off-leash several times, and he enjoyed it.

One of the campground employees recommended getting a pasty.  It's basically a meat pie with some vegetables.  We had seen signs around town advertising pastys, and I wondered what they were.  I thought they had misspelled a different word, and I wasn't sure that we should ask about them.  However, we got a few at a local church along with some homemade soup.  It was good.  You don't typically see pasties at a church.

We also visited the Quincy copper mine in Hancock about an hour from Ontonagon.  They have a cog railway car that takes visitors into the mine.  The original deep shafts are mostly filled with water, but the shaft we entered was about 400 feet below the surface.  There is a room carved out of the rock that was used as a classroom for mining students.  They would study in the classroom and then practice what they learned in the mine.  On the surface there are many buildings to tour, including a huge steam hoist in the main building.

After Ontonagon, we traveled east along the top of the MI rabbit (upper peninsula) to Sault Sainte Marie to see the locks and the Valley Camp, a Great Lakes freighter ship that was turned into a museum.  Along the way we stopped at Pictured Rocks on the south shore of Lake Superior near Munising.  It's a national lakeshore known for its multicolored rock cliffs.  We stopped long enough to hike around and take a few pictures.  The view would have been better from the water, but we didn't want to spend the time nor money on a tour.

We stayed at the Aune-Osborn campground on the St. Mary's river.  It's close to the locks run by the Army corps of engineers.  Late that evening Shane and I watched a freighter travel up the river to the locks.  We visited the Valley Camp museum ship the next day, Oct 5.  The interior of the ship has been converted into a museum with many exhibits from ships that have traveled on the Great Lakes.  There is also one of the lifeboats from the Edmund Fitzgerald on display.  We filled out the scavenger hunt questions.  I like doing those.  We checked out the locks and watched two freighters make their way through the locks from the lake into the river.  It was fun.  We had dinner across the street at Lockview Restaurant.  The food was very good.

We had a campfire that night, but the wood did not burn very well (foreshadowing a recurring theme for the next few weeks).  Against my better judgement I drained some gas from the toy fuel tank and used it to encourage the wood to burn.  While visually spectacular, the end result was no better.

On Oct 6 we traveled to Mackinaw city and stayed in a KOA not far from the ferry that travels to Mackinac Island.  The mainland and the island have period recreations, including Fort Mackinac on the island.  The cost of the ferry plus tickets to tour the fort informed our decision to stay on the mainland.  We visited the shops on the town and then checked out a lighthouse near the campground.  Unfortunately Renee was stung by a yellow jacket several times and suffered from pain and swelling for a few days.  Sammy enjoyed playing in the water.  As they say around the lakes, no sharks and no salt.

At the campground we watched a movie on the TV mounted on the side of the toy hauler for the first time.  It was pretty silly.  Combining that with the gas fire, all we would need is to crank up Def Leppard to truly demonstrate our inner rednecks.

On Oct 8 we traveled south to Belleville, MI to spend time at the Henry Ford Museum.  I'll cover that in another post.

Eric

Ocean City, MD

Evelyn wanted to take a break from the blog, so I'm adding a guest entry.  We are on day 73 (Oct 22).

We just spent a week at the Maryland eastern shore with Renee's family.  Her sister, Louise, was kind enough to allow our kids to stay with her and her husband, Mike, at their townhouse in west Ocean City.  It's a beautiful place on the bay.  Renee and I stayed at the trailer with Sammy at nearby Castaways RV park.  It's a resort type campground.  Just about everyone has a golf cart and rides around the campground.  Kind of ridiculous really.  We took Sammy to the water to play, and he drank a bunch of salt water.  He ended up throwing up a bunch of times, but he's OK.  He was by himself more than usual, since we were visiting with Renee's family.

Renee's parents came to visit for two days.  They closed on their house last Thursday.  They have lived in it for 53 years.  They moved into a retirement facility in Parkville, not too far from the house.  They also sold most of their stuff like we did.  Renee's other sister, Pam, also visited with her husband, Tom, and their kids, Savanna and Tommy.  It was fun seeing everyone again.

During the week we played miniature golf in Ocean City, walked on the boardwalk, and I did some maintenance on the trailer.  The kids enjoyed visiting with the Seamans and sleeping in a house :).  I may do a separate post on trailer fixes.

We are heading into Delaware today.  We are expecting to see the DuPont mansion and museum as well as lots of things in Philadelphia.  Renee and I grew up around Baltimore, but we haven't seen all of the historical sights on the east coast.

We are hoping to reach Maine before it gets too cold, although it hardly seems like fall now with 75F days.

I'll file another entry summarizing the previous couple weeks we spent in Michigan and the drive to the Maryland shore.

Eric

Day 53

Hi peoples!

     So we did end up staying at Goose Berry Falls. There were so many trees, that I could barely see the sites next to us. The campground was right next to Lake Superior, so Sammy and the rest of us went down to the shore a lot. Of course Sammy loved it. ;) There were some biking and hiking trails that we did that led right up to the falls. The falls we cool, but Shane read that there were leaches in the falls and river! I've never even seen a leach before, I'm not sure that I want to though. :)

     We stayed at Gooseberry Falls for two nights, then went to Cornucopia, Wisconsin! And guess what!? We went sailing! Jack LOVED it! Our guide, Todd, let Jack steer in the beginning. And he and I got to go up on the front of the boat! I didn't think Jack would ever want to get off. Through out the hour that we had, Todd let us all steer. It was scary and awesome for me. Even if you move the wheel a little bit, the boat will turn really fast, so you had to be careful. Near the end when Shane, mom, and I were at the front, big waves kept hitting the boat so we got pretty wet. :D

     Now we are right next to Lake Superior again at Ontonagon, Michigan. Ontonagon Township Park Campground Website  Shane and I went in a canoe while my mom and dad each went in kayaks on the lake. It ok, but not as fun as the peddle boats. My mom and dad had fun though. I forgot how hard it is to steer a canoe. We might be leaving tomorrow, or maybe stay another day. I hope we stay another day, this is my favorite "beachy" area of Superior.

     My mom told me that we will be in Maryland in about to weeks. Yay! The three kids are suppose to be staying at my Aunt and Uncle's beach house! But since we can't put the RV or Sammy there, my mom and dad are staying at a campground with Sammy. I'm not sure where it is though. Oh yeah! By the way, we started up school a couple days ago. It's kinda weird doing school on the road. But for some reason it fills normal. We've only really started math but we are adding more subjects as we go. But what really stinks lately is that Jack and I are sick. I'm getting better but Jack is still pretty stuffed up. I think it was just a cold. It's not fun being sick on the road. :(

    I think we might be spending a little more time in Michigan to tour around since everybody seems to like it here. Especially me.

-Rusty

Day 47 Continued

Hi peoples!

     I forgot to mention that we might be going to a state park, so I will not be able to do my blog during that time. :( The park is Gooseberry Falls. Gooseberry Falls Website We were thinking about going to a really big campground that has over 300 sites! Crazy right!?! But a lot of the reviews weren't very good. My mom and dad are still looking at places to go to, but that Gooseberry one looks promising. My mom was saying we will be going to go look at Split Rock Light House tomorrow. Split Rock Light House Website We'll see how that goes. I'll have to tell you once I will have Wi-Fi again. Yeah, my mom really likes light houses. :D We've been to a lot. And yet they are still exciting to see.

-Rusty

Day 47

Hi peoples!

     We got back home (Or to the RV) around 7:30pm from town today. We decided to visit the Aquarium and after that we went to Canal Park Brewery. Canal Park Brewery Website The food was very good but pretty pricey They had burgers, sandwiches, salads, etc. You know, the usual brewery menu. ;)

     The Aquarium was a lot bigger then I expected. It had two floors and the biggest touch pool in north America. It's not the kind of touch pool where it is really shallow and you can pick up the little sea creatures. This one was about two and a half feet deep with big fish that you were aloud to touch with one finger at a time. The fish were all kinds of sturgeon. A lady that worked there said that those fish can grow up to 26 feet long! Whoa! We also got to see some Turtles and, believe it or not, birds. There were some really big fish (including the sturgeon) like a cat fish and some rays. At the gift shop I got a little green turtle. It's the kind of stuffed animal that feels like they've filled it with sand. I still can't think of a really good name for him/her.

     The last thing we did in town was look in a visitor center that was about big boats that would carry cargo (that looked kind of like coal) from one place to the next along the great lakes and walked to a light house. I don't think it was being used any more. It was pretty small, we weren't able to go inside. But it was, of course on the lake, so it was really pretty. The waves were huge!

     We are still deciding where to go tomorrow.

-Rusty