Happy 4th of July!

 Saturday, July 4, 2026

To All Our Family and Friends,

We Are In Michigan

 

Saturday, April 18, 2026 

As I start writing this morning I can hear the rain on the roof. You know that pitter/patter which sounds relaxing at first and then becomes the question of the day, when will it stop? We have been here four days and that question is about to be askes...lol Not to mention we are parked on grass and the ground is not as solid as we would like. So far no puddles are accumulating next to us so we are keeping our fingers crossed that today will be the last day of the rain. The weather guessers are saying tomorrow will be partly sunny and then we will have four days of sun. Again fingers crossed that they are right.

Presently we are parked at the Wayne County Fairgrounds and this is where we need to be for the foreseeable future. I would like to take a moment to thank each of you for your prayers. They are very much appreciated. I know I have not shared why we needed to be here or why we needed the prayers and I cannot do so. It is not my story to share. I can say it is about what is happening in our family and we would appreciate continued prayers.

The rest of the journey that brought us to where we are in Michigan:

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Only one goose in the pond this morning as we pulled out.
Making our way to I-69 we went by a field of solar panels.
The middle picture is filled with wishes.
Redbud trees are in bloom and dark skies ahead.

D

Mostly dark skies ahead though once and awhile it seemed to
 brighten up. The middle picture was the sun shining on a field.

Then the  rain came down. 

We have crossed into Michigan.

We drove out of the rain shortly before we crossed into Michigan.

Stopped at the Michigan Welcome Center

As we parked looking out the ground in front of us was filled with
Dandelions looking like little yellow spots of sunshine. 

As we traveled north the leaves on the tree are just starting to bud.

We have turned east on I-94.
With about 80 miles to go we are almost at our destination.

I thought this red barn was worth a picture. Then at the last 
second as we went by I saw and clicked the picture of the flag.

As we came into Ann Arbor we joined the traffic and we
would be in it for the last 18 miles or so to our exit.

Where we will be calling home for now.

This ends our 12th Adventure for 2025/2026. It certainly ended up being a different adventure for us this year. When we left Michigan last fall we never expected to return in a new to us motorhome. This past winter we spent more time parked in a RV Park then out in the desert and that was different for us. It was a good winter spent with friends and we look forward with hope to many more to come. 

These next months will be a time to spend with our children and grandchildren who live in this area. The plan also includes moving up to the Upper Peninsula for a short time, specifically Escanaba, where we are from. We need to off load some of the stuff we have in here that we do not have room for. More importantly we look forward to spending time with our family and friends that live up there and in Wisconsin. Then we will head back down here to spend more time with our children and grandchildren before heading to a warmer climate for the winter months. At least right now that is our hope and we are praying it all falls into place. Tom and I believe in the power of prayer and trust that God has a plan. We hope all of you reading this have a wonderful week filled with sunshine and time spent with those you love. 

If you have enjoyed the pictures I have put out there 

or the words I have added that makes me smile. 

If you have time to leave a comment they are always special to read. 

No matter what I am glad you stopped by!

The Journey Continues (Catching the Blog up to Where We Are)

Our stop for Monday night, April 13th, was in the large rig/overflow parking area at the Harrah's Hoosier Park Casino Racetrack.

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

As we were getting ready to leave in the morning for the last leg of our trip to Michigan we could hear the wind howling and the sky was a dark grey. By the time we were ready to pull out the wind was still blowing but the sky had turned to some blue with grey scattered clouds. Under normal circumstances we might be tempted to "hunker" down until the weather looked better. These are not normal circumstances so we will be pulling out shortly. We know better than to take chances so we will see what today brings. What the day brought will be in the next blog.

Monday, April 13, 2026

We were up and moving before the sun this morning. We pulled out of Lambert's Cafe RV Park just before 8:30AM. The trek today will take us out of Missouri, across the Mississippi River into the East, we will go across Illinois and into Indiana, and that is where we will spend the night.

On last picture of Lambert's as we pull out of their parking lot.

We are on our way.

Crossing the Mississippi River and we are officially back in the East!

Not sure what all the golden yellow is  but it was pretty.
We are in Illinois.

The scenery is still a lovely green.

What a pretty overpass.

A rest area filled with wishes.

The sign should also say but not here.
Unless there is a different rule for truckers
which if there is great. Illinois only allows 
3 hours the last time I checked.

I do not know what kind of tree this is, I just liked it.

A few of the farmers we passed today out getting their fields ready.

Those are VW Vans in the top picture.
The two bottom ones just struck me as cute as they went buy.

I lost count of how many times we saw this sign today.

Indiana Welcome Center
This is new since the last time we came this way.

Then we were on the I-465 North bypass around Indianapolis.
We have taken this before but not past the exit for US-31 which
would take us up towards Elkhart, IN.
Looking at the google map this had the least amount of red areas,
slow downs, of the three ways we could go.

We were in lots of traffic but we pretty much kept moving until
we were almost to our exit for I-69. 
Looking back both Tom and I remember two, ten minute slow downs.

The Nestle Quick Bunny. He had to be included in this blog.

Harrah's Hoosier Park Casino Racetrack Overflow Parking.
Two ducks and two geese in the pond next to our spot.

Kim and Ken and Patsy and Bill have both mentioned stopping here for the night going west and coming back east. Plus, their pictures made it look like a perfect stop for the night so we decided to follow their lead and pull in. It was perfect and quiet just what we needed. We can definitely see ourselves stopping here again if we come this way. Nest time we hope to take a walk over to the casino for dinner. This trip back to Michigan has been a tiring one and we were just to tired to even think about going into the restaurant. As I recall we both just had some leftovers for dinner.

Tomorrow, April 14th, we will end our day at the Wayne County Fairgrounds and it will feel good to finally be where we presently need to be. 

Autism Awareness Month is an annual observance held throughout April, dedicated to increasing understanding, acceptance, and support for autistic people. Originally established as a period to raise public awareness of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the month has evolved significantly over the past decade. The Autism Society of America, which coordinates the largest national campaign in the United States, officially rebranded the observance as Autism Acceptance Month in 2021. The shift reflects a broader movement within the autistic community that emphasizes acceptance and belonging rather than awareness alone.

If you have enjoyed the pictures I have put out there 

or the words I have added that makes me smile. 

If you have time to leave a comment they are always special to read. 

No matter what I am glad you stopped by!

 

Two More Days Heading East and North

Monday, April 13, 2026

We left Lamberts RV Park at 8:20AM this morning and crossed the Mississippi River at 8:55AM we are officially in the East. The goal today is to be parked somewhere in Indiana for the night. 

Saturday, April 11, 2026

As we went over the Arkansas River leaving Saturday morning
I looked back and was able to capture this picture.

The United States Marshals Museum (USMM) opened in Fort Smith, Arkansas, on July 1, 2023. The star-shaped, iconic structure is in a scene setting along the Arkansas River, where many deputies in the Old West crossed and forded. The wide-ranging exhibits are divided into educational sections: “A Changing Nation,” “Frontier Marshals,” “To Be A Marshal,” and “Modern Marshals.” Mix of traditional exhibits and interactive technology smoothly flow throughout the experience. The themes all flow from a central hub, “The Campfire,” which features four different time-themed deputies telling their accounts of service. The finished 53,000 square-foot museum also contains temporary exhibit space, an atrium, café, gift shop, and offices. Further plans for an educational and archival center are underway.

This is a Harvest Host stop and it was one we planned before our timeline for getting back to Michigan changed. We still stopped and when Tom went in to make sure we were parked in the right place. The woman at the desk explained we were to late to really visit the museum when we arrived. Tom explained that we just needed a place to park overnight and unfortunately do to a family emergency we would not be coming in to tour the museum itself. She graciously said she understood and not to worry about it. Honestly this was a stop we were looking forward to and hope to come back in the future.

Our spot for the night and a view of the Museum in the morning
as the sun was rising. 

We were on the road and heading east before 9 o'clock. 

We were back in Oklahoma for a few miles then somewhere 
along this back road we were on "Hazel" said, or maybe you
 know her as Google Maps, Welcome to Arkansas. 
There was no sign.

For quite a few miles we saw these lovely pink wildflowers
and I have not idea what they are.

Just some views as we move along.

We left I-40 behind for this adventure in Conway, Arkansas.

I do not take a lot of water tower pictures but these 
where both worth capturing.

We are not sure when we made the wrong turn and the one thing 
we were surprised about was how green El Paso was....lol
 We had not turned wrong we were not in Texas it was
El Paso, Arkansas

Traveling under fluffy white clouds.

We passed by several farmer's fields today.

There were also quite of few of these Grain Bins or they
could be called Grain Silos along the side of fields.

I just like this tree.

We ended the days journey in the Walmart parking lot in Paragould, Arkansas. The two question I have are: First, is there not a shop in Paragould that sells and installs car mufflers? Second, is the Walmart in Paragould a racetrack? I ask these questions because until around 10 o'clock the noise outside our door was loud and my answer the first question would be no and the answer to the second one would be yes. Luckily around 11'clock everything pretty much quieted down. So we were able to get a good nights sleep.

Sunday, April 12, 2026

This morning we took our time leaving Walmart. After talking it over we made the decision to stop at Lambert's Cafe and spend the night in their RV Park. That meant today would be a short day of only about 102 miles. As you know, if you read our last blog, we are in making miles mode. Our decision was based on needing a slow down day and Tom feeling he could do a very long day on Monday. The decision is made and the hope is we do not have to come up with a Plan B.

Three water towers in one blog...😊

I missed getting a picture of the sign but I think this was
the St. Francis River.

It was almost 1 o'clock when we crossed into Missouri.

Just like yesterday we are seeing lots of farmer's fields

and Grain Bins.

This guy was just hanging out by himself out in the field.

I could see the dust and knew there was a tractor in there. Then
it popped out of the dust at the last minute as we were passing.

Parked at Lambert's for the night.

We pulled in, paid, and got organized to spend the night. I even put in a batch of wash. Around 5:30 we walked over to get some of those "throwed rolls".

I had the roast beef dinner and Tom enjoyed the chicken and dumplings.

Dinner was good and I will be having the other half of my meal again today minus the roll. Those rolls by the way come hot and are very good. We spent a quiet evening and night in our home. Glad we made the decision to slow down for the day.

These last two travel days have been uneventful and that is just the way we like them. Hoping for two more just like them.

One last thing, thank you for your prayers and if you could keep them coming we would appreciate it.

If you have enjoyed the pictures I have put out there 

or the words I have added that makes me smile. 

If you have time to leave a comment they are always special to read. 

No matter what I am glad you stopped by!