Settling in

This is not fun.

I'm reading an email from our friends Bill and June and they're already on the road to Texas and the weatherman on the TV is warning of tornadoes followed by a major temperature drop ... Our coach will apparently be in the shop for many weeks for remodeling, it looks like we need a new furnace at the house ... My lawn tractor gave up on me even though I still have 3,769,657 more leaves to mulch and the headlights on our car keep burning out.  Is this what they call "The Michigan Payback"?  So who do I go see about apologizing for not staying here for the past six winters?

Burning Bush

But alas!  Maybe there are a few silver linings out there!  Just to name a few ... Our beautiful little Grand Daughter Lola turned three and the party was super, as is she.  Our daughter Leigh got her first whitetail deer on opening day ... I'm real proud ... She got it with her a Dodge Journey at 75 mph.  She's fine ... deer is definitely dead. Our other beautiful Grand Daughter Allison just turned nineteen and has discovered college life is pretty sweet ... Our Grandson Austin at fourteen, is now as tall as I am and GI Joe doesn't much interest him as much as the ladies do ... My sister Judy thankfully has survive a nasty fall while moving into new home in North Carolina ... Her elbow is pretty banged up but spirits are high ... We gather with bunch of our Cousin's RV friends in Battle a Creek for lunch and gambling at the nearby casino ... Seeing our friends was a whole lot better than the gambling however ... And our long weekend trip to Iowa to see our friends Jim and Carol was a blast ... I learned that bib overalls are not considered 'business casual' ...Cedar Rapids is a pretty cool city ... And we're very fortunate to have such good people as good friends ... And speaking of good friends ... We've had almost a lifetime of good times with our friends George and Paula ... We've already got together several times with them and we're looking forward to a winters worth of visits.

Barberry

Very dead Hostas

Now about those 3,769,657 leaves ... The weatherman said the winds would soon be picking up and my neighbors would probably get most of them so I went looking for a rake.  Our backs were already screaming at us and we're hoping the ibuprophen is still in the medicine cabinet when I looked around and found my neighbors pitching in and helping us clean them all up.  So very thoughtful.

So there you have it ... goofy pictures and all.

Still livin' the dream but kinda' wish we were with Bill and June ... heading South.

Phil

Michigan my Michigan

Great news ... for us us anyway. No water, no raccoons, no nothing wrong with the house on our arrival.  After our winter hiatus, we'd almost grown accustomed to dealing with some problem at the house ... but not this year.  A welcome change.

I'll need to double check the numbers but I think we put around 4,000 miles on the coach this trip and an additional 11,000 on the old Trail Blazer.  And mostly without any mechanical problems.  Another welcomed change.  As each year goes by we appreciate more and more the quality of our Monaco coach.  Sure we have an occasional repair issue but these older rigs were certainly built to a different, and I argue, higher standard.  They are simple, yet elegant with materials and craftsmanship but few coaches being built today, can match. Our 11 litre, 400hp Cummins engine pushes us around with little effort and does it with a not too thirsty attitude. On average of over 9 miles per gallon, it may sound like it's pretty thirsty but considering our total weight of over 40,000lbs it's really not bad.  Besides ... in what else can you spend the night in a WalMart parking lot (but we seldom do), sleep in your own bed, don't have to pack and unpack a suitcase, and spend most of our time wandering around this great country?

Just prior to arriving home, our final four day stop at Camp Turkeyville RV Resort near Marshall Michigan (www.campturkeyville.com) was uneventful though a little lonely in the empty park.  We certainly enjoyed the visits with family and friends in the area.  Our hometown Battle Creek, is still our hometown ... even though we've lived away for many years, the family and friends will always make it so.

So after some much needed yard work, thanks to a rather rough winter here, and the effort of cleaning up my junk clogged garage, we'll be heading off to our summer retreat in South Haven Michigan. 

We've got some interesting plans for this summer so stay with us and enjoy the ride.

Still livin' the dream in Spring-like Michigan.

Phil