We left around 7 on Friday morning amid final hugs and goodbye's from our friends before heading out the fairgrounds to begin our trek back to Kansas. There were 8 couples from Kansas and we were the first one to leave on Friday. The rally officially ended on Friday evening. The rest of the group began to leave or move to another campground yesterday morning.
We drove from Goshen, Indiana to Mulberry Grove, Illinois arriving there around 2:30PM. This is a nice park about 1 mile from Interstate 57. We had a nice long pullthru and didn't even have to unhook. Bill and really just relaxed the rest of the day since we left so early in the morning. I fixed our dinner and we watched an evening of TV and did some reading.
A thunderstorm came through about 1:30AM and it must have rained quite a bit as there was quite a bit of rain standing around in the morning. Having put our slideouts in the night before we were pretty high and dry! We got around and left before 7 on Saturday morning heading west..... we drove through the northern route of St. Louis ..... it was a breeze! Going from Interstate 70 to I-270 then 370 and connecting back on I-70. That is the easiest route we have been on in St. Louis ever! But Kansas City was a different story!!! They have construction and going through downtown still... they call it 670 bypass..... after we got past the racetrack and shopping mall the trafffic really cleared out.
We arrived in Topeka around 2 and got parked and set up...our friends, Steve and Melissa from Topeka were here....we didn't know they were going to be here! That has happpened a couple of times either here at Lake Shawnee or at Deer Creek RV Park!
We had a "light" lunch of cheese and crackers and then Bill drove over to Big O to check on RV tires. Our tires have begun to wear really bad due to the suspension problem so we decided to go ahead and put tires on the camper. I made a potato salad while he was gone. When we got home and my salad was done we went over to a local Mexican restaurant, El Mezcal, for dinner. This is one of our favorites here in Topeka. After dinner, we drove over to Ryan's parents house as they were hosting Brayden's baseball team's swimming party. So many kids and so much fun!!! The kids were really glad to see us and the wet hugs we received,.... our clothes dried quickly as it was hot out! They all had grown in the past 2 months and they loved showing us their swimming/diving tricks they had learned over the summer.
This morning we went to church and came home to get things ready for the big birthday party this afternoon. We went over to Erin's and they were still getting ready so we helped do what we could for that. It is hard to think that our little miss is 2 today! She was so cute opening her presents and after she got the hang of opening them it was fun to watch!
Bill is out washing the truck now as we can do that here at Lake Shawnee. We will be staying here until Tuesday am when we will go over to Big O and get tires put on the camper then head to Great Bend to have our small slide out motor fixed!!! I can't wait to get it fixed! It has really made a difference in our coach and closed the living room area immensely! We have been spoiled with the 4 slides!!!!
We will stay in Great Bend until Thursday am and then head back to Topeka for about 6-7 weeks!
Stay tuned!
BJ
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
A fast week in Goshen, Indiana
WE have had a very quick busy week in Goshen. Sunday morning Bill and I went to church and met our friends, Bob and Jackie, there. After church, Bill and I had a couple of errands to run and we also found a "Dunkin' Donuts" and a Target. After that we came back to the rig and relaxed for most of the afternoon. Our opening ceremonies were that evening so we joined the others in our group at the grandstand here at the fairgrounds.
Monday morning at 9 is when all the seminars, the "store" the vendors open so Bill stayed here waiting on repair people to come and I went to the store to see what apparel was new this year. He had walked down to the Atwood stove place to see if they would come look at our stove as only 1 burner would light automatically. He didn't get anywhere with one of the guys so I walked down and another guy was there. He brought me back and fixed our stove and told us he would bring new grates for us.... we had originally ordered some through Newmar.... but we wouldn't have to pay for these! Yea!!!!
After that we hung around and sat outside and visited with others who would walk by or some of our group here. Monday evening, Bob and Jackie and us, grilled some chicken and ate together and then played Joker for the evening.
Tuesday am, we (the women) had to "work" at entering the crafts for the craft contest held at each International. There were 83 entries ranging from quilting, knitting to glass, woodwork, beading...... very neat stuff and everyone was hopeful! I told the ladies afterward I felt like the Antique roadshow host inspecting each item as they entered it!
So after that it was lunch time..... Bill went to a couple of seminars and I stayed here getting some things done here. When we are here at these rallies... usually we just lay stuff down and they don't get put where they belong....
Tuesday evening, John/Patsy, Ron/Nancy and us drove to Middlebury to eat at the Das Essenhaus.... a huge restaurant that serves homestyle meals..... we had chicken again! It was delicious!!! They are also very well-known for their homemade pies! YUMMY!!!!
Wednesday morning we drove to Shipshewanna again for the flea market..... we drove across country and saw how more of the Amish live..... so interesting is this area with the whitewashed houses and barns, neat and clean acreages. We stayed at the flea market for a little while and ran across an "auction" going on..... inside a huge building were about 8-10 "auction rings" auctioning antiques!!!! It was amazing ....it was so loud and noisy that Bill and I decided it wasn't for us so we left..... but what an amazing thing to see..... we left the flea market shortly after that and drove to a couple of places in Shipshewanna and then to Middlebury for lunch. After lunch we drove to a cheese factory and got some cheese. They had all kinds and varieties. Then back to the fairgrounds we came. We had a potluck with our Kansas group that evening hosted by our State Directors, Larry and Sherry. Guess what we had.... KFC chicken!!!! I'm beginning to cluck!
This morning, 4 other gals and I, did our own quilting shop hop! It was fun and we had a great day.. we started out at an Amish quilt shop that was mostly handsewn quilts....they were so gorgeous and so many different patterns! The shop was at someone's home in a seperate building. They had wall clocks...I'm drawing a blank here.... like cuckoo clocks. They had jams, jellies, pie fillings, quilt patterns and many types of placemats, potholders, etc. handmade. Such a neat place. They did not have elec. lighting but gas and many windows. The man who came to open the store was Amish. The quilts were varied sizes and hung for you to see. Their prices were very reasonable for such exquisite hand work....
Our next stop was a huge outdoor patio equipement store....they had adirondack chairs, porch swings,...any type of ornament you could ask for from lighthouses to plant sticks.
Inside was more neat stuff...... Thomas Kinkeade paintings, gas appliances, wood stoves, general store type things, kerosene lamps, kitchen items and some clothing.
One stop shopping!
Next we went to Yoder's Deparment store .... I finally found some backing for a 30's fabric quilt I had been working on. Bill and I had been there last week so I kind of knew what they had.
Then onto a store called Davis Merchantile. Actually it was a huge building that had 4 floors...... quite a lot of boutiques.... but they had a gigantic quilt store called Lolly's! What a store.... Yoder's Dept. Store boasts 12,000 bolts of fabric and they have all kinds of fabric..clothing type and quilting. Lolly's is just quilting...... and I'm sure they have at least that much! Such a nice store. They also have a bargain store in the basement that had a wooden "boat" in it filled with fatquarters.....
We ate lunch on the 4th floor at a small restaurant. Outside the restaurant is a large carosel.... it was very pretty. We looked out and there were some Amish kids riding the carosel barefooted! 2 little girls and a boy..... Most of the Amish do go barefoot at home or we have seen them wearing Crocs!
We drove back to the fairgrounds and one of our ladies had a meeting to go to so we took a break before venturing out again. Midafternoon, we drove west to a couple of quilting stores we found listed. They were different and someone usually found something that came home with them.....
Bill spent the day here with the guys and got my list of things done he neeed to do...like pickup the parts he wanted and go to a farmhouse we saw that had fresh produce.
We had another potluck tonite with our Region 3 group and guess what we had ...... yep....more chicken!!! I know I'm beginning to cluck!
We came home and began getting things gathered around so we can leave early in the morning. We hope to make it to almost St. Louis before stopping tomorrow..... We have had such a good week...I really hate to see it end. If you ever get a chance to explore this area you will be amazed at this area!
So until next time on the road!
BJ
Monday morning at 9 is when all the seminars, the "store" the vendors open so Bill stayed here waiting on repair people to come and I went to the store to see what apparel was new this year. He had walked down to the Atwood stove place to see if they would come look at our stove as only 1 burner would light automatically. He didn't get anywhere with one of the guys so I walked down and another guy was there. He brought me back and fixed our stove and told us he would bring new grates for us.... we had originally ordered some through Newmar.... but we wouldn't have to pay for these! Yea!!!!
After that we hung around and sat outside and visited with others who would walk by or some of our group here. Monday evening, Bob and Jackie and us, grilled some chicken and ate together and then played Joker for the evening.
Tuesday am, we (the women) had to "work" at entering the crafts for the craft contest held at each International. There were 83 entries ranging from quilting, knitting to glass, woodwork, beading...... very neat stuff and everyone was hopeful! I told the ladies afterward I felt like the Antique roadshow host inspecting each item as they entered it!
So after that it was lunch time..... Bill went to a couple of seminars and I stayed here getting some things done here. When we are here at these rallies... usually we just lay stuff down and they don't get put where they belong....
Tuesday evening, John/Patsy, Ron/Nancy and us drove to Middlebury to eat at the Das Essenhaus.... a huge restaurant that serves homestyle meals..... we had chicken again! It was delicious!!! They are also very well-known for their homemade pies! YUMMY!!!!
Wednesday morning we drove to Shipshewanna again for the flea market..... we drove across country and saw how more of the Amish live..... so interesting is this area with the whitewashed houses and barns, neat and clean acreages. We stayed at the flea market for a little while and ran across an "auction" going on..... inside a huge building were about 8-10 "auction rings" auctioning antiques!!!! It was amazing ....it was so loud and noisy that Bill and I decided it wasn't for us so we left..... but what an amazing thing to see..... we left the flea market shortly after that and drove to a couple of places in Shipshewanna and then to Middlebury for lunch. After lunch we drove to a cheese factory and got some cheese. They had all kinds and varieties. Then back to the fairgrounds we came. We had a potluck with our Kansas group that evening hosted by our State Directors, Larry and Sherry. Guess what we had.... KFC chicken!!!! I'm beginning to cluck!
This morning, 4 other gals and I, did our own quilting shop hop! It was fun and we had a great day.. we started out at an Amish quilt shop that was mostly handsewn quilts....they were so gorgeous and so many different patterns! The shop was at someone's home in a seperate building. They had wall clocks...I'm drawing a blank here.... like cuckoo clocks. They had jams, jellies, pie fillings, quilt patterns and many types of placemats, potholders, etc. handmade. Such a neat place. They did not have elec. lighting but gas and many windows. The man who came to open the store was Amish. The quilts were varied sizes and hung for you to see. Their prices were very reasonable for such exquisite hand work....
Our next stop was a huge outdoor patio equipement store....they had adirondack chairs, porch swings,...any type of ornament you could ask for from lighthouses to plant sticks.
Inside was more neat stuff...... Thomas Kinkeade paintings, gas appliances, wood stoves, general store type things, kerosene lamps, kitchen items and some clothing.
One stop shopping!
Next we went to Yoder's Deparment store .... I finally found some backing for a 30's fabric quilt I had been working on. Bill and I had been there last week so I kind of knew what they had.
Then onto a store called Davis Merchantile. Actually it was a huge building that had 4 floors...... quite a lot of boutiques.... but they had a gigantic quilt store called Lolly's! What a store.... Yoder's Dept. Store boasts 12,000 bolts of fabric and they have all kinds of fabric..clothing type and quilting. Lolly's is just quilting...... and I'm sure they have at least that much! Such a nice store. They also have a bargain store in the basement that had a wooden "boat" in it filled with fatquarters.....
We ate lunch on the 4th floor at a small restaurant. Outside the restaurant is a large carosel.... it was very pretty. We looked out and there were some Amish kids riding the carosel barefooted! 2 little girls and a boy..... Most of the Amish do go barefoot at home or we have seen them wearing Crocs!
We drove back to the fairgrounds and one of our ladies had a meeting to go to so we took a break before venturing out again. Midafternoon, we drove west to a couple of quilting stores we found listed. They were different and someone usually found something that came home with them.....
Bill spent the day here with the guys and got my list of things done he neeed to do...like pickup the parts he wanted and go to a farmhouse we saw that had fresh produce.
We had another potluck tonite with our Region 3 group and guess what we had ...... yep....more chicken!!! I know I'm beginning to cluck!
We came home and began getting things gathered around so we can leave early in the morning. We hope to make it to almost St. Louis before stopping tomorrow..... We have had such a good week...I really hate to see it end. If you ever get a chance to explore this area you will be amazed at this area!
So until next time on the road!
BJ
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Saturday evening in Goshen
So let's continue on our daily chat.....
We did go to the RV Museum Hall of Fame in Elkhart. It was very interesting with many many RV's of different sizes, shapes and ages of RV's. Some of the earliest ones were made in 1935 on to the present day luxury coaches. We all enjoyed seeing the different RV's and the companies that made them.
After that the group of 8 of us went to lunch in Elkhart at a bar/grill called Heinnes....it was very good and we all had a great lunch. On our way home we stopped by a roadside stand that was advertising blueberries and other fresh produce. We bought some fresh Michigan blueberries, a cantelope, and peaches....they have all been so good and fresh! I put the blueberries in the freezer for later!
Friday we spent mostly at the park not doing much except just relaxing and getting caught up on our laundry for the next week. I did some sewing as we will be celebrating Lauren's birthday next Sunday when we get back to Topeka so I needed to get the things done I made for her. And they are finished! Yea!!!!
Friday evening we had a Amish meal at an Amish farmhouse..... the farmhouse was huge and this family does this kind of a as a "sideline"..... they serve meals to groups or individuals. We had a group of 16 and in the other room was another group. Their farm was so neat and clean and their flowers and garden was just beautiful!
Our meal was served by a young man maybe the husband of the house..... We were served water first then he brought tossed salads in and served family style. A little bit later he brought a cart in laden with bowls of mashed potatoes, gravy, a type of dressing that had chicken, noodles,rice and carrots. It was very good. There were also green beans, chicken and noodles, roast beef and fried chicken and rolls. We were served family style and we passed our food up and down the table. A little bit later he came back with ANOTHER cart of the same food for second helpings if we wanted more! OMG!!!! Not many of us ate much more!!!! He left and then brought in a strawberry jello mold of strawberry jello, sourcream and coolwhip....to cleanse our palate!--- In a little bit then he brought in another cart of homemade pie---- cherry, peach, banana cream, and pecan...... We were all so stuffed but it was such a fun experience and so interesting and neat to do.
We left very early this am (6:30 AM) to bring our caravan to Goshen to our week of Newmar rally which begins on Monday morning. It was very early but we also learned that another group of 11 RV's from Illinois were leaving at 7AM and another group from NOrth Carolina were leaving at 7 also...so we left as the sun was coming up..... it was nice driving and we didn't have much traffic at all on our 25 mile journey. We got here a little after 8 and had an easy time setting up and soon after arriving we were set up and settled in..... we ate breakfast then Bill went to help set some tables up for the craft show. Each region has duties to do and ours this year is the craft show... which items are brought and then judged during the week. We will work on Tuesday morning entering the items people brought.
Later that morning Jackie and I walked to the registration building to register and receive our packet of information for the week. We walked back and looked through our bag. Bill came back by then and Bob arrived. So we decided to go eat lunch and make a trip to Walmart. When we got back I set outside for a while and Lynne came over and we sat outside and visited for a long time until Jackie came over to ask if we wanted to go to a old "Bag factory"...this factory was one that made flour sacks and bags of all types. They even made the strips that are in Hershey kisses until 1982!!!! They had divided it into different "electic" shops and many things to see in it besides the old equipment.... pretty neat!
When we returned home several people of our group were sitting outside so we sat outside for awhile and then decided to go eat at a restaurant called "Lux Cafe"....it was delicious! very good! We were told they have great breakfast's!
When we got home Bob and Jackie came over and played Joker with us.... our streak is tied 2 and 2..... stay tuned!
Well, that is about it for now...... We will be busy beginning Monday as we will only be here until Friday morning when we leave to head back to KS!
Until next time!
BJ
We did go to the RV Museum Hall of Fame in Elkhart. It was very interesting with many many RV's of different sizes, shapes and ages of RV's. Some of the earliest ones were made in 1935 on to the present day luxury coaches. We all enjoyed seeing the different RV's and the companies that made them.
After that the group of 8 of us went to lunch in Elkhart at a bar/grill called Heinnes....it was very good and we all had a great lunch. On our way home we stopped by a roadside stand that was advertising blueberries and other fresh produce. We bought some fresh Michigan blueberries, a cantelope, and peaches....they have all been so good and fresh! I put the blueberries in the freezer for later!
Friday we spent mostly at the park not doing much except just relaxing and getting caught up on our laundry for the next week. I did some sewing as we will be celebrating Lauren's birthday next Sunday when we get back to Topeka so I needed to get the things done I made for her. And they are finished! Yea!!!!
Friday evening we had a Amish meal at an Amish farmhouse..... the farmhouse was huge and this family does this kind of a as a "sideline"..... they serve meals to groups or individuals. We had a group of 16 and in the other room was another group. Their farm was so neat and clean and their flowers and garden was just beautiful!
Our meal was served by a young man maybe the husband of the house..... We were served water first then he brought tossed salads in and served family style. A little bit later he brought a cart in laden with bowls of mashed potatoes, gravy, a type of dressing that had chicken, noodles,rice and carrots. It was very good. There were also green beans, chicken and noodles, roast beef and fried chicken and rolls. We were served family style and we passed our food up and down the table. A little bit later he came back with ANOTHER cart of the same food for second helpings if we wanted more! OMG!!!! Not many of us ate much more!!!! He left and then brought in a strawberry jello mold of strawberry jello, sourcream and coolwhip....to cleanse our palate!--- In a little bit then he brought in another cart of homemade pie---- cherry, peach, banana cream, and pecan...... We were all so stuffed but it was such a fun experience and so interesting and neat to do.
We left very early this am (6:30 AM) to bring our caravan to Goshen to our week of Newmar rally which begins on Monday morning. It was very early but we also learned that another group of 11 RV's from Illinois were leaving at 7AM and another group from NOrth Carolina were leaving at 7 also...so we left as the sun was coming up..... it was nice driving and we didn't have much traffic at all on our 25 mile journey. We got here a little after 8 and had an easy time setting up and soon after arriving we were set up and settled in..... we ate breakfast then Bill went to help set some tables up for the craft show. Each region has duties to do and ours this year is the craft show... which items are brought and then judged during the week. We will work on Tuesday morning entering the items people brought.
Later that morning Jackie and I walked to the registration building to register and receive our packet of information for the week. We walked back and looked through our bag. Bill came back by then and Bob arrived. So we decided to go eat lunch and make a trip to Walmart. When we got back I set outside for a while and Lynne came over and we sat outside and visited for a long time until Jackie came over to ask if we wanted to go to a old "Bag factory"...this factory was one that made flour sacks and bags of all types. They even made the strips that are in Hershey kisses until 1982!!!! They had divided it into different "electic" shops and many things to see in it besides the old equipment.... pretty neat!
When we returned home several people of our group were sitting outside so we sat outside for awhile and then decided to go eat at a restaurant called "Lux Cafe"....it was delicious! very good! We were told they have great breakfast's!
When we got home Bob and Jackie came over and played Joker with us.... our streak is tied 2 and 2..... stay tuned!
Well, that is about it for now...... We will be busy beginning Monday as we will only be here until Friday morning when we leave to head back to KS!
Until next time!
BJ
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Thursday am chatter
Good morning!
We have been on the go since we got up Monday morning! But Tuesday am instead of having to drive back to Elkhart to have the truck worked on we got to sleep in a little bit.... our bodies' natural alarm doesn't let us sleep late like we used to...now my daughters would tell you we NEVER slept late when they were home but we thought we did..isn't 8AM sleeping late???????
Tuesday am we got around and headed over to Shipshewanna to the HUGE flea market they have on Tuesday and Wednesday am. On the way over we stopped by the Chevy truck dealership right down the highway from the park to see if they could get the truck in for a checkup. Bill kept thinking something on the brake "thing" wasn't working quite right and he wanted the computer set on it to check it out..... This is a Medium truck dealership so they would have all the "stuff" this truck needs. He was able to get it in today at 8 AM.
Then motoring on to Shipshewanna we drove through the countryside via GPS..why she took us that way we don't know but we saw many nice clean organized farm houses with beautiful flowers and beautiful horses grazing in the pastures. What pretty views....and of course many of them were Amish homes. Many horse and buggies on the roads heading here and there all the time.
When we got to the Flea market we were able to park in a fairly good spot as this place was becoming packed! Many horse/buggies lined up and and the cars were lined up even farther! It was hot, humid, muggy morning with not much wind at all..... My foot was hurting again..the pad under my toes as it was gravel and every rock seemed to find my sore spot so we only walked a few rows and decided it was time to leave....maybe next week when we are closer and hopefully the weather will cooperate also. So we went down the street to a small but very busy cafe called "Wanna Cup".... we walked in and it is an Amish cafe.... people were lined up to eat lunch.... we had good food but the wait was a little long. After lunch and across the street was a HUGE, GIGANTIC department store called "Yoder's Department Store"..... they had everything in that store from name brand clothing to John Deere part to fabric! .....like over 12,000 bolts of fabric but not all quilting fabric. Many of it was for clothing....We looked and explored the one side with groceries and the department stuff and then headed to the clothing and fabric side. I was on that side for over an hour just looking. Bill looked around and then decided to find his book and a rocking chair in the lobby....he said he about fell asleep! I can't imagine that!
So we left there and decided to head home via Elkhart.... we wanted to find the RV surplus place in Elkhart.... and we did but was very disappointed....finding nothing that we were looking for we left and came back to the park. By that time 3 couples of our friends had just arrived and were setting up. We visited with them and then decided to go out to eat of course! John/Patsy said they knew of a restaurant in Bremen, a few miles west of here, so we left to go there ....it has become a Mexican restaurant along with a pancake house! The food was good and we had a nice visit.
Wednesday am we went into the small town north of here called Wakarusa for breakfast. We decided to take our own truck so we could go to the RV museum in Elkhart later, so we followed them there. The restaurant was small and the food was good again! But the restaurant was called "Short Stop cafe"..... Gayle Sayers was from this town or used to live there and the walls were covered with baseball memorabilia and football "stuff'...... across the street is the Wakarusa Jelly Bean factory..... they are known for the large jelly beans the size of a small egg! We all found something's we had to have and I know the grandkids will love the sugar I bought for them! Not sure if Mom and Dad will! :)
After we left there we were on our way to Elkhart and had also made plans to go to the flea market again..... but we figured we would go next week so we had a change of iternerary..... We made a right hand turn to go to a Farmer's Market type building and the truck instantly died but Bill was able to start it right away..... NOW WHAT???????
So went in and walked around and the 3 other couples decided to go there also....little did they and we know we would meet again! So John/Patsy rode home with us.... we wanted to stop by Newmar Customer service to make sure that the slide out work was still a go for next week....
Good thing we did because we found out that they could work on it next week but we wanted this to be covered under our extended warranty service and they were not going to do extended warranty service next week due to being so busy at the rally.... so we came home and began making phone calls. The head of the customer service office called and told Bill they just didn't have time to work us in. But he did recommend Duncan RV REpair in Elkhart... so frantic phone calls to them were made..... the gal finally called back and said they could get us in after the rally.... well, that wouldn't work as we are leaving next Friday OF the rally to go home. So we are going to have to make a trip to Great Bend the week after next to get the slide out worked on..... hopefully they can get the motor in in one day and nothing else is wrong with it.... we sure have had alot go wrong on this trip and we are usually very anal about getting things looked over and taken care of before a trip..... guess the things that cropped up were unexpected and that is what we deal with traveling, right??????
So after all that we went over to visit with John/Patsy for alittle bit and our other friends Bob and Jackie from Topeka arrived! We were so glad to see them! We all visited with them for alittle bit and it was getting dinner time! Time to eat again! So we went out to eat dinner and came home! A short time later Bob/Jackie came by to visit and we were able to catch up with them since we hadn't seen them since we left Topeka in June.....
Well, we are off now to Elkhart to the RV museum...... oh yes... Bill just got home and said the truck's starter had a loose wire! The computer part of it checked out good and everything else is ok..... the loose wire was connected to lots of other things like the batteries, the check engine light etc.... so now I guess we can make a sigh of relief that it is ok .....
So that is it until next time!
BJ
We have been on the go since we got up Monday morning! But Tuesday am instead of having to drive back to Elkhart to have the truck worked on we got to sleep in a little bit.... our bodies' natural alarm doesn't let us sleep late like we used to...now my daughters would tell you we NEVER slept late when they were home but we thought we did..isn't 8AM sleeping late???????
Tuesday am we got around and headed over to Shipshewanna to the HUGE flea market they have on Tuesday and Wednesday am. On the way over we stopped by the Chevy truck dealership right down the highway from the park to see if they could get the truck in for a checkup. Bill kept thinking something on the brake "thing" wasn't working quite right and he wanted the computer set on it to check it out..... This is a Medium truck dealership so they would have all the "stuff" this truck needs. He was able to get it in today at 8 AM.
Then motoring on to Shipshewanna we drove through the countryside via GPS..why she took us that way we don't know but we saw many nice clean organized farm houses with beautiful flowers and beautiful horses grazing in the pastures. What pretty views....and of course many of them were Amish homes. Many horse and buggies on the roads heading here and there all the time.
When we got to the Flea market we were able to park in a fairly good spot as this place was becoming packed! Many horse/buggies lined up and and the cars were lined up even farther! It was hot, humid, muggy morning with not much wind at all..... My foot was hurting again..the pad under my toes as it was gravel and every rock seemed to find my sore spot so we only walked a few rows and decided it was time to leave....maybe next week when we are closer and hopefully the weather will cooperate also. So we went down the street to a small but very busy cafe called "Wanna Cup".... we walked in and it is an Amish cafe.... people were lined up to eat lunch.... we had good food but the wait was a little long. After lunch and across the street was a HUGE, GIGANTIC department store called "Yoder's Department Store"..... they had everything in that store from name brand clothing to John Deere part to fabric! .....like over 12,000 bolts of fabric but not all quilting fabric. Many of it was for clothing....We looked and explored the one side with groceries and the department stuff and then headed to the clothing and fabric side. I was on that side for over an hour just looking. Bill looked around and then decided to find his book and a rocking chair in the lobby....he said he about fell asleep! I can't imagine that!
So we left there and decided to head home via Elkhart.... we wanted to find the RV surplus place in Elkhart.... and we did but was very disappointed....finding nothing that we were looking for we left and came back to the park. By that time 3 couples of our friends had just arrived and were setting up. We visited with them and then decided to go out to eat of course! John/Patsy said they knew of a restaurant in Bremen, a few miles west of here, so we left to go there ....it has become a Mexican restaurant along with a pancake house! The food was good and we had a nice visit.
Wednesday am we went into the small town north of here called Wakarusa for breakfast. We decided to take our own truck so we could go to the RV museum in Elkhart later, so we followed them there. The restaurant was small and the food was good again! But the restaurant was called "Short Stop cafe"..... Gayle Sayers was from this town or used to live there and the walls were covered with baseball memorabilia and football "stuff'...... across the street is the Wakarusa Jelly Bean factory..... they are known for the large jelly beans the size of a small egg! We all found something's we had to have and I know the grandkids will love the sugar I bought for them! Not sure if Mom and Dad will! :)
After we left there we were on our way to Elkhart and had also made plans to go to the flea market again..... but we figured we would go next week so we had a change of iternerary..... We made a right hand turn to go to a Farmer's Market type building and the truck instantly died but Bill was able to start it right away..... NOW WHAT???????
So went in and walked around and the 3 other couples decided to go there also....little did they and we know we would meet again! So John/Patsy rode home with us.... we wanted to stop by Newmar Customer service to make sure that the slide out work was still a go for next week....
Good thing we did because we found out that they could work on it next week but we wanted this to be covered under our extended warranty service and they were not going to do extended warranty service next week due to being so busy at the rally.... so we came home and began making phone calls. The head of the customer service office called and told Bill they just didn't have time to work us in. But he did recommend Duncan RV REpair in Elkhart... so frantic phone calls to them were made..... the gal finally called back and said they could get us in after the rally.... well, that wouldn't work as we are leaving next Friday OF the rally to go home. So we are going to have to make a trip to Great Bend the week after next to get the slide out worked on..... hopefully they can get the motor in in one day and nothing else is wrong with it.... we sure have had alot go wrong on this trip and we are usually very anal about getting things looked over and taken care of before a trip..... guess the things that cropped up were unexpected and that is what we deal with traveling, right??????
So after all that we went over to visit with John/Patsy for alittle bit and our other friends Bob and Jackie from Topeka arrived! We were so glad to see them! We all visited with them for alittle bit and it was getting dinner time! Time to eat again! So we went out to eat dinner and came home! A short time later Bob/Jackie came by to visit and we were able to catch up with them since we hadn't seen them since we left Topeka in June.....
Well, we are off now to Elkhart to the RV museum...... oh yes... Bill just got home and said the truck's starter had a loose wire! The computer part of it checked out good and everything else is ok..... the loose wire was connected to lots of other things like the batteries, the check engine light etc.... so now I guess we can make a sigh of relief that it is ok .....
So that is it until next time!
BJ
Monday, August 9, 2010
We did make it safely to Bremen, Indiana! WHEW!!!
A few days ago Bill called and talked to one of our Topeka friends, Bob, who had spoken with our friend, Gary, who is spending the summer in Rapid City, SD. They have a unit just like ours,....a Torrey Pine. Gary told Bob that his suspension was completely shot and worn out...meaning the bolts were worn and the suspension wasn't doing its job.
So Bill stewed on this for a couple of days and so after lunch Saturday afternoon Bill checked underneath our coach....finding the exact same thing! YIKES!!!! He said our shocks were just hanging there and the bolts were almost worn through..... I usually don't get too upset and really "scared" about things like that but this is our home and we are not sitting in one place all the time...... and we were not "close to home"....
So after a sleepless night and worrying about everything and even if we were going to be able to get to Indiana safelya we made the decision to cancel dinner with my nephew and come to Bremen instead. I hated doing that as I really wanted to see them and spend some time visiting ..... so sorry again Jon! But we wanted to get on top of this and try to schedule repairs as soon as we could...
The company that makes our suspension system is in ELkhart, Indiana maybe about 20 miles from here.... so we drove straight through from Vassar to Bremen Sunday afternoon.... we made it AND safely! Bill called right at 8 AM this am and talked to the service manager who said they would be able to replace the system we needed and the best news ...they could get it done around 12:30 today!!!! So we got around,hooked up and headed to Elkhart...... they began about 12:30....we waited around for a little bit. We had already made an appt. for Tuesday morning for the Chariot place who made the bed of our truck. There was a bracket loose or something and he wanted them to look at it and see if they could fix it..... So we decided to find the place and they were able to work on it and found that a bolt had fallen out and someone had put a bracket there to replace that bolt. They were able to put the bolt back in and we were good to go. Saved us a trip in the morning! So we drove back to the Mor-ryde place and they had just finished our coach.... 2 hours !!! So we hooked up and went back to the park in Bremen. It was so nice driving back with the coach now.... we both could definitely tell a huge difference in our truck and RV..... Wow!!! what a difference!
We came back and we had an offer for Happy Hour at a coach across the street so we went over there after 5. They were all from Illinois. Before that I was able to SKYPE with our grandsons at their other grandparents house! It was fun doing that although our sound didn't work quite right and I'm not sure where the problem was. We will keep working on it .... it was fun talking to the kids.... our granddaughter came in with Erin during that time and she couldn't quite figure out what was going on...we could see her say granma and pappa!
After that we came home and then went into Nappanee for some dinner at a small restaurant..... more of our group will be here tomorrow and Wednesday. We are going to a huge flea market tomorrow in Shipshewanna, Indiana......
Many of the homes of this area are of course Amish and we have seen many horse and buggies.... this am on our way to Elkhart we saw a young mother mowing with a riding lawn mower holding her young one but she was barefoot!!! The Amish women do not wear shoes alot of the time at home.
Well, that about sums up our exciting day... I am so glad that our suspension has been taken care of ..... not sure what we would have done if we were out on the road someplace.
Until next time!
Bj
So Bill stewed on this for a couple of days and so after lunch Saturday afternoon Bill checked underneath our coach....finding the exact same thing! YIKES!!!! He said our shocks were just hanging there and the bolts were almost worn through..... I usually don't get too upset and really "scared" about things like that but this is our home and we are not sitting in one place all the time...... and we were not "close to home"....
So after a sleepless night and worrying about everything and even if we were going to be able to get to Indiana safelya we made the decision to cancel dinner with my nephew and come to Bremen instead. I hated doing that as I really wanted to see them and spend some time visiting ..... so sorry again Jon! But we wanted to get on top of this and try to schedule repairs as soon as we could...
The company that makes our suspension system is in ELkhart, Indiana maybe about 20 miles from here.... so we drove straight through from Vassar to Bremen Sunday afternoon.... we made it AND safely! Bill called right at 8 AM this am and talked to the service manager who said they would be able to replace the system we needed and the best news ...they could get it done around 12:30 today!!!! So we got around,hooked up and headed to Elkhart...... they began about 12:30....we waited around for a little bit. We had already made an appt. for Tuesday morning for the Chariot place who made the bed of our truck. There was a bracket loose or something and he wanted them to look at it and see if they could fix it..... So we decided to find the place and they were able to work on it and found that a bolt had fallen out and someone had put a bracket there to replace that bolt. They were able to put the bolt back in and we were good to go. Saved us a trip in the morning! So we drove back to the Mor-ryde place and they had just finished our coach.... 2 hours !!! So we hooked up and went back to the park in Bremen. It was so nice driving back with the coach now.... we both could definitely tell a huge difference in our truck and RV..... Wow!!! what a difference!
We came back and we had an offer for Happy Hour at a coach across the street so we went over there after 5. They were all from Illinois. Before that I was able to SKYPE with our grandsons at their other grandparents house! It was fun doing that although our sound didn't work quite right and I'm not sure where the problem was. We will keep working on it .... it was fun talking to the kids.... our granddaughter came in with Erin during that time and she couldn't quite figure out what was going on...we could see her say granma and pappa!
After that we came home and then went into Nappanee for some dinner at a small restaurant..... more of our group will be here tomorrow and Wednesday. We are going to a huge flea market tomorrow in Shipshewanna, Indiana......
Many of the homes of this area are of course Amish and we have seen many horse and buggies.... this am on our way to Elkhart we saw a young mother mowing with a riding lawn mower holding her young one but she was barefoot!!! The Amish women do not wear shoes alot of the time at home.
Well, that about sums up our exciting day... I am so glad that our suspension has been taken care of ..... not sure what we would have done if we were out on the road someplace.
Until next time!
Bj
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Saturday evening in Vassar, Michigan
Time to update from the past few days.......
We had a great time traveling over the "bridge" to Mackinaw City on Friday morning. We drove over and checked out several places around the town. The bridge is about 5 miles long and the skies were crystal clear and the sun shone on the water....it was very pretty. We drove around and started at the Chamber office and then onto a lighthouse.... Bill and I had decided we would go into it but the closer I got I remembered in Florida how about at the 3rd set of steps in a lighthouse my legs were shaking and I had to go back down...He said he didn't need to walk all the way up if I didn't so we chose not to go up....we looked around the bay area and watched some ships pass by.
We found out we were about 15 miles from Cheyboygan so we drove there and stopped at a Walmart and got a few groceries! We seem to have to stop at a Walmart anymore! YIKES>>>>are we becoming "one of those" people?????? :)
We then drove back to Mackinaw City and decided to have a "pastie"..... For all of our "southern" friends and relatives...a "pasties"...(pronounced "PAST-e) is a type of potpie which is shaped I take it like a calzone. It was very filling and good although I don't think I could make a steady diet of them....I had a beef w/gravy and Bill had a chicken. 'Must be a Northern thing"....... haha!!!
After lunch we drove downtown and did some shopping and then we drove back across the bridge home. Spending the afternoon doing laundry and all that good stuff......
Later that afternoon we drove back across the bridge to go to a Lumberjack show. We had never been to one before and it was a competition and a "slight" comedy show...... there were 2 lumberjacks....one was a young man who just graduated from high school and trying to become a lumberjack and and older man who was the 9 time Lumberjack champion. They did several types of competitions and earned "points" at the end ..... it was good and we enjoyed it.
Friday morning we left around 9ish to come to Vassar, Michigan....this time crossing the "bridge" with our RV's...... not much traffic and I kept telling myself if logging trucks can get across this bridge we can..... and WE DID!!! Whew! Back on "solid ground".....
We got to Vassar around 1 and got our selves set up for the next couple of days. We had heard about Frankenmuth from one of our friends that they had a huge Christmas store.... huge is NOT the word for this store!!!! Gigantic is the word!!!! 1 1/2 football fields large is the size of this building! We drove over late afternoon and Nancy and I shopped in the store and the guys sat in the truck and people watched I guess...... This store had everything Christmas....it was neat to go and I'm glad we took the time to come. It was hard not shopping more but with only our little space we have I couldn't rationalize getting more! I already have about 3 Christmas RV tubs as it is! Haha!!!!
We drove through downtown Frankenmuth and was amazed at the architecture of the stores there....all Bavarian designed and it was a pretty crowded place with tourists...we didn't realize it was such a tourist place. We finally found a restaurant for dinner... Mexican! haah!!!
Saturday morning we drove back to Frankenmuth as we are at a campground that is about 15 miles from Frankenmuth to do some shopping.....of course Nancy found a quilt shop....it was a neat little shop..... we found a couple of other shops we had interest in and then decided to let the guys find the brewery for lunch today...... it was a great place to eat and we liked the food we had...too bad we didn't find it last night!
So we ate lunch and then stopped at a clock shop and checked out all the clocks.... that is another possession that is on my someday list when we have a larger space to put one.
They had so many cuckoo clocks and chime clocks they are neat to look at.
We headed home after that and relaxed this afternoon.... Bill found out that one of our friends who has a Torrey Pine like ours is having some shocks, suspension problems..so he checked ours out and it is the same as their's!!!! The bolts are about shot and the shocks are shot....so hopefully we will make it to Indiana and get it serviced while we are there.... wish us luck traveling the next 2 days! We will call Mor-ryde on Monday morning first thing and make an appt. Their company is based in Elkhart, Indiana. We will be maybe 20 miles from there. We know we have put alot of miles and many big bumps on this coach traveling from Florida to Alaska and Arizona and Alabama and back all over we have gone..... we hope we will be safe for another 200 miles!
Well, that about does it for now... we leave here in the morning for Grass Lake, Michigan and our plans for the day are to get there and then go to Ann Arbor to visit my nephew and family..... looking forward to that!
One word about this park...we are at a campground called Berg-wag-a-na ...it is a family campground and they have had lots of activities this weekend.... so many families mosing around on bicycles and golf carts. Kids are all over the place and they looked like they were having a great time. Tents, RV's and parkmodels in this park..... we have a nice large site and have enjoyed it here. WE have full hookups and only 30amp's..... but it has been very cool and we sat outside most of the afternoon after we got home..... very relaxing and enjoying watching the kids and people going by.
This is our last night with Ron/Nancy as they are going to Charlotte( Shar-lot) MI to have some service work done on their motorhome. We will see them next week in Bremen, Indiana.
So until next time!
BJ
We had a great time traveling over the "bridge" to Mackinaw City on Friday morning. We drove over and checked out several places around the town. The bridge is about 5 miles long and the skies were crystal clear and the sun shone on the water....it was very pretty. We drove around and started at the Chamber office and then onto a lighthouse.... Bill and I had decided we would go into it but the closer I got I remembered in Florida how about at the 3rd set of steps in a lighthouse my legs were shaking and I had to go back down...He said he didn't need to walk all the way up if I didn't so we chose not to go up....we looked around the bay area and watched some ships pass by.
We found out we were about 15 miles from Cheyboygan so we drove there and stopped at a Walmart and got a few groceries! We seem to have to stop at a Walmart anymore! YIKES>>>>are we becoming "one of those" people?????? :)
We then drove back to Mackinaw City and decided to have a "pastie"..... For all of our "southern" friends and relatives...a "pasties"...(pronounced "PAST-e) is a type of potpie which is shaped I take it like a calzone. It was very filling and good although I don't think I could make a steady diet of them....I had a beef w/gravy and Bill had a chicken. 'Must be a Northern thing"....... haha!!!
After lunch we drove downtown and did some shopping and then we drove back across the bridge home. Spending the afternoon doing laundry and all that good stuff......
Later that afternoon we drove back across the bridge to go to a Lumberjack show. We had never been to one before and it was a competition and a "slight" comedy show...... there were 2 lumberjacks....one was a young man who just graduated from high school and trying to become a lumberjack and and older man who was the 9 time Lumberjack champion. They did several types of competitions and earned "points" at the end ..... it was good and we enjoyed it.
Friday morning we left around 9ish to come to Vassar, Michigan....this time crossing the "bridge" with our RV's...... not much traffic and I kept telling myself if logging trucks can get across this bridge we can..... and WE DID!!! Whew! Back on "solid ground".....
We got to Vassar around 1 and got our selves set up for the next couple of days. We had heard about Frankenmuth from one of our friends that they had a huge Christmas store.... huge is NOT the word for this store!!!! Gigantic is the word!!!! 1 1/2 football fields large is the size of this building! We drove over late afternoon and Nancy and I shopped in the store and the guys sat in the truck and people watched I guess...... This store had everything Christmas....it was neat to go and I'm glad we took the time to come. It was hard not shopping more but with only our little space we have I couldn't rationalize getting more! I already have about 3 Christmas RV tubs as it is! Haha!!!!
We drove through downtown Frankenmuth and was amazed at the architecture of the stores there....all Bavarian designed and it was a pretty crowded place with tourists...we didn't realize it was such a tourist place. We finally found a restaurant for dinner... Mexican! haah!!!
Saturday morning we drove back to Frankenmuth as we are at a campground that is about 15 miles from Frankenmuth to do some shopping.....of course Nancy found a quilt shop....it was a neat little shop..... we found a couple of other shops we had interest in and then decided to let the guys find the brewery for lunch today...... it was a great place to eat and we liked the food we had...too bad we didn't find it last night!
So we ate lunch and then stopped at a clock shop and checked out all the clocks.... that is another possession that is on my someday list when we have a larger space to put one.
They had so many cuckoo clocks and chime clocks they are neat to look at.
We headed home after that and relaxed this afternoon.... Bill found out that one of our friends who has a Torrey Pine like ours is having some shocks, suspension problems..so he checked ours out and it is the same as their's!!!! The bolts are about shot and the shocks are shot....so hopefully we will make it to Indiana and get it serviced while we are there.... wish us luck traveling the next 2 days! We will call Mor-ryde on Monday morning first thing and make an appt. Their company is based in Elkhart, Indiana. We will be maybe 20 miles from there. We know we have put alot of miles and many big bumps on this coach traveling from Florida to Alaska and Arizona and Alabama and back all over we have gone..... we hope we will be safe for another 200 miles!
Well, that about does it for now... we leave here in the morning for Grass Lake, Michigan and our plans for the day are to get there and then go to Ann Arbor to visit my nephew and family..... looking forward to that!
One word about this park...we are at a campground called Berg-wag-a-na ...it is a family campground and they have had lots of activities this weekend.... so many families mosing around on bicycles and golf carts. Kids are all over the place and they looked like they were having a great time. Tents, RV's and parkmodels in this park..... we have a nice large site and have enjoyed it here. WE have full hookups and only 30amp's..... but it has been very cool and we sat outside most of the afternoon after we got home..... very relaxing and enjoying watching the kids and people going by.
This is our last night with Ron/Nancy as they are going to Charlotte( Shar-lot) MI to have some service work done on their motorhome. We will see them next week in Bremen, Indiana.
So until next time!
BJ
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Spending the day on Mackinaw Island
I"m going to keep you updated so my days do not get away from me as they have before!
Since last week we stayed in Spring Green, Wisconsin from Wednesday to Friday am. Thursday am, we drove around to check the area out. We discovered that Lands End was having a huge warehouse sale so we stopped there. Dodgeville, Wisconsin is the headquarters for Lands End. Dodgeville was only about 12 miles from Spring Green. We decided not to go to the House on the Rock but drove to a scenic route and found it ...... the point of the building hangs out over a cliff.
Friday am we left early and drove to Kewaunee, Wisconsin. The drive was nice and along part way of Lake Michigan. We came across some information about Barn Quilts on Friday afternoon. So Saturday morning we decided to head out and check out several "Barn Quilts"..... more pictures to follow. The story behind barn quilts are that different quilt blocks are painted on a board and attached to the different barns. This area is not the only area of the country that has them but we found over 10 of 18 in that area.It was like a scavenger hunt finding them! They were on different old old barns so it was interesting seeing the barns and then finding the treasure of the quilt blocks.
Saturday morning beside driving the countryside looking for the barn quilts we also found several cherry orchards and a couple of cheese factories. It was a long day but we had fun finding our treasures! --- cheese and cherries! We also headed up to Door County..... Door County is a northern tip of the Penninsula of Wisconsin. The lake side of the penn. is mostly small towns and houses..... we drove clear up to the tip and then headed back home along the other side of the penninsula. This side has lots of shops along the way in the small towns. We stopped at a few stores and also found a great quilt shop!
Sunday we hardly peeked our heads outside. I stayed inside and cleaned and Bill worked on getting things done on the coach..... like the fun stuff of cleaning and doing laundry. Bill rinsed off the front of the coach and straightened up the bay underneath....things that have been put off since we have been on the road so much.
Monday morning we left early to head to spend our week at Mackinaw/ St. Ignace. Right now we are at St. Ignace which is on the north side of the Mackinaw Bridge.
Today was a very very humid, wet, foggy day. We made arrangments for a van to pick us up here at the RV park and they drove us to the ferry to go to the Island. So we took a ferry over to the Island in the fog! We could hardly see the Bridge from the boat.
Mackinaw Island is built on a limestone rock and the only way to get there is the ferry. Motorized vehicles are not allowed on it.... only firetrucks which they have. The mode of transportation is horse, horse and buggy, bicycles or by foot. We chose horse and buggy! We took a hour and half tour of the island and got to see the Grand hotel, the Fort and various places on the island before returning back to the main tourist area. One thing this area is noted for is "Fudge!"..... it is yummy! There are over 500 horses on the island...most Percheron..... so there are people cleaning up after the horses constantly..... they hire kids from all over to drive the horses for the summer. The 2 kids we talked to said they work 15-16 hours a day and no overtime pay/ 6 days per week. All the supplies for the stores must be brought over by ferry and picked up or it is put on a flat bed cart drawn by horse and dropped off. Mail is brought to a post office but no delivery service..you have to go to the post office yourself and get it. Several houses were for sale and they began from 3$million on up! There are about 500 that live on the island all year round. I have never seen so many bicycles in one place in my life! All ages were riding bicycles....you can rent them in a couple of places. Also you can rent horses to ride by yourself for $38/hr. The island was filled with people walking, riding, or enjoying the horse buggy rides. The 2 main streets were filled with shops and shops and more shops..... it was becoming very crowded by late afternoon.
When we were ready to leave we got back on the ferry and rode back across the lake to the dock. Someone was there to take us back to the RV park and we came home and relaxed for while! ..... in the AC.... aka..... naptime!!! It was a fun day but very hot and humid! I didn't expect that from this are....no wind at all so the humidity was the worst part of the day!
Tomorrow we are heading across the bridge to Mackinaw City and see what is there!
Stay tuned! I will post pictures in the next couple of days because I took so many today!
Until next time!
BJ
Since last week we stayed in Spring Green, Wisconsin from Wednesday to Friday am. Thursday am, we drove around to check the area out. We discovered that Lands End was having a huge warehouse sale so we stopped there. Dodgeville, Wisconsin is the headquarters for Lands End. Dodgeville was only about 12 miles from Spring Green. We decided not to go to the House on the Rock but drove to a scenic route and found it ...... the point of the building hangs out over a cliff.
Friday am we left early and drove to Kewaunee, Wisconsin. The drive was nice and along part way of Lake Michigan. We came across some information about Barn Quilts on Friday afternoon. So Saturday morning we decided to head out and check out several "Barn Quilts"..... more pictures to follow. The story behind barn quilts are that different quilt blocks are painted on a board and attached to the different barns. This area is not the only area of the country that has them but we found over 10 of 18 in that area.It was like a scavenger hunt finding them! They were on different old old barns so it was interesting seeing the barns and then finding the treasure of the quilt blocks.
Saturday morning beside driving the countryside looking for the barn quilts we also found several cherry orchards and a couple of cheese factories. It was a long day but we had fun finding our treasures! --- cheese and cherries! We also headed up to Door County..... Door County is a northern tip of the Penninsula of Wisconsin. The lake side of the penn. is mostly small towns and houses..... we drove clear up to the tip and then headed back home along the other side of the penninsula. This side has lots of shops along the way in the small towns. We stopped at a few stores and also found a great quilt shop!
Sunday we hardly peeked our heads outside. I stayed inside and cleaned and Bill worked on getting things done on the coach..... like the fun stuff of cleaning and doing laundry. Bill rinsed off the front of the coach and straightened up the bay underneath....things that have been put off since we have been on the road so much.
Monday morning we left early to head to spend our week at Mackinaw/ St. Ignace. Right now we are at St. Ignace which is on the north side of the Mackinaw Bridge.
Today was a very very humid, wet, foggy day. We made arrangments for a van to pick us up here at the RV park and they drove us to the ferry to go to the Island. So we took a ferry over to the Island in the fog! We could hardly see the Bridge from the boat.
Mackinaw Island is built on a limestone rock and the only way to get there is the ferry. Motorized vehicles are not allowed on it.... only firetrucks which they have. The mode of transportation is horse, horse and buggy, bicycles or by foot. We chose horse and buggy! We took a hour and half tour of the island and got to see the Grand hotel, the Fort and various places on the island before returning back to the main tourist area. One thing this area is noted for is "Fudge!"..... it is yummy! There are over 500 horses on the island...most Percheron..... so there are people cleaning up after the horses constantly..... they hire kids from all over to drive the horses for the summer. The 2 kids we talked to said they work 15-16 hours a day and no overtime pay/ 6 days per week. All the supplies for the stores must be brought over by ferry and picked up or it is put on a flat bed cart drawn by horse and dropped off. Mail is brought to a post office but no delivery service..you have to go to the post office yourself and get it. Several houses were for sale and they began from 3$million on up! There are about 500 that live on the island all year round. I have never seen so many bicycles in one place in my life! All ages were riding bicycles....you can rent them in a couple of places. Also you can rent horses to ride by yourself for $38/hr. The island was filled with people walking, riding, or enjoying the horse buggy rides. The 2 main streets were filled with shops and shops and more shops..... it was becoming very crowded by late afternoon.
When we were ready to leave we got back on the ferry and rode back across the lake to the dock. Someone was there to take us back to the RV park and we came home and relaxed for while! ..... in the AC.... aka..... naptime!!! It was a fun day but very hot and humid! I didn't expect that from this are....no wind at all so the humidity was the worst part of the day!
Tomorrow we are heading across the bridge to Mackinaw City and see what is there!
Stay tuned! I will post pictures in the next couple of days because I took so many today!
Until next time!
BJ
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