The Moon, Blue Skies , and White Fluffy Clouds Floating By Much Like Our Days

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Below is a random collection of pictures I have been taking, since our last post, as we sit outside. We are surrounded by tall trees here so we really do not see the sun setting. Though as we sit out we can see hints of light through the very tall pine trees across from us as it makes it way down. These pictures are mostly for our memory book of this place.

It is hard to believe it is now May and we are still here. In some ways it is frustrating yet in others it has become to feel like home.  There is highway noise but it has become something that just is so we find it quiet and peaceful. On one side of us is a 5th wheel that was here when we pulled in and I am guessing will still be here when we leave. They look like a young couple and are not here a lot.  On our door side the traffic is steady very few people that pull in stay more then one or two nights and if we happen to be outside when they pull in or go to take their dog for a walk they will stop and chat for a bit. Most like us are retired and are either heading north or south and home. We did have one guy stop and knock on our door this past week. He saw the stickers on our Jeep so he stopped to see if we were fellow Yoopers. He was traveling back up to Marquette which is about 60 miles north of where we are from with his 80+ year old uncle and they would be parking in his Uncle's driveway when they get there.

Since, my last post we did get a very generous offer of a place to park on land some friends own but still the issue would be dumping our tanks. It is looking promising that we will be back in Michigan either the end of this month or the beginning of June. The day after I wrote the last blog I thought enough is enough I am going to look at all the positives in our life right now and stop dwelling on what we cannot change.. I mean seriously we are living our retirement dream, we are in fairly good health, our children and grandchildren are safe and healthy, our extended family is doing well, and from what we hear from our friends they are all fine. We are in our home parked in a nice park with full hookups.

The first five pictures I took yesterday. I noticed the full moon had peaked out from the trees and so I put my zoom lens on to capture it. What I did not do is take my tripod out to steady the camera so if you enlarge it you may see some blur.

Full Flower Moon

The last of the sun peaking through the trees across from us.

It is not the same as watching the shadows and sunlight dance
across the mountains when we sit out in the desert. 

Though it is beautiful to watch the light dance through the
trees as the sun makes it way down at the end of the day.

As the sun sets even though we cannot see it setting we do
witness it lighting up the trees all around us.

The dandelions here are mostly wishes now and as we sit
outside the wishes float by.

One perfect wishing dandelion.
Health and happiness to our family and friends.

One last dot of light in the center of the picture as the
sun makes its way down for the day.

It looked like the sun was framing the trees in light.

The owner stopped by and I asked him what kind of tree this is
and he said some sort of Oak. I believe it is as green as it is
going to get. It has a lot of branches with no leaves on them. 
So know that makes me wonder how old it is.  

Our days seem to float by as we now plan for out trip back to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It has not been unpleasant being here at all. I am even, sort of, getting used to the very slow or in reality lack of water pressure. Just part of the fun of living in an RV in a park. In fact we hope to come back another time in the future and stay again at this park and explore the area.

We are glad you stopped by!

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

What To Do Next?

Friday, April 24, 2020

These last weeks starting with March 13, 2020 when we crossed into Mississippi at Vicksburg on our trek East and the Ocean have been days and weeks filled with talk about what to do next. The fact that the spread of the coronavirus had led to the President declaring a National Emergency and the seriousness of it was just starting to sink in back then. The first decision was the hardest one and it was to not continue east where we would spend time with friends but to turn north. The last decision was to stay in place in Corinth, Mississippi for at least the month of April which is quickly coming to a close and it is now time to decide and answer the question, what to do next.

We both know what we want to do and that is go back to Michigan stop for a couple of weeks by our son and his family and then continue back up to the UP and spend time with our daughter and her family. That is what our hearts want to do but the reality does not coincide with that want.  For one thing every place we have called in Michigan is not sure when they will be opening because they are not sure what the Governor is going to do as far as opening the state and what will be allowed. Then I spoke to someone at the Chamber of Commerce in Escanaba and I was told that all RV parks in Michigan are all closed no exceptions.  The whole issue for Tom and I is not that we cannot stay at home it is that the home needs a place to park and we are not alone in this.There is a very large segment of our society that no longer own sticks and brick houses. They are fulltime RVers and we are not just talking about retired people like us, there are families and young couples who live this lifestyle. Plus, I am pretty sure we are not the only ones who consider Michigan our home and come back for the summer months. (Yes, we are in fact registered residents of South Dakota. We no longer own or rent property in Michigan and,  therefore, we do not have a street address in the state and a post office box is not considered to be a legal address. In order to vote and do banking you need a legal street address and South Dakota is one of the states we could legally do this through a mailing service. At the same time both Tom and I are lifelong residents of Michigan and the UP will always be home.) It is not just parking but we need to be able to get water and quite frankly we need a place to dump our grey and blank tanks. Even though we do have solar and a generator on board being able to plug into electricity is also a plus. So we will continue to make calls and see what we can come up with to get us closer to where we want to be.

Side note: That is not to say we do not feel very lucky to have found the place we are at. As I have mentioned before it is a small clean well kept up RV park ,and we feel safe here. Well to be honest the whole tornado thing is somewhat scary but so far we have been lucky weather wise.  One good thing for us right now is we do have the option of staying here for at least another month which is also something we are considering.

It rained here starting Wednesday evening and throughout the night. Thursday started under cloudy skies but the sun and the blue sky kept trying to join us and did succeed at times. Though we did have brief moments when the rain did rejoin us but mostly as sprinkling showers.

While we were eating dinner Thursday evening the view of the clouds and the sky as the sun was setting put on a nice show. That show included a rainbow and as we sat there I kept thinking that would make a good picture. The rainbow was mostly gone when I got myself up and opened the bedroom window to take a few pictures of the sky around us. Below are those pictures.. I like them all so I decided to share them all.

Today, Friday we mostly had sunshine and white fluffy clouds floating by earlier in the day. As we got closer to sunset the sky clouded over completely. So  far no rain but looking at the radar I can see it is coming our way and it looks like we will have rain tomorrow. Our days as I mentioned in our last post seem to melt one into the next. The daily chores of life cleaning, laundry, cooking continue as before. The last couple of days we added phone calls and RV Park research into the mix. Like always most days we speak to at least one of our children and get an update on their lives. Plus, it is always nice when one or more of the grandchildren takes the time to talk with us.

So for now we are living our days and there is joy in being able to spend this quiet time together. Yet at times there is a sadness that seeps in when we think about the fact that we are not where we expected to be with our children and grandchildren. Logically we know we cannot change what is; but our heart still wishes we could.

In the meantime we are thankful that our children, grandchildren, family and friends are safe and healthy. Plus we are grateful to be able to say we are safe and healthy. Our sincere hope is you can say the same thing about yourself and those you love.

We are so glad you stopped by!

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

Days are Flowing By

Friday, April 17, 2020

The days are slowly flowing by and seem to melt one into the other. Maybe it is because we are in the south were everything seems to take on a slower pace.  Up until today the only place we have been is to pick up groceries curbside. Today we took a ride into Corinth to pick up a prescription at Walgreens. Then we decided to take a short ride around the area. No particular destination just checking it out and making left and right turns through the area near their down town. 

The dandelions are in the grass outside our door.
We went by a couple of fields today filled with yellow.

I did a quick search when we stopped to take this
picture. It seems there are several of these Historical
Markers  in the area. I will be doing some research
and then we will take another ride.

We also road by here. We could see where there is a place to
access the Battlefield and noticed other markers in the field.
There are no signs saying you cannot walk in the area so
we will be going back with walking shoes on.

Took these two pictures of the trees to the East of us as the
sun set Wednesday Evening, April 15th.

The last of the light hitting the top of the tree in the middle.
We are surrounded by tall trees here so we really do not
see the sun setting just the light fading. 

Even though it is just the two of us I did put out some
Easter Decorations!

I have feeling this tree never gets really thick with leaves
but it is pretty just the same.
Next I need to find out what kind it is.

Happy Saturday! Take care and stay healthy.

We are glad you stopped by!

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

Today the Sun Came Out

Monday, April 13, 2020

Yesterday, actually starting late Saturday evening, we had rain a lot of rain sometimes with thunder and lighting plus throw in some wind. It ended for us just after 1:00AM Monday.  Luckily nothing like the weather they had south of us or what was predicted. It was somewhat scary to have the owner of the park stop by to give us a map to the nearest storm shelter on Saturday because of the predictions. Watching the radar we could see what was coming our way and what was missing us. The saddest thing I read today was it took 30 lives. Several tornadoes touched down in the south starting in Texas and reaching across to the Atlantic Ocean causing what one article described as "catastrophic" damage. Another article said it was the deadliest tornado outbreak in the U.S. since April 2014. I personally had two thoughts when we started to see the predictions for Severe Weather, the first one was we should have turned around and went back to Arizona two weeks ago. My second thought was a blizzard of snow in April is really not that bad. I never remember being worried about where I would go if it really started to snow.
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I will say it again we feel very lucky to have been north of the worst of it and pray for those that lost family and their homes. For everyone who is less then thrilled about being stuck in their homes because of the stay at home orders be grateful for that home. I know I am for ours.

We had a brief reprieve from the rain later in the afternoon on Sunday and I took a quick walk and snapped a couple of pictures.

 

 

Today we had beautiful blue skies with just a few clouds.

Our excitement for today, we went and did a curbside pickup of groceries at Kroger. I am beginning to think this is not a bad way to grocery shop. It certainly does curb that impulse buying. I would say the person who did our picking did a decent job of picking the produce I had on the list. At the same time there were a couple of things Tom or I would have not picked. Not awful but not the best. Right now though, since, I really would prefer to stay out of the stores no complaints.

We continue to pray that our family and friends are staying safe and healthy. Take care.



Just to be clear I do not think we should say goodbye to Easter but when I saw this I thought it was to darn cute not to share.

We are so glad you stopped by!

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