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!

We Moved in the Rain, Parked in the Rain, and Left Under Grey Skies That Turned to Rain

Presently we are parked for the night at a Walmart in Gaylord, Michigan. Below is a catch up post from the three days we stayed at the Covenant Hills Camp and Retreat Park.

Monday, April 29, 2019

Today we got up and had our coffee and breakfast before slowly preparing to leave. Check out at this State Park is 1 o'clock and since we were only moving 135 miles  we were in no real hurry.  Though in hindsight we should been a little quicker because by the time Tom went out to unplug the electricity it was raining. Which means he had to dump and we hooked up the Jeep in the cold and rain.

Traveling down a couple of back roads in the rain making our way to I-69. 

Merging onto I-69 there looked like a break in the clouds.
But as you can see the rain never let up.
The first Bronner's sign we have seen since crossing back into Michigan.

Going through Otisville, MI then turning down the road to the park.
On the bottom left is a picture of the road
and  it is a muddy mess but luckily hard packed underneath.
Bottom right, our first look at the park while we waited for a return call
to let us know where to park.

The main road in the park itself is paved but the side roads to the sites were again muddy but hard packed. The site we pulled into, she told Tom on the phone to pick one and stop in the morning to pay,  had some gravel surrounded by grass and mud. Though the site it is hard packed enough that we did not sink. The Jeep and the Stinger "B" do have a touch of mud on them from the trip.

That was our day. We made it here after a couple of hours of Tom driving in the rain and we got
settled in, in the rain. Then we came inside and turned on our Blue Flame heater and our electric heater to warm it up. Plus, we cycled the furnace once to take care of some of the dampness.

It was a wet, cold, rainy day but we made it to our destination safely. We are warm and dry inside our home so all and all it was a good day. Certainly not a perfect day but a good one.



Tuesday, April 30, 2019 (Today was a day I would guess many would describe as boring but for us it was a perfect day.)

It rained most of the night. Opening the shades this morning the rain had stopped but all we could see was grey sky. Tom made coffee and by the time I put my feet on the floor he was drinking his first cup. After having my first cup I put a load of wash in and then enjoyed a second cup. After his coffee Tom went up to the office to settle our bill for what will be a three day stay at this park. After which he continued back down the very muddy road to a grocery store in Otisville to pick up a few things.

This is a pretty good size RV Park. (This paragraph is brief description of the park we are at. If you are not interested just skip ahead.) There is a small playground across the way, one of two, and it looks like there are several rigs that are parked here all the time or at least for the season. They are open for camping April 1st through November 1st. According to their brochure they are open year round for retreats, youth camps, team building, weddings, reunions, etc...  Plus, they have a couple of day camps for 1st through 8th graders in July. There are 321 campsites with full hookup (55 which are 70ft pull throughs and we are in one of those), 12 rustic tent sites, and cabins.There really is a lot to do here and I have included a few of the things listed in the brochure. The have a zip-line, climbing wall, climbing tower, game room, volley ball, and horseshoe pits to name a few and there is a small lake for fishing and swimming. You can also rent canoes, kayaks and paddle boats to use on the lake. There is a hiking trail and an archery range. With the weather the way it is, cold and rainy, I doubt if we will be exploring this park. In the information we were given at registration it states this is an Alcohol and Drug Free Campground and if anyone is caught using them they will be asked to leave. They have a Mission Statement: Covenant Hills Camp & Retreat exists to impact lives for Christ, provide hope and renewal, and create lifetime memories. We are sure this is a wonderful place to come and experience family camping, they have fire pits and picnic tables at each site though some could use some work or replacing, there certainly is not a lack of things to do. While we respect what they stand for we do not think we would totally fit in here all the time. For our purposes these few day even with the rain it is the perfect place for us. We are here to basically get the wash caught up and relax. Translation we are here to not do much of  anything and with our Passport America membership the cost is $19 a day Sunday through Thursday nights so the price is right.

What we did today other then what I mentioned above was pretty much nothing.  Well I did talk to our daughter and daughter-in-law on the phone. Tom did bills always a fun time. Also, I went through pictures to catch up the blog.

It rained on and off all day and it is not the warmest weather but we are warm and dry inside. Plus, so far the leak we had upfront has not reappeared. Fingers crossed it stays away until we have some dry and warmer days so Tom can get the roof resealed. This would be classified as a good day.


Wednesday, May 1, 2019

It is May, the rain is still coming down, and as I write this the temperature is 48 degrees. It is warm inside the Stinger "B" but lets face it has been raining and grey since Monday and it is a little depressing.

As I am writing this, this morning enjoying my coffee that Tom very nicely provided all nice and hot in my mug. I clicked publish on a catch up blog and happily it did just that, finally.  Now I am going to try checking out what our friends have been up to and share with Tom as we enjoy our coffee.

We drove over to the Birch Run Outlet Mall this afternoon to do some shopping and ended up getting a new set of dishes. I really like the dishes we have been using but they are a little to large for our space. Plus not being able to use them in the microwave has been inconvenient. The new ones are Corelle, a brand  which I like, and will be more practical for in here. That is my story and I am sticking to it...lol Bonus they were on sale.

After shopping we enjoyed a nice dinner at a place called Bagger Daves. We both had hamburgers which we agreed were very good. The service was excellent and we would go back again.

It is now Thursday morning and as I finish writing this we are both enjoying our coffee but it is again a very grey day. I have one last batch of wash going before we finish getting ready to leave.

One last thing about this park, the internet service is not great.  Our hotspot is sketchy and comes and goes. Downloading pictures was a slow process. They do mention free wireless internet and we did get  the password in the packet but there is no way to access it where are parked. This being said, we would stop here again coming and going in either the spring or fall. Not sure about the summer but never say never. While we were here it was very quite and if the sun would have been out it would have been nice to sit out.

So glad you took the time to visit!

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

Hope you are enjoying a perfect day. 

Back in Escanaba and Plans Change

                            (Clicking on the picture will open it larger in a new window.)

September 28, 2017


We arrived back home Monday night around 9:30PM and amazingly it was still around 71 degrees. It is always wonderful to spend time downstate with our son and his family. I do not think we even get 5 miles down the road and we are missing them all. Knowing we probably will not see them again before May makes it even harder to leave. Our grandchildren change so much between visits. The nice thing about today's technology is we are able to video chat with them. Not as good as being with them in person but still great to see all their sweet faces in real time.


Sunday, September 24, 2017

Waiting somewhat patiently, out on the porch at Cracker Barrel,
for our table. Thomas trying to explain checkers to our 
grandsons. While Nadine entertains our granddaughter. 

The food has been ordered and chocolate milk makes the
wait somewhat easier.

Monday, September 25, 2017

We decided to check out a new RV park near Algonac, MI before heading home. This slight detour  put us on some back roads as we headed north.

Mostly traffic free back roads as we cut across to I-69

We are on I-69 and there is some Fall color starting.

Turning off and heading north towards Frankenmuth, MI

Just got a quick shot of the RV park we usually stay at when
we are in Frankenmuth. No RV this time just the Jeep.

The reason we are stopping is so we can buy Christmas
Ornaments at Bronner's. Honestly, if you are looking for a
Christmas decoration and they do not have it I would wonder
if it even exist. They cover the other seasons as well. I love driving
through the grounds, especially in the winter, they have everything
decorated year round and there are lights galore.

Frankenmuth itself is a tourist destination. There are a shops, restaurants, wine tastings, brewery, a water park, several nice hotels etc... We have stayed here more then once over the years and it seems like more and more things have been added. It is fun to browse and walk around but like most tourist destinations it is an expensive place to visit. These days Bronner's is usually the only place we stop and it is about ornaments and having them personalized. (Side note: just a few miles down the road on I-75 is Birch Run's Outlet Mall which has been a stop for us more then once.)

Continuing north on I-75 we were seeing some red's and gold's but we thought there would be more color on our way home. Sadly the amount seemed about the same as on the way down. Maybe with the unseasonably warm weather the trees could not decide what to do. It was in the 80's until the sun started to go down.

The road ahead.

Lovely clouds today.

Darrow's Family Restaurant in Mackinaw City.
This is our favorite place to stop to eat. We have never
had a bad meal or service here.
Just to be honest, the main reason for this stop is the pie.
Delicious homemade pie. 

  

We cross the Mackinac Bridge and are back in the UP.
Looking down tonight as we started across there were
people swimming in Lake Huron. 

Looking over the railing across Lake Huron we can
see Mackinac Island in the distance.

We are now on US-2 going west and the sun is setting so you will be spared several pictures of the lake and trees as we travel.

I did take several pictures of the sun setting and had a hard time deciding on which ones not to share so I am afraid what follows is most of them. The first two we did make a stop to take. The rest I caught while we were moving. Tom thought it would be nice if we got home before midnight.

September 26, 2017

Today is Tom's Birthday. He turned 70 and we both agree we do not know how that happened. It seems like just yesterday he was walking me home after a school dance and saying goodnight at the door around the corner past the burning bush in this picture. Time sure does go by quickly.

Our burning bush, that my mother planted quiet a few years
ago, is turning a beautiful red.
(We bought this house from my parents in 1994.)

Now to explain why the title of this post includes the words "Plans Change". People who RV often say plans are written in jello and for us evidently the planned escape date of October 11th was written in just that. Tom unfortunately found out a couple of weeks ago he has a hernia. The earliest he could see a surgeon was on September 26th, Happy Birthday Tom, and after seeing the surgeon he found out the earliest date open for the surgery is October 16th. Though he is on the list if something opens up sooner. So prayers and fingers crossed that, that happens especially since he is not enjoying the pain involved in the wait. The doctor told him if everything goes well, and we expect it will, as long as he does not lift anything we can be on the road within a couple of days following the surgery . I am insisting we wait at least a week maybe even a little longer. So the new date of escape is now October 26th. (A request: if you are reading this and you believe in the power of prayer, we do, please say one that everything goes as planned with Tom's surgery.)

The good news is that the Stinger B is ready to go. (She did not get totally waxed like we wanted but Tom can do that down the road when he feels up to it.) Before this happened we had purged, cleaned out the inside, and cleaned out along with rearranging the basement. Tom had already took her to have the oil changed and whatever else had to be done to head out this year. All that is left to do, before we back out for this years adventure, is put back in our personal belongings and food. Both of which I have been slowly doing and can finish so he does not lift anything.

Even though we had hoped to be on the road somewhat earlier this year, if everything goes as planned we will leave Michigan six days earlier then last year, so it is all good...

We are glad you took the time to read our blog today. 

Comments are always enjoyed and welcomed.