Headed to the Barn! (June 22)

I must preface this post with this: I love my husband, I really do, BUT once we made up our minds that we needed to head home, he was like a race horse, headed for the barn. We actually had three days to get home and we'd said we'd "take our time". Nice slow drive to the South. Stop a couple of nights and be home by Sunday evening. Nice, right? NOT! We had packed things up on Thursday night so there wasn't much to do when we got up this morning. Just a few last minute put-aways, a quick tank dump, not to mention a bit of a quandry getting out of the site (We were a little hemmed in by a very large pine tree!), and we were off. Got on the road around 9:15. A great start to the morning. We drove, and drove, AND DROVE! Past Lansing, Ann Arbor, into Ohio where we were headed toward Dayton, Ohio and had HOPED to find a campground near the Air Force Museum. Couldn't find a single one! We made our way toward Cincinnati, hit a little corner of Indiana, before setting our sites on STOPPING. We figured we were going to be up against a wall, finding an open site on a FRIDAY night, and we soon found out that assumption was right. After a few calls to campgrounds in the area, "Sorry, we're full" became the normal greeting. UGH. So, we drove some more. Let me say here, I love to travel and see the sites, but after ten hours in a car, I'm more than ready for a stop. I was pretty frantically searching on the iPad for local campgrounds, State Parks, WHATEVER, when we saw a sign for "Cincinnati South" campground. Ah yeah, "south" of Cincinnati for sure, since we were well into Kentucky, but who cared at that point? It was a campground and we were hoping for a site. We got off the interstate and proceeded on a little road, past some questionable places, but at his point that just made us happy. Surely this place wasn't going to be a resort, so maybe there would be a site or two left. Got to the campground and YAY! there was a site (or two, or three...) left. We pulled in(around 8 p.m.), hooked up to electric and climbed into our cozy "nest". Ah. "Home, sweet home". Long day.

Laundry Followed Us! (June 21)

We got up this morning with plans to do some wash and then just hang out at the campsite, enjoying the day. We've been gone for the better part of every day since Sunday and were looking forward to just having some time to relax, read a bit, and enjoy the campground (have I said how pretty it is up here?). The weather was beautiful so we made breakfast on the picnic table and then got stuff together to hit a laundromat in Clare. We rode around there a little over the past couple of days and Steve had seen a place to get the truck's oil changed, so we decided he would drop me off at the laundromat and then head to the oil change place. On the ride to Clare, it clouded over a bit and after Steve had dropped me off and I had gotten the wash started in the machines, it started to POUR outside. There was only one other lady in the place with me and she left soon after things got rolling for me, so I had the place to myself....with the laundry....in the rain...luckily with my iPad! Four machines, one dryer and $10.50 later, Steve came back, we got the laundry folded and headed out. Of course we couldn't leave Clare without finding the "Doughnuts and Cops Bakery". We had seen a billboard for the place on the interstate coming in and both got a good laugh out of it, but a camping neighbor had told us we just "had" to visit it before leaving the area. So, we did. Four HUGE doughnuts later (we took them back to the camper for later) we headed back to the camper. We did some hanging out, playing on the computer while it rained for a bit, and then went into Harrison for some lunch. We had looked for some pizza last night, but they "roll up the sidewalks" in town pretty early so we weren't able to find anything open. So, pizza was on our mind for lunch. Mama Cilli's makes delicious pizza in case you're interested. After lunch we called Alex in reference to a text he'd sent us and found out Steve has a doctor appointment on June 25th. As in FOUR DAYS FROM NOW. Gads! We had no idea it had been scheduled, but we're headed back to SC first thing in the morning. We had planned to visit Muskegan, Grand Haven, and Holland tomorrow, and then make our way to the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio on Saturday, before heading for home sometime Sunday or Monday, but plans change. We're happy to have seen all we have here, and we'll be back sometime in the future, so maybe we'll see those last couple of places another time. We had a great fire tonight. It seems to stay light so much later here than in SC. Still pretty light out and it's 9:35. Weird. Night all.

Windmill Wednesday (June 20)

Another late morning, but no camping breakfast today, just cereal (BOO HISSS). Headed for Traverse City around ten. We took all kinds of detours today. First one came when we saw some HUGE windmills in the distance and decided to see what they were all about. The closer we got, the BIGGER we could see they were and they seemed to multiply. I didn't count them but they were all around us. Kinda gave a sci-fi feel to the beautiful rolling hills of corn and wheat and pretty little farms. Of course Steve had to ride until he figured out where they were storing the power from them since there were no wires coming from the windmills or towers themselves. He was satisfied when he found a small power station tucked all neat and tidy in a cornfield. We rode for seveal miles through the "wind farms" until we lost sight of them. We were pretty high (elevation-wise--be nice!) and the wind was blowing pretty well. It made me wonder if they were power company owned or if individuals farms owned them to make power to run things. Almost makes me want to research them--NOT!!!! It IS summertime afterall (maybe later). We drove through Cadillac and there were signs all along the way for pasties. I remember riding with my family to get some when I was a kid (although we never came as far as Cadillac to get them) and wanted to try one for old times sake. I don't remember particularly liking them when I was younger so it was going to be a bit of an adventure trying one now. After mispronouncing them to the lady behind the counter (I said "pastie" like what a stripper wears to cover....well, you know, and she corrected me to "pastie" with a short a sound. Oh well. Now I know). I got a beef and Steve got a chicken. We took them acrossed the street to a little State Park picnic area on Cadillac Lake and ate them outside, lake front with an awesome breeze blowing. They were okay...but nothing to write home about (even though I am kinda writing home about them!). I wouldn't drive back to Cadillac to get another one but the luncheon venue was great! We drove through a lot of very pretty country. Everything is green, green, green here and there is corn EVERYWHERE. It's pretty funny to see the huge woodpiles outside the houses too. Makes us realize just how cold it must get up this way in the wintertime. Traverse City was quite busy and looks to be a fun place to shop. It sort of reminded me of Gatlinburg on a lake instead of a mountain. The lakeshore there (Lake Michigan) looks to be well used--especially since it was a Wednesday and there were a lot of people on the beach and boating in the water. Maybe tourists? It looks to be a kind of 'summer town'. We left the City and headed toward Sleeping Bear Dunes. Steve always seems to find "unique" ways to get places. I kept saying that it didn't look like we were going to the dunes and he kept reassuring me. Sure enough, we made a turn and were dropped right out at Sleeping Bear Dunes! Go figure! (You'd think after 27 years I'd learn to trust him but I'm always on guard!) The Dunes were cool to see but aren't nearly as "looming" as I remember them being when I was young. Steve wasn't the least bit interested in climbing them (I was SOO glad about THAT!) so we drove along the lakeshore to Glen Haven. Not quite sure what it was but there were several historic looking buildings and even a blacksmith on the lakefront. And must I mention a GREAT restroom! All we had seen for a long while were latrines...or permanant porta johns...or whatever they call them. Anyhow, they were NOT "flushers" and anyone who has been camping with me before knows "flushers" are a must! We left Glen Haven and headed straight back to Harrison and our campsite, thanks to Gypsy, my GPS. However, Gypsy decided to take us on a very interesting ride along something she thought was called a "road" but turned out to be a trail of sorts, passable only by 4 wheel drive vehicles (something we found out from a sign that was at the END of the trail!). Scared the heck out of me. I was beginning to hear the "Deliverance" theme song playing in my head until we FINALLY hit a paved rode at the other end! Made it back to the camper but decided to head into Clare, another town just past Harrison, where we're camping. Saw an Amish wagon hitched outside a Dollar General there and saw the family come out with their groceries, pack the wagon and head for home. Pretty cool. Clare looks like a place we may explore a bit more tomorrow. We are planning to hang out at the campsite and do some laundry. No adventuring far from "home" on our agenda for Thursday.

Free and Easy Down the Road We Go....(June 19)

Mornings like this one is why we love camping. We woke up around 8 and had a yummy camping breakfast--our favorite: egg eyes, bacon, and sliced tomato for me. Had to forgo that yesterday since it was raining (HELLO, Cap'n Crunch!) and it tastes best when cooked outside. We were in no hurry, so we got the dishes done, made the bed, showered and I made us some sandwiches for todays adventure (that has actually worked out really well so far and saved us some $$, too). We headed for Tawas Point State Park. It was only a couple of hours drive, so getting a later start really didn't matter, and the weather was absolutely beau-TI-ful! I think it got up to 86 but we both commented it didn't feel like 86 in SC by any means (the humidity came on a bit later though). We drove through the Gladwin State Forest Area and headed straight for Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. Kind of an uneventful ride, except for seeing a dead porcupine in the road. Steve even turned around so I could get a closer look! C'mon people! A PORCUPINE for Pete's sake!!! Passed through a cute little town called Standish and drove along the Lake Huron lakeshore noting how much it LOOKED like an ocean but didn't feel like one (that heavy air ocean feel and smell). There were lots of pretty houses along the shore and every once in a while we'd catch a look at the water. Tawas was a popping little town and looked to be quite the summer place. Lots of little parks along the waterfront, and there were a lot of people in the water, especially for a Tuesday. We drove through town and made our way to the State Park. The park was nice, but we were surprised that there were no sites with water there either. C'mon people!!! How do you use your camper bathrooms and showers, let alone do dishes, etc.? Nice looking park but not for this girl. I like my own bathroom! Something the park DID have? BLACK SQUIRRELS. Yep. Black. Never saw one of those before and we saw THREE in our ride around the park. Even took a picture or two (or three). On our way back to Harrison we took a detour when we saw a horsedrawn Amish wagon on the road. Seems there are several Amish family farms around the Clare area. We had fun riding down some of the side roads seeing Amish men plowing the fields with horsedrawn plows, and learned to spot the Amish homes by the black, blue, and purple clothing hanging on clotheslines. There was one line that was attached from the house to very high on a telephone-like pole and worked on a pulley system. We got a big laugh out of that. We stopped at a roadside shed and bought some homemade blueberry jam (hoping it will be tasty) and found a bakery on the backside of one of the Amish homes. Steve bought a few baked goods (the cinnamon rolls are delicious!) and has decided we need to go back in the morning since they'll have MORE goodies first thing. Came home and after dinner, struck up a conversation with some neighbors (Bill and Rose from Chesaning (Saginaw)) who are camping behind us with their two grandsons. Steve tried to help her get her laptop on the internet to no avail, but we had a great time trading adventures and stories. Fun stuff. Good day and even better night. On to Traverse City tomorrow.

Rainy Days and Mondays.....(June 18)

Okay, so we woke up to thunder, rain and humidity but that's okay. My personal weatherman decided we could avoid the unfavorable weather by heading to Mackinaw City first thing this morning. So, I packed us some sandwiches, loaded up the pups (they could've NEVER lasted in the camper with a storm) and we headed for Mackinaw and the bridge. It only rained on us a bit before we got out of it, and rode in mostly overcast but niiiice weather and made our way to Grayling. I remember a lot of the names of the places around here because of snowmobiling...something I haven't done in years and years and something my better half has NEVER done. Snowmobiling in the winter up here is pretty much the norm as noted by the signs on the side of the roads that say they ARE allowed on the shoulders most anywhere. Roscommon sounded familiar to me, as well as Hougton Lake (I think my BIL's grandmother used to have a cabin there maybe?), and we rode around Hartwick Pines State Park, a place that holds lots of childhood family camping memories for me. Not much there looked very familiar to me though, something my sister had already warned me not to be too disappointed about (thanks, Lyn!) so I was prepared for that. I guess it HAS been 35 years or so since I'd been there! DUH. We rode past Gaylord, saw signs for Cheboygan, and went past lake after lake after lake. Seems like every other road we passed was some kind of  lake road! Then we saw the bridge. It's really kind of funny because Steve was asking what was special about the Mackinaw Bridge. I felt kind of silly because I really couldn't remember anything really noteworthy about it other than it WAS "the bridge" when I was a kid. The only bridge, really. It's where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron meet as well. When people said they were heading to the bridge, that was it. In SC we have the bridge in Charleston. The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge. Woo Hoo. It's a beautiful bridge, but I much preferred it's predecessor the Cooper River Bridge. Now THAT was a bridge. Scary looking, old and rusted, and a bit nerve wracking to cross. The Mackinaw Bridge is huge, although not quite as huge as I remember! Steve found out that it is the longest suspension span on a bridge in the U.S.. Even longer than the Golden Gate Bridge. There. Now you know what makes it special. There was some construction going on there and it cost us eight bucks to cross ($4.00 each way). We stopped in a lakeside park in St. Ignace and took the dogs for a walk. Enjoyed the view of the bridge from the Upper Peninsula, and then crossed back. I remember camping in Mackinaw City, right on the water and being able to see the Bridge lit up at night. Couldn't find a campground there anymore (also prewarned by my sister), but just being in the City brought back some fond memories. Saw Fort Mackinac near the Bridge on our way back across. That city holds lots of history, most of which my sister taught me as a kid. (SHE was the history buff in the family). After wandering around the town a bit, we headed back to Harrison but decided to make it via Petoskey. Made for a longer trip than we'd planned but decided it was a nice day for a ride. Ha! Petoskey sits on Little Traverse Bay on the Western part of the state. I don't remember much about having been there before other than they have a really neat stone called the Petoskey stone (?) that's  unique to that area. We stopped in an overlook park there and took pictures on the Bay. A beautiful place but we seemed to hit in 5:00 traffic. Made me miss our Newberry "traffic". I dropped Steve off at the door of the Odawa Casino with his walker and a roll of quarters (OOOOOh, he sounds dangerous, huh?). He only stayed 30 minutes and was ticked because machines couldn't take his coins, only paper money! Had fun and can say he was there though! The ride back to the camper was uneventful but pretty. We noticed lots more pine trees up that way, and there seemed to be a lot of trees broken off (maybe from heavy snow in the winter? That's our guess anyhow.) Didn't get back to the camper until around 8 or so and were whipped. Nice, nice day all-in-all but ready for a bit less travel tomorrow.

And AWAAAAYYYY We Go! (June 17)

So, we sat down last night and came up with what we THOUGHT was a good plan. Start on the Eastern side of the state and travel over the top to the Western side....seeing all points of interest in between (and there ARE a lot of things to see! I just don't remember Michigan being so interesting when I was a kid!).We created a drive plan and a meal plan to boot, feeling pretty good about it until we looked at the cost of the gas. YIKES! The average price we've seen here so far is well above good ole' South Carolina's prices. Anyway, since we're both educators at heart we are good at "monitoring and adjusting"....so....we kicked back to what we had discussed some time ago to be our travel plan if we ever got to full-time: pick a "home base" in the central portion of a state and make day trips to all points around that we wanted to visit. Then we got really excited thinking about how much fun it would be to be able to set up camp for a "while" and not have to set up/break down to move every day or so, and still be able to see Michigan and all it has to offer. And that's what are mind set was when we started out this morning. After a quick visit to Mickey D's to pick up breakfast for ourselves and the Foote family, we ate with all of them and Mom (minus Nina who had a sleepover with a friend and had to drive her home early) on the deck. Beautiful way to start the morning. Said our goodbyes and headed for Harrison, Michigan. We saw a Saginaw Valley State University sign along the interstate and of course, we had to make a pit stop to see where our nephew would be spending the next few years. What a beautiful campus! (Sure hope it will be able to handle our boy!) We had originally planned to frequent state parks but after some internet research, Steve found a funny thing here: Michigan State Parks don't offer water hook-ups to campers. Really Michigan? What's THAT all about? Sewer maybe, but WATER? Steve found what looked to a sweet campground for us to head to and it turned out to be everything it offered on the internet. Nice to see that SOME places are true to form. Hidden Hill Family Campgroung is a beautiful shady little place on one of the only "hills" we've seen after driving for a few hours! We've also noticed some other things we don't see in SC...WHITE birch trees..not just scattered here and there but little forests of them. They are one of my favorite trees and something I've wanted to plan in our yard in SC and can never find them there. Pretty, pretty and I plan to try to get some photos of them tomorrow on our drive. Also, Steve noticed that in SC we have mainly pine tree forests with a smattering of hardwoods and here, it's the opposite: hardwood forests with a smattering of pines. AND the pins have needles pointing UP? Huh? Probably a different variety of pines. We've also seen lots of blue spruce trees (REALLY blue when nestled amongst GREEN trees) and Steve saw a couple of deer he swears are different colors than their SC cousins. (That made me google "deer in Michigan" and sure enough....a different color fur! Thanks, iPad!). What fun! We set up camp and decided to find a grocery store since we hadn't brought much for meals. Found a good one and after going waaaaayyyy over budget we came back and unloaded, put away and I made dinner. Yummy taco salad--always a tasty, quick and painless meal. Tucked in around 11 or so and we're excited to get our real adventure started in the morning!

There's a PARTY in the House! (June 16)

Got up early and left Steve sleeping. Picked my Mom up and took her to get her hair done. Always interesting observing cosmetologists at work. They really are their own species, I think and everyone seems to have a tattoo these days. Well, I'm getting kinda random now. FOCUS, Darcy. Sorry. Got back to my sister's house around 10:30 or so and things were already moving at break-neck speed. Boy, can SHE lay it on for a party.The cutest EVER posterboard showing his "life so far", out-of-this-world macaroons, choclate dipped pretzels, miniature hamburger-like cookies, cupcakes adorned with M&M's with Dan's face on them, not to mention the cute photo for the tables and even Viewmaster reels with pictures documenting important moments in the kid's life. Whew! Potato AND macaroni salads, watermelon (shark-shaped, of course), veggies, baked beans, and hamburgers and hotdogs!Inflatable bounce house in the yard...check. Tents, tables, and chairs set up....check. Snow cone machine...check (that was MY station!) She had it all under control....or as "controlled" as could be that is. Bring on the guests!!! I went back to pick Steve up from the campground. He was sleeping!!!!! How can he sleep with all the excitement??? We headed BACK to the party and realized we had forgotten the boy's gift. Grrrr! Turned around and went back to get it. Had THE BEST TIME seeing lots of long losts..... a second cousin I hadn't seen since he was like maybe 5 came all the way from Canada! (All I could think of was how much his coming would have pleased my Dad. Made me miss him even more than I was already missing him.) Saw so many people that it's almost hard to remember. Great, great fun. We didn't leave until 9:30 p.m. and there were STILL some teens hanging out. Nice, nice  day. Well done, Don and Lynda!

There's No Place Like "Home" (June 15)

Today's to-do list started off with finding my Mom a place to get her hair done every week. Ended up heading out to a place recommended  by my nephew (not sure THAT was such a good decision since HE get's his head SHAVED!). Made her an appointment for Saturday morning and then we went exploring. Thought we'd run her by the "old" house (kinda selfish on my part because I really wanted to see it TOO), and hit some of the old usual spots to see how things had changed. Funny how you picture things in certain ways in your head and they really look different when you see them again for real. That never gets old for me though. I always love to drive the roads I drove when we lived there. Brings back sooooo many great memories (and maybe a few notsogreat!). We ended up running through a White Castle drive thru before heading back to Milford. (Gotta love THOSE little things!) Dropped Mom off and headed back to the campground for a nap. (Gotta love THOSE little things too!) After we woke up and decided we were hungry we went to my sister's to see if anybody there wanted to join us for some grub. They had already eaten some pizza so Steve and I went back to Pomodoro's and picked up a couple of grinders for our dinner (couldn't help ourselves). Peaceful night playing Yahtzee by the fire. Niiiiice. I officially LOVE summer break!

A RUSHED Arrival (June 14)

Today went well, albeit quite rushed. We were all relieved to reach the campground and our FIRST official destination: Milford, Michigan...home of one Daniel Eugene Foote, recent high school GRADUATE. (Gotta say that again...GRADUATE!!! GADS! Hard to believe our "little" nephew has graduated from high school!) Anyhow, we had PLANNED (there's that word again!) to have enough time to take my Mom and all her belongings to my sister's house, but seeing as how time hadn't been on our side for the entire trip so far, we had to call and ask them to come to the park to pick her up. It was all Steve's fault....gotta blame someone! In searching for campgrounds on-line while planning this leg of the trip, he found a great campground that would give us three free nights of camping if we'd take a tour and listen to them spout the wonders of their little piece of heaven. (Anyone who knows my husband knows that "free" is his favorite word. Just sayin'....) Our appointment was at 3 and seeing as how we didn't arrive until 2:35 AND we had to get the camper all plugged in so the dogs would have air conditioning while we were gone, we were RUSHING to say the very least. After a harried "hi" to my sister and her kids, they whisked my Mom off to their house for more party preparations while Steve and I hustled to our appointment. It really DID turn out to be a bit of "heaven". If you ever have the desire to head to parts more Northern, look up Waldenwoods Family campground in Hartland, Michigan. If we lived closer, we would most likely be signing away ownership of our first born (sorry, Alex!) to buy a little piece of the pie there. VERY nice. Anyhow, after the talk and a really nice tour via a golf cart -- the place literally reminded me of  the camp scenes from the movie Dirty Dancing (I sort of aged myself when I said that to "Libby", our very young guide. She looked at me with the vacant look of someone trying to figure out what in the heck Dirty Dancing was! DUH! She probably didn't even know who Patrick Swayze was!)--we ended up taking all of my Mom's stuff to my sister's house and after unloading, Steve and my brother-in-law went and picked up some sandwiches for dinner (from an AWESOME place called Pomodoros) while Mom, my sister and I all caught up on party plans. Great night. Glad to be here and grateful to see everyone. Got back to the camper pretty late. Dead tired. Looking forward to tomorrow.

We're On Our Way! (June 13)

We had planned to be on the road "by 8:00" (per the captain of the ship) bright and early this morning but we ended up not getting started until 10:30 (and it should be said that Mom and I were ready on time!) Oh well, you know what they say about "best laid plans....". We had ALSO planned to drive to Ohio for our first stop, but since we'd gotten a late start, and ended up connecting with Libby and Chris and his Mom, Shelby in Waynesville (they were headed to Savannah from a conference at Lake Junaluska--YAY, for getting to see them!), we ended up spending the night in Boonesborough State Park in Kentucky (stopped around 8:00 p.m.)---one of my favorite spots since so many good memories were made there spent camping with my family when I was younger. Got a great spot, but it was late. Ended up picking up some sandwiches on the way in and we all had to laugh as everything came together too quickly and too well to be REAL camping. We didn't unhook from the truck since we planned to get an early start in the morning, I "set the table" with the sandwiches bought earlier and some canned drinks, Steve plugged us in, opened the awning, lit a DURAFLAME log and WAH LA: Instant camping! The air was already feeling a bit cooler and our little camper came through again, proving to be quite cozy, even with our extra boarder (love ya, Mom!).

The Night Before Leaving and all through the House...... (June 12)

Packing, packing and MORE packing. This man is a slave driver!!!! His stuff was packed and put in the trailer DAYS ago! What can I say? My Mom and I are both STILL pulling things together and we'll be on the road in the morning by 8 a.m.! (Like mother like daughter, maybe?) What an adventure! Poor Mom's trying to pack for MONTHS and I'm having trouble with WEEKS! We'll probably both pack way more than we'll ever use. I guess I'll get better at this with practice?????? I'm sure Mom will too.