Days 54-57 - Saturday - Tuesday, August 1 - 4 - Mostly Slow Days

 We have kept busy "Mom sitting". Each day she gets two kinds of eye drops put in each eye, in the AM & PM. When we were at the Fairgrounds we would drive the 7 miles out to her house put in the eye drops and then stay awhile or take her back to the coach with us. Each day we had supper together, whether she was with us at the coach or we were at her place. She has been with us a lot.

I think I have mentioned that Mom's brain tells her it is around 1980-1985. Unless you have been around someone like that I don't think you can understand the situation. 

Sunday we had to move out of the Fairgrounds so that they could start getting ready for the county Fair, which starts on the 9th. We moved out to Mom's pond. It is a beautiful place. The problem with staying out there is that there is only one electrical circuit that is already feeding a refrigerator and some lights. The only time that is a real problem is when it is hot. We have to run our generator to run our AC units. Second, Mom's water comes from an OLD shallow well. It smells and tastes horrible. If we use up the water in our freshwater tank we have to haul in water from my brothers and pump it into our freshwater tank. Third, no sewer connections. That isn't much of a problem. We just run a hose over into the cornfield for our grey water. A couple of years ago when we knew we were going to be there for 2 weeks my brother used his backhoe and dug a hole at the back of the property. We just drove back next to the hole, dumped our black tank, and went back to our  parking place.

This morning we left Mom's around 11 and headed to Missouri. About 7 hours, and 336 miles later we pulled in to the National Trail rest area just west of Effingham, IL. We will spend the night here and head on home tomorrow.

We are both beat! We aren't looking forward to Missouri heat, but I'm sure looking forward to a few days of "alone" time. 

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Days 51-53 - Wednesday-Friday, July 29-31 - Not Much Happening

 Basically we are just Mom sitting. Thursday Kathy did a LOT of cleaning at Mom's and caught up Mom's laundry, while I took Mom for her weekly hair appointment and then out to lunch to keep her out of Kathy's hair.

Wednesday & Thursday evenings the kids were in the Fairground arena with their horses. It is always fun to watch them.

Today Nancy & Cindy, two of Kathy's sisters, and Ed, Cindy's husband, came up from NW Ohio. Kathy went with them to the "Amish grocery store" in Bronson, MI. I went out to Mom's and used her WiFi to do some car research, at Kelsey's request.

One of the two RV's that were here when we were here in early June left a couple of days ago. Today two more pulled in. Four of us  here may be the most I've seen here.

Lots of activities going on every day as workers are getting ready for the Fair, which starts August 9th.

God is good. I pray that He bless you and yours. He has blessed me.

Days 49 & 50 - Monday & Tuesday, July 27th & 28th - Ho Hum

Nothing exciting happening, Continuing to "Mom sit". I talked to my brother, they are having a great time at their property up near Baldwin, MI. He, and his wife, are the real campers of the family. Kathy and I are the glampers (glamour campers). They have a couple of old travel trailers up there, that my brother bought cheap and rebuilt. They took two side by sides up with them, and I'm sure other toys. I think they have 11 family members and at 2 friends of the family up there.

June 5th was the last time I was at a fitness center. There is a Planet Fitness in Coldwater so I finally went to it for an hour this morning. I will be sore tomorrow.

It's partly sunny today. The high was 77, last nights low was 66. It's supposed to get down to 59 by morning. We will like that.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Days 47 & 48 - Saturday & Sunday, July 25th & 26th - Watching the Horses

 Holdover from Thursday - On our way from Clare to Coldwater last Thursday I saw this huge facility in St. John, MI. I did some research and learned that it is MWC, a cheese making facility. Every year they turn over 2.9 BILLION pounds of milk into 300 MILLION pounds of block cheese. These numbers boggle my mind.

2.9 BILLION pounds of milk per year is 7.94 million pounds per day. At 40,000#/truck that is 200 trucks full of milk arriving on an average day.

FACTOID: Michigan ranks sixth in the United States for total milk production and first in the nation for milk production per cow. The state's dairy herd of over 450,000 cows produces more than 12 billion pounds of milk annually.

Screenshot from Google Maps

Saturday morning my brother stopped by so that we could discuss Mom's situation. Our 97 year old Mom still lives by herself. Physically she is is in good health (awesome health for someone 97 years old) but mentally her mind thinks she is living 40 years ago. 

Saturday afternoon I went out to Mom's, picked her up and she spent the afternoon with us. Kathy went out this morning and picked her up and she spent the day with us. Mom virtually never stops talking, asking questions. For old folks who remember vinyl records she is like a record where the needle can't get out of the track. 

Late Saturday afternoon two of Kathy's sisters, who live in northwest Ohio, came for a visit.

My brother puts drops in Mom's eyes every morning and evening and takes her the other 3 meds she takes. He plays the guitar ands sings a little. His way of stopping the endless stream of questions is to take his guitar down when he spends time with her in the evenings, and playing and singing.

Both days we have been here there has been some type of girls competitions involving horses. Mom grew up around horses. She sat in the coach drivers seat and watched the girls/horses compete.

I took these photos through our windshield. 

God is good, even when we don't understand Him. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Day 46 - Friday, July 24th - Clare to Coldwater

 Nothing exciting today. We arrived at the Branch County Fairgrounds at 11AM. Kathy started on multiple loads of laundry and running the dishwater, now that we have a sewer hook up to dump our tanks. I hooked up our utilities, walked down and paid for 9 nine nights, had some lunch and took a nap.

In the afternoon we out and visited with my Mom for an hour and then met my brother, his wife, one of their grandsons and Mom for dinner. The food and fellowship was good.

By 8PM we were back home. Kathy is sitting outside, watching the sunset. The temperature is 77 degrees. It feels to cool for shorts and a tee shirt. We just watched a young lady walking a heifer down a road in the Fairgrounds. My guess is that she is getting it used to things so that it will be ready to show at the Fair that starts on August 9th.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Days 44 & 45 - Wednesday & Thursday, July 22nd & 23rd - Saying Goodbye to the UP

Wednesday it was mostly sunny, but ;windy and cool. It was our last full day in the UP so we got out of the campground. We went to Motown Nate's for lunch. We had driven by it numerous times but had not stopped. There never seemed to be a good place to park. After several trips around several blocks a space right next to the place opened up. You order in a small building back behind the Airstream. They give you a pager and you pick your order up at a window in the Airstream. 

We chose to sit at a table in the tepee. Note the guitar shaped, unvented "stove". The top of the tepee is open. Must be enough of a draft to carry the smoke away. It would be interesting to see it in operation.

Kathy's brisket sandwich was really good, as was my Detroit style coney dog. The fries were excellent but the best item was the homemade chips. You can see a few at the top left. We ate the chips with our sandwiches and took the fries home with us. Kathy warmed them up in the oven for a late night snack. They were even great warmed up.

During the entire day there were lots of float planes landing and taking off.

In the afternoon we walked down to the area where the cruise ships dock. It was about a half mile each way. With the wind it was a little to cool to really enjoy it but we sat on a bench and watched the action on the river for 15-20 minutes.

This area is next to some type of Fisheries group. I wonder if this "tank" was a way to transport fish.

The place was some type of State facility. I wonder if our tax dollars paid for this charging station. None of the other spaces in the parking lot even had an outlet to plug in  your car during the winter. The State didn't even think it was necessary to provide a gas pump for people who drove vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. 

Thursday - We weren't in any hurry to leave since we planned on driving only 200 miles today, and finishing up the last 160 miles to Coldwater tomorrow. We pulled up to the dump station and started emptying our tanks around 11:30. I had mapped out the rest areas along the way and we stopped at one of them for lunch. We were a little surprised when we got to the ramp into the rest area and saw the sign, NO TRUCKS. At the last minute we decided it didn't say NO RV's, so we drove in. The road was a little narrow, twisty and hilly but nothing that was an actual problem. It was a nice place for lunch and a break.

About 50 miles after the rest area we stopped and filled up with fuel. The cheapest fuel I could find, at a station where I thought we could get in and out without difficulty was $4.99/gal. We topped off the tank with 59 gallons. If we go straight home when we leave Coldwater we can probably make it to Missouri before we have to stop for fuel.

We arrived at the Clare Welcome Center around 4:30. This is where we plan on spending the night.

This "art" was here when we stopped a few years ago, but I don't remember the model of the bridge.

I sat out at a picnic table, reading, for close to an hour. Traffic through the rest area is light. As I write this there is only one semi in the truck parking lot. There is some highway noise, but not bad. It won't surprise me to wake up in the morning to a lot full of trucks.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Days 42 & 43 - Monday & Tuesday, July 20 & 21 - Windy, Rainy, Cool, YUCK!

 Yesterday the high didn't get out of the 60's and today I don't think it is going to make it out of the 50's. The temperatures would be okay but it is cloudy and windy, with occasional rain. Looking out at the river I see some "white caps". 

We did go to Meijer's for groceries yesterday and then went to a Chinese place for lunch. 

The price of firewood up here is almost laughable. At Meijer's

 I wonder what this works out to per cord,  about $350? Even at the small roadside stands it is $7-8 for a small bundle.

My back (kidneys?) is acting up again. Combined with the nasty weather I don't feel like doing anything. Kathy went "junking" this morning, it is cheap entertainment for her. 

Tomorrow is supposed to be cool but sunny, a day we can enjoy. It will be our last full day in the UP. Thursday we head back down to Coldwater to "Momsit" for a week while my brother and his family take a vacation.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.