| U.P. in June!
I didn't have a chance to
talk about our family vacation, not
that anyone is interested! Every
year we go to the Western UP. to
visit my wife's parents in her
hometown. I love it up there and
part of the fun is metal detecting at
one of the nearby ghost towns or
in one of the old swimming holes.
I have done some bottle digging at
a ghost town location and I had
hoped to do that again this year.
The spot I was thinking
about is not more then 5 miles
north of my inlaws and my wife's
father had told me the area had
just been logged. That is a good
thing because every time we have
gone there in the past we have
spooked a nearby bear. In June
they are usually foraging with
their cubs and not to be trusted!
Also, the last time I was there, the
sun was at high- noon and, inside
a stand of trees, it is easy to get
turned around for a dummy like
me!
No, it doesn't do much
good to carry a cell phone because
there is no service. A compass is
no help either because the ghost
town is on top of an abandoned
iron mine and a compass doesn't
know where to point! I had a GPS
but it was my mistake to get one
before they became simple to use
and the one I had so frustrated me
I don't want another one!
Well, I really had dreams
of finding one of the super rare
Iron County beer bottles or an
Amasa Hutch Soda! I had been
day dreaming about it all through
the long cold winter. In the
Summer of 2010 we went up just
days after I finished months of
cancer treatment and right after
surgery. I had amazed several
people by working through 8
weeks of radiation treatments and
three heavy chemotherapy
sessions. When I pulled into my
in-laws, I almost fell out of our
truck onto their driveway like
decomposed liquefied flesh! The
trip almost killed me.
Well, this year was going
to be different. I am still very
weak but I have learned to pace
myself. They told me the cancer
treatments would damage my
hearing, cause constant ringing in
my ears, and take about 10 years
off my life, which seems to be all
true. They said all that was better
then the alternative, but I'm just
not sure for whom?
We didn't get past our
first night at Mackinaw City
before it started raining. From
there we still have a day's drive
and it was overcast for the most
part. Then, when we got to our
destination, it started raining and
kept raining for days! We had
rain, thunder and lightning day
and night with only small dreary
overcast breaks. When we finally
hooked up the trailer and headed a
day's drive east toward the Soo
Locks, it stopped raining until we
got to the Soo. Then after we got a
camp site on the Saint Mary's
River, it started to rain!
Did you know that there
has been an ongoing argument for
200 years between Detroit and
Sault Saint Marie over which is
the oldest town in Michigan?
When I see pictures of the Saint
Mary's River from as early as the
1860's, I cannot help but wonder
how many bottles have been
tossed off the old wooden ships!
Think of it! Every time I see the
Army Corp of Engineers "Paul
Bunyan" dredging the river, I
wonder about antique bottles!
Right on Portage Street,
one of the oldest streets in the
state, there was a neat little
antique shop and somebody was
selling antique bottles that had
been dug in town. I think they
were all dump finds and I have
always wondered about privy
digging. There is a canal that goes
through town and it was originally
dug to be used for ship traffic
around the Saint Mary's rapids.
The problem was the
water flow was too great! The
current races along at 7 MPH and
the whole canal was dug out of
rock! So, it was not wasted work.
They used the stone that was
quarried to build the world's
longest hydroelectric plant across
the canal's outlet. It is an
impressive site! The building is
over 1/4 mile long!
So where did your antique
bottle loving brain take you?
That's right, this town which was
first settled in the 1630's is built
on solid red rock! Can you
imagine what a job it was to dig a
privy back then? Can you imagine
how easy it would be to find them
with a probe? I drive around and
look at the old Victorian ship's
captain's homes and I can just
imagine the rare whisky flasks just
awaiting the lucky digger!
So, we were pretty
bummed out about our rained out
vacation. It sort of felt like we had
been robbed of one of the things
we really value. We did spend
time with my wife's wonderful
parents and I got a chance to see a
900 piece puzzle come together!
Well, as for the bottle digging at
the old ghost town . . . maybe next
year!
What you do in the Wester U.P. when it rains for two weeks! My wife and
her mother put this together, between fixing great home cooked meals,
in three days! My mother in law makes the best Pasties and homemade
pies!
This model is on display in Darrow's
Family Restaurant in west Mackinaw City. It is a nice place to eat with
great food and the prices are reasonable. It is on the west side of I-75
No, it has nothing to do with antique
bottles! I love old Great Lakes Ships and the Chief Wawatam is one of
my favorite ships! I have a large beautiful 1870-80's, aqua 3-piece
mold 1 gallon bottle I purchased from Duane Nickerson several years
ago. My plan was to build this same model in that bottle. The Chief was
a ice breaking railroad car ferry that had a regular route from
Mackinaw City to Saint Ignace. She worked up until 1987. In 1988 she
was sold and cut down into a barge. She is still being used as a barge
and can be seen docked at Sault Saint Marie, Canada. For years I had
been pronouncing the Chief's name wrong. I ran into a Local Mackinaw
Straits expert and he helped me. I was saying Wa-Wa-Tam (like it is
spelled) it is Wa-Wattum. When they had both boilers fired, and she was
steaming ahead "full" she would blacken the sky! I loved to watch her
work!
The Chief Today being pushed by a tug. Looks like she is just up river
from the Soo Locks in the upper Saint Mary's River.
Here is the history of the
chief
Idiot's
Market
I
couldn't leave this last
page blank. I decided to tell you
about my latest acquired treasure
at the last minute. That means I'm
back at my store and this part will
be unedited. As I write this, on
August 4th., the price of crude oil
is at a 5 week low. It has been
slipping back daily and last I heard
closed at $91.00 a barrel. So, did
the gasoline prices retreat? Nope
they went up! I searched the
Business web-sites for an
explanation and found none. They
don't even need a concrete reason
to raise gasoline prices, just a
unfounded-fear is enough to get
their greedy little black hearts
grabbing for more money. It just
seems to me that there is far too
little public outrage.
Don't expect President
Obama to do much in your
defense. He actually stated when
he was campaigning for the
Illinois Senate, that gas should be
$6.00 per gallon to discourage its
use and bring us more in line with
the European market.
Discourage its use? The
American economy was built
around low energy prices and I
don't think that should be
criticized. Our problem is the
source of our oil! I am fully
behind the "Drill Here Drill Now"
plan! Competition and volume
always result in lower prices and a
better product!
So, have you ever seen the
start of a Alcoholics Anonymous
meeting where they introduce
themselves and say, "I'm John
Smith and I am an alcoholic."
Well, "I'm Al Holden and
I am an RV Camper."
I grew up around RV's
My father owned on of the largest
RV dealerships in Southwest
Michigan which he started in 1957
and then He sold it to retire in
1988. I started out washing the
bugs off from the rental units, then
was promoted into new unit prep,
then into sales, then sales
manager. I loved selling RV's! We
were the number one selling
dealer in the United States for
several national brands and I sold
the largest share of them. I didn't
know my wife at that time, and
she really doesn't understand. It
drives her nuts when we are going
down the road and I spot a
familiar travel trailer, pop-up
camper, pickup camper, fifth
wheel or motor home and I say, "I
probably sold that."
There still is a RV
industry, the high gasoline prices
have not killed it. The retiree can
still save money by winterizing his
home and heading south for the
winter if he finds a nice park away
from the tourist traps. We like to
travel with our 21 foot Jayco
because it gives us a nice clean
bed to sleep in, a place to prepare
our own food and a clean
bathroom.
I think our pickup gets
about 16 to 18 miles per gallon
running around empty and about
10 to 12 pulling the trailer all
loaded. I still think it is a good
deal when you factor in the costs
of Hotels and eating out. Some of
the campgrounds we stay in range
from $15.00 to $25.00 per night
with full hookup, which is water
and electric and a sewer dump
station. Many places have cable
TV hookups and free Wireless
Internet!
The campground we stay
at Mackinaw City has almost a
mile of waterfront on Lake Huron
at the Mackinaw Straights!
The name of the
campground is, "Old Mill Creek."
There are over 800 sites and it is a
beautiful campground! They have
a nice camp store, arcade game
room and pool as well as beaches
and a golf course. The showers
and bathroom are squeaky clean!
They even pipe in classical music
into the showers!
There are a couple large
playgrounds and a large basketball
court. Plus, after 10:00 pm it is
quite! They have shuttle service to
the Mackinaw Island Ferry
Service, and they can handle your
bikes. The people who own it are
committed to keeping it as a
campground even though the
property is worth millions to
developers.
Well, when we returned
from vacation we noticed a used
class-C motor home for sale on
West Main and we drove by it for
weeks. It caught our eye but we
didn't say anything to each other.
One day on our way past it I was
in heavy traffic and I was going to
stop and take a closer look when
some guy pulled in and blocked
the drive. I expressed dismay and
my wife asked "What's wrong?"
I told her, "I wanted to get
a closer look at that motor home." I expected her to rebuke the idea.
Instead she said, "I've wanted to
check that out as well!"
It was locked up, so we
peaked through the windows but it
was hard to see much. They had a
price tag in the front window of
$9,850.00. I went on the computer
to see if they had a web site. They
did and it had a slide show of
inside and outside of the motor
home.
I had some idea what we
were looking at, it was a 1984
London Aire 27 foot motor home
on a Ford chassis with the 460 V8
engine. The London Aire motor
homes were top of the line! Full
welded aluminum superstructure
with hand finished oak cabinets
and the finest workmanship. In
1984 I was selling Midas Mini
Motor homes for about
$12,000.00. A London Aire would
set you back around $44,000.00
plus options!
This unit came from an
estate and it was advertised to
have 116,000 original miles and
also was stored inside. It was
loaded! And I don't mean just
options!
It has a 4000 watt Onan
Generator, (that fires at the touch
of a button), and runs like brand
new. It has rear Air-Ride
suspension, roof rack and storage
pod, high dollar Zip-Dee awning,
monitor panel, roof air, power
step, microwave and regular oven,
all directional TV system, Towing
package, running boards and roof
air! And much more! But, it was
even packed with dishes,
tableware, pot & pans, vacuum
cleaner and clothes iron!
It runs out like new! I had
my son check it over and it looked
like the front disc brake pads were
not striking fully so I had them
changed buy the guys who are in
my building. I had them put new
belts and hoses on at the same
time. I asked them what they
thought of the coach and they said,
"We cannot believe it only has
16,000 miles on it!"
I told them it has 116,000
miles and they said, "NO!"
They said, "We know that
odometer has not rolled over, and
we just changed the original belts
and hoses. There is no doubt in
our mind this is 16,000 miles!"
Well, it gets 9 miles per
gallon and it is shear luxury! I
made the seller and offer of
$6000.00 and we settled at
$6500.00. When I was researching
London Aire, and the parent
company 'Newmar' there was a newer, bigger
2008, 40-foot unit on You Tube
with 11,000 miles for $550,000.00
the factory suggest retail price of
$998,900.00! A million dollar
motor home! I am one happy
camper!
The Kalamazoo Antique
Bottle Club meets at the main
downtown Kalamazoo
Library, located at 315 South
Rose Street. We meet on the
third floor in the conference
room. This meeting is August
9th. Meeting starts at 7:00
pm. For questions e-mail prostock@net-link.net
Or call 269-685-1776
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