. . . up to Canada

Continuing our journey we drove into Indiana and camped at a lovely wooded campground just outside of Louisville, Kentucky. We kicked back and took a day off, unhooked, and drove on into Louisville - I had to take Les to the Louisville Slugger Museum/Factory as he is such a baseball fan. I’d been there before had gone through the museum but didn’t go into the factory. It was very interesting and would have been more so had it not been for the fact that all of the workers were on break. They came back just as we were about to complete the tour.

The next day we arrived at my sister and brother in law, Gayla and Tim’s house, in Brownstown. The hours these guys work and the time spent on the road as he works in Louisville, KY and Gayla in Indianapolis, IN! Brownstown lies in between these two big cities. I happily volunteered to take over the dinner duties and cooked up a batch of fried chicken the first night and made some of my (in)famous Spaghetti Sauce the second night - mostly for Tim, who remembered it from our days in southern California, when he almost lived with us. We had a very nice visit, Les played on the riding lawnmower, we went out to a Karaoke Bar, and the day we left we had time to drive to a neighboring city and sample their hand packed ice cream.

On June 13th, we rolled out of Brownstown and headed for Chicago, which caused me some anxiety. However were we going to find my sister and brother in law, Nikki and Fernando’s house in that humongous city? Well, I asked directions. Okay, Les and I asked directions from Gayla and she gave us some good ones. We stopped one night in Renesslaer, IN, and made a leisurely Saturday morning drive into Chicago. We ended up camping (by special permission) in the lot of the local Chicago Police Station, for two nights. Now how safe could we be?

Nikki’s birthday was the day we arrived, June 14th. We partied hardy, celebrating with her, the family and their friends. Great food and the “frozen” tequila shots went down easily. (Came up not quite so easily the next a.m.) We had an absolutely delightful time with them and their adorable daughters, Maria, Elena, and Lauren. The girls were so sweet and tried so hard to win the $5 that Uncle Les promised them if they could touch their elbow to their ear.

Rather reluctantly we left Chicago and started up through Michigan. Now, Michigan, that’s another story. Pretty country – and the State Park System makes sure you pay for it. Guess we got used to the reasonably priced Indiana State Parks.

We drove along the shoreline of Lake Michigan, but was way up the shoreline before we got a good look at the great lake. Stayed the night at the Leelanau State Park just outside of Northport, MI. There was even a lighthouse in the park. Sunset was wonderful. Mosquitoes were not.

We spent the weekend in Mackinaw City, Michigan, just a couple of miles short of the Mackinac (still pronounced Mackinaw) Bridge that spans the Upper and Lower Peninsula’s of Michigan State. We decided to kick back at this nice little RV Park we found. Parked between two big shade trees and had electricity and everything! We made our way into the Mackinaw City and walked the streets, ate ice cream, and found a little Irish Pub. Our thanks to the family and friends who said they’d be right over to drive us to the Casita, when we called them and told them we needed a ride home. Well, it used to work in Portland!

After a slow start on Monday, we drove the 50 plus miles into Sault Ste. Marie, pronounced Sue Saint Marie, just on the US/Canadian border. We stocked up on supplies and spent the night in a Walmart Parking lot. I think there is an unwritten law somewhere that says to be a proper RV-er you have to spend a certain amount of nights at Walmart. :-)

After this posting we will head up over the border. Hopefully we will have access to the computer so we can keep you updated, but just in case, don’t be worried if you don’t hear from us for the next couple of weeks.

Take care all!

Joy

and Les . . .

Les' Readers Digest Version:

-Visited Joys Sister, Gayla and Husband Tim in Brownstown Ind. (and daughter Erin, she is a sweetheart)
-Got to mow their acreage with his 25hp zero turn mower. Outside of trying to push the fertilizer spreader thru the end of the garage before I even got started, it was fun.
-Beat feet to Chicago for Joys sister Nikki’s Birthday bash. Visited with husband Fernando, and girls. Something I will never forget was we stayed two nites in the camper, in a north Chicago Police station parking lot. It was a couple blocks from their house.
-I got calls for Fathers day. AND a hand crafted card from Nikki and Fernando’s girls. It reads “Dear Uncul Less, Happy Fathers day you rock and role. I love you a lot. You are crazy. And that’s what I like about you.” “Love Elena & Maria”
-There you have it folks, I’ve been diagnosed, print the legend.- We are in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. Now.

On the road AGAIN

We left Wichita on Thursday, June 5th.

Amazing the things you put off until the last minute. But we managed to get everything together - after the list of things Les had to do to get the Casita and the Jeep ready and the "refresh" of the Casita of a new window, linens, drapes, etc. (Yes, I finally finished the drapes) we are looking pretty good!

Driving I-135 N we had the wind at our back. Then we "turned left" at Salina, going west on I-70 and the storm that hat been threatening all morning started blowing. Clouds had been gorgeous all the way, but now they took on a different feel. This stretch of I-70 has always been beautiful with it's rolling hills, stone post fences, and old windmills, but with the building of the wind farms there is new majesty to it. Those windmills are huge! On the way back from Oregon last year we kept passing the trucks that were carrying these blades... did I say they were huge? Just after admiring the wind farms, the storm hit. The rain came down harder and faster than anything I'd ever seen. It was like someone had turned a hose on the windshield. Les had to pull over - as did most of the other drivers, but believe it or not there were one or two truckers that actually passed us!

We got to Russell, visited with Les' Dad that afternoon and again the next morning. Then headed on to Topeka. Another day of beautiful sights. We got to Adam's & Fawn's in time to have a great visit with them and their two sons. Fawn had been busy scrap-booking and we got to see them... she did such a wonderful job. Those boys are so cute and it looked like they had a very good time in Hawaii. Adam grilled some pork chops for dinner - didn't know they turned out so well on the grill!

The third night we stayed in Finger's Lake State Park, just outside of Columbia, MO. and yesterday we drove through St. Louis, where I didn't get to take a picture of the Arch because my batteries were down in my camera and the new ones were in the Casita. Darn! Another Photo Op missed because of dead batteries! Finally got through St. Louis into Illinois and drove through to Mt Vernon where we stayed last night. Settled down, turned on the air conditioner until it cooled off outside and then walked down to Sonic for Ice Cream. MMMMMM - life is great!


Les' Readers Digest Version:

Left Wichita June 5. Heading to lake Huron for some FISHING.
Visited 93 Year Old Dad in Russell Kansas.
Stopped in Topeka Kansas and visited Nephew and Family, Adam, Fawn, RJ, Alias. I really enjoy visiting with them.
Had "check engine" light come on, east of Kansas City. Stopped in Auto Zone, had them read the code. Bought two transmission speed sensors ($70). Put them in, in Columbia Missouri campground. No check engine light.
Drove by the St. Louis Arch yesterday.
Spent last night in Mt Vernon Illinois.