The Saga Continues

Tuesday, June 26, & Wednesday, June 27, and Thursday June 28, 2018

Tuesday,

This is a good morning to call a bunch of RV parts places.  Bruce got hold of a place in Fowlerville, MI.  They thought they had a replacement.  Bring the old one with you.  Right.  Now we have to be sure the door is secure and the cats can't open it.  Long drive there and fortunately, they did have a replacement.  It looked a little different, but it was supposed to replace the one that broke.  (It's not made anymore, imagine that.)  Well, we got back and he was able, with very little trouble, to replace the lock.  Crisis over.

Wednesday,

Rainy.  We just decided to do chores around the coach.  Amazing how much stuff needs to be done.  Just like being at home.  One big job, we took out the floor heating vents and cleaned them.  Enough cat hair for another cat.

Thursday,

We tackled the repair of the bedroom day/night shades today.  Although we had experience restringing the long shade in the living room two years ago, we watched the RV Geeks YouTube instructions.  Should not have been a problem, but some days are just not that great. These blinds are a bit of a puzzle.  You start from the top, go down the day shade, cross over then go down the night shade.  Then, you cross again all the while sliding the hardware on the top, middle and bottom.  The first round seemed to go well enough but the location is above the bed with a valance that would be difficult to remove. So Bruce tried to reattach it with many contortions just to have it break when we tried it out.

There is a spring at the top that you tie each string to and one knot didn't hold.  Try number two never made it to the window.  Bright idea.  Let's take off the end clips of the shade we did before and figure out what we are doing wrong.  We were crossing the middle on the wrong side of the hardware.  This time with a few changes to how we needed to attach the shade to the window we had a successful installation. Now, all we had to do was replace the end caps on the living room blind and we were done.  Just a Cotton Pickin second there Muskie, The string broke.  Fortunately, with a little imagination, we were able to repair it and be done.  What should have taken 30 minutes became a full-fledged hassle.

During the night I got sick.

Hiking and Some Not Too Good Stuff

Monday, June 25, 2018

Pass in hand (or on the windshield) we went to the hike the Bog Trail.  It was a nice morning and the trail was an easy two miles round trip.  A highlight was finding pitcher plants.

See the bee?

Pitcher Plants

An orchard

After our hike, we drove through Grass Lake and stopped at the old Rail Station.  This is now available for party rentals.  It is such a pretty stone building.

Interesting things we saw just driving around.

Picked up a few things at the grocery store and back to the rig for a chill night.  Not.  Bruce went into the coach and I followed a few minutes later.  The door was locked.  Hey Bruce, open the door.  I can't.  It won't open.  Great, I am on the outside, he is on the inside, and the door refuses to open.  Now Bruce as his usual patient self is giving me instructions on what I should be doing on the outside while he is dismantling the lock on the inside.  We are passing tools through the window.  All to no avail.  He needs to get outside.  So, I get the ladder out and set it up at the bedroom window.  This is one of two emergency windows.  The other is over the dinette, not happening.  This window is about eight feet off the ground and the window opens from the bottom up.  It is a rectangle 2 feet by 3 1/2 feet.  There are day/night shades in the window.  He had to hold the window up, bypass the shades, turn around to get on the ladder without breaking his you know what.  Once he was out, he still couldn't get the door to open or the lock mechanism to come out.  The piece that moves the latch in and out broke in half.  If we had been robbers, we probably could have gotten in.  After all else failed he got his Sawzall out and cut the latch off.  Still wouldn't open.  Frustration level very high to say the least.  He climbed back inside through the escape window, breaking the string holding up the day/night shade, and I am on the outside pushing a knife against the now sawed off latch. He is doing whatever he could on the inside.  This door was not opening for anyone.  Finally, with nothing but brute force, he finally got it opened.  Now we have a door that won't close and two cats very interested in all these proceedings.  In fact, it blows open and Cali jumped out.  Thank goodness she likes these meat stick treats.  With a little tempting, I was able to get her back in.  With a little imagination and gaffers tape, we retired for the night.

Short Hike to Urgent Care

Sunday, June 24, 2018

Off today to the Waterloo Recreation Area.  More precisely, the Eddy Discovery Center.  After talking to a ranger about the non-resident annual pass and getting some directions we were off to hike the Bog Trail.  Earlier Bruce thought he might have come into contact with some Poison Ivy.  It wasn't bothering him so he didn't think much about it.  As we were starting toward the trailhead he showed me his arm.  It was not bothering him but it wasn't pretty.  So I Googled the nearest Urgent Care Center.  They were very nice and efficient.  They checked for infection, none.  Took a culture and gave him an antibiotic and Prednisone.  Took the wind out of our sails a bit.  But we did visit a State Campground and got our non-resident pass.  $9 everytime we went to a park.  $32 for the rest of 2018l  No brainer.

Grass Lake, Michigan

Saturday, June 23, 2018

A very nice day,  sunny and comfortable.  Drove into Grass Lake.  Beautiful little village.  The first thing we saw was an open sign for the Lost Railway Museum.  In 1901-02 the Interurban line from Jackson to Grass Lake was built.  The electric interurban railway system was the primary mode of public transportation.  Grass Lake was a bustling little town then.  This is a new museum, about two years old I think.  The docent was very friendly and we ran into another visitor who was actually in the film that was running there.  He was telling us all about when he was a communications guy who spanned from the copper to fiber optics period for the railroad.  We likened this museum to our own Trolly Museum in Silver Spring.

Next, just driving around we ended up at Mystery Hill.  This was an overpriced, underused tourist trap.  Even so, it is one of those mystery spots were gravity is defied and water runs uphill.  It was an expensive quaint stopover.

Driving on down the road, we saw this memorial to the Irish Potato Famine called An Gorta Mor.

Next door was the St. Joseph Shrine.  Behind this church were 14 Stations of the Cross on a very beautiful and peaceful trail that partially ran along the riverbank.  Some of the stations contain Sculptures made to look like wood but made from cement.  These were made by two Mexican artists from 1932 - 1936.

Ended our day at Ironbark Brewery.  It is such a small world.  A couple sat down beside us and we started talking.  She said she was from Tecumseh, MI.  I mentioned that my aunt had lived there.  She asked her name and then said my Aunt Blanch was her teacher and she knew my cousin Jack.  Hopefully, when we visit a brewery in Tecumseh, I will text her and we can meet again.

On to Michigan

Thursday, June 21, Friday, June 22, 2018

We arrived at Holiday RV Campground in Grass Lake, Michigan at about 3:15.  Fortunately, an uneventful trip.  We have a very nice site.  We are below the main campground in sort of an annex.  Our backyard in a nice little lake and small sandy beach.

Friday was rainy, we drove into Jackson, just to get an idea of what was available.  Did some shopping/looking at Harbor Freight, Dollar Tree, some auto stores (looking for another 12-volt multiplug), Menards, etc.  The only picture was for my brother.  Sorry, the sign was leaning a bit to the left.

Seriously, from the Jackson brochure "Under the Oaks City Park in one of the most significant spots in American political history.  More than 150 years ago, the conversations held on this now quiet street corner would set the stage for the Civil War--and the end of slavery.  Compelled by nothing more than to do what was right, thousands of men and women gathered on the outskirts of Jackson to form a new political party."

More Weboost and Exploring Canton, Ohio

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Today was a day for exploration after we got the Weboost set up.

Job done.

First, we went off in search of Willie the Whale and McKinley's Magical Front Porch, courtesy of Roadside America.  Searching for some quirky things gets us out and about.  Willie was in a park called Mother Goose Park.  It looked like a small amusement park that in its day was quite nice, but now only Willie and a dog park.  The Mother Goose mural still looked nice.

Looking for the front porch where McKinley pulled off his successful 1896 Presidential Campaign we had to drive through downtown Canton.  Spotting the Lincoln Highway markers, we had to park and walk around town a bit.

Legal Building

Want to rent this?

Artistic Trash Can

The way to the NFL Hall of Fame.  We were there five years ago.

Finally found it, or rather where the front porch was.  Now it is the public library.