Jefferson Iowa

Long story- A Swedish weaving friend in Arizona emailed me that she was putting some of her beads, her hobby of the past, on ebay. So I  looked and bid. She had over $600 worth of beads by my calculation so I shot my maximum bid on it and lost. She then emailed me and said she had more and was I interested. I bought them and they arrived yesterday. They got all mixed together in transit. She had done her best in the packing as they were all still enclosed in the case. They were just a jumble within it. So now I am sorting beads. You may find it odd but I find the process strangely addicting. Butch has offered to help. I have devised a system. So this may consume us for the coming weeks.

Butch's brother Leo finally received the fire ring he ordered before the family reunion a year ago. So we had an initiation fire last night complete with guests Norma, Everett and Bert. Bert is an expert marshmallow roaster. They were absolutely perfect-lightly browned all around and we were able to pull them off and not get one sticky finger. She has the whole process down to a fine art.

 Leo and Keri Brooker have a daughter getting married next weekend. Erin and Greg will tie the knot in

 Des Moines so we plan to stay at the Grimes KOA for a few days before the wedding. Erin's mom Keri has her mother of the bride ensemble all ready to go. So I put together a bracelet for her to match her necklace.

 

Butch is golfing. Last night and this morning.

So easy

It is so easy to get behind! Tuesday night we stayed with Eugene and Naoma Pratt, Magnolia park friends who live in the U.P. Oh we wish all our friends places were as easy to get to as theirs is with a horseshoe drive and right on the highway. It was very easy to pull in and out with our MoHo. We had a great visit and got the grand tour of their very interesting place.

These two were taken at a rest stop on the U.P.

Customize a picture slideshow The next morning we were on the road bright and early with our destination being Turtle Lake WI, merely because it was at the 300 mile mark and had an RV park. It actually has 3 but we chose the one easiest to find and get in and out of and it worked out well. We called for a shuttle to the casino. Won't do that again! Many casinos will tease you along with a tiny little win now and then. Not this one!. It was all take and no give. We should have had a clue because it was not a busy place at all. We did have a decent meal and that was the best value of the casino. Once again we were on the road bright and early for the last leg of our journey. We know we needed fuel at some point and we had been in need of propane for a few weeks so we were on the lookout for both. That ended up being the theme for the day. Butch has a "thing" about looking for the cheapest fuel and this time it was nearly our undoing. One thing you do not want to do is run out of fuel on a diesel engine. Priming them is a major pain as I understand it. So it was a close call and we ended up paying too much in Butch's opinion ($3.15 per gallon) so he only partially filled up meaning we continued our hunt further down the road for a cheaper price. It changes the trip when you are in constant search for something as mundane but important as fuel. We found  propane at Williams Iowa Flying J. Flying J is not nearly the RVers friend as it used to be but it does have what we need from its past friendliness so we stopped because we know they sell propane. Fuel prices were too high thus resuming our search and stop at Cameron where we purchased the bio-diesel for $2.99 a gallon. Too many stops!! Then we stopped at Boone to visit the kids and enjoyed a delicious chili supper finally getting to Jefferson just before dark. We settled into our spot at Leo and Keri's where we will be for the next week. Phew!! It feels good to be caught up!! Till next time...

So far

We left Tuesday morning a little earlier than we usually get up and around. The trip north up and over the Mackinac Bridge was uneventful and absolutely beautiful! I have lots of pictures. One in particular I am quite proud of because I got it through the driver side window while going nearly 60 mph. Quite a feat in my book.

Good huh?

The Mackinac Bridge was a non-issue. Not scary at all. It did help to have a loaded work truck in front of us making our trip at a comfy 20mph. Also it was a calm day so all was good.

The trip to the bridge and on to the U.P. (Upper Peninsula) was a riot of color. We had been told that it rivals Vermont because upper Michigan has a greater variety of trees. It is truly spectacular.

To be continued...

Blast of color

We are about 15 to 30 minutes from being on the road again. So I will give you a blast of color to hold you over. Who knows if I will have time to say much in the morning. I will if I get up at 5:00AM! We will be gaining an hour before we get back to Iowa but it won't take effect on us for a few days yet.

Finding spots

Today we will be finding spots to put the things we have accumulated and want to keep and throwing out things we do not want before putting our motorhome on the road tomorrow. We are going north to go south so we can avoid the Chicago area. Not so much traffic reasons as we could do that on a Sunday without issue but more so because I-80 is VERY bumpy for quite a stretch through Illinois. Also it should be a very colorful trip through Michigan's upper peninsula. We will be crossing the Mackinac bridge which gives some folks the heebie jeebies, me being one of them but many people do it daily without incident so I comfort myself with that- that and look at the floor of the vehicle or the craft in my lap for the 5 miles over. If the wind is too high they close the bridge-if moderately high they lead you across with a pilot car and greatly limit the speed. I am hoping for no wind at all.
We unhooked the water hoses last night because the temps were predicted in the low 20's. I think 26 was as low as it got but that is low enough! It is 31 as I write this. Brrr. There is frost on everything this morning.
The leaf color is fantastic! I will upload a few shots of color this morning.