It is April, 32 Degrees is Not Okay

Friday, April 28, 2017

For anyone reading our blog you will notice as the summer goes on I will not post as often but I am going to do my best to keep it up to date at least twice a week. I would like to keep a record of this summer and getting the "For Sale" sign out in front.

So this is our fourth day home. You will notice a complete lack of pictures because I have not taken any. We have been enjoying time with our grandchildren and daughter I just keep forgetting to take pictures. Wednesday my feet got a treat when our daughter gave me a pedicure...she had mentioned it looked like they could use one. She worked at the Kohler Water Spa in Kohler, WI, a 5 star spa, for 5 years so she does an excellent job even without the fancy equipment. I now have happy toes.

It started raining Tuesday evening and it stopped last night about 7 or so and I bet you are thinking that is good news. No...no not really because it stopped raining and turned to snow. Not snow that stayed on the ground mind you, though farther north it did do some accumulating, but snow just the same...and yesterday's temperature was a lovely 36 degrees. So the only time I was outside was to travel between the Stinger B, in our driveway, and the back door to bring in a few things. As I write this it is, I am in denial so I checked it twice, 32 degrees. Okay that is just to, to cold we will have to go out and apologize to the Stinger B for bringing it to the "frozen" north this early.  They, whoever they are, are predicting a "balmy" high of 41 degrees today but no sun. I do see a sun, a partial sun, on next Thursday's weather, we can only hope. Of course, I also see rain coming out of clouds Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. I know the sun is still out there the rest of you keep talking about it. We are thinking May, yes May, would be a better month to come home. The last two years we did come back in May and the weather was much kinder. We do not even have dandelions yet...:( Okay, I have gotten that out of my system, enough ranting about the weather.

On a good note we are getting things done and with any luck the upstairs will be pretty much cleared by Monday. Plus, the things that need to come in from the Stinger B are slowly making their way in. So maybe the cold rainy weather is a blessing in disguise, I am trying to be positive about 32 degrees, because it is somewhat keeping us on track. Of course, not to having to worry about this house anymore is also a great incentive. Not coming home to yard work and repairs will be nice. Besides clearing out the inside, the yard needs to be racked, our washer quit, and we have a leaky pipe which are know added to Tom's lengthening to do list. So we will keep "plowing" ahead one day at at time.

"The best thing about the future is

that it comes one day at a time."

~Abraham Lincoln

 Hope you are enjoying your day.

If you have time to leave us a note we would enjoy hearing from you.

The Stinger B Is In The Driveway!

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Today is our second day back in Escanaba. Yesterday we spent time with three of our grandchildren and our daughter. Today the "fun" begins. The plan is to clear out our second floor of all the "stuff". There is also yard work to be done. Plus, we have to get the Stinger B parked in our empty lot next to the house. Right now it is in the driveway and it is not really a good or convenient location. We would like to get all this done before we head down to the Detroit area to see our son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren. So we will probably be busy.

Below is the last part of our trip home on Monday, April 24, 2017.

Dandelions in our site. 

Leaving the Plymouth Rock Camping Resort.

There is a paved path along the south side of WI-23. I do not know
how long it is but we did see people walking and biking on it.
One thing I did notice was that every so often there is a place to
stop and rest. There would be either a picnic table, benches or both.
It looks like a well maintained path but I could not find any
information on the internet about it. 

There is construction on I-43.
The sign, lower left was before each of the bridges/overpasses they
are working on. I just thought it was unique. Just so you know
the lane is closed, upper right, we saw this sign 20+ times
in a ten mile stretch. 

We have always called this Tower Bridge then I saw this sign
and was reminded that the actual name is the
Leo Frigo Memorial Bridge.
Top picture is out my side window looking at the mouth of the
Fox River and the Green Bay. (Lake Michigan)

I-43 ends at this intersection and we will turn north onto US-41.
Interestingly if you turn south you are on I-41 for 175 miles to
Northern Illinois. As far as I can find out it is the only stretch that
is designated an Interstate.
US-41 starts at the northern tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula in
the UP and ends after 2000 miles in Miami, FL.

This is the first time our home town is mentioned, 90 more miles.

Crossing the Menominee River and the water looks high.
There used to be a sign half way across welcoming you to
Michigan. Now it is just past the bridge.

We have turned onto M-35.

Lake Michigan looks dark today.

We can see some waves.

Crossing over the Ford River.
Like the Menominee River it looks high.

Only a few more miles and we will pull into our driveway.

Passing the Airport...

...then the sign that says Escanaba.

We stopped on a side street, a few blocks from the house, to
unhook the Jeep. Then I went ahead to be sure the driveway
was clear of any debris.

The Stinger B is in the driveway for the first time.
April 24, 2017, 6:36PM 

The Crusader leaving the driveway for the last time.
 October 20, 2016, 5:45AM 

This "Third Adventure" was a little different then the first two. It covered 187 days 59 in the Crusader and 101 in the Stinger B. There were also 27 days we spent traveling to Michigan, spending time in Michigan, and traveling back to Florida to pick up the Stinger B.
We forgot to take the mileage when we parked the Crusader for the last time, so I do not have those miles. We did put 5,868 miles on the Stinger B.
So we close the chapter on this our "Third Adventure".

As I finish writing this I can hear the rain on the roof of the motor home and checking the weather it looks like the same for tomorrow so we will be inside. So let the "fun" begin.

May your day be filled with smiles.

If you have a moment to leave a comment we would love hearing from you.

Almost "UP" North

Friday, April 21, 2017 -- Sunday April 23, 2017

We arrived at the Plymouth Rock Camping Resort Thursday afternoon and we have enjoyed our short stay here. It was cloudy and windy when we arrived and though the wind and the temperatures have not co-operated for sitting out we have had some beautiful blue skies.

We spent Friday relaxing and then we went into Plymouth for dinner at PJ Campbells at The Depot. Tom was looking for a place to go out for a fish fry and after doing some checking he felt this was the place we should try. He was right. He enjoyed a perch dinner and I enjoyed my grilled salmon. The service was excellent and the food delicious. We started with a Beer and Brat Dip served with sliced pretzel crustinis, we are in Wisconsin after all, and in an unusual twist Tom had salad and I had a fish chowder next. By the time the meal came, lets just say we had fish for lunch on Saturday and it was just as good warmed up.

PJ Campbells at the Depot.
Some information about the Depot itself in picture below.
(If you click on it, it will open larger in a new window.)

Saturday my sister and brother-in-law invited us over for dinner and it was certainly nice spending time together catching up. Not to mention she served us a very delicious Chicken Gordon Bleu Casserole with a nice green salad on the side. (I never think to take pictures of the food.) Plus, she had a lovely tray of appetizers for us to snack on while we talked. (There may have, also, been a couple of adult beverages enjoyed.)

We started Sunday with Mass at St. John the Baptist Church in Plymouth. I left my phone out in the Jeep so there are no pictures of this lovely church. Then we took off in such a hurry after mass, we had a couple of errands to run and we were expecting my sister and brother-in-law for lunch, that I completely forgot to take an outside picture. Over the years we have known a couple of priests that just had that something special. In our opinion, it was because they totally loved being parish priests and spending time with their parishioners. Today the priest who celebrated mass was without a doubt a happy man and loved being a priest. Everything about mass today was uplifting mostly because of the way he interacted with his parishioners. (I am pretty sure I was smiling the whole time we were there.) They are truly a blessed parish to have him as their Shepard.

My sister and brother-in law then joined us for a late lunch at the Stinger B. They wanted to check it out and lets face it we wanted to show it off. It was a pleasant afternoon spent chatting. The only thing that would have been nicer would have been the wind dying down and the temperature rising so we could have spent some time sitting outside. When we left for mass it was gorgeous out but by the time we walked out, after mass, the wind had picked up and with it the temperature dropped. The temperature continued to drop through out the day and was down to 32 degrees when we went to bed.

The Stinger B parked in Site 648.

Not long after I hit publish this morning we will pull out of this site, make our way to the front, where we will turn in our pass key, hook-up the Jeep, turn onto WI-67 South for a few miles, then we will be on WI-23 East for about 10 miles before we take the ramp for I-43 and point the Stinger B North for about 65 miles. North toward our daughter, grandchildren, and home, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. (After about a week we will take the Jeep across the Mackinaw Bridge to head to the Detroit Area to spend time with our son, daughter-in-law and the rest of our grandchildren.)  Back to today, we plan on making one stop in Green Bay to do some quick shopping, well I am going to shop not sure how quick, and have lunch. Then we will make the final "run" for home. Back on I-43 after we go over the Tower Bridge we will exit onto US-41 still headed North. Then in about 52 miles we will cross the Menominee River and about half way across we will be in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. A few more miles and we will continue onto M-35 and we will get glimpses of Lake Michigan on and off for the next 55 miles. (The next blog will have those pictures.) Then after stopping to unhook the Jeep, Tom will turn the Stinger B into our driveway, and park it in its summer home. Closing the chapter on "Our Third Adventure".

For the next few months the Stinger B will be getting a well deserved rest, a thorough cleaning, re-arranging, and maintenance.  So it will be ready to take us out on "Our Fourth Adventure". In the meantime we anticipate it will be a busy summer for us. Lots of work mixed with lots of fun.

"Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating 

that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, 

worry, and die, it can introduce 

the idea that if we try and 

understand each other, 

we may even become friends."

~Maya Angelou

Hope you had a day filled with special moments.

If you have a minute to leave a comment, we would love hearing from you.

Traveling With A Purpose -- Heading North

The following days are the traveling we did to get to our present location which is Plymouth, WI where we are staying at the Plymouth Rock Camping Resort. We are using up some of our free camping and relaxing before we make the final push for home. When we get home we will take a day to get the Stinger B unloaded and then the task ahead of us will be to go through the rest of our stuff. We hope to have the house up for sale in June. Wish us luck.

Tuesday, April 18, 2017 (Missouri)

We pulled out of the Branson Stage Coach Campground around 9:00AM it was overcast but not raining. Once we were out on the side road we could see the fog in the distance which would pretty much stay with us until we reached I-44.

The road out to US-65.

We are at our turn onto the highway.
We had the sheriff following us the entire way out.

The highway and fog ahead.

Patsy and George I know from reading your blogs you like
water towers. Wish I could have gotten a picture of this one
at night, the large "B" and stars light up.

Always uplifting to see a cross in the distance. It is
amazing for a country that has groups of people that
want to eliminate God from everything how many crosses
 you see. (Small white cross upper left.)

Between the fog and the signs (even with all the "hills" we
were up and down we hardly ever saw this sign in Missouri)
it was a little worrisome what would be over the crest in the hill. 

Even with the fog the road ahead brought beautiful views.
We did experience some misting when we reached the top
of the various hills.

Kept thinking they went through a lot of rock to build
this highway.

I am about to rant...if you do not want to hear please scroll past the next picture. I am pretty sure everyone who RV's has encountered the vehicle that does not know how to merge, the one who doesn't want to wait and get behind but at the same time has trouble getting into the lane at a decent speed. One of our favorites is when you are in a two lane exit in the left hand lane and the person in the right lane changes their mind and decides to go straight. Then there is the passing vehicle that cuts back in about as close as they can and exits in front of you; that one goes hand in hand with the car that waits until you are almost to the crossroad and then pulls out going your way to turn at the next corner. Especially enjoy these drivers when there is no one within sight behind us. We have also been passed on the exit and entrance ramps more then once. Tuesday the motor home pictured below passed us on the curve as we were keeping right at the fork to enter onto I-44 and in our opinion that was the saddest driver we have encountered. Another RVer doing what so many non-RVer's have done to us all. Causing Tom to hit the brakes and move over to avoid them. This was not a two lane fork and luckily Tom saw them out of the corner of his eye. Enough said, I'm done.

We are on I-44 going east and we have blue skies...:)

It was a beautiful day and the scenery added to it.

Tom, driving us smoothly through St. Louis.

The mystery to me is how and when they do the graffiti.

We have crossed the Mississippi into Illinois then
turned north on I-55.

Illinois rest stop.

No wildflowers today even the dandelions are done...:(

Our day ends as the sun sets behind the mini-mall parking
lot across from us.
(We are definitely not parked in the desert anymore.)

We are parked in a Walmart in Litchfield, Illinois after 316 miles.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017 (Illinois)

It was around 9:30AM when we pulled out of the Walmart and Hazel, google maps, directed us back towards I-55 by traveling down about 6 miles of Old Route 66. We have driven the whole of Old Route 66 through Arizona and a short part in New Mexico but this was our first section in Illinois.

I know the picture is blurry, out the side, and I do not know
what they are but I am saying yellow wildflowers.

This looked to be like fields of lavender. I looked it up and
they do have lavender farms in Illinois. So that is what
I am sticking with.

You know you are in the Midwest when you pass a sign
for the Hawes Grain Elevator Museum.

We are on flat land.

Going over the Illinois River.

We are seeing a lot of farms now.

I kept missing the lilac bushes but I did catch these.
Though I am not sure what they are.

They have their own mini-lake.

The wind turbines were barely moving today.

You know you are getting close to Wisconsin when a
Kohler truck passes you.

Illinois got us again...$4.55 this time.

Some beautiful, if not ominous clouds, as we drove
along today. 

You know you are welcome when Culver's says so.

Almost made it to our stop for the day and then the rain hit.
At this point we have fingers crossed the windshield wipers
will not let us down and they didn't.

Going around the outer edge of Madison just before we
turned off of I-39 and onto US-151.

Tonight's view out our dining room window is Cabela's
located in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.

It was cold and drizzling as we pulled in for the night after a 307 mile ride. Overnight it got quite windy as a thunderstorm went through. The Stinger B did its job and kept us warm, dry, and safe.

Thursday, April 20, 2017 (Wisconsin)

We took our time leaving today as we only had about 93 miles to go and check in at the park was at
1 o'clock. So we enjoyed our coffee then pulled out around 11:00AM.

We started the day with a familiar sight but at least no
concrete dividers.

Have I mentioned how wonderfully
flat Illinois and Wisconsin are.

Shopko, Cheese, and Packer Items we are definitely in Wisconsin.

Cities we are familiar with and a highway I have traveled more
then once visiting our daughter when she lived in Sheboygan
and my sister who also lives in Sheboygan. Not a direct route
but one I would take going there or traveling back home if  I
 wanted to stop at the outlet mall in Oshkosh or do some
shopping in Appleton. We are turning East onto WI-23.

The hilliest it had been since we started through Wisconsin.

Lots of wet fields.

Nothing says rural America like farms and small churches.

The last few miles and we will be parked for a few days.

"Life is like the ocean.

It can be calm or still,

and rough or rigid,

but in the end

it is always

BEAUTIFUL."

                                               ~unknown

We had a beautiful day. Hoping you did, also.

If you have a moment to leave a comment, we would enjoy hearing from you.