Monday, December 14, 2015
As Natasha reminded me, it’s been months since I’ve
blogged. So here’s an update of the last
several months and what we think we’re doing in the near future.
The last time I blogged we were in Winnipeg, Manitoba,
Canada. The next night we parked at
Caliper Lake for one night, which normally wouldn’t get a mention, but it was
the closest park job we did. Here’s two
pictures to show how close to the trees we got:
Steve did a great job and we were able to open all the
slides. And we didn’t even hit a tree on
the way out!
We spent a few days in Duluth (back in the USA at last)
and then moved on to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, which is on the
northern side of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, on Lake Superior. To really see the Pictured Rocks, you need to
take a boat trip. This is representative
of the rock formations and layers you’ll see.
Note the kayakers at the bottom of the picture for scale.
We then moved on to Mackinaw City, Michigan, and, of
course, visited Mackinac Island. No
motor vehicles are allowed on the island (except emergency vehicles) so
everything moves by horse or bicycle.
This was the first time I’ve ever seen luggage on a bike.
This wagon was making deliveries to the stores.
It was a charming place, and the fort on the island has
an interesting history. The fort (and
island) were captured by the British in the War of 1812. I always forget that war was fought on both
the east coast and the Canadian border.
But on the whole, the island felt too perfect. I felt more like I was in Disney World than
in a real town.
After that we headed for Detroit, Michigan, and the
wedding of Steve’s niece, Kelly. It was
a fun weekend with all of Steve’s family, including his 92 year old dad. This is a picture of the bride and her dad,
Steve’s brother, Terry.
Our trip home included a stop in Elkhart, Indiana, to get
an estimate and materials ordered for some work to be done on the trailer. Elkhart is the RV capital of the US so it’s
easy to find experienced people to work on RVs.
We wanted to have the carpet replaced with solid flooring in the living
area and one of the grey tanks had developed a leak last spring, so that needed
replaced. Luckily, the leak was near the
top, so we didn’t have much trouble with it unless the tank got full. Then we emptied it.
So, one night in Elkhart and then it was back home to
West Lafayette! I think we arrived home
on Thursday, September 10, in time for the first home game on the 12th. We had been on the road for 9 months and it
was good to get home.
Steve had scheduled some home maintenance work for when
we got home and getting ready for that meant organizing areas of the house that
had been neglected. We plowed through
that, with Steve making multiple trips to Goodwill and a trip to the dog rescue
with the rest of our dog paraphernalia. (Sniff.) We also had to take the trailer
back to Elkhart to get the work done that we wanted.
And then it was off to Disney World (yes, again) with the
Stewart family. After years of doing all
the planning, I find I really enjoy just going with the flow with someone else
doing the planning, down to costumes for the Halloween Party.
Then, on October 29, we got the news that Natasha’s
mother, Olga, staying with Natasha in Plano, TX, had fallen and broken both
wrists. Natasha was able to take two
weeks leave, so I flew down on November 12 to start helping as she went back to
work. That meant I had to pack my stuff
in the trailer before I left, as Steve would drive the trailer down after
Thanksgiving. It might have been smarter
to drive the trailer down at that time, but Steve wanted to have the wheel
bearings repacked and new tires put on the trailer. Having to replace a wheel bearing is about
the only damage the trip to Alaska and back did to the trailer.
On November 13, my great nephew, Benjamin, arrived to my
niece, Jessica, and her husband Bryan.
Then, sometime that week, we got news that Steve’s dad had fallen and
broken his elbow. He lives in assisted
living and Steve’s sister Nancy is nearby, so it wasn’t urgent that he get
there immediately, but since his sister had bought plane tickets for a trip in
December, we expected he might have to be there when the cast was removed.
Then, November 22, we got word that little Ben had been
airlifted to Greenville, NC. After many
anxious hours it was determined that he had a kink in his aorta, something that
affects one in a hundred births. They operated
on him on the 24th and he went home on December 3rd. He seems to be recovering well and is
receiving lots of love!
I flew back to Indiana for Thanksgiving and then returned
to Plano. Olga was progressing nicely,
but still couldn’t lift Maria. Steve
flew to Maryland to be with his dad Dec. 8 -11.
He and our friend, Rich, will be driving the trailer to Texas this week.
All in all, it’s been a much more hectic fall than we
imagined, but we’re hoping for calmer days ahead. When Steve arrives here, we’ll mostly be back
on the schedule we had anticipated, staying with Natasha until after Maria’s
birthday celebration (Jan. 4th) and then heading for Florida. We’ll be at Disney with Natasha for a
conference and then there’s a reunion for our Alaska tour in Florida at the end
of January. We’ll visit with family and
friends until it gets warm enough to head north, swinging by to visit my family
and friends along the way. We expect to
be home for Easter.
Always assuming nothing else comes up!
Deb
