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Friday, April 22, 2022

Back in Michigan and Going Back in Time


We are Back in Michigan!

We went by this sign around 2:50 PM on Wednesday.


Going back in time to explain how we traveled from a rest area just west of Lebanon, MO. to here.

Thursday, April 14, 2022

This rest area was our planned stop for Wednesday, April 13th, then when the predicted weather for here and ahead turned bad it became our home for another night. On the road this morning under blue skies but with some wind. 

Upper left travel trailer stayed two nights, also.



We are headed east.
Lebanon has a lovely water tower with a bee on it.
Unfortunately, a spot on our windshield is covering it. 

Patsy, Chillin' with Patsy, takes pictures of special water towers
I think she has got me hooked...😉

There he is again! 
We have stopped for diesel and there in front of us is the Hurricane
truck. He has passed us everyday this past week.
Maybe there is more then one..
.😃

Bourbon, MO could not pass this water tower without a picture.

Passing by St. Clair, MO
Just off of I-44, behind the Von Weise Gear Company and the
St. Clair Die Cast Factory, are two water towers.
One has "HOT" painted in red letters,
and the other has "COLD" in blue lettering.

Eastern Red Bud and White Fringetree




I see a face. Do you? 
Hint: center of picture.




The Gateway Arch in the distance.



One last picture.

Then we went across the Mississippi and are 
officially back in the East.


We have left I-44 and are now on I-70.

We are definitely in the Midwest.

The cross was in Illinois and the flag was in Missouri somehow
they just seemed to go together. I did not see the semi with the
flag on it's trailer until I was going through the pictures.
What a nice surprise.

We ended today's ride in Effingham, IL at the Walmart in the truck parking area. I had called ahead and was told as long as it was for one night we could park there. The sign said different when Tom checked they said two hours. So I called the Flying J just down the road where we had dumped and topped off the diesel and she said no problem. So that is were we spent a quiet night on the opposite side of where the semi's park.


Friday, April 15, 2022

Leaving the Flying J in Effingham, IL we continue our trek East.



I was waiting for the Indiana Welcome sign; had already taken
the Welcome Center sign because by this point I though I had
missed it. Then there it was and by the time I focused what 
I got is in the upper right. 


Dogwoods in Indiana

Bottom left a perfect patch of green surrounding the home.

The one constant as we travel this country are these wonderful trucks delivering what we all need to survive. Today, I decided to take some pictures of some of them doing just that.


Second from the right on the bottom, there is the Hurricane
guy going West. I guessed we would not see him anymore 
and we did not..😞.



It is amazing just how many trucks there are moving goods of all kinds in this country. I also spotted Canadian ones and trucks that mentioned Mexico.  We are grateful for each and everyone of the drivers that drive these trucks to keep us supplied. Thank You!

After going around Indianapolis our route continued north on US-31. We ended our night in a parking lot of what used to be a Kmart in Plymouth, Indiana.


Saturday, April 16, 2022 

Today's ride would be a short one only about 20 miles to the Pla-Mor Campground in Bremen, IN. Today is their opening day of the season and we will spend Easter Weekend here.


We are now on US-6 heading East.


Somedays as the saying goes, are just like that. Today was not one of our best. We started by going down the wrong road for our site. Then the only way to turn back was to go through another site.  As you can see in the pictures below, making the turn out of that site to the road the back tires of the Stinger "B" ended up in soft grass and sunk into the mud. What is not in the picture is the Jeep still attached to the motorhome at a 90 degree angle. There was no way to back up or straighten the Jeep. Yes, it was a "fun" time for Tom but he managed to get the Jeep unhooked using a vice grip, then a hammer and screw driver, plus the help of  the owner of the campground. After that was accomplished the owner was able to tow the Stinger "B" back on solid ground and that is were we stayed for our two nights...lol. All is well that ends well as the saying goes. Plus, amazingly our locking bolts still worked after this "fun".  

Tom talking with the gentleman from
the motorhome a couple sites down from us. 

Middle picture the Stinger "B" is back on solid ground.
The owner filling in the mess we made.

After this I went and picked up a few groceries and lunch, while I was shopping I questioned why I was so hungry. It then dawned on me we had planned on eating when we got to the campground and it was now 3 o'clock and that had not happened. While I did this Tom got us set up for our stay. Just a small bump in the road and meeting people willing to help for just a thank you.

Easter Sunday,  April 17, 2022

Today started for us with Mass at St. Dominic Catholic Church in Bremen, Indiana.

Top picture: the altar is all decorated for Easter.
Bottom left: the Paschal Candle a new one is lit every year
at the Easter Vigil and then used during the Easter Season.
It is then used throughout the year for special occasions
such as baptisms and funeral.
Bottom right:  what is right of the altar.
Bottom middle: sign in front of church.

Bottom picture is the Historic Bremen Depot.

Where we decided to go for an Easter Buffet. They do not take
reservations. All I will say is they should. We waited two hours,
after a certain amount of time it does not make sense to leave.
In the end the the food was okay but not in anyway worth
the wait. Plus, they could not keep up suppling the buffet.  

The upper left is the restaurant. It looks like they have a couple
of shops and buildings to tour. Nothing was open today.
Plus, they do put on plays here.

After the buffet we took a short ride around Nappanee.

These out door sculptures are called "Love is in the Air".

They are done by various artist and can be found at the 
corner of Main Street and Market Street.


Other art displays we saw today.
I just really liked the sign for their parking areas.

Our home for Easter Weekend.
If we would have taken the right road,
top picture, would have been our view.
This campground is mostly seasonal and they do have a pool.



Monday, April 18, 2022

This is what we opened the curtains to this lovely Monday morning. Nothing funny about this at all. Now granted we only had to go about 6 miles down the road to Wood Design RV Interiors, they will be installing new valances in our front living area tomorrow, and yes it did melt still not funny. 



I am going to end here for now. Enough pictures for one blog. I will finish our ride to Michigan in the next blog. 

Still feeling blessed to be Living our Retirement Dream.








We are glad you stopped by!
If you have time to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.

21 comments:

  1. I so prefer NOT getting stuck!! Looks like you handled it well. I’m always amazed at the beautiful churches you find. As for that lunch wait? Think I would have left after 30 minutes!! Lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We would have preferred not getting stuck, also...lol
      I agree about 30 minutes was a long enough wait and after an hour I was really ready to leave. It became a quest for Tom...🙄

      Delete
  2. Loved the truckers pictures and of course all your pics!! Have to get together this summer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Lynette. It would be really nice to see you and Ken. We will have to make a plan.

      Delete
  3. I see my comment said unknown. lol It's Lynette.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you for acknowledging the trucking industry. You even got some tankers in there. Beautiful scenery....beautiful church. Elva

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are welcome, Elva. We really do appreciate all the truck drivers out there.

      Delete
  5. I love your trucking picture collage! That looked like a beautiful church to celebrate Easter mass at.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a lovely church to celebrate Easter at and the young pastor was a joy to have saying Mass. That parish is lucky to have him.

      Delete
  6. Love the trucks. In these later years seems like the amount of trucks on the road has really increased. Always amazed at the amount of trucks in those truck rest areas. My husband worked for an International Truck dealer for over thirty years. He ran the body shop. We are always on the lookout for Lone Star Tractors when we are of the road. It is really a neat truck that has the old type grill. Glad they unstuck you. You have to be up to the challenge of driving such a big vehicle. Safe travels.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now I am going to on the lookout for those Lone Star Tractors, also. It felt really good to see the motorhome back up on solid ground.

      Delete
  7. Welcome back to the the north, hopefully things go smoothly from now on. I always enjoy your photos and commentary as to what you see, think, and feel with regards to those photos, you make me think about and appreciate life from a different view. Thank you! Warmer weather ahead hopefully but possibly not if the guessers have it right. Welcome to the north. Lol

    Deb

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Like you, I always enjoy reading what others take pictures of and write for the same reason; it makes me look at things from a different point of view and that keeps life interesting. We will be in the UP the first week of May, which puts us about even with you north wise, and I hope it is warmer.

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  8. Love the picture of the sister water towers. Also the quote at the end, we are dealing with a couple of puddles right now, that are not nice but could be worse.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I could not believe I not only saw this water towers but then got the picture...😊 Fingers crossed your puddles dry up sooner then later.

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  9. Great pictures, Deb. They are beautiful.
    Love the towers as you know and Lebanon has one of the best. 💗
    I also like your truck 'convoys'.
    Getting stuck seems to be something we all have doneand it's never fun. Glad it worked out for you, looks like a nice park.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We were hoping to not join the, we got stuck group...lol but we were very lucky. I wish I had gotten a better picture of Lebanon's water tower. It is a nice park we have stayed there twice and would again. It is mostly seasonal people and lots of families.

      Delete
  10. Gorgeous pictures! I love seeing the crosses, flags and water towers across America! Gotta love the silos too :) You did have a nice place to be stuck at, and smart to stay put! Glad you're home again and can get this grandkids hugs!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Shirley. I love seeing all the same things. We are enjoying the grandkids hugs...🥰

      Delete
  11. Trucks are picking up the slack of what Railroads used to deliver.
    Getting stuck is never fun. Luckily the Owner helped you out and nothing was damaged.
    Cute looking area.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We did feel lucky that there was not any damage.
      Whatever the reason, and I do believe you are right, there definitely are more trucks on the highways.

      Delete