Lancaster, Ohio

Lancaster Ohio

We�ve been here for about a week and will be leaving on Wednesday. Just been doing a lot of back road trips this week, the other day we did a 90 mile loop and discovered about 15 covered bridges and about 9 sites of the old Erie Canal with the stone locks. A ton of little towns, and a million cemeteries for Cathy to roam. Of course we did a day in Columbus for genealogy. That�s about it for this week.

The Toledo Zoo

Well I don't think that we drove far enough south, We set up at our new camp Wednesday and the first thing Thursday morning we get a call from Nick wanting to know when we were going to come get him and his sister to spend the night and go to the Toledo Zoo. Well I've had enought of this so I put my foot down, right down on the gas pedal and we drove up to Wixom to get him and Rachel. Good thing this park has WIFI because it kept Rachel busy all night so Nick and I could watch the Tigers lose another one.
A beautiful day at the Toledo Zoo, 80 degrees and sunny and all the animals were moving around alot rather then just sleeping. The kids had a really good time as always, except for the long drive home to Wixom from Toledo, a little over two hours. How do you keep the kids quiet that long, easy you just stop every 30 minutes and get them more ICE CREAM, I mean we're dropping them off with their parents, let them handle the suger high.
I slept very well tonight.

The GRAND Opening

August 30th 2005, Suz held the grand opening of her Candy Bouquet Store. It was a double grand opening with the busness next door. It was a nice sunny day and she had a lot of friends show up to help her on her way.

The Ribbon Cutting

This is one of her display areas, they can make up a bouquet for any occassion that you can think of.



Here are two that she made for Aunt Sandy to take to their tailgateing party for the opening of the MEEEECHIGAN football season.

M GO Blue

With that all done Cathy & I packed up and moved south about 25 miles to a little RV park in Monroe, Michigan. With everything going on in the Gulf of Mexico we decided that we'll stay here for 3 to 4 weeks until things stabilize a little with gas prices and supply. The other day we were excited to buy gas for only $3.00 a gallon. It's going to make travel a little bit more expensive but what are you going to do.
We've spent the last few springs along the Gulf coast between Pensacola and Baton Rouge just laying back and relaxing, after seeing the films of the area it looks like it will be a long time before anyone can return to that area for any reason.
As always if we get in your area we'll give ya a call.

Charlotte, Michigan

Time to do a little catching up, when we left you we were in Lapeer, Michigan, well we moved a grand total of about 80 miles to Charlotte (pronounced Char-looooootte) if you say it like the girls name you�re in big trouble. Were at the fairgrounds and so far they�ve had a circus, rodeo, and that thing were the cars race through the mud pit, and all free. Of course when we�re here we spend every other day in Lansing at the library so Cathy can do her research. We did manage to go to a Lansing Lugnuts Baseball game, double a team for the Toronto Bluejays. With our luck it was bring a drunk get in free night, really it was 2 dollar beer night so we were in the minority that wasn�t falling down the steps for throwing up in the stands. We did a few back road tours, a day in Marshall and a day in Grand Rapids. And that�s about it, we�re leaving here Wednesday and heading down by the kids for a month, Suz is doing her Grand Opening on the 30th. Hopefully they will be packed, she's been doing pretty good for just getting started. Finally got the new car clean so I thought I would post the picture because it may never be clean again.
We�ll see everybody when we start our winter migration.

Port Huron, Michigan

Kids at the Blue Water Bridges

Watching a Big Ships pass by

We brought the kids up to lapeer for a few days and spent one in Port Huron. We walked the entire river front from north of the bridge to the Huron Light Boat. We toured the Huron Lightship. This was the last lightship used on the Great Lakes and has been turned in to a museum. Then we walked to the Thomas Edison Museum which is located right under the bridges. There are now two bridges side by side in order to handle the traffic. The kids got a chance to see some of the big ships as they passed under the bridges, Nick thinks that maybe he could have thrown a baseball to one of the ships since they were so close. We then drove up to the Gratiot Lighthouse & Beach for a little picnic lunch, while we were there the Canadian Coast Guard boat showed up and was doing manuvers about a 100 yards off shore and the local lifeguards were doing their rescue training. The kids really liked the Campground that we're in, it's near a rails to trails park and the trail circles two lakes and there is tons of wildlife to see.
Nick & Don's birthdays are August 2nd so we'll be heading back down to Wixon for that.
Later

Trading up

We decided that it was time to trade up to a new rig and Move on up to the east side to that deluxe motorhome.
Were camped in Lapeer Michigan for about another 2-3 weeks. Cathy looked out the window today and saw this thing driving down US24, the main drag through town. When we went to dinner a few hours later we saw it parked and stopped to get a picture. This is how itwas when it was driving down the road, the pop up was open.
I think thats a pair of bloomers hanging in the door.
Taking the Grandkids to Port Huron for the day next week, going to let them see some real blue water.

Another Landmark Day.
Suz opened her store today, The Walled Lake Candy Bouquet is now open and available to take your order. It was rush rush rush right till the last minute but she opened on time. The big Grand opening will be sometime around the first part of August. Nick and Rachel were a little disappointed that there wasn�t a line waiting to get in when they unlocked the door.
So if you�re in the area of Walled Lake Michigan she located on Pontiac Trail just east of Commerce Rd.
We�re so proud of our little girl, and we get free brownies and candy.

Catching up on things

Well I guess it’s time to do a little catching up on this Blog thing. We got back to Michigan about mid June and watched the grandkids while Suz & Don went of to Little Rock Arkansas for their Candy Class. They have the franchise for the Candy Bouquet in the Wixom area, they have all types of candy and instead of sending a floral bouquet they make them out of chocolate and candy. Very unique. We spent just about everyday with the kids at the beach swimming and as Rachel calls it Cardiacking, the rest of us call it kayaking. After a week of this I started to think she was right and I was heading for a Cardiack arrest.
We got BOLO’ed in Livingston County (BOLO police slang for Be On the Look Out for), We had picked up the new car a few days earlier and decided to take the kids to the Zoo in Lansing to put a few miles on the car and get the engine broken in. Well we’re on the freeway in the right lane doing 60mph, minding our own business when this Bandana head Willie Nelson wanna be comes flying up on our butt at about 90 and locks on his brakes about 3 feet off our back bumper. With no other cars in the other lanes he starts beeping and signaling me to speed up so of course I hit the brakes instead which I believe caused everything on his front seat to hit the floor. Now he decides to pass us on the shoulder of the freeway, while he’s doing this he flips Cathy and the grandkids the bird, I still can’t figure out why he was mad at them. He then starts to pull in front of us forcing us into the second lane which is now occupied by a semi truck. Being a fast thinker I threw my badge up in the windshield, he immediately pulled back onto the shoulder and took off at about 90 mph. He got off at the next exit and we continued on our way to the zoo. About 15 miles down the road we see a Deputy standing outside his car shooting radar. As we go by he looks up his jaw drops open and his head swivels around watching us go by. I made the comment to Cathy that this must really be a great looking car. So great that he chased us down with his lights and siren running. It turns out that the Willie Nelson wanna be got off the freeway and called the sheriffs office and told them that there was a crazy guy flying down the freeway hanging out the window with a badge in his hand running everyone off the road. So the Sheriff orders all his deputies to the freeway overpasses to catch us. After fifteen minutes of talking with a K9 unit deputy (the dog was the friendly smart one) and waiting for them to call Detroit PD to verify I was a real cop, they decided to give us a break and let us go. About half way through all this Rachel pops up with “It shouldn’t take this long just to write a ticket”. We did finally get to the zoo and had a really good time. On the way home Nick had us drive by Michigan State’s Stadium to get a picture of him standing in front of it, to make a screen saver for his mom (a University of Michigan Grad).
Suz & Don got back and we let them visit the kids for a day and a half before we loaded them in the motorhome and took off for Mackinac Island for a week. The weather was in the low 90’s everyday and only about 30 minutes of rain all week. We did 4 crossings of the BIG MACK Bridge and spent one day walking around the Island eating fudge and saltwater taffy. The kids got to swim under the bridge, this is the dividing point for Lake Michigan and Lake Huron so Nick named it Lake Michuron, of course the water temp was just a tad above freezing. Fortunately we found a little beach on a bay in Lake Michigan that was pure white sand shallow and about 75 degree water temp so we pretty much lived there for the rest of the week. Cathy wouldn’t let us use the campground pool any more after I beat up the eleven year old (he was a really big eleven year old in my own defense). But that’s another story.
When we left Mackinac we followed US 23 down the coast past the 45th parallel to Oscoda, this was the start of the 4th of July week in Oscoda for the family. Normally we camp near by but this year we just met Don & Suz and dropped off the kids, then went to Wixom to house sit the dog and cats. I was able to spend 5 days washing and waxing the motorhome and 5 evenings at the chiropractor getting straighten out. The kids had a great week and came home and tanned and bronzed from the time on the beach.
Pack up the motorhome and we’re gone for a month of relaxing in Lapeer Michigan. Of course we have to go back for the opening of the store and then for Nick and Don’s birthdays and probably 3 or 4 other things, who knows or as Rachel always sez “Who cares”.
The car we bought is a PT Cruiser, I spent more time in line at the DMV then I did in the dealership buying it. It’s a nice car with lots of room and so far we’re both happy with it. I’m trying to get Cathy to wear a Pink mohair sweater (tight) a Poodle skirt and saddle shoes so we can go down to the drive-in but she’s not having any of it.
Time to relax, later

In Honor of Cathy's 49th Birthday

Louisville "Hometown of Jackie"

Downtown Louisville


Louisville Slugger Museum


Building down the street from the Bat Factory

We're camped right across the river, in Indiana, from Louisville. The other day we took of on the bicycle to ride along the river and we were gone for 5 hours. We went to the Falls of Ohio, a ton of little parks along the river and in the little town centers. We took a tour of the Louisville Slugger Bat Factory and Museum, had to buy a Babe Ruth signature bat for Nick. It takes about an hour and half to see everything and is well worth the trip. They have the big bat out front as you can see in the picture, then about 1/2 a block down the street is the Plate Glass Building with the ball through the window.
We went to both National Cemeteries in the area, New Albany, which is one of the original 13, and the Louisville National Cemetery which is in the Cave Hill Cemetery.
It was raining today (Thursday) so we just did a little shopping and tried another restaurant. Before we leave Sunday we want to get to Locust Grove, last home of George Lewis Clark, and President. Zachary Taylors Grave site.
Looks like we're going to have to save the Chuchill Downs Museum for our next trip here.
Gotta go turn the steaks.

Nashville, Tennessee

Tennessee Capitol Building

Mansker Station wood turner

Who am I?
There are two ways to drive north through Nashville, the east way or the west way, we took the wrong way. What looked like the easiest way turned out to be the very long way, just as we got to the Cumberland River Bridge we were about 40 cars behind the accident that blocked the entire freeway. Then the rubbernecks on the other side of the freeway decided to have one of their own and block all but one lane on that side of the bridge. Six Police cars, 3 Rescue Squads, 3 Fire trucks including a hook and ladder, 2 EMS units, a Helicopter and one hour later we managed to get one lane open and we were back on our way. Best of all we were only 10 minutes away from our exit for the RV Park.
Cathy got to spend 2 full 8-hour days in the State Archives and I just wandered around downtown Nashville trying to avoid all the construction. Most of the monuments and memorial stuff was total blocked off to the public because they were putting in new sidewalks.
We stopped by Mansker Station, which was the first establish fort in Tennessee, they had a few re-enactors there to show you around the fort and plantation house. The house is the oldest brick building in Tennessee. The fort is an exact 1/3 model of the original.
Since we both love Country Western Music so much we avoided the Grand Ole Opry. No such luck we just found out that the RV Park is hosting a big Holiday weekend Hoe Down tonight right across from our site. (Hoe Down in Detroit means one of your Bi**hes just got shot).
The biggest thing this week is we got a new little grill (we haven’t had one for over 2 years) so we’re BBQing all our meals.
Leaving for Louisville in the Morning (Sunday) hopefully the traffic won’t be as bad as Nashville and we’ll get out and do a little more exploring.
Answer: Alvin York

Florence / Tuscumbia, Alabama

We reluctantly left Baton Rouge, we still had a lot of stuff that we wanted to do there and started our journey north to see the grandkids. We took the north end of the Natchez Trace and spent the night in Tupelo, birthplace of Elvis Presley.

Then on to Florence Ala. where we are camped on the shore of the Tennessee River, we're just driving around a bunch of the back roads seeing what we stumble across. Today (Friday) we found the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, being such big country music fans we decided to pass on it. The waterfall is located in a downtown park in Tuscumbia; there is also a waterwheel, small-scale train, a fountain with music and colored lights for night viewing and tons of ducks and geese waiting to be fed. We got lost for awhile and found a neighborhood called "City One" it was built by the government during WW I to house people that worked at a nitrate factory, the main streets form a big liberty bell if seen from the sky. Most of the homes are still there and in like new shape. Then we found a dead end street that took us to the edge of the cliffs on the north shore of the river for a fantastic view. Then while driving along a little out of the way street that went right along the river we stumbled across a little park where there was a film crew, filming scenes for an up coming movie. They had about 10 trucks filled with equipment and probably 100 people running around and it looked like all they did was film about a minute of a tugboat going by and blowing his horn at some actor on a dock. The name of the movie is "Where (or when) I found the Ocean", well they're sure not going to find it in northern Alabama. When we were here about 8 to 10 years ago we had to hunt for a grocery store, now we have a Super Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Target, Sears, K-Mart and every type of restaurant that you can think of then some. The Ranger told us that the campground would be bulldozed in October for a Pro Bass Shop and a major sports complex to go with the Trent Jones golf course right across the river, also a 4-1/2 mile river walk that will cover the city end to end.

Tomorrow we head up to Nashville and a resort with WiFi , Cathy will be so happy for the week that we are there. We'll eventually make it back to Michigan, we have to be there for the big baseball playoffs with Nick "the Flamethrower" Squier is pitching.

More when we get it.

Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge, the Red Stick.
We arrived here last Sunday and it was 80 degrees and sunny, and so far that has been the bad weather day. It has been in the high 80’s to mid 90’s since we’ve been here and the humidity is right around 300%.
We’re camped at a city park which is about 2 miles south of the LSU campus and 3 miles from Downtown and best of all only 2 miles from Mike Andersons Seafood Restaurant. They have the best food and service that we have come across this entire season, we’ve only been there 3 times this week.
We spent one day downtown touring the Capitol Bldg, they show you where Huey Long was assassinated and then you can go up to the observation deck, the Capitol Bldg is the tallest one in the USA. The observation deck is on the 27 floor and is right on the Mississippi River so you really get a great view of the town and surrounding area. Huey Long had the first bridge built crossing the river here and he had them make it low enough so that the big ship could not get any further up the river and had to stop at the Port of Baton Rouge, you gotta love a man that thinks like that. The amazing thing is you can’t say Louisiana with out thinking of Huey Long yet he only served one term as Governor and was assassinated during the 2nd year of his term as Senator. He made quite a name for such a short time.
We went to the city Zoo, which we had almost all to ourselves, it’s a very nice zoo and you can cover it in about two hours. All the animals were very active while we were there.
There are a ton of other things to do in this area and you could spend a month here very easy.
Today we’re going to tour the Old Capitol Museum and tomorrow we’ll drive over to Lafayette to visit with Cathy’s Sister
More to follow.

Bay St Louis

We're staying at a park in Bay St. Louis, Miss, which is about 45-50 miles east of New Orleans. We drove over to New Orleans and spent the morning in the north end of town at City Park touring the botanical gardens and the Sculptors garden. We kind of raced through the Sculptors garden since there were about ten school bus's worth of kinds just running wild. The City Park covers the north central part of the city and has just about everything you can think of for the family from a kiddies park to a 18 hole golf course. It's a lot like Belle Isle in Detroit except that none of the buildings are boarded up and people use it.
Then we drove down to Jackson Barracks Museum, this is the military base for the Louisiana Air National Guard, this base has been active since before the Battle of New Orleans "In 1814 we took a little trip down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico"
Remember that song. If you do I'll bet your humming it the rest of the day.
This is one of the better Military Museums that we have ever been to. Then the best part of the day, "A Cheeseburger in Paradise" at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville.
So far we've spent two days dropping coins into the slots without any luck, going to give them one more chance later this week.
We drove through Kiln, Miss, known as "The Kil" by the locals and saw what we believe to be Brett Farves house, it was the only one that sat in the middle of 300 hundred cleared acres with security fences surrounding it.
We didn't have internet at Bay St Louis, so I just got this posted. We just got in and set up in Baton Rouge.

Through the Windshield

Spent a day at the Battleship Park in Downtown Mobile, they have a really nice War Memorial, The Battleship Alabama,a Submarine, a hanger with about 30 planes on display and alot more. We walked around the grounds and looked at the War Memorial part but there were about 6 bus loads of kids going into the ships so we decided to pass on it this time.
Thursday was a nice sunny day so we drove down to Dauphin Island and spent the day bicycling around the island. We saw some storm damage but not to much considering how far out in the gulf the island is. There are a lot of flowers blooming and it was the tail end of the bird migration back north, Dauphin Island is the last stop they make heading south and the first stop they make heading north. Cathy and I were here one year, at Fort Morgan, and it was at the time the Monarch Butterflys were gathering for their flight to Mexico. The bushes were just covered with them, there were so many that you could hardly see the bushes.
They seem to have trouble predicting the weather in the gulf area, they have predicted heavy storms just about every day for the last week and all we got was a little spinkle one night, not that I'm complaining mind you.
Tomorrow is moving day and we'll be heading to Bay St Louis, Miss. Which means we have to drive 90 miles tomorrow, better go to bed early tonight.
Almost forgot the Detroit TIGERS got SNOWED OUT today.

Mobile, Alabama

We’re in Mobile Alabama for a few weeks and have been busy just about every minute. We drove around the bay to Gulf Shores to see the hurricane damage, just about every business or bldg on the beach had extensive damage and it looks like most of them are going to have to be bulldozed. I would say that the construction along this area (Gulf Shores to Pensacola) is going to be so bad for the next couple of years I would avoid this area. They bulldozed the famous Flora-Bama Bar yesterday a very sad day for the wild party crowd.
We went to The Hank Aaron Stadium and saw a Mobile Baybears Baseball game, they lost in the ninth to the Chattanooga Lookouts. Then we went to the Dew Drop Inn, it was the diners cheeseburger that inspired Jimmy Buffet to write Cheeseburger in Paradise. We tried one and both of us agree that the cheeseburger at Margaritaville is ten times better. We went back again to try their world famous hot dogs and they really were great.
We found a little cemetery . The Church Street Grave Yard, never saw one before that said Grave Yard. This is one if not the oldest cemetery in Mobile and has some significant graves, including one of the founders of Madis Gras. Every year during Mardi Gras they have a mini festival in the grave yard and all the graves and monuments end up covered with beads.
The best thing for Cathy was we found a bookstore that is going out of business and all the books were 50 cents. We were there when they opened and took advantage of it, the motor home will probably only get about 3 MPG now that we added 1000 LBS of books to it.
We still have to go to Dauphin Island, Bellingrath Gardens, the genealogy center and the Expo Center to see the Dead Sea Scrolls (they’re on display until May 8th). Other then that will be heading to the Biloxi area for a couple of weeks.
Enjoy the Spring weather.

April 6th Duh!!!!!!!!!

For all of you out there that forgot our anniversary, don't worry about it.
So did we until about an hour ago.

Time Flies

Today we start our FIFTH year of Fulltiming.
That's
1460 Days
35040 Hours
2102400 Minutes &
12,614,400 Seconds
As the song sez "LOVE THE ONE YOU'RE WITH"

MOAB

Almost forgot to post this, this is MOAB (Mother OF All Bombs) It is the biggest most powerful non-nuclear bomb in the world. Cathy and I were camped here when then did the first air drop test of this bomb. We were about 30 miles away when it went off and the shock wave rocked the motorhome. Eglin AFB is 30 miles from here and is where the Air Force developes and test all its armament. They have nice FREE museum displaying stuff that you never heard of before, also outside they have approx. 35 aircraft including the BLACKBIRD.
We are now starting day 2 of our 48 hour THUNDERSTORM, Non stop rain for the last 36 hours. Florida the SUNSHINE STATE......NOT

The Blue Angels

We went over to Pensacola the other day to watch the Blue Angels practice. If you're ever in the area be sure to go see them, they practice on Tuesdays & Wednesdays. They practice right behind the Navel Air Museum on the base and they start at 8:30am, don't be late. If you go you have to enter the base from the WEST gate and plan on about a 30-40 minute delay getting in with all the traffic and the Vehicle Check point. Be sure to have your license, registration and insurance papers handy. It's really not bad, it's just that there are so many people going in at once. It might have been worst this time since it's Easter break.
They put on a 45 minute show with seven aircraft and they are right in your face, the runway is only about 50 yards away from the fence line. They do most of their stuff right in front of you or right over your head.
Be sure to take some type of EAR PROTECTION, especially for kids, we went to Walmarts and got the cheap orange foam ones for $1.49 and they worked great.
The top picture is right at the end of the show, sort of a final bow as they peal off to land. The picture at the bottom was taken from the Blue Angels web page, take a look at it they have some fantastic photos on it.
If you go on a Wednesday the pilots come to the Museum right after the practice to pose for pictures and sign autographs, but be prepared for a ton of people.
I you want to go see the Museum be sure to pick a day they DON'T practice. It opens at 9:00am and there might be about 20 people there with you, it's a great museum and plan on spending anywhere from 2-4 hours depending on your interest in this type of stuff. The Officers club is on the second floor and open to the public for lunch, good food and prices, (you have to see it even if you don;t eat there.
Well back to camp to sit out a few more rainy days.

The Blue Angels