Thank You For the Comments on The Random Thoughts Post

and a couple of additional thoughts.


Monday, July 6, 2020

I would like to start this post by thanking everyone who commented on our Random Thoughts Post here and on Facebook. Thank you for taking the time to not only read my words but comment on them. We read each of your comments and  I re-read them before writing this. I have not replied but I want you to know your words added to what I said and felt while writing it. Again, thank you for your comments each one, we feel, added to the post.

In the post I mentioned part of the reason I put it all down was to be able to look back and read how we were feeling during this particular time in our life and journey. Little did I realize at the time how quickly things would change yet again in our country.

Those last few days before leaving were spent getting ready to leave and working on a more exact route with several choices for where to stop and spend each night. Something we had very seldom done in the past. I probably have mentioned more then once, we are pretty much fly by the seat of our pants travelers as we live our Retirement Dream. We pretty much always have a final destination in mind but how long and how we get there has never been part of the journey. We let how we feel about a place dictate how long we stay or if we even stay. That is not to say we do not make plans to meet and spend time with friends along the way because that is an important part of this journey something we would never want to change in any way.  The thing is with the coronavirus spreading in our country for the first time we wanted to know where we would be stopping and with the advantage of not needing RV Parks we wanted it to be places we could just pull into shut off the engine and spend the night.

That all being said we were a couple of days into our trip before we fully realized exactly what had happened in our country. We had read about Minneapolis and the awful killing of a man by the police but we had not realized how much of our country was now being targeted during the day with peaceful protesting that turned into rioting and looting at night all in the name of  his death. To see pictures of buildings burning in the city of Minneapolis and other large cities and reading that at times the police were told to stand down was mind boggling. Plus, reading of a movement to defund  police departments or even possibly close them down was unbelievable. To say crossing the Menominee River into a place that is many times left off the map of the United States of America was a relief is an understatement. With all the information in the news are thoughts turned to our kids and grandkids downstate  and their proximity to Detroit. Plus, we could see the Coronavirus numbers still going up. To say we are worried about what is happening with the rioting would not even begin to describe how reading about all of what is going on makes us feel. The word "angry" does come to mind though. The other word that comes to mind is "sad" . I questioned in that post when would enough be enough and that same question keeps circling in my thoughts. I am going to end this subject here for now. You may hear about it again in this blog because Tom and I do have strong feelings about what is going on. For now Tom and I have talked about it and praying for our family, friends, and our country will be part of our days.



Today after spending six nights at the Fairgrounds in Escanaba we pulled in the slides, hooked up the Jeep (Would it not be nice if it was as easy as that?) and headed downstate. It was actually almost
3 o'clock when we left this afternoon we had a few things to take care of before leaving and our destination for tonight was about a four hour drive so we knew we would get here before dark. We are parked in the Walmart Parking lot in Gaylord, MI and it looks like it will be a quite night. So far we  are the only ones here. Tomorrow will be close to a 7 hour day but then Wednesday we will just have about a thirty minute drive to our destination an RV Park about 60 minutes from our Son, Daughter-in-law and four of our grandkids. If it was not for those six people we would not have ventured down this way and we are so looking forward to spending this time with them.

I did not take many pictures today and once we crossed the Mackinac Bridge I did not take any at all. Below are a couple I took when we were riding right along the lake and then as we started across the bridge.

There was a definite haze over the lake today.

We could see people out on the beach and in the water enjoying
the day as we drove by. 

Then after paying the tow we headed across the bridge.

After crossing the bridge we only had about 60 miles to go before we pulled in for the night.  It was a pleasant ride today though it was very warm. No construction zones to contend with and not a lot of traffic so that was a nice surprise.


Tuesday, July 7, 2020

After spending the night at the Walmart in Gaylord, MI we pulled out under sunny skies and the cloud above opened up as we turned onto the road and continued as we merged onto I-75. We could see blue skies off in the west and about 2 miles south the road was dry and the sun was again with us.

The decision to avoid large cities on our way down to see our children meant some of today's route took us through parts of Michigan we had never seen before. Doing this makes for a longer ride yet at the same time less stressful. The next two collages are from the ride. One thing we have found as we travel this beautiful country we call home is  "small town America" along the back roads is pretty much the same. 

One thing we see a lot of in Michigan is trees we do not lack
for trees in this state.  

One common thread we find in small towns, that does not mean
we do not see it in larger cities, is a pride in their town and country.

Below are a couple of pictures I took this past Saturday Night, July 3rd. We are parked next to the race track at the Fairgrounds, this is were the full hook ups are, and on race night it can get quite noisy. Tom does like to climb up on top of the Stinger "B" to watch and he said except for one corner can pretty much see the whole race. My dad used to love going to the races. Partly I am sure because over the years several of his nephews raced. I do remember going more then once with him to watch the races. Tom and I went one time, as I recall, when we were dating, nothing says a romantic evening out like the roar of engines while sitting in the stands with dust blowing up at you...lol

It almost looks like the lights are illuminating the moon.

 

Standing in our doorway I could just see the top of the cars
as they came around the corner for the last race of the evening.

We will be busy the next couple of weeks hugging grandchildren so if you do not hear from us that will be the reason.

In the mean time our hope and prayer is that each of you and those you care about and love stay safe and healthy.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness;

 only light can do that. 

Hate cannot drive out hate; 

only love can do that.

                                                      ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

We are glad you stopped by!

If you have time to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.