Travel from St Clair to Buckley, Michigan

We drove our coach 323 miles, about five hours of driving, from St Clair to Buckley, Michigan.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading northwest:

Map

An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:

I-69 West:

I-69 West

Rest area:

Rest area

Flint Strong water:

Flint Strong

North towards Saginaw:

North towards Saginaw

I-75 North:

I-75 North

Rest area:

Rest area

Paladin on the dash:

Paladin on the dash

Route 10 West:

Route 10 West

Speed Limit 75, Truck Speed 65, Minimum Speed 55:

Speed Limit 75, Truck Speed 65, Minimum Speed 55

Rest area:

Rest area

I like this style of passing lane, where the dotted line strongly suggests moving right:

Passing lane

Arriving at KOA:

Arriving at KOA

Replacing light under kitchen sink

I previously replaced the cover on the light under the sink, but it got knocked off again, so I decided to replace the whole light fixture this time, figuring that the clips that hold the cover on may be weak.

The light is available from Tiffin’s online parts store, part number 5032143 “Light Wardrobe Brown LED”:

Light

Light

Rather than using the wires that came with the light, I simply unplugged the existing wires from the old light, and plugged in to the new one. But the light didn’t work; it turned out that I needed to reverse the wires; so I guess the original was hooked up differently:

Light

But all good now:

Light

An easy fix.

Baseball: Detroit Tigers vs Boston Red Sox

We attended a game of the Detroit Tigers vs Boston Red Sox, playing at the Tigers ballpark, Comerica Park.

The Tigers completed a 3-game sweep of the Red Sox on a pleasant evening in Detroit. Nice stadium with a couple of fun things (carousel with tigers instead of horses and a baseball-themed Ferris wheel). Tarik Skubal pitched very well and efficiently—11 strikeouts and only one walk. Amazing homerun robbery with assist (scoring: F9-8) by the Red Sox to steal a run from Kerry Carpenter that will be in the highlight reels for years. Exciting steal and advance on a throwing error for some 9th inning heroics by the Tigers and a walk-off single to end it—a fun game.

An interactive map of the ballpark:

Entrance, with lots of tigers:

Entrance with lots of tigers

Big tiger:

Big tiger

More tigers:

More tigers

Team store:

Team store

Carousel:

Carousel

Kielbasa and pierogis:

Kielbasa and pierogis

Fried Classics:

Fried Classics

Elephant ear:

Elephant ear

Baseball bat drink of Tiger Fuel:

Baseball bat drink of Tiger Fuel

Selfie from our seats:

Selfie from our seats

View from our seats in Section 126, Row 27, Seats 1 & 2:

View from our seats

Play ball:

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

The mascot, Paws:

Paws

Paws

Run scores:

Run scores

We liked how the sculptures captured the motion:

Exploring the ballpark

Ferris wheel:

Ferris wheel

Exploring the ballpark:

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Exploring the ballpark

Nice stats display:

Nice stats display

New pitcher:

New pitcher

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball

Run scores

Tigers win:

Tigers win

Tigers win

St Clair River and Lake Huron

We took a drive to see the St Clair River and Lake Huron.

It’s kinda crazy how far one needs to drive to see the lake; there were some paid parking areas near St Clair, and a few minor roads, but pretty much all of the coastline was populated with houses. We drove 37 minutes north to a roadside park to be able to properly see the lake.

An interactive map of our route:

St Clair River and the Blue Water Bridge to Canada:

St Clair River and Blue Water Bridge

St Clair River and Blue Water Bridge

Very blue water:

Very blue water

Quite swiftly moving river:

St Clair River and Blue Water Bridge

Under the Blue Water Bridge:

Blue Water Bridge

Nearby, Fort Gratiot Lighthouse (closed on the day we drove by):

Fort Gratiot Lighthouse

37 minutes north, Lake Huron Roadside Park:

Lake Huron Roadside Park

Lake Huron

Lake Huron

Steps down to the lake:

Lake Huron

But the bottom is blocked off:

Lake Huron

A navigation buoy? washed up on the shore:

Lake Huron

Lake Huron

Endless lake:

Lake Huron

Thousand Trails St Clair

We stayed at Thousand Trails St Clair in St Clair, Michigan. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A nice Thousand Trails campground.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2025-05-11
  • Check out: 2025-05-18
  • 7 nights

Weather:

  • Mix of sunny and rainy
  • High temps 67-81°F, lows 44-61°F
  • Some wind, gusts to 27 MPH

Noise:

  • Some freeway noise
  • No train horn noise
  • A bunch of neighbor noise (kids)

Site:

  • #C21, pull-through, gravel
  • Buddy site, with neighbor passenger side facing us on both sides (ugh)
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad, parked behind coach
  • Fairly level site; high on passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Gravel driveway about 70 feet long by 8 feet wide
  • 35 feet to neighbors on both sides
  • Just grass between sites
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Some tall trees
  • Somewhat clean site
  • Elevation 620 feet, front facing due west

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 50 PSI very hard water, conveniently located
  • Unthreaded sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Starlink: 130-300 Mbps down, 7-30 Mbps up, 30-40 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: 380-430 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 75-210 ms ping, unreliable
  • AT&T: 128-142 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 65 ms ping
  • Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 0.5-7 Mbps up, 60 ms ping (our SIM has 5 Mbps max)
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Pool
  • Package delivery to office, at no charge (uncommon for Thousand Trails nowadays)

Our review on Campground Reviews:

A Nice Thousand Trails Campground

This place was typical of an older Thousand Trails campground, but the communal areas looked new and well-maintained. Like all other TT properties, they have switched to assigned sites, which I prefer. A word of warning, however, because the map they have online when you click the link in your confirmation email is highly outdated. Our original assignment was B2, which, on the old map, was a 15A site, which would not suffice, and we had some angst about what we’d do if that were the case. Thankfully, the map on the website itself was an updated version and showed it as a 50A & water site. When we checked in, however, the lovely lady at the front desk informed us that we would be in C-18, which was a full-hookup site. I wasn’t too happy about it since all the pull-throughs are buddy sites (I’d rather not have a sewer connection than have a buddy site). However, she very sweetly moved us to C-21, which was still a buddy site but had larger grassy areas between the sites, so we weren’t cheek-by-jowl with our neighbors, so it all worked out.

One of the best things about this campground is that it is one of the few Thousand Trails campgrounds that 1) still accepts packages for guests, and 2) doesn’t charge for them. It’s also one of the rare TT campgrounds that provides the actual gate code in the pre-arrival email. This is because you need to let yourself in when you arrive and then check in at the welcome center. I’ve been conditioned by past experiences at TT campgrounds to be skeptical of those emails, so it came as a surprise when I needed the gate code upon arrival. We camped at Thousand Trails St Clair in a Motorhome.

Campground map; it says C18, but the check-in person told us C21 was better:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

It was a buddy site, which we normally hate, but this wasn’t too bad, since there was a fair bit of space between the sites. Plus it was too cold to want to sit outside, so didn’t bother us too much:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

Dusty truck (we did take it through a car wash after this, though it was dirty again a few days later from rain):

Dusty car

We added the Michigan sticker to states map, filling a hole:

Added Michigan sticker to states map

Just the little NE states left:

Added Michigan sticker to states map

Our original site assignment was here, next to that annual site; it would have been fine, but no sewer:

Original site assignment

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Office:

Office

Playground:

Playground

Community campfire:

Community campfire

Little library and game:

Little library and game

Mini golf:

Mini golf

We’d be happy to stay here again.

Travel from Ravenna, Ohio to St Clair, Michigan

We drove our coach 249 miles, about five hours of driving, from Ravenna, Ohio to St Clair, Michigan.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading west then north:

Route

An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:

“Is your TV Antennae Down?” — okay, pedantically that should be either “are” or “antenna”:

Is your TV Antennae Down?

Leaving West Branch State Park:

Leaving West Branch State Park

High arching bridge over rail line:

High arching bridge over rail line

Ohio Turnpike I-80 West:

Ohio Turnpike I-80 West

“Trucks and slower traffic use left lane”; unusual:

Trucks and slower traffic use left lane

Large service plaza truck parking:

Large service plaza truck parking

Service plaza food court:

Service plaza food court

BK and Starbucks coffee for lunch:

BK for lunch

Paladin in his dash bed with some roadworks:

Paladin in his dash bed with some roadworks

Ohio turnpike I-80/90 West:

Ohio turnpike I-80/90 West

Another service plaza, with RV elctrical hookups!:

Another service plaza, with RV elctrical hookups!

Toll plaza:

Toll plaza

I-280 North:

I-280 North

Oregon?!

Oregon?!

Bridge over Maumee River in Toledo:

Bridge over Maumee River in Toledo

Maumee River

I-75 North:

I-75 North

“Welcome to Pure Michigan”:

Welcome to Pure Michigan

Not the best road surface:

Not the best road surface

TA fuel stop:

TA fuel stop

I-75 North:

I-75 North

“Speed limit 70, truck speed 65, minimum speed 55”:

Speed limit 70, truck speed 65, minimum speed 55

“Welcome to Thousand Trails St Clair”:

Welcome to Thousand Trails St Clair

Gate:

Gate

Our site:

Our site