According to the Associated Press,   Gasoline and crude oil are the United State’s NUMBER ONE EXPORT.    Now think on this a minute,   we’re trying to conserve.   We are told by our government,  that oil supplies are limited and that we have to conserve,  so we do.  And that since Oil is getting scarce, naturally the price is going to go up. (AND GO UP, IT DOES)

Then I find THIS ARTICLE in the Associated Press.   “Gasoline and Crude Oil are our NUMBER ONE EXPORT!” Even though we have to import Oil from other countries to get by,  we’re busy shipping it out to the highest bidder,  as fast as we can load it up.  READ THIS NEXT STATEMENT CAREFULLY   “In 2011 the U.S. Imported 689 million barrels of Oil,,,, and EXPORTED 753 million barrels of Oil.”

It’s all laid out in the article linked above.  Definitely worth a read.

It seems that they have put a new policy in place:  They only accept,  27ft and larger campers,  AND tents?      Go figure?  (our 5th wheel is an economical 21 ft’er).

Well,  getting snubbed like this doesn’t sit real well with me,  so I figured I’d post this info here,  and a little review of our stay last year.

Wild Cherry Resort is a beautiful campground,  but it doesn’t have bathrooms or showers,  much less a pool as some have mentioned.   Each camper is expected to hook to permanent disposal fixtures and use only the facilities  in their camper.  We knew this last year,  a decided that the location won out in favor of the facilities.  Our campsite was beautiful,  on a paved road,  looking down off high ground,  over the rest of the campground,  and with views of surrounding hill sides, orchards,  and a small man made lake.   (I noted that in a heavy rain,  some of the lower campsites might get uncomfortable)  That said,  I’ll now list the issues we ran into.

1.  Our camp site’s power outlet did not work,  we had to borrow a long cord from the owner, and get power from an empty sight nearby.

2.  There wasn’t enough water pressure,  to take a decent shower.

3.  The camp store had little to no camping items available ,  (example,  no holding tank treatment chemicals)

4.  The closest I could squeeze to the permanent sewage fixture,  was about 3o feet,  meaning I had to drive out about 20 miles and buy another flexible sewage pipe, and connector.

Bottom line:  If your camper is more than 27 ft long and pretty new,  you will be able to camp there.    If you have a nice tent and yuppy camping gear,  you might be able to camp there.   Anyone else is out of luck!   And a bit of advice:   Before you pay,  make sure your site has power,  and you have enough sewage line to reach the hookup.

This year we’ll more than likely try Lake Leelanau RV Park,  and if it weren’t for the friends we like to visit up that way,   this would likely be our last bi-annual trip in that direction.

I’ve purchased approximately 4 new refrigerators in my life and at least that many used ones. This Kenmore from Sears has to qualify as the worst piece of crap I’ve ever owned.

It’s a Kenmore Elite model number 106-74206400.   It’s been repaired,  (for freezing things in the refrig compartment) about 4 or 5 times.  Also part of this problem is,  the water line to the in door filtered water freezes up.  After the repairs,  if we’re very careful about how where we place items in the fridge,  (both the freezer part and the frig part),  we can get by with about 10% loss on our refrigerated fruits and vegetables,  and the door water only freezes if we put something like a warm six pack in the frig.  But,  once it starts screwing up,  (which it is now),  it randomly freezes everything in the lower part of the refrig section,  and the door water stays frozen and least 75% of the time.

I believe the main problem with it is,  that it get’s it’s cold air for the refrig compartment from the freezer,  and there’s a little electronic control flap door that opens to let a small blower blow the cold air down through multiple vents into the refrig section.   Bottom line,  this idea DOES NOT WORK, and  I’m pretty much out the cost of the frig,  plus 4 years of yearly warranty payments,  (over $2000).  I quit paying the yearly fee’s last year,  saying that when it screwed up again I’d throw it out.  (I guess it’s about that time)

I guess I can call that a $2000 dollar consumer lesson learned.   STAY AWAY FROM SEARS!

SEARS KENMORE ELITE =  BADFRIDGE

System of a Down , Toxicity.  (a cover)