Montague/Whitehall, Michigan 9/8/10

Montague, Michigan.......never to be erased from our minds!! Cloud formations, greenery and flowers, water and wetlands, plantings and sawgrass, harbor scenes and wide paved bike trails, creates overwhelming beauty.

The entry to Trailside RV Park

Beautiful Wetlands along the Heart-Montague Bicycle Trail

White Eagle - Not to be confused with the Bald Eagle

Who plants all the flowers in Montague, Mi. ??

Speechless!!

Breakdown Turns Sunny 09/07/10

Helpful Muskegonites

Thank you, Dana and Vicki for saving our day!! After a good night's rest and ready to leave the campground the Big Rig would not start. We just talked to Dana and Vicki the night before about motorhome problems. Dana, who works with heavy equipment, particularly Caterpillar diesel engines, mentioned that the most common problem was fuel filters or air filters being dirty. He suggested that he could show me how to change them...........little did we know that the very next morning we would get our chance to do that for real. The picture shows some of the nicest people on earth!! Thanks again for the help and we'll be sure to pass on the kindness!

Saugatuck Boardwalk

Saugatuck Marina

Biking in Saugatuck

The Monroe Restaurant

A peck for Marilyn

After the rough start we ended up visiting the beautiful town of Saugatuck/Douglas (recommendation of Dana and Vicki). We fell in love with the town, but only had time to bike around the main square and grab a bite to eat at Monroe's Restaurant because of the late start. The weather was absolutely gorgeous again, some strong winds prevailed. David had made plans to make it to Montague, Mi. to a campground within the city and close to bike trails. I am not sure if the pictures show it, but the day was as crisp and sparkly as a bite of a fresh apple.

Dreams of Beach

Breathtaking!!!

Finally at the beach in New Buffalo, Michigan!! I sooo love this beach!!! I (Dagmar), have waited 9 long years to return here. Last time it was in April of 2001, a very cold day and just passing through. Today, we spent a delightful, warm afternoon climbing rocks, soaking up the sun and walking along the beautiful sandy shore. We parked the motorhome across the street from the beach, paid our $10 parking fee and explored. Unfortunately dogs are not allowed on the beach, so Baker and Grindi stayed in the home on wheels :(( Our final destination for the evening was "Dune Lake Campground" in Coloma, Mich. and there we were able to take the dogs for a walk in the sandy dunes that are so prevalent here.

Checking out the temperature of the water

The tip of a stone levee, took some balance to get there

Farm Country 9/5/2010

Today was a traveling day. After spending the night at a Springfield, Illinois. Walmart we headed out again this morning. Drove to Reynolds, Indiana before stopping at the White Country 4-H Fairgrounds. We drove through miles and miles of farmland, almost all of it corn. Harvest is coming to these parts in the next week or two. Our original intention was to stay at the Indiana Beach RV Resort near Monticello but after looking it over I didn't want to stay there. Too commercial and just too many people there on Labor Day Weekend. So we returned back about 10 miles to Reynolds and checked out the Fairgrounds. It wasn't open but after walking around town and talking to some of the locals we asked them if they thought it would be alright if we stayed the night. The all said they thought it would be alright. We even found a 20amp plugin so we didn't have to run the generator at all. We had the Fairgrounds to ourself.

Another Day in Hannibal - 9/4/10

Well we didn't stay the entire night at the riverside park with the trains. About 12:30am the 'Train from Hell" arrived, the biggest, baddest, loudest, longest train you ever did see. It put us over the edge and we moved to Walmart parking lot. Just as we were settling down to sleep the street sweeper started going up and down the parking lot. He was followed by I swear a weed eater doing all the little parking islands in the middle of the night. Eventually they all got tired and went home and we got some sleep. Next morning we were back at the riverside park because it is so centrally located to the downtown and has RV parking. Next up was our first try at exercising on the road. We had a 20lb weight and a little roller wheel to work out our abs. Dagmar and I did many of our normal exercises but it will need some refining as the trip goes on. Later that morning I went off to play in a horseshoe tournament. The previous evening during our bike riding we saw a group of men in the park pitching horseshoes. We stopped to talk and we found out they were practicing for a tournament to be held the following morning in the park. They invited us to participate and it sounded to me as something fun to try. The entry fee was just $5 and you pick your pardner out of hat. When I got there about 11:30 quite a few people were already there and we got started around 12:30pm. My pardner was Ted, a retired 'brakeman' from the Burlington railroad. He was somewhere north of 70 years old and was able to throw from the 30 foot line because of his age. We did well enough splitting our 6 'round robbin' matches but that still put us in 4th place, just out of the money. Luckily I bought 2 tickets to what they called the 50/50 which was a drawing for each flight. When the called '107' my number I couldn't believe it, because I always loose at this stuff, but today was my exception. My $2 investment returned $28, more than enough to cover my expenses with some left over for a couple of brats for Dagmar and I that we purchased from a local vendor. Later that evening we decided to pull out and head for Springfield, Il. and spend the night there in you guessed it, the local Walmart.

Not the 'Train from Hell' but one like it!

Doing her lunges around the RV

Some of the men and women in the tournament

My good form and follow-thru

My partner, Ted

Figuring who plays who next

Made it to Hannibal, Mo.

A beautiful morning and we left on time, meaning 10 am!

Leaving home with our boys!!

Stopped in Marceline, Mo. for lunch, which I fixed in the motorhome. Found out that good old Walt Disney was here before us!

Did you know that Walt Disney was born and raised in Marceline, MO.?

Okay, I could hardly get David to move on in the trip....I think for the first time it hit him that he has all day to be retired and sit in the wonderful breeze sipping his coffee.

David did not want to leave here, having a cup of home brewed coffee in the middle of town in the middle of the afternoon in the middle of Marceline, Mo.

Hannibal, Mo. ......our goal for the day. Took a bike tour and ate dinner at "Ole Planter's Restaurant".........best brat we have had in a long time!

Hannibal, Mo. This is the fence that Tom Sawyer persuaded other boys to paint for him.....not something that would have happened to me!

Mark Twain Riverboat

Ready for our first Retirement Trip

Well the motorhome is packed, the trip is planned, and we're ready to head out for the open road. In the morning I'll fill her up with water (100 gal), load the last of the kitchen supplies, computer, and other electronics. We should be leaving about 10am, driving to Hannibal, Mo. about 250 miles. Hannibal is the boyhood home of Mark Twain, although he was born in Florida, Mo. about 25 miles away. We'll spend the night there and look for things to see on Saturday. We know they have a Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum which should be interesting.

The RV looks awfully big in our driveway.

We've got our map of the states we've visited on the side. It was a retirement gift from my co-workers.