Day #11 - Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

This was not a very nice day from a weather perspective, as it was cold, very windy still, and for much of the day still drizzled intermittently, only turning to (cold) sunshine at the end of the afternoon. After our usual hearty breakfast, we made our way out to the campground. For a while we sat and drank coffee and chatted, and then entered into a long debate over who wanted to do what, in what combination. Eventually it was decided that Carol & Jerry would stay with the campground, and that Marissa, John & (a reluctant) Bob would be driven by Rita to find the "has everything" store, eat lunch, and go on to Bond Falls & back.

John & Marissa had a ball in Winks Woods, as did to a lesser extent Rita. Bob sat in the car with Zoe. After much looking, and some debate & consultation, both J & M took their treasures to the counter, flashed plastic, and signed for three digit bills each! Bob was horrified & Rita only slightly less so, as they have forgotten how to shop for fun & nice things. As we were now into the witching hour we quickly found a Subway where more or less food, depending on the person, was eaten.

We headed on to Bond Falls, where the rain had stopped although everything was pretty wet still, and spent some time admiring and taking pictures from several widespread angles. We then drove up to the top, but access was limited, and it was cold, so we just visited the gift shop & only John bought a little something as a memento. We then embarked on the long drive back, but Rita made excellent time, accelerated in both John & Bob's case by a time out for a nap in the back seat! We sat in the RV and, as requested, did a "show & tell" of the various mementos and goodies we had acquired on our trip - which is actually quite a lot between us.

After regrouping & gathering up all the Hammonds we embarked in two vehicles for the ski jump area. Once we had arrived, Jerry suggested a quick run to the top of the hill/mountain to take in the view. Bob elected to stay & go in to the restaurant (as did Rita, after a communications failure) and the rest of us went up to look & take a picture or three, before heading back down & joining R & B. We then had a nice dinner (Bob's treat!!) before heading back to Summer Breeze to join Zoe who had been left behind.

After some more chatter, we gathered up our stuff, went through the ritual & tearful goodbyes with hugs all around & headed back for our last night in Iron Mountain for this trip. It was nice to get a break from driving for a couple of days, we only put 53 miles on the van since arriving, and embark on the long journey home with 1623.5 miles on the odometer.