As countless 20-somethings know, sleep around enough and you’re bound to run into some losers.

And so it is for us.

Every couple of nights, we lay our heads somewhere new. Fortunately, most of the time, it all works out great. Our biggest concern when we open our eyes on any given morning is just remembering where we are. But every so often, we have a rough night.

The first couple days of our travels to and through Michigan demonstrated this yin and yang of RV life.

The Sarnia Walmart

Upon leaving Niagara Falls, we headed west across the portion of Ontario that leads back to the U.S. After an afternoon of driving, we stopped for the night at a Walmart.

Motorhome parked in front of Walmart Now, eagle eyed readers may be asking themselves “Didn’t she just say that they weren’t going to stay at any more Walmarts?” And the answer, dear readers, is “Yes. I did say that.”

What I did not say – ever – is that I actually know what I’m talking about. We’re just making this stuff up as we go along and we change our minds every four minutes. Simply put, this is not the place to look for consistency.

So, what happened? Well, when we left Niagara Falls, we had to cross about 200 miles of Ontario before we could cross back into the U.S…

Map showing route between Niagara Falls and Sarnia, Ontario
Niagara Falls on the right, the Sarnia border crossing on the left.

…and there are almost no campgrounds along the western third of this particular route. In fact, I could only find one decent looking campground in the area and, when I called several weeks before our trip, they were already booked up (because – they’re the only game in town).

That left us two options: 1) stay at the Walmart in Canada that is located just before the border crossing; or 2) cross the border and then stay at a campground in Michigan.

We quickly decided against option 2.

We have now done the US/Canadian border crossing multiple times and in our experience, the U.S. crossing is always more time consuming and frustrating. Every time we’ve crossed into the U.S., we’ve had to sit in line for a very long time, we’ve been asked a bunch of questions, and then we’ve had to stand outside while one or two Border Patrol agents have entered our motorhome to take a look around. And we’ve actually been super lucky with this – our friends, MonaLiza and Steve, just had their entire RV searched, top to bottom, for well over an hour.

On a somewhat related note, about 50% of the time, after a long day of driving, one or both of us is fed up and in a bad mood. It is just a fact of our lives: Travel days make us cranky. But because we realize this, we try to avoid stressful stuff at the end of any drive.

So, our trip from Niagara was already going to be long, we were going to get stuck waiting at the border crossing, we were probably going to be grumpy, and then some baby-faced Border Patrol agent was gonna want to take a look-see in our cabinets and drawers – or worse, rifle through all our possessions. Knowing myself and my penchant for sarcastic (some would say “downright unhelpful”) commentary in such situations, we decided the worst thing we could possibly do was attempt to cross the border that afternoon.

Ergo…Walmart!

Fortunately, for once, Walmart came through for us and we had a perfect stay! The parking lot was clean, level, well lit, and devoid of any weirdos. There were two other RVers in the lot, and, when we checked at the front desk, the employee said we were more than welcome to put our slides out and our jacks down. Score!

RVs parked at Walmart

After a good night’s sleep, we headed for the border where we sat in a line for well over an hour before answering the agent’s questions and allowing him to take a look around our house. At least we didn’t have any undue aggravation, but dealing with all of that while being fully rested was definitely the right call.

The rest of that drive was a bit tricky as our GPS rerouted us through the middle of Flint, Michigan. Poor Flint is a disaster – not just when it comes to water, but roads as well. Heavy traffic, lots of construction, terrible pavement…. the works.

But, at the end of it, we got to a nice little county owned campground full of green trees located right next to Lake Huron.

Finn Road Park

Of course, Thor was excited to go swimming in another lake, but we took one look at the water near the campground and nixed it. There was a ton of algae floating on top of the canal that leads from the campground to the lake.

Dogs and algae do not mix. In fact, while we were at Finn Road, we saw news reports of a family whose 3 dogs died after swimming in a pond. Unbeknownst to the owners, the pond containedΒ a particularly toxic type of algae.

Later, I ran into this article that discusses the prevalence of huge algae blooms in the Great Lakes as well as other parts of the country. Scientists believe the blooms are the result of runoff from nearby farms.

Algae floating on water near Finn Road Park

Needless to say, we were not going to let our dog go swimming in any water in which we could see this stuff floating on the surface.

Not to worry though! There were plenty of hiking trails to explore right near the campground… We headed off to check them out and promptly ran into this sign:

Nevermind…

Why on earth these two things would overlap, I have no idea, but we weren’t about to go wandering around with the dog. So, we told Thor to sit, and as we looked at him and he looked at us, we said, “Thor… You’re screwed,” and we went back home.

Mackinaw Campground Craziness

When we got to Mackinaw City Campground, we were thrilled. I had run into this little gem on Campendium – a small, family owned campground located just down the street from the Mackinac Island ferry. $20 per night gets you a water/electric site under the trees, a nice big field, a playground, and fresh eggs and firewood purchased on an honor system. Awesome!

We used the campground as a base for our explorations to Mackinac Island which I’ll discuss next post. We also enjoyed sitting out having fires and just generally relaxing. It was a great stop… but there was some serious craziness while there that had us counting ourselves as very lucky.

On the Friday night of our visit, around 4:00 a.m., I was awoken by the sounds of loud banging and yelling somewhere near our rig.

Bang!

“Get outta here!”

Bang!

“Get outta here!!”

Bang!

“Get outta here!”

Over and over and over.

The yelling and banging was so intense, I remember thinking that I was about to hear a gunshot.

When I realized I wasn’t dreaming, I looked up and saw Kevin walking through our bedroom on the way to the back bathroom. As he looked out the window back there, I asked what was going on and he said he didn’t know. He was trying to figure out where the commotion was coming from.

By this point, the banging and yelling had ceased, though, for a moment, Kevin thought he heard some voices speaking quietly nearby. But as we looked out our various windows, neither of us could see anyone and we couldn’t figure out what we’d heard.

We both remembered there had been some college-aged tent campers a couple spots over and, for a moment, wondered whether they were screwing around or arguing or something. But we realized we hadn’t heard two voices but rather just one male voice screaming “Get outta here!” over and over.

As we were looking out our front window discussing whether we should call the police, we watched as a marked SUV drove into the campground. The officer quickly circled around and pulled in right behind our immediate neighbor’s travel trailer.

A police officer got out and we heard him say “Come over here… Come toward me. Show me your hands. Show me your hands…”

And from the far side of our neighbor’s travel trailer, we watched a young male walk over to the officer. The officer had him stand up against the back of the police SUV, patted him down, and asked him a couple questions – most of which, unfortunately, we couldn’t make out. We did hear himΒ ask how old he was, to which he responded “21,” (which he could have been, but he also could have been much younger.) We heard him ask what he was doing there and he said something about having friends in the campground or visiting friends or something like that. The bits and pieces of answers that we could make out didn’t make much sense. He would repeat things, ramble, stall, and generally not answer the question.

It was apparent that he was extremely intoxicated.

Within a minute or two, another SUV pulled up, this one from the local sheriff’s department. There were several officers on scene and, at one point, one of the officers mentioned that there was a party going on in the residential neighborhood up the street from where our campground was located.

Our neighbor’s trailer and blue pick up truck. To the right, a sheriff’s SUV and in front of him, a police officer’s SUV.

Our guess, based on what we saw and what we could make out of the various conversations, is this guy got massively intoxicated and wandered off from the party and into our campground where he started raising hell. And for unknown reasons, he decided to attack our neighbor’s trailer.

One of the officers pointed out that he had ripped the trailer’s license plate all the way back (in the photo below, you can kinda see it all crumpled up), and broke out one of the trailer’s brake lights. In fact, the officers found the remains of the brake light right next to our RV – under our bedroom window. Apparently, he ripped the light out and then chucked it at our rig.

The license plate crumpled up and pulled back. The brake light above the plate was ripped out entirely.

We’re still not sure if the banging we heard was him beating on the back of the trailer or whether he was actually trying to get in the front door, but whatever was going on scared the crap out of us from 20 feet away. I cannot imagine what it was like for the people inside that trailer. They were an older couple and, after securing the male in one of the SUVs,Β the officer called for an ambulance to check on them because one of them was having a hard time breathing. Thankfully they were OK and the EMTs left a little while later.

The male was moved from the officer’s police car to the sheriff’s car and then transported to the jail where, presumably, he woke up the next morning with one hell of a hangover and several criminal charges. Meanwhile, we crawled into bed and tried to get some sleep.

All I could think of, though, was how lucky he was. Given the number of RVers who carry firearms, and given what the residents of that trailer must have thought was happening, the whole thing could have ended in a huge tragedy.

Of course, my comments at the top of this article notwithstanding, this whole incident had nothing to do with camping or the campground we were at. This guy could have just as easily wandered through the residential neighborhood and started raising hell there.

Our Guard Dog

If you’re wondering what Thor was doing during this whole incident, well, rest assured! He took full advantage of the situation by stretching out and taking over the entire center of our bed while we were up investigating. He was utterly unconcerned.

Dixie would have broken out the front door, hamstrung the bad guy, punched a cop, and stolen the ambulance.

Thor?? Well, Thor just wished everyone would stop making so much noise so he could sleep in peace.

Sigh….

Of course, during our other recent event involving an extremely drunken middle of the night visitor (we do seem to attract these guys, huh?), he gave some solid German Shepherd “I’m gonna murder you and everyone you’ve ever known” warning barks, so… who knows? He’s unreliable. (Though, to be fair, that guy actually knocked on our door whereas, in this event, the activity didn’t involve our home.)

Anyway, when not monitoring police activity outside our door, we had a completely wonderful time exploring Mackinac Island. More on that next.

___________________________________________________________________

Where we stayed:

Finn Road Park, Essexville, Michigan

Mackinaw City Campground, Mackinaw City, Michigan

35 COMMENTS

  1. Yikes!! That’s a bit unsettling to say the least! Well, there’s one in every crowd, even when they wander in from somewhere else. I’m glad everyone was safe.

  2. Well that certainly would have been scary, but you are right that set of circumstances could have happened anywhere. I’m sure Thor would have come through if it was his house the guy was pounding on πŸ™‚

    • That’s what we keep telling ourselves. LOL. He’s fickle, that one…. But yes, this really could have happened anywhere to anyone. Just a crazy thing…

  3. Oh, dear, what a crazy experience. What are the chances of there being a party outside the campground and the drunk one finds the trailer next to you. Glad he didn’t find yours. So good to hear Thor got a goods night sleep!! He was protecting the bed!! Very important work!
    Glad your return to the US went smoothly. A good night’s sleep does help the disposition and curb the sarcasm…haha! We did find that a lot of Walmarts in Canada don’t allow overnight stays when we were visiting the Maritimes. Looks like you found the perfect Wal!!

    • I know Walmarts that allow overnight RV parking are getting harder and harder to find, and we’ve seen enough problems with them that we’re not likely to use them unless absolutely necessary, but if our experience at this particular store is indicative of what it USED to be like, man, we are all missing out. It really was great. Too bad it’s all kinda gotten ruined over the years. πŸ™

      So, from what we can tell, if anyone tries to break in and steal our bed, they’re gonna be in for a rough time. Anything else? I guess the jury is still out! (Insert eye roll here…)

      I’ll keep you posted!!

  4. That sounds like a wild night!! It was bad enough for you, but as you said, it must have been terrifying for those poor people in the trailer that crazy drunk guy was attacking. Fortunately, in all of our years of travel, we’ve yet to experience anything quite like that. But I hope you’ll keep writing these “True and Terrifying Tales of RVing” and maybe in a couple of years, there will be far fewer people traveling, LOL!

    Seriously, anyone thinking of taking to the road fulltime should know that all campsites are not peaceful hideaways with pastoral scenery, dark night skies, and morning birdsong by a babbling creek. But it’s really kind of awful when your best campsite out of three places is a Walmart. That pretty little green county campground looked promisingβ€”except for the algae-covered lake and the combined walking-hunting trail. (Are you kidding me?)

    I’m very glad that Thor has you trained to do your job protecting him so that he can get his beauty sleep. ????

    • Yeah, we do seem to be a walking cautionary tale when it comes to campgrounds recently, huh? It is definitely not all Instagram-worthy, that’s for sure! And I will absolutely keep writing this stuff because I need people to stop RVing. I’m tired of having to fight to get campsites. (Was that out loud? Dammit….)

      I will say Finn Road was a pretty good campground… except the weirdness. The algae thing is happening all over because no one wants to address the underlying issues. It’s really not their fault. The walking/hunting thing though? Yeah, I’ve got nothing. I don’t know if that’s actually the county’s property or what, but I wasn’t about to go poking around to find out. The whole thing was just so odd. I really wonder if anyone ever sees that sign and keeps walking on the trail. Crazy…

      And, as you can tell from his lovely features, Thor gets plenty of beauty rest… That is, apparently, his highest priority!! πŸ™‚

  5. Knock on wood, we’ve always had pretty good luck with border crossings. Having recently acquired a new handgun, we opted not to drive through Canada on our way to visit family in NH. Canada has a serious set of rules concerning handguns that we are interested in breaking! There has been quite an outbreak of deadly blue/green algae this year, all over the country. Wise choice to nix the swimming. Ripping apart the license plate? Hmmm, sound more than drunk! Glad the older couple was ok. Thor was just keeping the bed warm for you!

    • Yup, so far, we’ve had no issues with border crossings, but it’s clear from some of our friends that you can be picked at random and there is just nothing you can do. I definitely would not mess around with the firearms, though. They do NOT take that stuff lightly, so I think you have the right attitude about that.

      I had never even heard of the blue green algae thing before, but yeah – it’s popping up everywhere. So terrifying. It’s incredible how many things you have to pay attention to and be aware of – both for your health and your pets’.

      And yes, as bed warmers go, Thor is a star. As guard dogs go? Well, we”ll see…. πŸ™‚

  6. Glad everyone is safe. Like you pointed out that’s something that could’ve happened anywhere, even when you live in a house. But it sure feels scarier in RV when the outside is just within an arm reach.

    • Exactly right… those walls and doors and windows all just seem so flimsy – especially when something like this is happening. I am very glad that everything turned out OK and no one got hurt. It could have ended really badly.

  7. I have a new RV money making idea for you similar to the COPs TV show that chronicles the insane travels of Laura, Kevin & Thor. It’s roses for everyone watching the latest rage of RV shows, but lookout, they’ve got the real scoop!

    • YASSSS! I love it!! As you know, in the CJ system, truth really is often stranger than fiction! We should definitely pitch this idea to the networks. They’re gonna love it! πŸ™‚

    • Haha.. Perhaps our guard dog decided to go on strike because of “unfair working conditions”?? πŸ™‚

      And yes, I am often amazed at the crazy stuff law enforcement has to deal with. I was seriously impressed by the professionalism of this particular groups of officers. It was a tiny town police department, but they definitely knew what they were doing. Lucky for the kid….

  8. It’s hard to believe that no enterprising Canadians have set up campgrounds along what must be a heavily-traveled stretch of land. The Walmart looks great but we always prefer having some sort of campground to avoid unpleasant surprises (like a “No Overnight Parking” sign).

    Also, I really don’t envy your neighbors – I mean, can they make an insurance claim for the damage, and if so, how do they even begin to explain what happened? In their situation I’d be worried that WE would sound like the crazy ones claiming that a weirdo came out of the dark and starting ripping apart our home.

    • Well, I think that’s the good thing about police involvement. It’ll be up to the police officer to explain the weirdness in his police report which can then be submitted to the insurance adjuster. πŸ™‚ It’s definitely a crazy situation, but I’d be willing to bet insurance agents have heard all kinds of bizarre stuff.

      I, too, was surprised that there were no options along that route in Ontario. I just don’t think there’s much in the area. It’s kinda the middle of nowhere. But if someone was enterprising, they could build a pretty solid business there. And even in the face of this awesome Walmart experience, we will continue to look for campgrounds first. Too much uncertainty with the Walmarts these days….

  9. My periodic catching up with you all (L, K &D/T) has put me in ind of several shorter trips I have taken in a cabin cruiser or two. Very romantic in the abstract, chock full of eerie nights anchored in the middle of bays and harbors, fantastic sunsets/rises, interesting people and learning the recent and ancient history of the places I passed by or stayed at. However, there are similarities in your and my reality. All of the above were matched by: going south into northern bound 12 foot waves (accompanied by serious mal-de-mer), meeting some truly weird people, mechanical issues that I was not equipped to handle…in the middle of nowheresville, almost submerged rocks and sandbars, AND the news on CBC (Canada’s NPR) of the killer Kelly who was a fugitive at large wandering around where we were boating. Mounties Ray has met years later remember the search for the madman Kelly from those days. Now that I am older and wiser, I am satisfied to read your accounts from the safety of my back porch. Love them…keep going!

    • Haha… I’m glad we can provide entertainment without all the personal risk to your safety! It is definitely a fact of our lives that the amazing things we get to see and do come at a cost… the inefficiencies, the aggravations, the weirdness… it’s all the price we pay to be able to see what we want to see. Sometimes the difficulty is difficult enough to warrant writing about. Most of the time, we just wait til morning and motor on…. It’s never dull, that’s for sure. Fortunately, there haven’t been any serial killers running around, as far as we know, anyway. That might be enough for me to book a hotel room for a couple days….

      And yes, we are headed in your general direction next. I emailed with Ray today. Hopefully we can meet up in the next couple weeks!

  10. BTW, stop by when you are coming south from Mackinac. Or not, if you are hauling more trailer-tommies (“Up against the wall; assume the position! You have a right…”) just go West across the UP.

  11. Wow! Glad everyone is safe. Crazy folks out there for sure. So far, we’ve only encountered one that we had to notify park rangers about. I still can’t bring myself to park in a Walmart (or Cabela’s or Cracker Barrel) parking lot. I’m sure one day we will have to, but not thankfully not yet. Safe travels. πŸ™‚

    • Yeah, we’ve had mixed experiences in the free lots. As a general rule, I will always try to find a campground. They just seem more reliable and safer. But, chances are, this won’t be the last time that we just don’t have any good options. At least it worked out this go round… Safe travels to you too!

  12. I’ve said it before (I think) but your writing style, sarcasm, wit, all that stuff makes your posts truly enjoyable to read. We look forward to getting them. Maybe we can meet up next time your visiting Texas.
    Stay Safe….Keep moving, they can’t hit a moving target.
    Jim & Linda
    The Texas “Vag-A-Ponds”

    • Ha! That is some great advice!

      Thank you for reading and thank you for your kind comment. I do appreciate it. It’s nice to know I haven’t annoyed everyone just yet. πŸ™‚

      And yes, a Texas meetup could be fun… If all goes well, we should be through there sometime next spring. (Though, to be fair, it’s kind of a large state… πŸ™‚

    • To be fair, those are usually my priorities too. It was just a little hard to ignore the chaos going on outside our house… Well, it was hard for us humans, anyway….

      And yes, we were very happy no one got hurt. It was definitely not a good situation.

  13. Never a dull moment with your life on the road!
    What did you expect with Thor? Did you allow him to swim in the lake? No, So, while the crazy drunk was waking everyone up, he was in a zenlike sleeping pretty, good dog πŸ™‚ Maybe he knows that it is just the neighbors being harassed and that you are not actually in danger.
    So glad and thank you for linking our aggravating post about our Canada border crossing. Hopefully, it will help some and be prepared. I meant we were prepared too but they took a liking to the big girl Betsy. Let’s see what will happen going back to the country in a week πŸ™‚

    • Ugh, I am crossing my fingers for you guys. You would hope they’d put a note in the computer that says they already went through all your stuff and you’re good to go… Alas, probably not. Especially since it was the Canadians who drove you crazy this last time. I would never have seen that coming.

      As for Thor, the consensus here seems to be that it is definitely not unreasonable for the dog to take a snooze instead of being protective. It’s a tough life he leads… πŸ™‚

  14. I’m glad that since you finally had to stay at a Walmart, it was a good experience. Is that store open 24 hrs?

    Ugh, algae! There is some here in New Mexico (don’t know if it’s the toxic sort, but not going to risk finding out!) Sure puts a damper on all water activities.

    The walking/hunting sign is a head-scratcher. There has got to be more to that puzzle!

    Fresh eggs at the campground?! That’s a dream come true! Drunk vandals at the campground?! That is not! I’m most glad for the victims and the cops that it didn’t end differently.

    As for Thor, I think this just proves he’s not a meddler!????

    • That store was not open 24 hours and I think that was part of the reason it worked so well. I think the 24 hour places are just louder, busier, and attract more weirdos – which likely leads management and local towns to want to prohibit overnight camping. The problem is, most Walmarts are now 24 hour stores, so these are harder and harder to come by. But, in the future, it will definitely be something we take a look at when considering an overnight stay.

  15. At least now you have a story for people interested in full-time RV’ing :p The funny thing about the border crossing is we’ve had the opposite experience – they never want to let us in to Canada, but the US welcomes us home with open arms in like 5 minutes flat. I’m slightly uncomfortable about what that might say about us though. ????

    • Canadians are basically the nicest people ever. What the hell is wrong with you two??? Jeez….

      Though, to be fair, Monaliza and Steve’s nightmare border crossing was actually going into Canada too… I don’t know what y’all did to deserve those nice border agents’ wrath, but pretty clearly, you did something.

      And yes, any opportunity I have to spread fear and distaste for fulltime RV living, I will absolutely take. It’s the least I can do for the community. πŸ™‚

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