Fall Has Fallen

Spring has sprung, Summer has come, Fall has Fallen, Winter is on its way without delay, and now warmer weather is calling.

Today we begin our trek south.  We have a two and a half hour drive to Fenton, Michigan where the tires will be changed out on the coach.  Then we will stop by Shirley (Judy’s sister) and Warren’s for a couple of days.

It’s amazing how fast two and a half weeks have passed.  We’ll miss Ray and Pat; they have been fantastic hosts and we have enjoyed our stay with them.  They’ll be stopping by the Plantation sometime during this coming winter/spring and we’ll be back to our roost in the north next summer, this is too great of a campground to pass up.  We’re looking forward to our next get together with them.

Until tomorrow . . . . . .

Know Thyself

Today we’ll wrap up our stay with Ray and Pat in Mecosta, Michigan.  We should be back from Grand Rapids before noon and spend the rest of the afternoon “breaking camp”.  Hopefully it will be warm enough to sit around the campfire later this afternoon/evening.

This has been an incredibly fantastic "camp site".  We've gotten a lot done as well as decompressed after a hectic summer.  If cold weather wasn't setting in, it wouldn't be too difficult for us to stay right here for another two weeks. 

We have certainly learned a lot about our preferences this summer.  We love traveling, but not back to back travel days and prefer four or less hours on the road.  However, rather than doing back to back travel days, I'd prefer to just "Git-R Done" which means longer travel days from time to time.  After two or three weeks of traveling we need to break it up with a couple of weeks off by staying in one place. 

And, when it comes to sightseeing, we like to mix it up with a day or two out and about followed by a day or two of relaxing at home.  Further, meeting up with others along the way takes precedence over seeing the sights - I guess, we're just a social couple at heart.

Family matters, so we’ll find ourselves in Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Virginia at least once a year each spring, summer, and/or fall.  That means our travels out west will be extremely limited; therefore, we need to make an “out west bucket list” so that we can prioritize our westward travels.  Unfortunately our lives won’t be long enough to see it all – we should have quit w*rking and hit the road the day after college graduation.

All in all, this has been a great summer with no workamping and from the looks of things, next year is going to be pretty much the same.  This is a great lifestyle and as we’ve said before, “It’s not one size fits all.”  You get to make up the rules as you go, but the first step is to “Know Thyself.”

Sunday Solitude

Not much new going on at the Patterson household.  We did manage to get the day/night shades restrung and reinstalled.  Those things are more work than they’re worth.  If we were rich folks, we’d install Bali stringless blinds ($1,000 to $1,200 to do our whole house).  Heck, if we were rich folks we’d be doing a lot of things differently!!!  But, in the meantime, we’ll just continue restringing the day/night shades.

After wrestling with the day/night shades I was too tired to start defrosting the refrigerator (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it) so I just had to lay on the couch and watch college football.  Therefore, the refrigerator has become today’s chore; I suppose when I finish that I will be too tired to do anything else but lay on the couch and watch some more football - sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?

For yesterday’s lunch we shared a yummy homemade vegetable beef stew (lovingly made by the hands of Pat) with Ray and Pat.  It was absolutely delicious, not like anything that you’d ever find on the grocery store shelves.  Isn’t it just a wonderful thing when you have great neighbors?

So, this morning, we’ll worship at the World Outreach Church Extension and then jump onto the refrigerator chore before engaging in our relaxation techniques.  Today is our last “sit back and take it easy” day for awhile.  Tomorrow morning we’ll be off bright and early for Brian’s guardianship hearing in Grand Rapids then we’ll come home to start breaking camp.  Tuesday morning we’ll be on the road heading for Fenton, Michigan for a tire exchange followed by a couple of days visiting at Judy’s sister’s place.  Thursday we’ll join with the geese and begin our trek south for the winter.  And Friday, why that’ll be grand children fix day – Yay!!!

Until next time . . . . .   

Winding Down In Michigan

The time here at Ray and Pat’s is winding down.  We’ve been here for two weeks now and only have three more days left before we hit the road again.  It will be munchkin time again this coming Friday.  We’re looking forward to seeing them thar grandkids once more. 

The damage to the coach has been repaired, including the installation of some hardboard above the wheels.  I only have two chores left to complete before heading out – defrost the refrigerator and re-string the day/night shades.  Should be able to get both done today.

We drove into Mt. Pleasant yesterday to finish Brian’s birthday and Christmas shopping.  Unfortunately we didn’t get the Christmas shopping done.  Ever have one of those days where you know what you want to buy, but you just can’t find it anywhere?  We still have a couple of items to get which means that we’ll end up shipping them to him.  Hope to find them in Murfreesboro while we’re there.

Fortunately for us, the cold front that was predicted to pass through last night stalled so it’s relatively mild this morning with temps in the high 40’s.  However, the front is still on it’s way and the temperatures will dip into the 30’s tonight.  The good news is that we’ll definitely escape Michigan before the sn*w flies (and before the really cold weather sets in).  Lebanon, Tennessee is in the high 70’s during the day time; now that’s our kind of weather.

Isn’t it funny that whenever we run out of things to talk about, we talk about the weather.  I guess that means that I should say good bye and hang up.  So, until next time, hope you have a nice weekend and try to keep warm.

From Alex’s Point Of View

Alex here, Katie and I are really liking our digs here at Ray and Pat’s.  We are in under the trees and there is so much to see out the windows where the squirrels, birds, turkeys, deer, and the antelope roam (well, not exactly antelope, but that’s how the song goes).  Yesterday I got to sit outside on the patio in mom’s lap; that was a fun thing that rarely ever happens.

Mom is uncomfortable whenever I’m outside.  She doesn’t think that I know how to take care of myself and is concerned that I might get spooked and take off.  If I took off, it would be to the inside where I’d feel safe up on the bed.  Anyhow, I enjoyed sitting in Mom’s lap and hopes she takes me outside again real soon.

Even though things are looking very pretty around our here, Dad says that the cold weather is going to set in tonight.  That’s not a good thing because you have to “dress in layers” to go outside.  I didn’t bring any bundling up clothes with me; I just figured we’d be back in the southland before cold sat in.  I sure hope he’s wrong about that darned old cold front – we saw enough of that last winter to last a dozen years or better.

Yesterday Mom worked on one of her quilting projects (Dad calls it basket weaving, hee hee!) while Dad worked on his “Ol’ Ta Do” List.  One of the things on that list was to clip the katt’s nails; that’d be us!  Katie and I don’t like to have our nails clipped, but we’ve learned to tolerate it.  In any event, Dad can “scratch” that one off the list (didcha catch the pun?).

They both made a pretty good dent in their projects, especially Dad on his Ta Do List considering that he accomplished several other things that never made it onto the list.  The big thing left on his list is to defrost the refrigerator.  Dad says that’s a pain in the ass; I guess that’s why he has to stand up to do it.

What’s up for today?  I don’t know, katt’s don’t make lists.  We just go with the flow and we’re happy as long as it’s not a travel day.  Even though we get to see new things and go to exciting places, we basically hate to ride in the truck.  Especially when Dad gets angry at the tires and drives for eleven hours – that makes for a long, long day for us big little kitty katts.

So, from Mecosta, Michigan we bid you adieu.  Happy “tails” to you until we meet again (didcha catch the pun?)!!