espresso machine - the saga

As many of you dear readers already know, Dagan has complicated relationships with espresso machines. Those of you who visited us in Brazil, got a chance to hear about the famous Saeco machine, who spent more time in the repair shop than working for Dagan. Whenever friends visited us they would ask me in whisper (not to upset Dagan) how's the machine doing today. It was more important than the kids health(-:
a long time ago, when we just started planning this trip, one of the first things D googled was - espresso machine + rv. Not too many results came up. After arriving here, he made a thorough research and decided to buy another Saeco (WHY???) on-line and send it to wait for him at Cathy's. When we arrived there, Jim and D planned and built the perfect compartment for the big fancy machine. Jim sweated on that project more than in Wii Fit training(-:
D plugged it in, the machine made a lot of noise and....tadaaa - nada. Something's wrong with the machine. It was too complicated to repair it without us having a fixed address here. We returned the machine back few days later and got our money back.
Dagan started googling again but salvation came from his dear brother who suggested to buy another type of machine (Nespresso c100+aeroccino) that is also smaller and actually fits in our small kitchen.
Within another Google search we found out where we can buy this machine in the area and yesterday we went to the mall in Buffalo to get it. When we wanted to leave the mall the car wouldn't start! We tried several times but the engine was completely dead. We called the insurance and scheduled towing for the next morning. We had to inform the mall's security officer that we're going to spend the night in the parking lot.
In the morning the phone rang at 7:00 to let us know that the assistance is on its way. We dragged ourselves out of bed. Dagan tried the starter one last time and this time it worked! The car was alive again!
That was the right time to try the new espresso machine. I think you can tell by the pictures what Dagan thinks about the outcome...
mmm... satisfaction!!!!

We also saw the Niagara Falls today, but who cares...

Here comes the sun...

We spent the last 2 days in Maumee Bay state park, Ohio. It was so sunny (and still is) that we just wanted to stay outside. We needed a lot of fresh air. This lovely park is on Lake Erie. After a nice outdoors breakfast we rode the bikes along the park and the beach.
It was almost warm enough for a swim
There's a big trash issue in America. Seems like there's too much of it and they don't know how to get rid of it. The moto is - your trash is your problem. This beach for example has no trash containers at all. You take trash home with you. If not, there's a fine.

Stopped in a playground "para queimar energia" (Cathy - recognize this shirt?)
and into the woods
After having so much fun it was time for some chores. Also part of the family fun(-:
From Ohio we entered Pennsylvania, just to get to NY to see the Niagara Falls tomorrow. And also we hope we can get Dagan a new coffee machine today. After all the hassle, this machine deserves a separate post.

Michigan to Ohio

The last 2 days in Michigan were too rainy to do something more exciting than staying indoors and sleeping in Wal Mart. Typical winter activities:
Doing nothing or reading

Driving and feeling up drinking water in the rv

Today by noon the sun came out and we tried to bike along a river in Lansing, just that the whole river area was closed due to flooding. Instead we stopped in a park in the outskirts of Detroit, to enjoy the sun and do some scarpbooking. Adi has a new balance trick to show:


Later we crossed the border to Ohio to spend the night in a state park.

upper peninsula

In upper peninsula, Michigan, we visited Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The park is located on the shore of Lake Superior. The main park attraction are colorful sandstone cliffs that slide down into the lake's clear water. The cliffs reach to a height of 60-70m. Beside that there are waterfalls, dunes and forests. The forests are different to the ones we've seen so far, as they have less pine trees and more oaks.
We saw the cliffs from "Miners Castle", named after the copper miners that were mining in the area years ago.

We also met this (not so) little guy. This caterpillar changes color according to its background color - green/brown. It's well camouflaged also because it looks very similar to the cones in the area. We think it's a Tobacco Hornworm
From there, Dagan and Aviv drove to the sandy Miners Beach right below to wait for Adi and me while we were taking the 1m trail down to the same place. The beach has a large variety of rocks on shore, quartz, granite, sand and more. We were busy sorting out some of the pebbles.
We continued towards the tip of the peninsula and crossed Mackinac Bridge. By the time we got there, the weather was foggy and rainy. It made the bridge look spooky...
We woke up to a rainy day and we continue driving south bound to south Michigan. Lynn - we will pass very close to Battle Creek(-:

Door County, Wisconsin

Door county is located in the north-east of Wisconsin. It's a peninsula followed by an island in Michigan Lake. On the map it seems to be an insulated place so we were surprised to see how developed and relatively populated this area is. They even have Target store! This is a view from the bridge across the lake. Many bridges connect the island to the peninsula.
It's apple season in Wisconsin. We stopped to buy some in one of the farms.
Winter is coming to Wisconsin. It's not that cold yet, but it sure is wet. The lake that was blue yesterday is dark gray and wavy today. Our wet campground
and the lake
Today we continue north to the upper peninsula in Michigan state.

Lake Michigan, Wisconsin

From Illinois we continued to Wisconsin. The weather is still nice but it seems like the rest of the week will be rainy. Don't we love winter... We drove along Lake Michigan shore until we camped in a beautiful state park (Kohler Andrae) by the lake dunes. We visited the nature center where we saw something amazing - a petrified lightning that was found in the sands. A lightning penetrated the ground and melted the sand to glass. They dug the lightning off the ground in one piece and it's displayed now in the nature center. It's about 1 meter long and has the exact shape of a lightning. I can't believe we didn't take a picture of it...
We took a walk in the dunes along the beach. The sand formation from a glacier is also an interesting story, this time we have a picture:
The lake is huge and so blue, it's hard to believe it's only a lake and not an ocean. We had to taste the water to believe it's fresh.

We saw some small yet beautiful wildlife

Today we continue north to see some more of Wisconsin. Jackie - you're in our minds!

Estou esperando visita tão impaciente, aflita...

Yesterday at around noon we parked in Madison Meadow Park in Lombard (Illinois) to meet Peter. It was impossible to find a campground close to his hotel so we chose to spend the day and evening in the park and then dry-camp for the night in Wal-Mart parking lot.
In the afternoon the park became more and more busy with activities that looked very American to our Israeli eyes - many groups of cheer leaders and american football teams.


While waiting, we played in the playground. The park is very close to O'Hare airport.

And then finally, our 'guest of honor' arrives in a Mustang.
We gave Peter a complete tour in the rv and he took many pictures from every possible angle.
Then we had dinner and s'mores for dessert. Peter was amused to see Dagan BBQ-ing. Thinking about it, we didn't do much churrasco at home in POA. It felt like the last time we saw each other was much less than 2 months ago. It was so much fun!
A friendly St. Bernard and her owners taking a walk in the parkA real dialogue from last night-
Peter: "Adi, what do you like best about the trip?"
Adi: "Crawling into mom and dad's bed every morning".
P: "Every morning? Isn't it boring?"
A: "No, every day I find them in a different position".