The Sixth Adventure Has Begun

October 10, 2019

We left Escanaba on Saturday, October 5th. It was a grey dreary day as we pulled out of the Walmart parking lot. (Our time was up at the fairgrounds and we still had a few things to take care of on Friday so Tom drove the Stinger "B" over to Walmart and we spent our last night there.) There may have been dark clouds outside but inside the Stinger "B" there was a feeling of excitement as we headed out on our Sixth Adventure. This is the route we planned on taking two years ago and when that did not work out we thought we would do it last year. We did not want to jinx anything so we did not make any firm plans but we thought this year the third try would be the charm. Some times things just do not work out. 

Plan A was to take US-2 West through the UP and continue until we connected with I-94 in North Dakota. Eventually turning South into the Black Hills of South Dakota and continue South to Cheyenne then West towards Utah. Checking the weather we found predictions of snow in North Dakota so we said, Plan B it is. US-2 as far as Iron River then we will make our way towards I-90 and take it across South Dakota to the Black Hills. Again checking the weather there are predictions of snow. So we are presently enjoying Plan C and have made our way south through Minnesota and Iowa as far as DesMoines were we connected to I-80 and turned West towards Utah.  As I finish this blog this morning we are parked at a Walmart in Grand Island, Nebraska. 

Looking ahead at the weather yesterday we could see that cold temperatures and wind was coming this way. So we have found an RV Park about 60 miles down the road and called ahead. We will be heading there this morning. It rained last night and it is presently 39 degrees and the wind is rocking us.  It will be nice to just sit back and relax for a couple of days. 

(Side note: the majority of the pictures in this blog were taken through a dirty front windshield.)

Leaving Escanaba on US-2 South and US-41 South.

The colors are pretty, of course, sunshine would have been nice.
One thing for sure with all the rain  this is the greenest fall we have ever
seen.  Neither one of us can remember the grass being this
green in October.

So why only 90 miles the first day. The answer would be to stop and see my youngest brother in Iron River. (In September before we left Escanaba Tom and I drove down to Green Bay to have lunch with his sister and brother along with their spouses. My sister drove up for a weekend and spent a couple of nights with us which was nice. We, also, had the opportunity to go out to dinner with my other brother and his wife.)

Way back when Tom and I were first married and Tom was canoe racing this guy came along more than once and tented with us.  I hate to admit it but back then he was 9 or 10. It had been awhile since we had seen each other and it was so nice to just be able to sit and talk. We spent two days there and it was really fun.

I even remembered to take pictures for once.

We went to Mass at St. Agnes Catholic Church and I thought it was such a pretty church I needed to include it.

St. Ann and Mary I just love this statue.

The Klint Safford Memorial RV Park right in Iron River.
The sites are large and even though you are right in this small town
it was quite and peaceful. We would definitely stay her again. 

As we drove through the UP then into Northern Wisconsin on Monday the colors were beautiful.

We stopped for the night, October 7th, at the Walmart in Chippewa Falls.
The next morning we made our way into Minnesota and crossed over the Mississippi River.

I could see this  sign off in the distance.
How could I not include it?

There definitely is wind.

We are seeing water in farm fields.

The color is not has vivid here yet but there are spots of color.

As we were driving through Minnesota today on I-35 one of the times we had to merge left because of construction Tom saw a sign that said: Begin merging...take turns. I wish I had seen it and got a picture.

We saw this and Tom said, take a picture which I did but if there was a
sign saying what this was we missed it.

We stopped for the night, October 8th, in a rest area near Dows, Iowa.
Tom read  inside at the rest stop that Iowa lost more men per capita  then
any other state during the Civil War.  This rest stop seemed to be dedicated
to honoring those lost.

As we left the rest stop this morning the sky was blue with a soft covering of white.  We were also grateful that no one knocked on our door and told us to leave. during the night. According to what I read Iowa allows overnight parking in there Rest Areas with 'extenuating circumstances'. Not sure what their definition of  'extenuating circumstances' would be but we figured we would go with...no signs and extremely tired.
One last note about this rest stop there was a dump station available.

We have made it past Des Moines and we are heading west on I-80.
We will be on this Interstate for several days.

We saw quite of few of these wind turbines today not moving and there
was wind. I caught this rest stop with one of the blades out my side window
as we drove by. That little white diamond shape is on my window.

Passed lots of farm fields.

Then it did a little raining.
Very grateful to be going down the road inside the Stinger "B".

We crossed into Nebraska and looked like we were headed towards blue
skies. They soon disappeared under more clouds.

The first rest stop we saw in Nebraska it mentioned on the sign  travel
information but there was not even a map available.

Going by York, Nebraska they have a very colorful water tower.
 It reminded me of a hot air balloon

So this is the beginning of our Sixth Adventure.  

Not exactly as we planned it but as I have mentioned before we like "to fly by the seat of our pants" and do not need everything and day planned out so we are as the saying goes, Enjoying the Ride.

We are enjoying our days and hope you are doing the same. 

We are so glad you took the time to stop by.

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

The Sixth Adventure has Begun. First a Quick Wrap Up Of Our Summer

October 8, 2019

As I write this tonight we are parked in a Rest Area in Dows, Iowa. 

The following is a mish/mash of the rest of our Summer. When I last wrote we were headed back downstate to spend a couple of weeks with Nadine, Thomas, and their for children. It was the last time we would see them for this year and the time flew by as we knew it would. 

While we were there they had Thomas Norman, our youngest grandchild, Baptized.

We are honored to not only be this little ones Grandparents
but also his Godparents.

He is wearing the Baptismal Gown that his two brothers, sister, and his father wore when they were Baptized.
(A little self horn tooting. I made this gown along with the one our daughter and her two daughters wore for their Baptisms.)

Their first day of school picture.
Noah is in 3rd grade, Jonah is in 1st, and Marcella is in Kindergarten.

While we were down there we had the three grandkids pictured above come and spend two nights with us. It was fun spending individual time with each one.

While there we went to Mass at Holy Cross in Marine City.
A beautiful church as the pictures below confirm.

We were surprised to read above that the first Bishop
of our Diocese, Frederic Baraga, had been a pastor
at this parish.

The stain glass throughout the church is so beautiful.

Going downstate and coming back to the UP this is usually one of our stops.
Bronner's in Frankenmuth
I have purchased several Christmas Ornaments, plus other items, from this
store. It is more than just a Christmas store. Honestly, though, if you cannot
find the Christmas item you are looking for here I am not sure it exist.

Some of our views as we head north on I-75.

Then we are crossing the Mackinac Bridge.
I never get tired of seeing it, driving over it, and taking pictures of it.

In the UP we are on  US 2 and 2 lanes for 128 miles but with 12 passing lanes

and several peeks of Lake Michigan it is a beautiful ride.

Back home we get to see Rachel's three children.

Charlotte is in 2nd grade this year.

Nate  and Adelaide are at Head Start.

Getting off the bus after her 2nd Day
of school.

On our last Wednesday in Escanaba we got to go and watch Charlotte's
dance class. Rachel sells makeup and enjoys doing different Halloween
looks throughout the month of October.

After dance the rest of the group joined us for Pizza.
Including Rachel's friend and her family.
It is times like this that I wish Thomas and Nadine lived closer and
we could be out to dinner with the whole family.

While we were back in Escanaba we parked out at the fairgrounds.
With all the rain I think the dandelions were not sure what time of
the year it was. I took these pictures just before we left.

A little nostalgia. 

In the Fall I always enjoyed taking the back way to work.

I had to take a ride out to the branch of our Credit Union by the paper mill.
This is where Tom worked for 39+ years. 
All those years are why we can live our Retirement Dream.

One last addition: one of the things we did to sell our house was bury
a statue of  St. Joseph. Once the house sells you dig him up and put
the statue in a special place in your new home.
This is his place in the Stinger "B" .

It was a busy summer that flew by.  Now we look forward to the adventures ahead as we make our way South and West and then eventually East and North. We look forward to seeing old friends and new ones along the way. We are excited to explore new places and re-visit places we have been. All the while we will be missing our family and friends back in Michigan and Wisconsin.

Thank you for dropping by. 

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

A Short and Sweet Catch up of our Summer...So Far

August 13, 2019

The Best Thing that Happened This Summer!!!!

We arrived downstate and set up at Algonac State Park on June 20th.  Actually we plugged in made sure the refrigerator was working, popped out the slides, cracked a few windows and headed over to our sons. We were both anxious for grandchildren hugs. Arrived back to the Stinger "B" around 10 o'clock and  looked around and decided to finish setting in the morning. Around 5:00AM we got a phone call from our son telling us our daughter-in-law was in labor. We got to the hospital about an hour after they did and Tom took the three grandchildren and headed back to their place to wait for the news. The three of us spent a lot of our time as we waited discussing names. They had decided not to find out ahead of time if it was a boy our girl and though they had a name picked out for a boy they could not come to an agreement about a girl's name.  About 6 hours later Thomas Norman Duchaine arrived. He looks a lot like his dad, his two brothers, and his sister and as you can see by the pictures everyone was very happy to see him. (Thank goodness it was a boy had it been a girl I think she would have gone home as Baby Girl Duchaine...lol)  The really important part is he is a healthy little boy.

I may be a little bias but I think he is just do darn cute.

Holding Thomas for the first time.

The 4th of July at the Stinger "B" parked at Algonac State Park.
There was the roasting of the hot dogs and smores.
It was a rough day. She made it up the stairs laid down and
was sound a sleep  right there on the floor.

Besides celebrating the birth of our newest grandson we had several Birthdays. June 19th Noah turned 9, on July 21st Jonah turned 7, Charlotte turned 8 on July 30th, and on August 1st Adelaide turned 3. On August 15th Marcella will be 5. Nathaniel is the only one who does not have a summer Birthday he has to wait until January 17th to turn 5.

We spent July 25th through the 29th parked out at Wells State Park about 30 miles south of us on Lake Michigan. My sister and her husband brought there new 5th wheel up and we had a fun camping weekend. Thomas and Nadine drove up and spent a couple of nights camping in their tent.
Well Thomas and his three oldest did. After one night Nadine and the newest member of our family joined Tom and I inside the Stinger "B". We had more family come out and spend some time with us which added to the weekend. This is a nice park with a great play area for the kids along with a beach area for swimming.  There are no pictures because no one thought to do so.

Okay so I lied, I did take one picture. Everyone was off doing something.
 It was just Thomas and I sitting under the awning enjoying a quiet moment.

Monday morning we headed back to our driveway and Thomas and Nadine along with their four kids stopped by before continuing on their long journey home. Thomas wanted to take one last walk through the house. I decided it might be nice to take a picture of the four of them on the front porch. The reason Marci is smiling, well she has the baby. It was the only way she would sit down. Noah and Jonah are not happy, because they do not have the baby. Luckily he is a good baby and goes with the flow. Plus, I forgot about the reflection in the window. At least all four are in the picture along with Nadine and I in the background.

I have to go through my pictures. I am pretty sure I have
a picture of every grandchild on this chair.
Which we left with the house.

At Bessie Park with Rachel's kids. This is as good as it  got.

More pictures of Thomas with his siblings.
He is a well loved baby.

With a sigh of relief we signed the final papers on August 2nd and we became HOUSELESS!!!

On Thursday August 1st Tom backed the Stinger "B" out of the driveway
for the last time. Bottom right is with our Realtor.

We walked out the door for the last time on Thursday and we were smiling but it still felt strange to close the door for the last time. Lots of memories walked out the door with us. I moved into this house with my parents in 1963. Tom and I moved into this house with our kids in 1994. Lots of special occasions were celebrated in this place but it was time to walk away and look ahead to the future and all the possibilities. A very young couple will now make this house their home and they are excited about the possibilities and just thinking about that makes me smile.

Today we are headed back down to Thomas and Nadine's for a couple of weeks. Then we will drive back up here. As I look at the calendar it is hard to believe by then it will be September. We have a tentative plan for this fall and winter but after the last two years until we are on the move we are not making a definite plan. We will be flying by "the seat of our pants" but then that is what makes, in our opinion, the journey fun.

Hope you are having a wonderful summer!

We are so glad you took the time to stop by to see what we have been up to. 

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