06/29/17 - On 6/28, I did absolutely nothing but ate, played on the computer, did a little crocheting and watched it rain all day.  It never got higher in temperature than 61 degrees so needless to say, I had head on most of the day.  Later in the afternoon, I did get out a puzzle and so time really went fast.  I had dinner, watched some TV and off to bed.

Today, it has been very cloudy and cool.  It did get up to 63 degrees today but did have the heat on again off and on.  I did get out and get some groceries and stopped off at the bank so errands have been completed.  I called and plan to do a scenic train ride and an almost two hour cruise on Lake Superior.  I have not decided when to go since I am dealing with the week end and the holiday but will make reservations soon.

06/27/17 - Today, I left around 8 45am and I was heading for Duluth, Minnesota.  The route that I was driving was all on a two lane highway and at times there was construction and they had lanes closed so it was slow moving.  In the afternoon, I got into alot of wind so that also slowed me down.  I am further north of Duluth than what I thought so will do careful planning when running errands or sightseeing.  I am very disappointed at the campground for the money that they charge.  There is no club house, no library and no planned activities so one is totally on their own.  They have small lakes on either side so the campground itself is beautiful.  They have no brochures either so plan to stop off at a hotel/motel to get some brochures.  I am now in the central time zone so not sure what time I actually got here but by 5pm (central time), I was hooked up and getting a little dinner.  I was to tired to cook so just kinda snacked but it worked.  Needless to say, I will be in bed early tonight but it good to be off the road for two weeks.  The RV has done excellent and it makes me very happy.  Off to bed.

06/26/17 - a couple of pictures I want to post

                                             Parked at Jeremy's house for two weeks

                                           At Farmer's Market in Traverse City, Michigan

06/26/17 - On 6/23, I went with Jeremy to pick up steel he was using to roof his garage.

On 6/24, I got up at 5 15am to go with Jeremy to a farmers market in Traverse City but he had pain in his lower left side so Doreen, Donovan, Kyle and I headed out at 6 00 am for the market.  We got there at 7am and got set up before the customers started to arrive.  She had 13 dozen free range, brown eggs and sold all of them before 9 am!!  I could not believe it.  We then set out to sell the mushrooms and it was slow at first but then business picked up and I thought we had good activity but I don't know the end result of actual money made.  In the evening, Jeremy was feeling better and he and his 5 sons decided to try to do some fishing.  We went to Portage Lake and Jeremy caught a very small one that we threw back in the water.  Off to bed

6/25, I got up went to church with Jeremy and his family.  They invited a gentleman from church over for lunch so I helped prepare some of the food and then we visited in the afternoon.  In the evening we went back to church for a hymn singing.  After church, a lady came up to me and we started to chat and during the conversation, she and I discovered that she knew my Uncle Homer Yutzy.  So the conversation really got interesting.  Off to bed

Today, I got up at 7 30am to get ready to depart Jeremy's house for Escanaba, Upper Peninsula Michigan on my way to Duluth, Minnesota for two weeks.  I am not exactly sure what time I left but somewhere between 9 30 and 10 00 am.  About an hour of driving, it started to rain off and on.  Sometimes a little heavy but not even to pull over.  Also, it was very windy and I was on a two lane highway most of the day, so driving was much slower.  I stopped at a rest area for lunch and when I went to check on the car, the blue cable that I had put on had twisted so tight that I had to take part of the towing stuff off the car so I could pull up closer to the RV to see if I could loosen the cable.  Of course, during all of this, there was a constant light rain. I did get it loosen and refastened every thing but now was over a hour later but oh well, I did not need to be at Walmart at a certain time.  I crossed the Mackinaw Bridge in the rain but still was a neat experience.  There was a lot of road construction, and with a two lane highway, there were 3 times that we had to take turns to travel the one open lane and that really took up some time.   I finally got to Walmart at 5 30pm.  I had alot of day light yet since the sun did not set until 9 42pm but now getting dark so will finish the blog and then off to bed.

6/23/17 - On 6/21, I unpacked, paid some bills, caught up on some computer stuff, had dinner with the Jeremy's family.  She made tacos and they were excellent.  Back to the RV to relax.

6/22, Doreen (my nephew's wife) made some cinnamon rolls that were delicious.  I then helped her to make a huge bowl of potato salad since they were having a get together with family and friends since out of town friends were here.  They are off to the picnic and I am back in the RV getting some things done, cooking a potato for dinner and just relaxing.

6/23/17 - On 6/16, we made a big batch of potato salad, sloppy joes, and also decided to do a veggie tray for the evening meal.  We were expecting some of the family around 4pm or so but then it was a little later since there was a lot of traffic because of beach traffic and a music festival traffic.  We had a wonderful visit.

6/17, More of the family arrived and by noon everyone was there that we were expecting.  There is 36 of us.  We  had the most wonderful barbecued chicken, salted potatoes, salad, finger jello.  We visiting, played games and just had a wonderful time.  In the evening, we had hot dogs and left overs.  Some family members already had to leave in the evening but it was a great day.

6/18, Some family members got up very early and went to the beach before lunch and then they were leaving for home in the early afternoon.  We had a great taco salad lunch and soon families were packing up and getting ready to leave and then family reunion is now history.  We did some cleaning up and relaxed.

6/19, We went to a coffee shop for coffee and a snack.  I had a caramel steamer and a wonderful chocolate cookie.  I meet some extended family members and we just had a great time.  Mary Ann did some of my laundry so I got to go back to Michigan with some clean clothes.  Deborah took me on the golf cart and gave me a tour of the land that she bought and she plans to built a house next year.  It is 5 acres.

6/20, I needed to pack, cut garden tea to take with me.  Daniel was having a problem with alarms in the chicken house so Mary Ann had to go take care of that and I went with her.  We then stopped off and picked some summer squash and we cut the tea.  I then stripped the tea from the stems so I could take more, and she made a wonderful lunch since Daniel had to come home and reset alarms.  At 4pm, Christina, Jesse, Mary Ann and I headed for Dover since Daniel and Mary Ann were taking me to Philadelphia to the airport since I was leaving to return to Traverse City, Michigan.  There was an extra vehicle in Dover so Christina and Jesse drove that one back to Milford.  We got into a little traffic but got to the airport in plenty of time.  Soon we were informed that we were departing a few minutes early and would arrive in Detroit early.  I was quite relieved since I only had 30 minutes to get from gate 75 to gate 19!!  There is a train to get you there a little faster than walking but still that was just a little to short of a layover.  I soon learned that there was a traffic jam on the tarmac since there was construction and we were the 23 plane in line to take off!!  Well, that ended getting to Detroit early but the captain seem to think that we might still be a few minutes early since the schedule included time on the tarmac.  We did get in 10 minutes early so I had a little bit of time.  I walked as fast as I could and was so relieved to learn that I made it.  I was next to the last person to board and within 8 minutes they closed the aircraft doors but I was on the plane.  I quickly called Jeremy (my nephew) to let him know I made it.  He got to the airport at 11 10pm and soon we were headed home.  It was a great trip.

06/21/17 - On 6/12, I got some laundry ready and Doreen (my nephew's wife) showed me how to work the washing machine so I was able to get my laundry done.  Doreen needed to run some errands so I went with her.  We stopped at several stores and delivered some mushrooms as well.  Jeremy (my nephew) has started to grow mushrooms to sell.  They have a variety of markets that are interested in buying the mushrooms.  We had dinner and conversation and then I went back to the RV to obtain a boarding pass for my trip to Delaware tomorrow when I learned I was leaving at 6 20pm instead of 8 20pm as I had informed Jeremy but it was too late to call him so will wait until tomorrow. Soon
off to bed.

6/13, I got up and started to pack for my trip to Delaware.  I cleaned up the RV alittle, went to the house to take a shower and then got ready to leave for Traverse City, Michigan.  We decided to leave at 4pm since it is about a 45 to 50 minutes drive and one never knows about the traffic.  We took my car so also had to stop for gas.  Off to the airport.  We had a good drive, got there in plenty of time since it is a small airport and this lady sat next to me while waiting to board the flight.  She soon informed me that she was a certified spiritual healer and started to tell me all about her life.  She was all over the place so I am not sure what she really is doing.  She was off to see her sister in California.  We were delayed because of a thunderstorm through Chicago and back up of traffic but I had plenty of time in Chicago so did not matter to me.  I had to change terminals so it was quite a bit of walking but it was fine since I had the time.  We then left Chicago late because of the back up of traffic to take off so I called Daniel (my brother) and told him I would be late getting into Philadelphia.  I arrived at 12 40am but by the time I caught up with Daniel it was almost 1 00am.  We had about an hour and half back to his house so needless to say it was early morning before he and I both got to bed.

6/14, I slept late and spend the day with Mary Ann.  I don't remember much more of the day.  They did have a small group meeting so I moved myself upstairs and watched some TV before going to bed.

6/15, I slept late, spend time with Mary Ann and in the afternoon, In the afternoon, a great nephew (Nevin) and I dug some red potatoes for Mary Ann.  I helped with dinner since Weston (a nephew) and his family were coming over to help set up for the reunion.  We got things set up and off to bed.

06/11/17 - On 6/10, I had a Mexican lunch with Sue and we went back to her house for awhile.  I left around 1pm since she needed to go check on an elderly lady she is helping the family who needs some personal care.  I then went back to the RV, wrote a letter and then Aunt Esther and I stopped off at an Indian Restaurant and ordered carry out for dinner to share with Aunt Kay.  Aunt Kay seemed to feel better and we found her in a wheelchair and she reserve the  private dining room for the three of us. We had a nice time and it was good to see her go to the dining room for dinner. She had a couple of visitors stop by.  Aunt Esther and I repaired the chimes in her grandmother clock with the help of my brother Daniel who gave us the instructions.  Soon, she was getting tired and we said our "goodbyes" and headed back to the RV.

This morning, the trains seemed to be extra loud and since we both knew we needed to get up soon, we got up about an hour earlier than planned.  It did start to warm up, so we started to get things ready for the trip to northern Michigan.  I am headed for Brethren, Michigan.  When all was ready, I think I left around 10 20am.  Most of the road was two lane although I did have some stretches of four lane.  It was really windy so the fastest I drove was 55 miles per hour.  When I was on the two lanes, I drove through many little towns so had stop lights and reduced speed limits so it took longer to make the trip. I stopped off for gas, ate a little lunch and got to my nephew Jeremy's house just before 4pm.  We then decided where to park the RV, I leveled it and Jeremy plugged it in for me.  Now, I am all set.  I had some snacks with them, took a shower and as soon as I sign off, I am off to bed.

06/09/17 - Today, we got up, packed a lunch and headed out for Shipshewana to see a musical called
"The Confession".  It started at 11am. It was a really good play.  We then eat our lunch on a bench in front of a store around 2pm.  We then made several stops and got back to Aunt Kay's place around 4pm.  We had a nice visit, she ate dinner, we watched a little TV and then left and came home to find a new neighbor next to us and my car was in their way.  So I moved the car and made ice tea.  I was waiting for a phone call from a 2nd cousin of my on the Kauffman side named Ruth.  She was traveling with some others from Missouri and I am in the area where they are spending the night so I had planned to visit with her early this evening.  They had some difficult with their traveling (flat tire and traffic) they did not arrive until 9pm.  They were just getting ready to have dinner and since I would have a half an hour to get to her place, I decided not to go meet her because of the time frame.  They also plan to leave in the morning at 3am. I had just seen her the last of April so felt better about not driving over to the individual that she  is visiting.  At Aunt Kay's I did get a picture of her and I and will attach

                                                              Aunt Kay at almost 90

06/08/17 -  On 6/7, Aunt Esther got up really early to meet Cousin Sandy and Aunt Kay at the doctor's office since Aunt Kay was having an x-ray and a neurologist appointment.  I stayed at home.  They did not get back until noon and Aunt Esther came home for lunch and then later in the afternoon, we went back to visit but Aunt Kay was so tired that she stayed in bed and at the time, refused dinner.  We stayed for a little while, tried to get her comfortable and then we left for Luz Cafe so we could have a liver and onions dinner.  Home for the evening.

Today, I stayed at home since I had an 11am appointment with a repair man to try to repair my door to the water heater that would not close since I had hit the fence.  The repair guy was very good and within 15 minutes, it was closing.  I then just stayed home and relaxed, had a little lunch since Aunt Kay always takes a nap right after lunch.  Aunt Esther made lunch for herself and left around 11am to visit with Aunt Kay.  She did some shopping for her and stayed the day.  I then met up with Sue around 5 30pm and she ate left overs she had and I ate left over liver and onions.  We had a nice visit.  Came home around 8 45pm.  Off to bed soon.

06/06/17 - On 6/5, Aunt Esther and I went to visit Aunt Kay around 11 30am.  We packed some sandwiches, chips and drinks and had lunch with her.  Soon after lunch, she takes a long nap. She had physical therapy in the morning and was really tired so not very talkative.  Aunt Esther and I returned to visit in the afternoon around 4 30pm.  She was up in her chair and much more alert and we had a nice visit.  We stayed until she had dinner and soon would be involved in her routine nightly care and off to bed.  We were starving, so warmed up some food and then relaxed and off to bed.

Today, we went back to see Aunt Kay around 11am.  I left at 12pm to meet with Sue Bontreger for lunch and we had a nice visit in the afternoon.  I then went back to the RV for a while and Aunt Esther and I left for Arby's since we decided we did not want to wait to eat dinner as late as the night before.  We then had dinner with Aunt Kay, a short visit and watched some TV with her.  Now, back home for the evening.

06/04/17 - On 6/3, I got early since I was up and down most of the night.  Earlier in the evening a semi truck decided to park right next door to me and with windows open, it was a little noisy and there was two of them so there was conversation as well. They took a little walk to get a bit to eat and then decided to work on the front of the truck.  It is already almost 11pm.  They were slamming doors, the hood of the truck went up and down and of course I wanted to get some sleep.  Finally, around midnight, things quieted down but then they ran the engine all night because they needed to use the air conditioner.  I did get some sleep but was up early so I called Aunt Esther to let her know that I was leaving at 8am and should be in Goshen, Indiana around 2pm.  She was planning to drive in from Cleveland, Ohio to meet me there and help me set up the RV which was very nice of her to do.  I stopped off for lunch and a break at 11am and things were going well.  I got on to Route 15 and soon learned that the road was closed and I needed to take a detour.  It was a long way around and different roads and some were rather narrow but I got through it all.  I thought I would never get here but it did happen.  Aunt Esther was here and we decided which space we were going to use and got busy with the hook ups.  We learned the sewer was backed up but to be repaired today.  Soon we got cleaned up, had some left over dinner and relaxed.  It was rather warm and humid but did finally cool down.  So glad to be off the road for now.  Off to bed.

6/3/17 -  The last blog should have been dated 6/2.  Sorry.  Now to continue.  Last night a trucker decided to park right next to me but thank goodness, he did not run his engine all night so it was quiet.  I don't know if the parking lot was getting full for what his problem was but it was OK.  This morning I left Chattanooga at 9am.  As I was trying to get on the 24 freeway, it was totally backed up.  There was road construction with a lane closed but we got through that and then I headed for Nashville.  Got through Nashville and did not have too far to the Kentucky line so decided to stop for lunch at the Kentucky Welcome Center.  The parking lot was rather full and the spots to park were not very wide and since I had my door open for a little air, a trucker decided I had to close it so he could park right next to me!!  Later in the afternoon, I stopped for gas and got to the Clarksville, Indiana parking lot at 4pm.  It has cooled off some, I have a good breeze and the humidity is down so all is good.

6/1/17 - Sleeping was a little rough since there was only a small ditch and fence between me and the busy freeway but I did get some sleep.  I got up around 8am and because it is easier to get started, I was on the road by 8 45am.  I had great traveling with hardly any traffic like yesterday until I got to Atlanta and then there was an accident so it took a while to get through all of that.  I then had fair traveling since it seemed there was more traffic.  I drove only an hour and half before I decided I needed to stop for gas.  I then put some potato chips in a bowl and set the bowl on top of my step stool so I could munch a little since I did not want to stop yet for lunch.  Well, then the rest stop came up a little to early as well but it would be a long time for the next rest stop since it was 138 miles but I wasn't hungry because of my munchies.  So I decided to give it a try.  A couple of times, I had to brake a little harder than I wanted too because some guy was on the side of the road and then pulled out a head of me and there was plenty of space but all of a sudden he put on his hazard flashers and almost totally stopped.  Wow, I was OK but sure was upset with him.  He went about 30 miles an hour but did pull off at the next exit!!  I then did get to the rest stop about 2 30pm and there was a nice area to park under the trees so I did waste about an hour since I felt I would be getting to Walmart too early.  Then on my way to Walmart in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia the road was a little hilly so that took more effort to stop although it really was not a problem.  I drove the 4 miles off the freeway and got my self situated where I was going to park for the night, when I looked up and directly in front of me was a sign that stated on truck or overnight parking!!  I do not recall any signs at the other end of Walmart and I almost drove over there and parked anyway, but I had mapped out a Walmart in Chattanooga,Tennessee as well and it was only 20 minutes farther.  My book had stated it was RV friendly and that is very true.  There was 4 of us here but two left again so there is two of us for the night but quite a few trucks are here.  I need to back track, the traffic on the 24 out of Chattanooga was horrible because the right lane was blocked and because I had taken so long at the rest stop, I was now in rush hour traffic!!  Well, I finally got to the Walmart at 5pm instead of 3 30pm at the Walmart in Georgia.  But I am safe and it is much quieter here although I do have a truck across the way, that will be running all the time he is here but still better than all that freeway traffic.

Oh, almost forgot the picture of my injured Winnie

                                          The water heater door that is tied up

                                           The dent around the tire cover

6/1/17 - This morning went well with getting the RV ready for travel.  I got up a little before 8am and started to close things up one room at a time.  I then determined where I thought I would park the RV to put the car on and knew there was a little brown wooden fence in front of a cabin and that would be beside me.  No problem, straight shot.  I then was concentrating on the left side to make sure there was room for cars to get by while I was hooking up the car when all of a sudden I heard and strange noise and I could not believe that I was tight up against that fence.   I pulled the RV out a little and decided on another place to hook up the car.  I then noticed a scratch on the side/back area so went on about my business.  I left at 10 25.  Traveling went well but I got really hungry at noon so stopped early for lunch.  After lunch I checked the car and noticed that one side of the door to the water heater was unfastened so stupid me did not assess the situation and opened up the door.  Here when I hit the fence, I also hit that door and now I could not get it shut!!  I tried to push the door up on the left side so I could close and I feel I might have moved it a little but not enough.  A truck driver was very kind and assisted me but he did not want to try and move the door which I felt could be done by a stronger individual than me.  Well, the next thing, I knew, he returned with two used cords of something and tied me up enough so I could go on.  It held so he must have done a good job.  I will take a picture tomorrow and post tomorrow.  I am just so upset with myself because I also try not to move until I am all clear but I thought I was clear on the right so I concentrated on the left.

It was quite warm traveling so I had to stop again to fill up my tea container and I finally got to Walmart in Adel, Georgia at 4 45pm.  I was glad to be here.  The stupid GPS took me around the back side and I am not sure why but the next thing I knew I was on a very bumpy dirt road!!  I could not believe it.  I have not checked the upper cabinets where the dishes are but time will tell if everything survived.