Fireworks Over The Bay

We got home from w*rk last night just in time to watch God’s fireworks show over the bay.  A thunderstorm moved through coming in from the lake and we had a front row seat to witness first hand the lightning bolts descending from the sky above.  It was an awesome display and, thankfully, far enough away from us to make it enjoyable to watch.  Katie didn’t much care for the thunder part, but was mesmerized by the light flashes.

Yesterday morning we did a few chores around the house, made a Home Depot and Walmart run, and stopped by the bank to deposit large sums of money (wifey comment, “Yeah, right!”).  We were able to get the material needed to repair the water filtration system so I will be able to get that back on line shortly.  Other than that, w*rk encompassed the rest of our day so there’s not a whole lot to tell.

Speaking of w*rk, we just passed the half way point; another seven and a half weeks to go.  It’s hard to believe that we’ve been here for almost eight weeks, but on the other hand, it seems like an eternity.  The w*rk is not hard, at times it’s rather boring, however, it does occupy large quantities of time.  We are beginning to feel a huge case of hitch itch setting in.  That’s normal for us after two months of being in one spot anywhere except for Rainbow Plantation.  A couple of other workamper couples are taking a three day RV trip to Munising, Michigan to view Pictured Rocks and do other “stuff”.  That’s not a bad idea and it would help break up the time.

Well, that’s all we’ve got this morning so – May God Bless  - - - - - - - - -

Just Doing It, Doing It

Sometimes Judy wakes up Grumpy, other times she just lets me sleep.  No, that’s not right – that’s not right at all!!!  I wake up bubbly, in a good mood, singing, dancing, and rejoicing.  Often I’m told to “Settle down!  How can you get up so wide awake?”  Anyhow, we slept in again this morning as we didn’t get to bed until around elevenish.

This past weekend was the Annual Little Traverse Bay Regatta here in Petoskey and Harbor Springs.  Here are a couple of pictures taken from right out of our dining room window.  We may not have the best site in the world, but we’ve got a million dollar view, none the less.  Almost as good as the view across Penobscot Bay in Maine.

Matt, Jackie and kids made it home safe and sound; that’s always good news to hear when family members are traveling.  It was about a 14 hour haul for them.  That"’s tough when traveling with three little kids; “Are we almost there yet?”  “I’m thirsty!!!”  “I’ve got to go to the bathroom.”   “Radek won’t stop it.”  “Kalina won’t - - - Catia won’t.”  Etc., etc.. 

When we traveled like that, Mary would take books.  She would read three or four books while traveling, but her brothers?  That another story.  I’d like to have a hundred dollars for every trip we’ve made from New England (either Connecticut or Maine) to Michigan and from Michigan to New England.  We’d have a lot of hundred bucks.  And we’re still doing it only without kids (just katts, almost as bad) and no longer in one day (we take no less than three).

Other than that, we’re just doing it, doing it.  Hang in there and . . .

May God Bless  - - - - - - - -

It’s All Over But The Crying

Matt, Jackie, and Munchkins are on their way back to Tennessee as we speak so it’s all over but the crying.  It was a good visit and we hope they had a great vacation/visitation.  We were glad to see them and are going to miss all those hugs each day from the munchkins.  After w*rk yesterday afternoon we gathered together at John and Della’s for a family get together with a picnic style dinner of brats, hot dawgs, chips, veggies, and fruits.  A good time was had by all.

Here are the obligatory grand kid pictures:

And a couple of Patterson family photos:

 

Judy took a candid shot of her brother, but she was so busy snapping grandkid pictures that she didn’t get one of Della – next time.

Today is Sunday so y’all know what that means. We’ll attend worship at the ACC (Arm Chair Church). Pastor Russ is preaching on Boldness and today we’ll be introduced to our new senior pastor. Hope the internet connection is a good one. It has been but, every once in awhile it decides to act up – generally right when you want the connection the most.

Now it’s back to “the routine” – w*rk, eat, sleep, eat, w*rk, eat, sleep, eat, etc., etc., etc.. We only have eight+ weeks remaining and then we’ll be heading for a new baby fix in Virginia followed by another munchkin fix in Tennessee.  Well, it’s breakfast time so I guess we’d better get a move on.  Take care until next time and . . .

May God Bless  - - - - - - - - 

So, What Just Happened, Anyway?

That was my response as my spouse shook the daylights into me in the wee hours of this very morning.  Why are I up?  Mr. Sunshine hasn’t even made an appearance yet.  The good news is that spousey had been up for awhile and the morning brew was ready for sampling.  That always brings about consciousness.  Finally, I are awake.

It’s been chilly here in Petoskey, Michigan in the morning.  Yesterday morning, after scurrying around the house, to get ready for w*rk, we jumped into the truck and hit the ignition to only hear “wrrrrh” and nothing else.  Fortunately Mikee was up so I made a beeline to his house to get his battery pack, but that didn’t have enough “umph’ to get the truck started either.

So thar we sit, all dressed up and no place to go.  Well, we had a place to go, but no way to get there.  We won’t go into all the details, but after w*rk we were able to get the truck jump started and off to NAPA.  A load test on the batteries indicated that they needed replacement.  One battery was pretty well shot while the other one was about half gone.  As with most problems, all it took was a little bit of money to fix it.  Three hundred bucks later and the problem is gone.  Voila, just like Houdini.

The kids and munchkins joined G’Pa and G’Ma for dinner and a quiet (or not so quiet) evening.  We had chicken, carrots, and baked beans and then farted around the house for awhile.  After they all left, Miss Judy and I watched the remaining two episodes of West Wing.  It has only taken us seven months to get through all seven years of the series.  Now we’ll put it away for awhile and watch the series again next year. 

Today will be the last day that Matt, Jackie, and little faces will be in town.  So we’ve planned a final outing at John and Della’s house after w*rk.  Then it will be back to normal, whatever normal is.  That isn’t to say that we are claiming to be like normal people; we’re just saying normal for us which maybe quite abnormal for everyone else.  We don’t know.  So, what just happened, anyway?

While You’re At It, Have a Piece Of Cake For Us and May God Bless  - - - - - - - -

It’s A Sad, Sad Day

It’s a sad, sad day because we have to go back to w*rk today, but that is not the only reason for it being a sad, sad day.  The main reason is because our playmates, Mike and Peggy, are going to be pulling up tent pegs and heading to points west this morning.  We are tempted to pack up the wagon, hitch up the mule, and tag along with them but, alas, we must stay behind and do what responsible adults do; go back to w*rk and stash away a few more nuts for winter; that is, put a little more money back into the rainy day fund.  At least our kids and grandkids will still be here with us for a couple more days.

Speaking of which, yesterday was a G’ma and G’pa baby sitting day.  Yep, we had the little monsters for about five hours while Matt and Jackie had some time away from the kids.  Remember those days?  They were few and far between.  The same is true for our kids as well, so it was nice for them to get away for a dinner and a movie.  They decided to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary a week and half early while they were in the land where they swapped their nuptials.

Peggy to the rescue.  She showed up with with some fresh homemade Play-Dough, still warm from the oven.  That kept the girls busy for most of the afternoon.  Radek played with it for a few minutes but decided that his cars and trucks had more lure to them; all boy, that one!! 

Mike and Peggy joined the Patterson family for a nice spaghetti dinner.  Peggy brought a great salad which Catia and Kalina just loved.  It’s good to see all three of our grand children eating lots of fruits and veggies.  They prefer grapes, bananas, mellon, fruit Jell-O, etc., to a lot of “junk” food.  Veggies is high on their list as well.  They all come back for seconds from the fruit and veggie bowls.  That’s a good thing.  G’pa could take a lesson or two from his grand children.

Dang nab it, it’s time to go wash behind our ears, put on our glad rags, and head off to w*rk.  “They” say, “All good things must come to an end.”  And, “Too much of a good thing is not a good thing.”  Well, I say that we should  prove to “them” that “they” are wrong.  Maybe that will be our next goal in life but, in the meantime,

Have A Nice Day and May God Bless  - - - - - - - -    

The Mackinaw City Trip

Tuesday was a beautiful day for a drive through the countryside and a visit to Mackinaw City.  We took the back roads from Harbor Springs stopping by McGulpin Point Lighthouse.  The lighthouse was built in the 1850’s and was in service until 1906.  It became a private residence in 1913 until 2008 at which time Emmett County bought the reactivated the light putting it back on the navigational charts.  We toured the grounds and the lighthouse.  The views from the top of the light are stunning.  You can double click on any of the pictures to make them larger.

  

Upon leaving McGulpin Point “Feed Me” showed up.  Now Mike, Peggy, Judy, and I have eaten pizza together all over the country and realized that Michigan was one state that was not on our pizza map.  So we made a quick trip to the Pizza Palace in Mackinaw City.  The owner greeted us at the door, all decked out in his best Italian regalia.  He told us that if we found a better pizza anywhere in Michigan, he’d buy it for us.  Well, we all agreed that the Pizza Palace has very good pizza, but we have a lot of pizza joints to try to find out if it is the best in Michigan.

  

After licking our chops at the Pizza Palace, we did a walk around the city docks.  The decommissioned Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw is on display there as well as an active duty Coast Guard buoy tender.  The CGC Mackinaw is the same one that was in service when I was in the Coast Guard and stationed in Michigan.  The buoy tender is similar to the one I was stationed on in Charlevoix, Michigan.

 

Next we drove up the street to the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse where we walked about the grounds snapping pictures of the Mackinac Bridge and Mackinac Island.  If you look real carefully at the Island pictures, you can see the Grand Hotel, however, it was a little hazy looking across the Straits.

  

We drove through the Tunnel of Trees which is a twenty mile scenic drive along the coast of Lake Michigan from Cross Village to Harbor Springs.  About half way between is the little town of Good Hart where we stopped at an old time General Store.  Upon returning home, some little faces showed up wondering, “When are we going to eat?”

 

We finished the day on the beach watching another beautiful sunset.  That’s a sail boat in the pictures and a seagull doing a fly by in the “no fly zone”.

 

Yesterday we did, indeed, get some much needed rain.  Mike, Peggy, Judy, and I had lunch at the Pier restaurant right on the waterfront in Harbor Springs.  They have some of the best seafood chowder that you can imagine for a midwest restaurant.  From there we made a trip to the Harbor Springs IGA to get some flat iron steaks for dinner.  A nap snuck into the afternoon and then the munchkins arrived bringing “Feed Me” with them.  It was a quiet evening at home, well, as quiet as it can be with three “kids” and two “katts” “kouped” up in a “kamper”. 

Another fine ending to another “kouple” of days in the life.  May God Bless  - - - - - - - -

Night Owls And Morning Doves

Some things are just for the birds and our new sleeping habits have become just that.  We’re now night owls, staying up until the late wee hours of the night, and morning doves, sleeping away half of our day.  Strange, we haven’t lived like this since we were twenty somethings.  It’s just that now it takes us pretty much all night just to do what we did all night.  However, “We may not be as good as we once were, but we’re as good once as we ever were!”

We, we defined as Mike, Peggy, Judy, and I, had quite a little outing day yesterday.  We began the day by stopping at NAPA to get a new chastity belt for Winne.  They didn’t have one on hand, but would have it by one o’clock so we could pick it up on our way home.  Next we did a drive through Hearthside Grove so Mike and Peggy could see how the other one percent live.  Then we took the long way to Mackinaw City with a drive by Control Engineering (where I was Plant Manager) and past the “House That Judy Built” (the home we built in 1998).  Rather than follow US 31, like the tourists do, we ventured down the back roads to Mackinaw City. 

When we returned home from our little jaunt, with Winne’s new belt in hand, Mike and I immediately went to work installing it.  Immediately, that is, after martini time.  The belt installation went off quite seamlessly with just a little extra effort on Mikee’s part to convince the belt to go around that last pulley. 

While putting my tools away, I noticed another leak in our water filtration system.  I used a plastic nipple to connect the two filter canisters together.  Let’s just say that that was a bad choice of material because my nipple was leaking.  Mike and I immediately went to work on fixing the problem.  Immediately, that is, after a second martini time. 

While trying to tighten up the fitting, I broke the nipple while it was under pressure, none the less.  Being that time was of the essence, with burgers burning and the squaws in the party demanding water, we made a temporary fix by by passing the water filters altogether. At this time, I all I can say is that the plumbing will need some future attention after a run to the hardware store.  Moral of the story, don’t be messing around with your nipples when they’re loose and under pressure.  Don Martin could have told me that.

The kids and grandkids joined us, us defined as Mike, Peggy, Judy, and I, for another fine grilled suppah.  This time it was burgers, hot dawgs, baked beans (right outta the can), potato chips, and melon.  Nothing like a hot dawg hot off the grill.  We should have made an extra effort to buy some of those nice New England hot dawg rolls.  They are expensive but sure do beat the dickens out of hot dawg buns.

Now, being that I didn’t roll this old bag of bones outta the sack until the late hours of the morning, the Mackinaw City story and pictures will have to follow tomorrow.  We will be having pretty much a “down day” today since rain and thunderstorms will be moving in later this morning.  We will use today’s time to edit our pictures and fill in all the details of yesterday’s outing for tomorrow’s blog.

May God Bless  - - - - - - - - 

It’s All Sheila’s Fault

After we arose from sleeping in yesterday, our “guests” arrived about mid morning – the munchkins from afar.  With plenty of hugs (Mr. Radek had to “warm up to us” at first) and lots of “Grandmas” and “Grandpas” being called out, they were here.

We just visited for awhile then prepared lunch before they were off to visit their “native” land.  This is the land where Matt and Jackie met, attended high school together, dated, and finally “got hitched”.  Judy and I were best friends with Jackie’s parents, Mike and Sheila, so that’s how it all began.  Two kids “from away”, we moved here from Maine and they moved here from Wisconsin, now share a life together in Tennessee.  It all makes sense, doesn’t it?

Anyhow, while they were out and about, Mike and Peggy came limping in.  It seems that Winne decided that she didn’t care much for the serpentine belt that Mike had installed last year and began to chew it up and spit it out.  They had to stop a couple of times along the way so Mike could to trim some of the shredded pieces away from the belt.  But they were able to hobble on into Magnus Park with almost half of the belt still intact.  What we RVers have to live through!!!  It’s tough out here, people, but we’ll persevere; somebody’s got to do it.  This morning we’ll see if we can find a new belt for Winne, maybe in pink this time.

But, as I was saying, they came limping in and finally the lost sheep returned home just in time for feeding time.  We had grilled chicken and other assorted items that complement grilled chicken.  Then it was more chatting and chuckling.

So far this is all just leading up to why it’s Sheila’s fault.  A conversation between Judy and Jackie ensued about “remember when?”  It was about how we, the Pattersons and the Winegardens would, at the spear of the moment, call one another about an impromptu evening raid on DQ. 

Well, the mention of DQ got the old taste buds juicing and before you knew it, we mounted our steel steeds and headed northeast in a cloud of dust.  Hi Ho Blackie, away we go!!! (Our truck is black, not silver)  The result, nice delicious hot fudge sundaes.  Another successful raid!!  So, now you know the rest of the story and why “It’s All Sheila’s Fault”.   Just wish Mike and Sheila were here to relive some of the “good ol’ days” with us.   (Peggy’s Picture)

Have A Great Day and May God Bless  - - - - - - - - -

Really, Really Late This Morning

The ol’ man slept in until 8:30 this morning.  What?  Half the day is gone.  Oh my!!!  Now we’re sitting on our veranda having our morning brew while enjoying our five million dollar view.

As you can tell, our move went without a hitch.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  We did have to hitch up to move, but other than that, it went without a glitch.

While we are sitting here this morning, the wife and I, we’re talking about upgrading our equipment.  What do ya think of this baby?  Neat, huh?  A little cabin on wheels.

The kids and grandkids arrived last evening.  They stopped by Hearthside to say Hi, get hugs, and take a tour.  The get hugs part was the most important to G’Ma and G’Pa.  Them smiling little faces can warm up a heart in a heart beat.  Can’t wait for their visit later this morning.  Hope they bring their parents with them.

I have no idea what fun things we have planned for today, but I’m sure we’ll think of something.  Oops!!!  Here they are now.  Gotta go and get hugs, so take care until next time.

May God Bless  - - - - - - - - - - -

The “In Campground Moving Plan”

If it’s Sunday, it must be football.  Nope, no it’s not, it’s a day of worship.  We plan on attending the ACC (Arm Chair Church) once again.  Pastor Russ is preaching on boldness and today is the second sermon is the series.  But the real reason for attending the ACC is that today is our final installment on the “in campground moving plan”.  Once we move and get situated today we will be set for the rest of our stay here at Magnus Park.

It hasn’t been all that bad, really.  When we’re on the road traveling, we move every couple of days or so.  It’s just that we move to a different campground a few hundred miles down the road.  It takes almost as much effort to move 100 yards as it does to move 100 miles, but today will wrap up our short distance move syndrome.

Hopefully the people vacating the site we’re moving into will “get a wiggle on” as we have to go to w*rk this afternoon and would like to not have to hurry, hurry, hurry.  You have until three o’clock in the afternoon to vacate your site here at Magnus Park which means they don’t really have to “get a wiggle on”.  We just want them to “get a wiggle on” so we can complete our move and get set up before it’s time to go to w*rk.  So, “get a wiggle on” already.

My wife, and girl friend, tells me that we have another nine weeks here in Northern Michigan.  Wow, that’s a long, long time!  But, I must say, it has been beautiful up here in the northland and we’ve escaped all that extremely hot weather that has plagued the rest of the nation (although, don’t ask the natives about that – they’ll whine).  We’ve gotten a smattering of rain here and there, but the farmers could use a couple of days of a good steady rain as things are getting pretty dry around here.  In any event, northern Michigan is just plain beautiful during the summertime.

Well, it’s time to start pulling up stakes, hitching the mule to the wagon, and heading on down the trail to our next destination.  Happy trails to us until we meet . . . our next site at the other end of the campground.  See you on the flip side.

Be sure to Praise the Lord and thank Him for all His goodness.  May God Bless  - - - - - - - - -

Turning Into “Regular” People

Yesterday was a gorgeous sunshiny day.  A nice day for a walk in the park which is ‘zackly what we did.  We walked through the park and into town.  There was a Farmer’s Market going on so we picked up some fresh zucchini squash and a quart of Michigan Maple Syrup (we prefer the real stuff, not that fake maple syrup).  We made a stop at the book store where Miss Judy picked up a quilting magazine, one can just never have enough quilting magazines.

A half of peanut butter and jelly sandwich was on the lunch menu (the good old standby) and then we headed to the beach with our lawn chairs, drinks, and Nooks for some reading time.  It’s just soooo pleasant and peaceful to sit by the water’s edge listening to the waves roll ashore while the seagulls are squawking overhead.  Had we taken our loungers with us, we’d have probably fallen asleep right then and there.

“Suppah” consisted of grilled steak, corn on the cob, steamed zucchini, and several other raw veggies – ‘twas tasty!!  For the entertainment factor we watched a little telly; the news (that was depressing) and a couple of game shows before switching to a DVD to watch another episode of West Wing which brought us to beddy bye time. 

Now, as you read through all of that you say to yourself, “They’re turning into regular people!”  Yep, that’s pretty much how our weekends used to go when we were living and w*rking in this area way back when.  Hey, wait a minute, we are living and w*rking in this area, again!  The more things change, the more they stay the same.  Oh me, oh my!!!  We need to get back to being irregular people.

Today is another w*rk day.  We’ll need to get some household chores done as well.  Grandkids arrive tomorrow – now that will make ya irregular.  A munchkin fix is on the way!!!  It will be soooooo good to see those little faces once again (and their parents too).  We’ll be taking some “vacation” time while they are here (just like regular people) so let the good times roll.

Be Good, Have Fun, and Be Safe.  May God Bless  - - - - - - - -

Fudgies and Campers

There’s not much to report this morning.  Yesterday we did a little grocery shopping, stopped by the eye doctor’s office to get Judy’s new glasses adjusted, and Judy bought a couple pairs of shorts from Penney’s.  Today we’ll probably take a walk into town to poke around in some of the cute little shops, drag the lawn chairs down to the waterfront for some sitting and reading, and burn some steak on the grill.  Judy wants to get the rest of the fabric for her grandbaby quilt which means a quick run to JoAnn Fabrics.  So, I guess, for the most part, we’re just going to be Fudgies and Campers for the day (tourists in northern Michigan are known as “Fudgies”).

May God Bless  - - - - - - -

Revision “D”

There’s not much new to add today.  We’re getting a late start again after w*rking for six days in a row (the last four on the second shift).  Today is calling for some rain and we have some errands to run.  Other than that, we plan to get some more of that “west and wewaxation”.

Oh, by the way, this weekend (Thursday and Friday for us) we’ll do revision D to the steps.  “They” (who ever they are) should have installed some guides on the bottom of the steps to hold sides of the steps in place, so we have that little modification to make.  In the past we have used some “C” clamps to hold the step sides in place.  Some pictures will better explain the “issue” so we’ll be sure to include some before and after pictures as we make the final modification.  If there is any further “modifying” to be accomplished, then we just might buy some lumber and build a set of wooden steps – enuf is enuf, already but, you have to be able to get a “step up” on the problem.

Take Care and May God Bless  - - - - - - - - -

Whassup?

It’s not raining and It’s not pouring, but the old man is still snoring.  Hi, Katie here.  Whassup?  Yeah, that’s the question.  Not much new on this end.  Just another day at w*rk for Dad and Mom.  How ‘bout you?  What did you do yesterday?  Hopefully something more interesting than Dad and Mom.

While watching the morning news, apparently there is nothing much is happening in the world either since all they can seem to report on is Tom Cruise and his divorce.  Really?  Who cares.  It’s pretty much as Uncle Norm says, “TV or sewer, sewer or TV?  Sometimes I think they are one in the same.”  Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

As you can tell, Dad and Mom moved us back into a site with TV, but no sewer.  That happened Monday.  This Sunday they’ll move us into a site that has it all – Electric, Water, Sewer, and Television reception.  We’re moving on up.

While Dad and Mom were at w*rk, Alex and I ate lunch, took a nap, played with our toys, took a nap, chased each other throughout the house, took a nap, ate dinner, took a nap, had our snack, and took a nap.  Dad and Mom were even later than usual getting home last night because they headed for the hot tub after w*rk.  When they got home, Dad said he felt like a limp dishrag – he even sort of, kind of looked like one.

They stayed up for awhile playing on their ‘puters and then headed for bed.  Alex and I joined them on the bed – we were pretty worn out from taking so many naps.  Anyway, that’s why I’m writing this morning while the “old man is still snoring”.  Dad and Mom have to w*rk again today then they’ll get a couple of days off. 

On Monday those little brat grandkids of theirs will show up which means that Alex and I will have to retreat to the bedroom and lay low.  We just don’t see what Dad and Mom see in those little imps.  After all, aren’t two adorable ragdoll katts enough?  Oh well, we’ll deal with it if that’s what makes them happy.  It isn’t always easy raising grown ups.

Hopefully dad will be back with you tomorrow morning.  Until then, “Y’all have a good day, ya ‘ear?”

Katie

Little Dawgs, I Don’t Know!!!

We do it all when it comes to keeping the Hearthside Grove guests happy.  We have two couples who are traveling together in their Liberty Coaches.  Liberty is one of the companies that converts Prevost buses into luxury motor coaches that sells for over two million dollars a piece.  These two couples are in their fifties and are “on vacation” which means that their bowsers are accompanying them on the trip. 

It seems that the couples wanted to go to Mackinac Island, however, their beloved pooches had to stay behind.  What to do, what to do?  You just can’t leave your designer pups cooped up in a multimillion dollar vacation palace all day sitting around with their legs crossed waiting to go potty.  The solution?  Why a dawg walker, of course.  And yours truly ended up with the task.

Well Zoe, a little Yorkie not much bigger than a pound of hot dawgs, was more nervous than a long tailed Tom katt in a room full of rocking chairs as I entered her palatial abode.  There was no barking or growling, just a lot of scurrying and hiding going on.  Then she took off running right up over the back of a Euro-lounger and leaping, in a single bound, right onto the kitchen counter.  I approached slowly and offered my hand for her to sniff.  This did nothing to calm her down; right there in front of God, me, and the coffee maker she began piddling on that quarter of a million dollar counter top.

That now left me with a mess to clean up and a dawg to catch.  Fortunately the paper towels were handy and, from the counter, she had made a beeline to her dawgie kennel (which is where she should have been in the first place).  Finally, I reached in and scooped the little stinker up.  Her little heart was beating so fast that I was afraid she might have a heart attack, but she calmed down once her leash was properly attached to her diamond studded collar and her four paws hit the terra firma.

After her little “romp in the woods” and returning to the “campsite”, I sat down in one of the bistro chairs on the patio and she hopped right up onto my lap for some loving.  Cute little thing, she looked like a little dust mop with legs.  I left her parents a note suggesting that they wipe down their marble kitchen counter top with Clorox wipes – I wasn’t about to tear apart Zoe’s domain looking for the wipes.  In any event, mission accomplished – I can now add Dawg Walker to my resume.

Thank God for katts.  May God Bless  - - - - - - - -

Let Everything That Has Breath Praise The Lord

We picked up Gil and Orma at nine o’clock sharp and made a short set of tracks to Big Boy for breakfast.  Big Boy was pretty much in crisis mode since a couple of their servers had called in well (or sick or something) which left them short handed.  So everything was slow, but that gave us a little more time to linger over breakfast and chit chat with Gil and Orma.  It sure was a good surprise to see them and enjoy their company these past couple of days.

Once we returned home, we did a few of our daily chores and managed to get set up for the second service at COTES Arm Chair Church. 

“Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all “creatures” here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost”

We took our “creatures” (katts) to the church with us yesterday morning; let everything that has breath praise the Lord.  The first picture is of them watching and listening attentively but then, like most kids, they got antsy.  Alex decided it would be fun to worship from under the song leader while Katie just wanted to “get into the act” with the worship team.

After worship, we quickly whipped up some sandwiches for our dinner break at w*rk, donned our w*rking garb, and headed out the door.  For some reason the w*rk day dragged by; it seemed like it was two days long.  We managed to amble home after w*rk and veg out with the computers for a couple of hours before retiring for the night. 

This is going to be a long week in that we will w*rk for six days before getting some time off.  Then, next week will be a short one since we’re taking some extra time off to visit with our kids and grandkids.  Yay, a grandkid fix!!!  And then Mike and Peggy will be arriving in a week from today.  Let the good times roll. 

That’s all Folks.  May God Bless  - - - - - - - - -

Howdy Neighbor

Yesterday, after work we came home and rested just a tad before my sweet young bride took her old man husband out to La Senorita’s for a birthday dinner.  When we drove into Magnus Park, after a fine meal of wet burritos, we saw a small motorhome that looked very familiar.  It’s so familiar because there is none other like it in the whole wide world.  Anyhow, our next door neighbors from Rainbow Plantation were just pulling into the campground.  “Howdy neighbor”, what a neat birthday treat.

Gil and Orma will be staying a couple of nights right here in good ol’ Magnus Park.  The park is full, but someone that was here due to medical reasons got released from the hospital early so a site opened up just before they pulled in.  Neat huh, funny how the Lord has a way of working things out.  When you’re stuck in one place w*rking, it’s just plain nice to see some familiar faces.

I remember the last year that we workamped at Lake George Escape.  First Doug and Anna showed up in the area so we had them over for dinner.  Then Norm and Linda passed through, it was so good to see and spend time with them.  Then our kids and grandkids came for a visit – all our grandkids from TN and NH, that was neat.  Finally, Mike and Peggy showed up.  Having all those visitors made the season go a lot faster. 

Our kids and grandkids from Tennessee will be showing up before the end of this month as will be Mike and Peggy.  We look forward to those visits.  Hopefully someone else will stop by during the month of August to help break up the monotony.  But, in the meantime, it’s good to see Gil and Orma and we’re glad that they decided to stop by to see us on their way through town.

We took them out to Hearthside so they could see how the other 1% live and then did a drive around Harbor Springs and Wequetonsing to see how another 1% live.  We’re certainly a long, long way from living in either of those percentiles, but it’s fun to do “drive-bys” just to see how rough they have it.  Imagine, having to keep up with the neighbors and put on all those airs.  What a burden they bear.  Then we returned home just to chit chat the evening away.

It’s seven o’clock in the morning as I write this blog and it’s pouring outside.  A thunder storm, which took several hours to pass over, is just moving out.  We’re going to pick up Gil and Orma around nine and head for Big Boy for breakfast.  We w*rk the afternoon shift today so we have time to play this morning.  They’ll be pulling out sometime tomorrow as will we – another “in campground” moving day.

Well, enough is enough and this is more than enough.  May God Bless  - - - - - - - - -  

It’s My Birthday And I Can Cry If I Want To

This is a momentous occasion.  It’s not everyday that one turns sixty five.  Wow, the big sixty five!!!  Now I qualify for all the senior discounts.  I no longer have to ask, “What age do you consider as senior?”  ‘cause no matter what age “it” is, I are “it”!!!  I’m now at the age where I’ve finally got “it” all together – now if I can just remember where I put “it”.  Finally I am eligible for Medicare, of course it doesn’t cover any medical issues I have, but I’m eligible none the less.  Yep, I’m officially old age, so it’s Happy Birthday to me.

Well, it’s all over the news.  Romney is looking at Condi Rice as his possible running mate.  It should be the other way around, in my opinion, but Rice would be an excellent choice.  Somehow, some way, we have to replace that Commander in Thief who currently holds the job.  I’ve not seen such incompetence since Jimmy Carter.  Speak of tax and spend – this guy spends and then taxes. 

Affordable Healthcare Act?  What a joke, since that thing pasted, without our illustrious representatives even reading it, our health care cost have risen significantly.  Now, in a few more years, health insurance costs may decrease a little, but the taxes to pay for it will sky rocket.  Where’s Ronald Reagan when you need him?  To heck with Ronald Reagan, where’s common sense when need it.

Okay, I don’t generally get political, but it’s my birthday and I’m now a senior citizen so I have a right to whine about these young whipper snappers who are running (or ruining) things in Washington, D.C..  I still think the best thing they could do is close the place down and sell it to Disney.  It’s definitely an Adventure Land built on Fantasies.  This commentary is paid for by Wandering America and I approve of this message.

So just what, besides complain about the Gummint, am I going to do for my birthday?  Well, to start with I am going to cook breakfast for around 150 hungry campers, if you call living in a 2 million dollar motorcoach along side a pond with a bungalow, outside kitchen, and patio with a gas fireplace camping.  Anyone up for ‘Smores?  I think not.  This crowd is looking for fine wine and caviar.  And most of them, like me, are senior citizens – they just have a few more nickels and dimes than I do (don’t let Obama find out).

After breakfast, I get to stand in the gate house and salute and/or wave the people in.  Yep, brings back memories of my Coast Guard days when I had to stand duty at the front gate.  I even wear a white shirt to boot – almost Navy whites. 

My bride is taking me out to dinner this afternoon, once we leave w*rk.  My choice is La Senorita, do you almost see the word senior in their somewhere?  They do a pretty darned good job preparing Mexican dinners, not quite as good as the Original on the Riverwalk in San Antonio, but good none the less.

Then it will be “Home again, Home again” where we’ll just take the rest of the day for some R and R (west and wewaxation).  Now it’s onto to year number sixty six where we get to celebrate another milestone come March – 40 years of marital bliss (at least for me anyhow).  I’m not so sure that my bride got the “blissed” side of this deal, but I certainly did.

May God Bless  - - - - - - - -

Another Great “Do Nothing” Day Off

We took advantage of our day off to do little of nothing.  We did go to Big Boy for breakfast, purchased some fresh produce at Meijer's, and picked up our new glasses from Dr. Turcott’s office.  The rest of the day was spent testing our folding chairs while catching up on our reading.  I finished a biography on Derek Prince as well as “Not A Fan” which deals with being a fan or a follower of Jesus – good book, however, very convicting.  Judy is reading a Debbie Macomber e-book on her Nook that she borrowed from the Fairhope library. 

For supper we grilled the steak that we picked up from Jurek’s Market on Wednesday (It’s pronounced Yurek’s – why didn’t they just spell it that way in the first place?  I don’t know).  All I can say is I wished we had bought several packages of that meat.  It was nice and tender and tasty and a long drive back to get more.  We, also, grilled some red potatoes, red peppers, red onions, and mushrooms.  Needless to say, we ate like Kings (and Queens). 

Katie and Alex were quite happy to have Mom and Dad around a little more over the past couple of days, but today it’s back to the old grind stone so they’ll be latch key katts once again.  Hopefully they’ll not get too stressed about it because the stress causes them to have diarrhea; that’s not a good thing when you live in an 8 by 38 foot tube.  Actually, katts with diarrhea is not a good thing no matter where you live.

Oh man!!  I think we’re just going to have to call in well.  This is going to be another beautiful day in Northern Michigan and we could use another great “do nothing” day off to just do whatever it is that we do.  Miss Judy needs to make another trip to a quilting shop so she can get the binding fabric for the new grand baby quilt.  We refer to “it” as grand baby because we don’t know if “it” is a boy or a girl and we don’t want to refer to “it” as “it”.  “It’s a baby, not an “it”.  That make sense, doesn’t “it”?

Oh, one last thing.  We did sleep in yesterday, but that’s not the reason we published late.  The blog entry was done by 7:20, however, someone got side tracked and forgot to push the publish button until a couple hours later.  As you can tell, we were so busy running along side our bikes that we just didn’t have time to stop and get on.

Anyway, it’s ta ta for now.  May God Bless  - - - - - - - - -

It’s All Judy’s Fault, Again

Okay, so we did it.  Judy finished the baby mat and “Hey, Mr. Postman” is delivering it as we speak.  Mary had the Styrofoam cross bars with the toys attached to them but needed the mat with loops on the corners to attach the bars to.  She took some measurements and gave them to Grandma so she could make the mat.  Here’s a picture of the finished product.

Now it’s onto baby’s first quilt made by the loving hands of Grandma. I’ve seen the fabric and been allowed to participate in the design work – it’s gonna be awesome!!!

I, on the other hand, completed Revision C to the steps.  Rev B was to upgrade the steps while Rev C was to install some blocks of wood between the steps and the coach’s frame to firm them up – no more bouncing while entering and exiting the house.  Hopefully there will be no Rev D.

 

Next it was onto a nice visit with John, Della, and Tippy (their Border Collie).  On the way home, we stopped at Jurek’s Market where we used to buy our fresh cut meat.  They still have good meats, however, their selection is somewhat limited which leaves us with Harbor Springs IGA and Tannery Creek for a wider selection.

Once we returned home, a natural phenomena took place; we both fell asleep in our recliners.  Wow, what a day.  Enough to wear out most people; that is, most people our grandparents age.  Hey, wait a minute.  We are our grandparents age – when did that happen?

Now, after waking up from our naps, we decided to postpone the salmon patty “supper” or the grilled steak “supper” and opted instead for a healthful toasted cheese sandwich.  You see, I forgot to mention that also, on the way home, we stopped by the Dairy Queen (Yes, Mike.  It’s all Judy’s fault, again) thereby rendering our appetites to less than the hungry stage.  So now we get to save the salmon and/or the steak meal for another day.

After naps and “supper” we decided to take a walk into Bayfront Park.  To our surprise, Columbus was discovering Petoskey; that is, the Nina and the Pinta were on exhibit at the dock.  Unfortunately the sun was not right for us to get some good pictures.  Maybe we’ll have to journey back to the park this morning when the sun will be behind us.

 

Here’s a picture looking back from the dock toward Petoskey as well as an old life boat that is on display on the dock.

 

We had planned on dragging out our chairs and ambling off to the beach to watch the sunset, but the clouds set in and hid the sun which negated any semblance of said sunset.  Tired showed up so we hit the sack early for a change; if you want to call ten o’clock early. 

Well, that caps off another day in the life.  May God Bless  - - - - - - - - 

A Day Of “West And Wewaxation”

Today is our Saturday and we were thinking about having coffee on the veranda, however, it is only 57* out thar so I guess the recliner will have to do.  Below is a picture made from our dining room window at ten fifteen last night.  I wish it had come out a little sharper as it was another gorgeous sunset here at Magnus Park.  I hope you realize that my comments about Magnus Park Campground in yesterday’s blog were facetious.  This is a beautiful little spot in this great country of ours.

So, what to do today?  Judy has a couple of errands she wants to get accomplished and I want to finalize the repairs on the steps.  Then we’ll visit John and Della for awhile at their home and, if there’s time, we hope to sit on the beach with our readers and do some reading.  One of these days we need to plan a trip to Mackinaw City and stop by to say, “Hi” to Jeff and Marsha – a couple that we met while w*rking at Amazon.com who are currently workamping at Mill Creek Campground near Mackinaw City.  Anyhow, I guess a few chores, a visit, and a lot of “west and wewaxation” is the order of the day.

Did you realize that katts get stressed out over schedule changes?  Alex especially gets upset whenever we are gone for long periods of time day after day.  He and Katie don’t mind the occasional day trip as long as we’re around the house for a few days before and after, but being gone for six to seven to eight hours a day for multiple days in a row stresses them.  They are Ragdoll katts and Ragdoll katts are not made to be latch key katts.  They need lots of attention so they are in total agreement that this w*rking for a living has got to go!!!

Speaking of the little stinkers, we bought a laser light during our last trip to Walmart.  They go “nuts” chasing that thing around the house and it’s a toy that we can manipulate right from our recliners; the lazy man’s way of playing with his katt.  But they have fun and we get a few chuckles here and there watching their antics as they chase that thing all over the house.  Can you imagine if God had a laser light for us to chase; oh wait a minute, I think he does.  It’s called money!!  I bet He gets a lot of chuckles out of watching people do dumb things while chasing it all over the place.

Well, “On with the show, this is it!!!”  May God Bless  - - - - - - - - -

The Squeeze Box

Sharon, from Odd Essay, wrote and asked to see some photos of our tight squeeze so here they are.  Here we are all tucked away snuggly.

Here’s another view showing the trees that were right in the way of the truck making a wide swing.  We had to go at an angle and “sneak” between the telephone post and the power pedestal and then straighten out and pull forward a little and back in again – we had to do that two times in order to get the rig positioned so we could park the truck on the site.

Just a few more pictures showing this huge rig parked in “The Squeeze Box”.

Here are a couple of shots from behind that shows the phone post and the power pedestal.  Just a tad bit tight – we had to pull forward, almost to the road, to get the entertainment center slide out.

But we managed and are snuggly positioned in a full hook up site with no television for the next eight days.  Two more moves and we’ll be in our “final resting place” for the summer, that is. 

All in all, this is a fairly easy gig; a lot easier for me than for Judy.  She sits at a desk most of the time while doing her least favorite workamping assignment which is reservations.  One thing that we found out is that the other workampers, who have motorhomes, are getting to stay at Hearthside for free whereas we are having to pay $600 per month for our site.  They get huge landscaped full hook up sites with stable 50 amp electric and cable TV while getting paid for all hours worked. 

Now I understand that we “negotiated” a deal with them and were satisfied with the terms at the time, but it still doesn’t seem like it is an “equitable” arrangement.  As long as they have the sites available, it doesn’t really cost them much to provide sites to their workampers so I guess we couldn’t expect them to reimburse us for our site, however, if that’s the case, they should only accept workampers with motorhomes to make it fair to all. 

Well, that’s enough whining, it is what it is.  I guess it is “our cross to bare” to have to live at Magnus park which is within walking distance to one of the prettiest towns in Michigan, that has spectacular views of the bay with beautiful sunsets, and one of the best biking trails in the country while squeezing into small unlevel sites with shaky 30 amp electric and no television.  We sure do have it rough so we hope you’re feeling sorry for us.

In the meantime, happy trails to you until we meet again.  May God Bless  - - - - - - - - -

Fitting Into The Neighborhood

So, what is it like attending the ACC (Arm Chair Church)?  He’s a couple of pictures to help you relate.  The first one is the “Worship Team” leading the song service and the second is Pastor Mike doing the welcoming.  Pastor Mike preached this past Sunday as Pastor Russ is on vacation.  Church on the Eastern Shores currently has six pastors with a search committee seeking a new Senior Pastor.

 

Yesterday we w*rked the late shift; it was pretty much a slow day.  We did have five arrivals yesterday with two already there before we began our shift.  Judy w*rked the Welcome Center and I w*rked the Gate – boy, is my index finger tired this morning after pushing that button to open the gate.  We got back home at about 9:25 and stayed up until almost eleven. 

The RV looks like ten pounds of “stuff” shoved into a five pound bag on this site.  The neighbors stood in awe as we backed this thing in.  There is a stand of trees right where we needed “swing” room for the truck.  Also, we had to back the rig between the power post and a telephone post which made for a little jockey-ing in order to fit this monster into this site.  One of the neighbors said, “I didn’t think you’d be able to get that big fifthwheel into that site.” We managed, so I guess we’re fitting into the neighborhood – just barely but we’re fitting in.  The only place left to park the truck is right outside the door which means we won’t be able to put out the awning. 

We could have stayed on the site we had, which was nicer, but my bride wanted a full hook up so that she could have nice long showers and do the laundry.  She hates Laundromats more than I do and I have no love for them whatsoever.  So now we have sewer, but no television.  Trade offs, trade offs.  Two more moves – next Monday we move back to the site we just left and then Sunday we move to the front row where we’ll stay (and have it all, sewer and television – which Norm says can be pretty much the same).

Today is another w*rk day so we don’t really have anything much to report.  The weather has continued to be “vewy, vewy” nice.  The natives have whined about the heat, but we think it is just perfect.  At least we haven’t been experiencing anything close to the triple digits that the southern part of the state has endured.  So, if you’re in the area, stop by for a chat and bring some wine with you.

In the meantime, May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. (1 Cor. 1:3)

Moving And Worship

Today is moving day again.  And still, we don’t know anyone who is preparing a travel day meal for us.  That just ain’t right.  The move today is three times further than our move last Sunday.  This time it’s down the street about five sites before we find ours.  This one will really challenge the old backing skills as there are two trees that are right in the way.  One has to negotiate around them in order to land the coach in just the right spot.  It will require some backing back and forth to get squeezed into the site.  And no travel day meal!!!

We’ll move first and then attend the COTES-ACC for worship.  It’s nice to see our friends from the past at Stutsmanville Chapel, however, we miss our home church in Fairhope.  Being that we have to move this morning we’ll only have time to attend worship via the air waves.  You can join us at 10:00 EST at the Church On The Eastern Shore.

Speaking of worship, I’ve been enjoying reading out of the New Living Translation (NLT) Bible.  It’s a nice change of pace although my favorite version, by far, is the New American Standard Bible (NASB).  I, also, enjoy the New International Version (NIV) as well.  Judy reads and studies in the NASB almost exclusively. 

Now, I’m going against some of our Fundamentalists brothers and sisters who claim “King James Version only”, but in order to better understand what you’re reading I feel that the NIV is better suited for today’s Christians.  You can try out all the various versions by going to Bible Gateway and reading on line.  You can even compare them by using their “add parallel” feature to read different versions side by side.

Anyhow, it’s Sunday and if it’s Sunday, it must be worship (football doesn’t count as worship, guys).  So we want to give the Lord at least a couple hours of our attention.  We should give him the whole day; that’s why we spend some time each day with the Lord in reading, meditating, and praying in His Word.  Oops, I’ve done gone and gotten too preachy.  But, the title says what today is all about – moving and worship, but no travel day meal.

Now, may God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.  (I Cor. 1:3)

Doing What “Normal” People Do

Not much happening, just w*rking and then coming home to do what “normal” people do after w*rk.  We had a nice dinner of sockeye salmon, sweet potato, and peas last night.  Judy whipped up some biscuits so we could have a yummy strawberry shortcake.  Nothing like have a strawberry shortcake on hot out of the oven biscuits and fresh strawberries topped with home made out of the can whipped cream.  Yum, yum!!

Today is going to be pretty much the same except with rain.  We’ll get an early start again this morning because it is complimentary breakfast day at the Resort.  Judy and I assist with the preparations and serving.  Sheesh, it’s kiesh (or egg casserole for the real men) on the menu for this morning.  There’s always sausage and other goodies to accompany the main dish.

After breakfast, I have the main gate and Judy is “roving” (come here, Rover) then it will be home, once again, to do what “normal” people do after a hard day at w*rk.  This w*rking for a living has got to go!!!!  It eats up waaaaay toooooo much time.  Besides, we want to be doing what the abnormal people do.

May God Bless  - - - - - - - -

Jeepers Creepers, Where Didcha Get Those . . .

It’s back to w*rk today, but yesterday we spent a bucket full of money.  We went to the eye doctor that we went to when we lived in Harbor Springs to get our “peepers” checked out.  Doctor Turcotte was the best optometrist that we’ve ever had anywhere.  Since it’s been almost three years since we’ve had our eyes checked, we figured it was time.  As usual, Dr. Turcotte took the time to ask all the pertinent questions about our vision and do a thorough check. 

Being a professional, he wouldn’t say anything about our current lenses other than it wouldn’t have been his recommendation.  In my words, not his, “they” chose cheap low quality lenses that were less than a perfect fit for us.  “They” being Lens Crafters and Eye Glass World; just like anything, you get what you pay for, however, Lens Crafters were quite expensive. 

Our new glasses will be ready in about a week or so and Dr. Turcotte guarantees his work; therefore, the frames, the lenses, and all the adjustments will be perfectly fitted to meet our specific needs.  Being that we’ve gotten several pairs of eye glasses from him in the past, we know they will be right so the extra money will be worth it in the long run.  We’ve decided that since we are going to be in this area every year, we’ll just continue using him for our eye care.

Other than that, Judy worked on her baby mat project – it’s almost finished and ready to be shipped to grandchild number seven.  I did most of the household chores so she could focus on her sewing.  I, also, spent quite a bit of time reading in my Bible. 

I’ve been doing a chronological reading in the New Living Translation Bible, however, being that it is focused on the Old Testament at this time, I jumped ahead and read through the Book of Romans as well.  I can’t help but rejoice in the goodness of our Father and all His provisions for us.

Other than that, heat is the main subject of the local news.  It’s going to get up into the low nineties today and “they” are telling people of all the precautions that need to be taken.  Low nineties?  We eat that for breakfast!!!  But, I guess it’s all relative.  These people up here eat 5* for breakfast while we shiver like a dawg pooping persimmon seeds.

Well, it’s off to w*rk with us so we’ll catch you on the flip side.  In the meantime, 

May God Bless  - - - - - - - -

Too Much Clebratin’

What can I say?  Late entry today.  “Me and the Missus” have “stood” up waaaaay past eleven o’clock for the past three nights and we didn’t roll outta the sack until after eight this morning.  Yawn!!  Scratch!!  Grunt and Growl!!  Yep, we’re awake.

Okay then.  Tuesday night, after we got home from work, we waddled to the waterfront in our own backyard and watched the fireworks from Bay Harbor.  Last night we watched the fireworks from both Harbor Springs and Petoskey from the same waterfront.  Here’s a picture of our vantage point and, also, people setting up at Bayfront Park.

 

To rate the three performances it would have to be:  1) Bay Harbor, 2) Harbor Springs, and 3) Petoskey, however, all three were a decent display of pyrotechnics.  (We didn’t make pictures of the Bay Harbor display)

   

Last evening we walked into Bayfront Park to watch, and listen to, the concert in the park.  There was a parade at six o’clock, but I’ve been having problems with my right rear leg (my right hip) and can’t stand for very long before a burning sensation, numbness, and pain come rolling in so we just attended the concert where we could sit on the grass to absorb the musical sensations.

 

Of course we ate the all American Fourth of July meal, hot dawgs on real live toasted hot dawg rolls (not buns), Duke’s baked beans, and potato chips.  Then we enjoyed a Cadbury chocolate on chocolate ice cream bar.  The wife calls it “junk food” while I call it darned good eating.  It helps stave off this anorexia thing I’ve been dealing with.  Oh, and speaking of dawgs, here’s Maxx.  He’s our neighbor’s rescue golden retriever; what a sweet gentle dawg.  I’m getting my dawg fix.

Well, what did all y’all do for the Fourth?  I hope you enjoyed the day and thanked God for the freedoms that this day of remembrance represents.

Rejoice In The Lord and May God Bless  - - - - - - - -