July 18th - August 13th, Indy and Michigan

July 18-21 Thursday-Sunday Martinsville, Indiana

A few more days of free camping as we parked at Tony's brother Greg's house just south west of Indianapolis.  Originally we were going to sleep in the trailer as we visited family and friends these few days but I jumped at Greg's suggestion that with record breaking temperatures we stay in the house with air-conditioning.  Did I mention that I LOVE visiting my brother-in-law and his wife! Tony and his brother Paul from Iowa did some 

work at their dad's house since he has been out of sorts with a pinched nerve for a couple of months while I caught up on laundry.  Saturday we headed to Carmel IN for lunch with Tony's sister Vicki and hubby Dennis.  Sunday morning at church the sermon centered around Hospitality and Heaven and the priest advised us to "Eat Less and Pray More", and that evening we had a fun catching up with Danny and Terri (Best Man at our wedding).  Because it was Tony's birthday, he got  a free desert - how could we resist?  A quick surprise visit to Tony's aunt Donna and Uncle Don was also lots of fun.  The excessive heat wave (97 Average) with 110 degree heat index continued right on through the weekend.

July 22-23, Monday-Tuesday  Shipshewana, Indiana

Heading north through Indiana through the town of Wolf Lake we noticed (well at least I noticed) that it smelled like onions, A LOT.  Well, I like onions but this was quite strong for a long stretch of the highway.  Then I noticed that their summer festival celebrates "ONION DAYS".  Must be a climate that is good for this root vegetable.  Interesting that this climate/soil is right for onions.  Wonder how the learning curve develops that ends up favoring a particular food in a particular locale.  I kind of understand about wines, but how does a light bulb suddenly go off in a group of farmers heads that cries ONIONS?

Today I drove for a while with the new truck and the fifth wheel.  I had not driven the combination yet this summer and since we knew the roads were relatively flat for the drive today I hopped in the driver's seat. I did not want to mess with the exhaust brakes or manually downshifting through steep grades.  No sooner had I taken off when we hit a construction zone.  Cement barriers to the left and guard rails with no shoulder to the right.  I love the new bigger trailer mirrors and they highlighted quite well the narrow strip I was traversing as I drove on down the road.  I also immediately missed the electric seats for height adjustment.  This truck is taller and the hood scoop makes it a little tougher to get a visual perspective on the front end of the truck which electric seats would have helped.  The truck has plenty of power, but the low speed shifts are still bad.

As we came into the Shipshewana area the first thing you notice are the road signs warning of horses with buggies and then there are horses with buggies everywhere!  Shipshewana is the third largest Amish community in the United States!  It was definitely a reminder of a simpler, gentler way of life.  Horses and buggies had their own special designated parking areas at the bulk food store, the flea market, and various other stores around town.  Tony begged off from going to the bulk food store (both times!) and the local dry goods/shoe store.  It was so much fun 

perusing the food items and seeing rows of black hats (cloth and straw), women's bonnets and colorful fabrics the women make their dresses from.  The little boys colorful button up shirts looked like a rainbow hanging on the rack.  I can't wait to try some of the varieties of popcorn I bought and the popcorn seasoning.  The flea market was not much different than the one in Mesa but on a smaller scale.  We didn't buy much there but the Yoder cheese and meat market was a different story!  We hit a few other local gift markets and ate out at a local place that was decent but nothing noteworthy.

July 24-August 13 Camp Dearborn, Milford Michigan

Funny how one seems to notice immediately the large number of bumps, lumps, and uneven pavement sections when you get into Michigan!  Well it is hard to believe how fast our three weeks went in Michigan!  We barely had enough time to see family and friends and we had no time to look up new found AZ friends who live in Michigan or to search out and play pickleball.  We are camping at Camp Dearborn with Noel and Karen, our good friends from AZ, who are also travelling with us for another 3 weeks after we leave here.

Major happenings:

-The oldest of my five brothers, Larry, got remarried (Veronica) and she seems to make him very happy.  Found out her given name is Vibella which means "good life".  Pretty cool.  The rehearsal dinner, wedding, and party were fun and we caught up with lots of family there.  Adam was in town for the event all decked out in a new suit with my dad as the best man looking quite dapper for an 83 year old (who still has some great moves on the dance floor).  My aunt Corky was in town from Florida and she had a chance to meet her young great nieces and nephews for the first time - Evelyn and Julie and who were in town from Louisiana, and Jaxon and Jolene from 

Michigan.  She had not been back to Michigan since my mom died 6 years ago.  

My sister's husband John and youngest son Charlie came from Missouri.  Traffic caused some delay and they missed the wedding but made it to the party.  My sister passed away in 1999 and this summer we have managed to see three of her four kids and her husband.  Quite fun!  Three other brothers and wives (where applicable) were present also and it was a great to see everyone at such a great venue and catch up.  Of course we had to cruise through our old neighborhoods in Romulus with my aunt, stop at the cemetery to see various family members, have lunch laid out on my brother Mike's ping pong table at his auto shop (with homegrown cukes, zucchini and tomatoes), and later that weekend savor the best sub sandwiches around at Captain Nemos.

-My regular hair stylist gave me a great cut before the wedding.  I love being able to catch up with her and get spruced up.  I had a physical since I have not broken down and found a doctor in Arizona yet. We golfed and had dinner several times with our dearest college friends Paula and Dan.  We had our annual in person meeting with our financial advisor in Plymouth at Raymond James and he assured us we could continue to stay retired.  Part of the discussion revolved around whether or 

not to take Social Security (yikes!) starting next year!!  How did we ever get to be over 61 already???  A trip to Clarkston to visit our friends Dean and Marianne for lunch and check out the latest in home and landscaping renovations is always inspiring.  (Diane also showed up to visit.)  Their winter home is in Green Valley AZ so we will see them again after the holidays.

-Our previous parish, St. Mary Our Lady of the Snows in Milford, had their annual summer festival and after putting out the word that we would be hanging there on Saturday night we were able to connect with about a dozen of our friends and their grown sons from our Boy Scouting past.  It is great to be able to stay connected to friends who we spent so much time with while our boys were on the path to "EAGLE".  Jim and Lisa even camped with us for a weekend and we shopped and talked new campers to the point that they took the plunge and bought a brand 

new fifth wheel for further camping adventures.  We are impatiently waiting to see pictures!!  It was especially great to see Drew (the scoutmaster's son) out and about as he continues his slow recovery from an accident two years ago.  The fair always has a great white elephant sale and I bought a few things, but the best bargains were Sunday after mass when you can fill a brown paper bag for $5.  Mine was overflowing, topped off with a plant for Adam's apartment!   Lots of others were around over the weekend to touch base with including one of my neighborhood walking buddies Diane.  We were able to catch up a bit as she worked the silent auction.  While at Camp Dearborn, we saw hot air balloons take off in the field right next to where we were camping.

-We had breakfast with my dad and then again another day with a friend from the YMCA at the local spot in town that still has their weekday special for $2.85 (2 eggs, toast, meat and hash-browns).   We need a joint like that in AZ!!

-One day biked to the YMCA from camp about 4 miles to visit with some of my previous co-workers.  Milford, the town we were in, had their annual summer art festival, Milford Memories, one weekend and several hours passed as we walked and shopped and ran into more friends doing the same.  Our good friends Kathy and Hal, who used to be neighbors and camping buddies, also camped that weekend and joined us for biking, shopping, campfires, catching up and reminiscing.

-Our old Euchre group had their monthly gathering and Tony and I were able to sub that night.  Tony had a near record high with 82 and walked away with first place of $30.  We shared lots of laughs, stories, and really great food.  Nancy's kielbasa and sauerkraut is always a big hit.

-You know you had lived in an area a long time when you see a coworker from the YMCA grabbing a hot dog lunch at the Speedway gas station as we fueled up.  Later as I was dropping some photo albums that I had emptied off at the Salvation Army we saw a neighbor who had lived on our street.  You really can't donate without making a quick perusal of the store, can you? I found a couple of items for wine cork crafts!

-One  project we tackled while here was emptying photo albums
including fancy scrap booked pages.  My dad wanted the stuff out of his basement since we have been moved for 5 years.  Tony spent hours taking digital photos and we will later send them to our kids.  Then we proceeded to burn the pages and the photos through the weeks at various campfires.  The photos turned out quite well and this way we are not hauling 10 heavy albums back to AZ, and then trying to store them who knows where and worrying about the heat and such.  I did refrain from burning the compilation albums I created for the kids graduation parties.  I remember the year we turned 50 I also burned a large assortment of papers and old greeting cards.  Ami and Adam are now in charge of their own photo history!  We delivered Adam's, and Ami will get hers when she is in Michigan in August.

-We delivered Adam's albums and a whole truck load of stuff from my dad's house to Maryland in a three day quick round trip.  Adam took a great new job just west of Baltimore (Catonsville).  His Junior Accounting position is with Erickson Living parent company to Fox Run, and 19 other senior living communities throughout the U.S..  Ami and Brian helped shop, transport, assemble and get him set up as he moved from living with them in North Carolina to his first apartment!  700 ft2 for $1200.  We are proud and excited for this next venture for him.  Although Tony was less than excited about the $53 dollars in tolls from Michigan on the various turnpikes for the nine hour drive through Ohio and Pennsylvania to get there!  So unexcited, that he opted for an extra hour drive with no tolls on the way home.

Though mostly set up when we arrived, the couch from Sam's club was broken.  We had to take out the hitch to transport the broken couch to the closest store and go to a different Sam's to buy the last one they had.  The couch has great features like storage in the arms too.  But out of sight is out of mind, and the broken couch was returned with some of Adam's treasures still buried in those compartments.  Luckily a quick trip back to Sam's that evening, just before closing, retrieved his laptop charger, phone charger, headphones and a brand new baseball cap purchased in Atlanta.  Always excitement!  Learned a new word on the trip as we passed through scenic small towns in coastal Ohio along the Lake Eerie Trail - "apiary"-  beehive collection, to raise bees.  Turned over 10,000 miles coming back from Maryland.

-We were able to squeeze in one summer evening concert with our good friend Deb, along with Noel and Karen, seeing "Steve King and the Dittlies".  They are a great brass band playing Classic Rock/Rock & Roll/ Easy Listening music.  Tony also reconnected with a few retirees from his Diesel work days at the Shark Club, and we met some high school friends Mike and Debbie at the Ascension Brewery one evening.  Our last supper in town was with Edie and Patrick at a local Milford Restaurant and we caught each other up on our kids and our travels, their jobs and laughed about our times as "Band Moms".