7/25-8/1 Tiki RV Park - St. Ignace, MI

 Small park, but we are at the front and have our own grassy area under trees.  Dottie loves it!  People of the upper peninsula call themselves yoopers!

Our first outing was to Mackinaw Island.  No motor vehicles are allowed, so we rode our bikes to the ferry and around the island.  We also took a carriage tour of the island.  There is a huge hotel here!  The bridge spans the joining of Lakes Michigan and Huron.

Truck problems this week, so we spent a lot of time on that.

Steve toured colonial Fort Michilimackinac (I dare you to say that 3 times fast!) and rode his bike around the area.

Had dinner with John and Ann and then took off for Manistee...

Traverse Bay RV Resort - Williamsburg, MI (July 18-

Now, this is living!  This resort is only "owned" sites, and some of them are rented out.  Needless to say, the sites are all paved with full hookups and 50 amps, beautifully landscaped, clubhouse, swimming pool and spa, etc.

We met up with John and Ann, the friends we met in Port Aransas.  We had fun hanging out with them and took a couple of tours.  One was up the coast to Petoski, where we ate lunch at the grand Traverse Pie Company!  YUM!!!  We also drove up the Old Mission peninsula to see the lighthouse and the Old Mission Inn, and visited a few wineries (Cathy's favorite part).

We also took a day trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes, where we took a scenic tour and Steve climbed the Dune.

Met some new friends, Ken and Chris, who were in the site next to us, with their St. Bernard, Seager.  Wine, beer and "apple pie" were enjoyed by all!

On to our UP (upper penninsula) adventure...

American Campground - Kalamazoo, MI (July14-18)

What a campground!  We had a not so fun time finding a spot and had trouble getting all the way backed into one, only to find out it only had 110 power.   Finally found another, in full sun of course that had 30 amp.  This was on Thursday.

We were not expecting the heatwave that hit, and left on Monday, after finding out that the drag on the campground power wouldn't even run 1 air conditioner, let alone 2.  One night at 94 degrees inside was enough for Cathy!

It was a busy weekend though, as we did visit the Kalamazoo Nature Center one day, ate at the Club Car Restaurant (a 1910 Denver Rio Grande Railroad Car) and visited the library.

We also took a trip to Grand Rapids to see the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum.  This was the week that Betty Ford passed away, and the whole town was busy.

We also toured one of Frank Lloyd Wright's first "Prairie Style" homes, the Meyer May house.  The tour guide said that FLW thought people generally had too much stuff, so his houses had furniture, rugs, even dishes that he designed.  The walls were so ornate, you couldn't have hung a picture to save your life!

And on to Traverse City, MI...

Double J Campground - Chatham, IL (July 7-14)

Our first night here we went downtown and caught the "Taste of Downtown" in Springfield.  Local bands and local food (and BEER). Yum.

We toured the Lincoln Presidential Library and museum.  This is one of the Presidential Libraries that is not part of the association.  Most of the exhibit materials were donated by people other than the family.  Still, very interesting to learn what a shrewd polititian he really was.

Steve visited New Salem by himself and Lincoln's home in Springfield.

We both visited the State Capital and Lincoln's Tomb.  We weren't able to tour the Frank Lloyd Wright house of Dana-Thomas, due to it being renovated, but Steve walked around it on the outside, anyway.  It is a huge house.




On to Kalamazoo...

Walnut Grove - Merriam, KS

Guess we should consider this our "home park" since we spend so much time here!
We had to be here so Steve could compete in the Corporate Challenge swimming and track and field events.  We also were able to see all of our friends from the area as well as Bob & Pat, our full-timer friends.  We were especially grateful to have Bob around when we locked ourselves out of our RV!

We were also able to see our nephew, Dylan, graduate high school, and met other friends and relatives at his party.

Cathy saw an orthopedist to find out why her leg was going numb.  She survived an MRI (have I mentioned that she is claustrophobic?) and found out how to cure the issue with physical therapy instead of surgery!! YEAH!!!

Steve took some time off from Corporate Challenge and went to the Minnesota Boundary Waters on a canoe trip with friends Gerard and Steve.  They had a great time for a week!  Cathy had a great time that week, too!

We had a "juice box" put on our truck, upon the advise of several Dodge truck owners: which will give us temperature readings of the transmission and exhaust, and is supposed to improve performance and mileage.   We'll see...

Cathy and her Mom drove to Denver for a visit with Sharon and the kids for more packing, sorting and cleaning.  While they were there, they went to Fort Collins to visit great aunt Helen and great uncle Morey and cousin Kim.  A great visit was had by all.  Brought the kids, Nathan and Mia back to Lincoln for the 4th of July, and we were able to blow up most of Julie's neighborhood.  Julie put on a good feast for us all!

While Cathy was gone, Steve and good friend Barb toured!  They visited the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum; Harry's former home; the Bob Dole Institute of Politics at the University of KS - Lawrence; and the Nelson Atkins Museum, where Monet's 3 panels of Waterlillies were shown together for a retrospective.

Steve also saw the Motorcycle Masterpieces show at Union Station; a KC Royals game; and rode the Katy Trail.

On to Springfield, IL...July 7th

Bear's Den Resort - Grove, OK

Well, this is an interesting place, to say the least. Our site is in the grass under a tree. I suppose we are lucky to have hookups! Tried a site where they sent us first, but that one had no electric.

RAIN, RAIN, RAIN!!!

Steve took a trip to Har-Ber Village on the Grand Lake of the Cherokees. When he came back, we spent most of the evening in the tornado shelter (a building they had not used since the previous Halloween, which they had been using for storage) It was not comfortable and no air. Claustrophobic Cathy spent much of that time standing in the doorway or outside in the rain. This place is only 49 miles from Joplin, and we heard of that devastation. Several tornadoes were sited near here.

RAIN, RAIN, RAIN... but we left for Chanute, KS anyway, packing up in standing water halfway to our knees. We are hoping to get our electrical system fixed. We spent the night in Chanute amidst the carnival folks that were parked there. That was an interesting night.

On to Kansas City...

Twin Fountains RV Park - OK City, OK

We were able to visit the Oklahoma State Capital Building and Governor's Mansion. The Capital ground were interesting, with several memorials, including one from all of the Native American Tribes from the area.

We lunched at the highly recommended "Cattlemans Steakhouse" in the stockyard district. Several whole cows were eaten while we were there!

Steve visited the National Cowboy Museum and we both visited the zoo. The baby elephant was out for the first time, and his mom and aunt were keeping him very close!

We spent the next day at the National Memorial and Museum, dedicated to the 1995 bombing. It was a very sobering and moving tribute to those who died there.

On to Grove, OK...