From MI to OH, PA, MD,DC, VA, TN, AL

The next leg of our trip took us from Michigan (left 6/26/11) through Ohio into Pennsylvania where we spent one night in a small RV park well off the Interstate in Darlington PA. Our driver was not too happy with the navigator who took him along small highways, lots of twists and turns to arrive at our destination. Navigator's excuse, we were just following the GPS directions, and it got us there as planned. The boys enjoyed the pool, and we were on the road the next morning for the Cherry Hill RV Park in College Park Maryland, just outside Washington DC. We spent three days at the Cherry Hill Park and explored Washington DC for two days while we were there. I will add another blog post just for our adventures in Washington DC. Cherry Hill was a very large park with lots of amenities, but the spaces were narrow, and we felt crowded in our space. In fact when one neighbor parked on our driver's side there was barely 1 foot between our slides. The day we left Cherry Hill Park, we drove to Max Meadows VA where we spent the night at Fort Chiswell RV Park. The boys enjoyed the pool where they met a family from Okemos MI. The next day we drove on to Nashville TN where we had planned to spend several nights, but the KOA could only accomodate us for 1 night. The next day (7/1/11) we drove on to Calera, AL where we found an RV park a few miles south of Birmingham, Alabama. Jeff and Lauren were meeting us there to pick up Justin and Josh so they could spend the rest of the summer in Florida. Jeff and Christine were discussing allowing the boys to stay in Florida to live with Jeff at that time. I should have taken pictures of all the "stuff" the boys had brought with them for the trip. Two of our basement compartments were full of their belongings.

Big servings at Tony's in Birch Run, MI

When we left Michigan in June we had two grandchildren with us for part of our trip. Jeff's son's Justin and Josh met us in Birch Run Friday night and we took them to Tony's for their famous "breakfast" for dinner. The first two pictures were from Tony's website showing the restaurant and also what a usual breakfast plate looks like before we removed some of the one pound of bacon from each plate making it possible for us to eat our dinners. Papa Ted promised the boys ice cream for dessert if they finished their dinner. Of course we couldn't eat it all, no normal eater can finish a Tony's plate. As usual we took two or three pounds of bacon home with us after we all ate all we could of our meals. We had bacon sandwiches for dinner the next two nights and also bacon with another breakfast. Tony's has been featured on several food channel shows for their famous large portions.

Attended Friends wedding in June 2010

After our weekend with Mike's boys at Yogi Bear Jellystone park in Frankenmuth, we moved to a "more adult friendly" RV park in Birch Run, MI. Relaxed a few days, in between doctor appointments for Dorothy in Bay City and Standish. The first two pictures are the bride-to-be opening her wedding afghan a few days before the wedding, made by Dorothy. I think she likes it. The following weekend we helped Jennifer and Jason's families and friends set up the hall for their wedding reception on Friday, and then attended the wedding and reception on Saturday. Beautiful ceremony at a wedding chapel, with reception in Clio after. Can't wait to see all her photographer's professional photos. After the wedding we returned to the Houghton Lake area for another week. Dorothy had to have out-patient gall bladder surgery in Standish. Surgery went well, but Dorothy was really tired and not feeling up to company after. Apologies to friends we didn't get to see while we were still in Michigan, but I just wasn't up to visiting. Recouperated for one week before leaving Michigan for the next leg of our trip - we were headed to Washington D.C. on 6/25/2011!!

Yogi Bear Jellystone with Kyle, Logan and Gavin at Frankenmuth MI

The first weekend in June, Mike brought the boys to meet us at the Yogi Bear Jellystone park in Frankenmuth MI. We had a busy weekend at the park. It was Yogi's birthday and was celebrated with balloon hats and a birthday party where Logan and Gavin colored birthday cards, tried to break a pinata, played pin the tie on Yogi, and had ice cream snacks. Kyle and Papa went shopping for goodie and dinner while Logan, Gavin and Memaw attended Yogi's birthday party. We all played mini-golf at the park, and the boys had fun at the playground on Saturday and Sunday. They met some kids at the playground and also went swimming twice. I didn't get pictures at the pool because it was too humid at the indoor pool for my camera. Gavin loves BooBoo and was more excited to see him in the park Saturday evening than Yogi at the birthday party. The boys also colored pillow cases to take home as a souvenir. Papa and the boys played cards (31) after dinner on Saturday night. Their game looked really serious because they were playing for pennies. Wish we could have spent more time with the boys, but school was still in session, so they had to go home on Sunday. Memaw wasn't feeling her best, so the weekend visit worked for all of us.

Weekend with Justin and Josh, Houghton Lake MI in May 2010

Spent a weekend with Justin and Josh at the Houghton Lake Travel Park, Houghton Lake MI in May 2010. They enjoyed lunch on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday at Coyles in Houghton Lake. We all played mini-golf and the boys enjoyed the go-karts at Lakeland Recreation in Houghton Lake, and then at the playground at the park on Saturday. They sure had grown up a lot since we saw them a year ago!! School was still in session, so they had to go home to St Helen on Sunday.

Back in Michigan 5/17/2011

After repair of the motor home in Tomah, WI, we spent one night in a nice Passport America park, the Hi-Pines in Eagle River, WI before returning to Michigan by way of the Upper Penninsula. We had lunch at an overlook of Lake Superior before driving on to Bay Mills casino, hotel, RV park at Brimley MI. Enjoyed a few days gambling at the casino, and Ted had some enormous crab legs at the buffet. We also toured the light house north of the casino at Point Iroquois on Lake Superior. No I didn't climb those stairs, I would have never made it to the top. After leaving the UP, we drove to Houghton Lake where we found a small RV park at the west end of Houghton Lake. It was a Camp Club USA park, with great rates, and was close enough to West Branch, Standish for us to see grandkids in St Helen, do some banking, and see family doctor in Standish, more on that comment later. We found that joining Passport America, and Camp Club USA has saved us lots of money at their member parks.

Freshenup XXL size compliments of Morse Clark Furniture, West Branch MI

We had lots of fun with our giant size freshener, donated to us by Morse Clark Furniture store in West Branch MI. This red freshener was one of 5 or 6 used for advertisement in the windows of Morse Clark Furniture in May and June 2011. We patronized this family owned furniture store from the mid 1980's until we sold our home in West Branch last year. It is a great local place where we bought flooring coverings for our cottage in the 1980's and a home we built in Gladwin County in 1999. Also living room and bedroom furniture and accessories for the two other homes we built in Ogemaw County. We spotted the giant size fresheners when we traveled through the area in May and June this year. The owners of Morse Clark Furniture were gracious enough to give us this one when we told them how we were going to use it. There have been lots of smiles, comments and questions from everyone who saw our creative window decoration. In this heat wave it probably provided a little extra insulation, too. Today, 7/21/2011, we gave it to my sister Ginger for the "big house" in Cedar Park, Texas. I'm sure she will have lots of fun with it too.