10 July 2010 - Arrival in Port Huron, Michigan

Today was a short drive on up to Port Huron.  The real challenge was yet to come.  The plan was to stay in my father-in-law's yard since I was there to visit family and help with clean up of his estate.  There it was--The Driveway.  My father-in-law has the narrowest driveway in the world, paved but only 8 feet wide, with a ditch on either side of the entrance.  Oh, did I mention the big mailbox at the end of the driveway?  Even Willy, Gretchen, and Harley knew they needed to keep a low profile while Mom negotiated that entrance.  I made it!  Once I made it into that driveway, I figure I can do just about anything. There was a small matter of a soft yard but my brother Mike handled that little issue and I was home free...at least for the next month.

There was another reason this was a great day...Steve and Helen got engaged!  I got to see the ring while I was there and knew it was going to happen any day but Steve wanted to wait until the right moment when they were in a special place they would both remember.

Several days later I drove back down to Detroit and picked my husband up at the airport.  He spent the next 2 1/2 weeks with us in the RV.  We were hooked up to water and electric.  The house electrical system is very interesting so using the A/C was not a chance I was willing to take.  It really didn't matter as the temperatures never reached the kind of heat we are used to in Texas so I didn't need anything more than a fan.  There were nights when I closed the windows and used a blanket.

While we never got as far as a garage sale to clean things out,  it was a great month spent with family on both sides since my brother is married to my husband's sister.

My husband's brothers and sister

My brother and his youngest grandson

My brother's wife (my husband's sister) and another grandson

My brother and my husband's youngest brother

My niece, her husband, and their youngest in our RV

Willy and Harley play with their newest friend

It was a great month.  Having your own "RV home" means you can visit with everyone without wearing out your welcome.  You can also relax, plan your own time, and have down time whenever you want it.

9 July 2010 - Overnight in Lima, Ohio

The next day was another great travel day.  We stopped at roadside parks and, I think I already mentioned it, but Willy Gretchen, and Harley are great travelers.  They like the songs on the radio if I like them and they don't mind at all if I sing along.  They can take naps anywhere and anytime.  They enjoy stops at roadside parks.  You do have to be a tad careful when you stop though as they are very enthusiastic about whatever they do so when you open that door, they are ready to get out so you better be ready with the leashes.

Just before supper time, I started thinking that it would be really nice to stop at a Cracker Barrel.  Sometimes they even have places you can spend the night.  So we kept our eyes open and a couple of hours later, we saw the sign.  Once we found the exit, we had to make a couple turns to get to the restaurant.  Up close it was easy to see that even a large car would be crowded in that particular parking lot.  The was a Sam's Club a block further on so I parked there on the far edge of their lot in a row behind about 5 other RVs, walked and fed the dogs, and headed over to Cracker Barrel.

Looked good to me.  What do you think?  It was much cooler since we were further north so it promised to be more comfortable than last night.  After a quick shower, I was ready for bed.  Hmmm! What is that noise?  It appears that I didn't have to worry about the store being closed and no security as there was a street sweeper cleaning the parking lot.  Oh, well--the ear plugs worked great.

8 July 2010 - Overnight in Dalton, GA

The plan was to be off this morning--no rush, not early, but on our way.  Just before I was ready to leave, I decided I should update the GPS since we had had it for two years and updates were in order.  Okay, I was having too much fun earlier in the week and forgot to do it.  I figured it might take 15 or 20 minutes.  lol.  Never, ever do this until you have plenty of spare time.  It took just over 3 hours to complete the update but since I was using "Hillary" to plot all my travel, it was probably a wise decision to wait it out.  Anyway, we were on our way by 12:30 and had no specific stopping points in mind when we left.

We traveled over some of the same ground we covered when we went up to the AFLAC Iron Girl Thiathlon so it was familiar.  The scenery was nice although we did hit rain and fog a couple of times in some of the higher elevations but lucked out when we stopped for a very late lunch.    It rained hard while we were eating lunch in the RV but we didn't get wet coming or going to the truck.

Later in the early evening we began looking for an RV park but didn't see anything along the way.  All of a sudden there was a Super Walmart sign off the road so we found the cut-off and headed in.  I went in, picked up a few items for supper, and asked the manager if it was okay to spend the night.  I was told "no problem, just make sure you are inside our parking lot and not out on the street or the local cops just might give you a ticket."  We had a walk around the parking lot after a late dinner and by then it was late enough to head on to bed.  It was a bit warm but not too bad with some windows open.  A bit later on a number of other RVs pulled in and one parked a bit too close when they were using a generator; however, I found a pair of ear plugs and with the three vigilant guard dogs on duty, we all had a good night.

2-7 July 2010 in Florida

This has been a great week.  The grandchildren were really excited to be here.  There is a park less than two blocks away from the house that has a playground and a beach.  The beach is on the bay rather than the ocean so it is only a little salty.  It nice and sandy and slopes gently out so it's a great place for the kids and we can just walk down there.  Harley had a swim there with the kids.  Gretchen and Willy opted to stay home and nap.

On the 4th of July, we walked down to one of the main roads about 4 blocks away and watched an old fashioned 4th of July parade complete with floats, fire engines, politicians, candy throwing, and bands.  It was hot but we all had fun anyway.  That night we walked down just past the park and out onto the bridge over the bay to see the fireworks.  We had a great view, didn't have to worry about parking, and had a short walk home.  Everyone was ready for bed by the time we got there.

We have also been down to St Andrews State Park, Panama City Beach and the mall so it has been a busy week.

It has been an absolutely great visit but I promised to head up to Michigan to help out with some family things   so I'll be off tomorrow.  The grandchildren are signed up for swimming lessons for the rest of the summer and I know they are going to be busy and have lots of fun.

1 July 2010 - Quiet Day in Lynn Haven

Steve and Helen are off to pick up the kids in Jacksonville, FL today.  Steve was so excited to get their new Volkswagen Jetta TDI and now they have a roadtrip to test it out.

The dogs and I are just going to have a nice relaxing day at home.  I know the kids will be so excited to see their Dad at last.