Detroit, Michigan - Charleston, West Virginia (via Ohio)

If you haven't read the Grayling to Detroit post be sure to read that first! 

We had a appointment in Detroit to get service for the RV and get a tow package installed on to the Saturn.  I won't go into the stress and difficulty of getting this accomplished, but I'm  excited to tell you about what we did while waiting for our work to be done.  (Thanks in part to a nice man at the Cummins Distributor who let us use his Suburban for the day.)  Outside of Detroit in Dearborn, Michigan is the Henry Ford Museum, Factory and Greenfield Village.  We decided to go to the Village but did not know what to expect once we arrived.  We were very pleasantly surprised.  Entering Greenfield Village is like stepping back into an 80-acre time machine. It takes you back to the sights, sounds and sensations of America past.  There are 83 authentic, historical structures, from Noah Webster's home, where he wrote the first American dictionary, to Thomas Edison's Menlo Park Laboratory, to the courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced law.  Walking into the perfectly preserved homes really brought you back in time.  It was like the voices from the past were whispering their stories through the walls of their dwellings.  All through out the village you could find people who dressed and behaved as if they were living in the past.  The best part is that they wanted you to join in on their discussions and activities.  The boys loved joining the men in a game of croquette or playing old fashioned kids games on the lawn.  Best of all, we all had a blast playing 1867 baseball.  It was played by the rules of the time which allowed the outfielder to the throw the ball at runner to get him out.  You can see why Sterling loved it so much and played most of the day.  

The Wright brothers were telling of their adventures of their first flight.  
These bikes seemed so peaceful and fun.  Wish I could just ride around town all day.

Sterling was so hot and sweaty playing Baseball all day.

The scarf and pole was from their hobo lunch which consisted of a peanut butter and Jelly sandwich, string cheese, raisins and a juice.

Tanner and Peyton had a great time making candles.

Sterling liked to play in the outfield where he could throw the ball at the runner.

Tanner got a good hit in.

After the Village we drove to Cleveland, Ohio so that I could catch a early morning flight.  Dave and the boys had a great time at the Yogi Bear RV Park in Aurora, Ohio.

The park had all sorts of water toys to play on.  It was really fun for the kids to get out some energy.

I flew back into Charleston, West Virginia.  We had to take the RV back in for servicing and, to make a long story short, we were stuck in Charleston for 3 days.  While there we did find a cool museum called the Clay Center.  They had a ton of hands on exhibits including a health educational Hollywood Squares Game Show.  It was really nicely done.  We also went to a great dinosaur IMAX type show and a planetarium show.  We had a good time despite all the trouble with the RV.

P.S.  The answer to the poll is.......Drum Roll...........Crab!  Peyton loves crab!  Actually he loves any seafood.  He asks to eat it constantly!  He is going to be in heaven when we get to Maine!

Grayling, Michigan to Detroit, Michigan

Since this is my third time writing this (read "Postless and Frustrated") I am going to make this short and sweet.  

We all had a great time at the Yogi Bear Park in Grayling, Michigan.  They had a ton of things for the kids to do, including a jumping pillow.  The kids met some really cool boys to play. Dave even rallied the kids to play a football game.  Sterling loved that!

We stayed at the Yogi Park for two nights and then headed down to Flint, Michigan.  On the way we stopped at Michigan's little Bavaria called Frankenmuth.  It was such a cute little city.  You really felt like you were over in Europe.  The kids had fun putting their heads in every cut out sign they found.

I even got in on the fun!This is so freaky!  I was looking at the sign that tells you what to see and where to go and I looked up and their was this huge spider!  So I screamed and then grabbed my camera and took pictures of it.

Frankenmuth is home to the largest year round Christmas store.  This store is gigantic!  We actually were too late to go in but the lights throughout the parking lot were also very impressive.

We arrived in Flint late in the evening.  We went to Flint because there was a huge auto auction the next morning.  Dave left early in the morn and when he returned he was not alone!  He returned with a hot chili pepper red Saturn Vue. We like our litte pull car!The first place we drove the new car too was "The Big House" (the University of Michigan football stadium in Ann Arbor).  Dave should be ashamed.  It was kind of on the way.?  Dave should be ashamed!

P.S.  Good Sam ...did we win? Did you give up?  With out you we may never return!

P.S.S.  Sorry this post is so brief, but I was so frustrated with it, I decided I just needed to get through it.  Stay tuned...better posts to come.

Postless and Frustrated

I know you all think we will never post again, but you are wrong!..We have had some posting difficulties.  First, we misplaced the USB card (this card is how we connect to the internet)...We finally (after 4 days) found it under the pop out.  Second, I was at a GMS show in Seattle, and I never have a second to blog at the show.  Third, when I got back I wrote 2 posts that took over 5 hours to blog and then my computer decided to erase rather then save them.  So as you can imagine I was so upset.  I got over my anger and wrote them again, only to have my computer decide to shut off right when I was about to post.  My mighty mac computer then decided not to turn back on the entire day (I guess it's moody).  So here I am..postless and frustrated..but determined to get the last week of posts out.  So stay tuned...I am going to try and work on it again today and hopefully the post will be out by tonight!  Love ya all!

After 3 nights in a Green Bay, Wisconsin hotel it was back in the RV and "on the road again." We headed northeast into the "U...P" which is the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  We drove until we were getting hungry then saw "Bob" in Manistique, Michigan.  Both Cindi and I have fond memories of going to Bob's in our youth.  Some of you may be able to relate... "Bob's Big Boy" that is.  Well now it's just "Big Boy" but apparently they've maintained the rights to use the famous character holding a big boy hamburger over his head.  Not only did we eat there but we also stayed in Manistique as well.

In the morning we headed to Kitch-iti-kipi (aka Big Spring).  It is an amazing emerald-green spring that is 200 feet wide.  We used a wheel attached to a cable on a large wood raft to reach the middle where we looked down into the 40 feet crystal clear, 45 degree water.  Bubbling up from the bottom is a constant flow of about 10,000 gallons of water a minute.

Cindi got a shot of 3 ducky bottoms in the air. ???

Our next stop on the UP was the Upper Falls of the Tahquamenon River made famous in Longfellow's poem based on Ojibwa legends, Hiawatha builds his canoe "by the rushing Tahquamenew."  These falls, nearly 200 feet wide, are the 2nd largest east of the Mississippi River (Niagra being #1).   The falls have a distinct amber color which is from the tanin of cedar trees along its banks.After a beautiful drive on the scenic route along Lake Superior we ended up in Sault Ste. Marie.  This is at the south eastern tip of the super Lake Superior just across from Canada.  Actually this is the first time the kids have seen foreign lands with their own eyes.  Our RV insurance covers only the 48 states so we stayed on the US side.  We settled in to the Soo Locks Campground right on the water where huge freighter vessels went by.  Tanner and Sterling shot their sling shot and guns while Peyton spent some extra time fishing.

Across the water is Canada!

The next day, Saturday August 16, we went to the Soo Locks (picture below):

I was very surprised to learn that the Soo Locks are the busiest locks in the world.  They also include the largest lock in the Western Hemisphere (?Panama Canal?).  The federal government took possession of the property in the 1870's and is run today by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  The locks are necessary because Lake Superior sits about 21 feet above the St. Mary's River which connects Superior to the lower Great Lakes.  We did get to see one of the locks operate, albeit only on a tour boat, but we did get the gist of it.  Guess what the tolls are to go through...

FREE!

We then headed south to St. Ignace where we decided to stay a the RV Park and rest up for our big day outing to Mackinac Island.  Cindi took the kids out to the beach on Lake Huron and used the metal detector for the first time.  They had fun searching but only found tinfoil and a can.  Peyton still has the best find... a gold ring with his bare pirate hands.  We spent a good part of the night watching the Olympics.  I love the Olympics!  The USA is doing well as is China and it is great to see Great Britain bring to the homeland a good share of gold, silver and bronze.  This would be as good a place as any to say that the University of Southern California has sent 362 participants to the Olympics representing 51 different countries, more than any other university.  If USC were a country it would rank 12th all-time in number of gold medals.   This is when Cindi rolls her eyes and wonders if she should have just written this blog entry herself.

On Sunday we boarded the Shepler's ferry boat and motored over to Mackinac Island.  This is a beautiful island where the only motorized vehicles allowed are the fire truck and police car. The streets are busy (it was a warm sunny Sunday) with horses and buggies, tons of bike, and lots of walkers.  We brought our 3 bikes and rented a tandem which Cindi and Peyton used.  We leisurely made our way around the 8.2 mile loop along the shoreline around the entire island. We stopped lots of times on our way around; looked for rocks, found a snake, saw Michigan's governor (her summer house is on the island) and simply created great memories!  Once we arrived back in the Victorian main town we decided to eat lunch at the Seabiscuit Cafe.  After lunch we wander our way from fudge sample to fudge sample finally purchasing some Butterfinger Fudge at the best spot.  The boat ride back was fun!  Since Peyton was on the back of the tandem all day (not steering but providing much welcomed horse-pedal-power) once we got back to mainland Peyton had to show Tanner and Sterling how he can now ride a bike.  He's getting awesome!

Notice Dave's civilized new lid.  Back to his 1st grade hair style.

Can you see the USA in the rocks below?






Don't ask! Who knows why Sterling does what he does!

A friendly bat outside one of the shops.

Off to Jellystone Campground to see Yogi!