CAMPING BRIEFS—

Monday Morning: My camping visit with cousins Brad and Karen Crownover continues:

-- Brad and I stood on the beach at Marsh Harbor and could see the cooling towers at the power plant north of Monroe, MI—maybe the top half that is. I pointed this phenomenon out to Brad as it occurred to me; we were looking some 25 miles or so NW across very clear skies over Lake Erie and we were experiencing a view over the curvature of the earth.

--Later Brad skippered us on a tour through the West Harbor channel and across the lake to take a close-up look at Perry’ Monument in Put-in-Bay. His 27 foot fishing machine romped across the gentle swells of the lake ahead of the throaty harmony of its muscular 454 cubic inch engine--while swallowing a gallon of gas each mile.

--The East Harbor State Park is a jewel in the state’s system of camping and recreational facilities. It sprawls over 1831 acres and features 570 camp sites. I wound up sandwiched between friendly folks each frolicking in huge (by comparison) luxurious motor homes. And, I appreciated the sparsely populated facility, shuddering to think how this must look when at its maximum summer occupancy.

--This is the second and last of the inauguration runs with the new camper. With few exceptions it is performing flawlessly. Of course, those involve hot water and heat so a little tuning-up work remains before we launch on a more challenging trip.

No sweat. I never thought I would even be doing this at my age.