Monday May 23, 2016

The DRV factory representative came to our campground with a tech and Jay from Twin Lakes RV Repair.  They discussed what had to be done to fix the slide.  Told us they had seen this before and it was a piece of cake to fix it. Are you kidding me, it took A WEEK for that?  Jay had to move some units around to get us in by Wednesday.  In the mean time, we made the best of the time we had left.We went to dinner at Essenhaus with David and Kathi.  It was good, but not as good as The Blue Gate.  In our opinion.

Tuesday May 24, 2016       Kind of a quite day, Cliff washed the 5th Wheel and we made a trip to Walmart.  We thawed some shrimp that we bought in North Carolina.  Invited David and Kathi to dinner. They had some shrimp from their visit to Louisiana. The Louisiana shrimp is on the left.  It was smaller than the NC shrimp, but it was so sweet and very good.  They bought it from a guy just off a boat.  They had to clean it and freeze it, just like we did.We both had some fresh asparagus and some guacamole.  It was all good.Even Harry enjoyed himself.Then he was out.We enjoyed our last evening with our new friends from California, David and Kathi.  Kathi loves to cook and is very good at it.  She shared some good recipes for food and an all natural bug spray and bathroom cleaner.  They both work great.

Wednesday May 25, 2016

We said our good-byes and headed to Twin Lakes RV Repair.  We dropped off the home again.  It is Wednesday, so we headed to the Shipshewana Flea Market and Auction.  They had an Auction every Wednesday.  It was busy.  We did not buy anything at the auction, but did buy a kite and wind sock from the Kite Man. We had lunch at 5&20 Country Kitchen and drove to Elkhart to the Lowe’s. Back to the Holiday Inn for the evening.  This time we got a newly remodeled room.  This was a very comfortable chaise lounge and side table.  Nice touch and a great addition.

Thursday May 25, 2016Waiting for the 5th Wheel to get finished, so we did some more sightseeing.  This store in Shipshewana has the best lawn art items.  Too bad we can’t buy anything.Beautiful pottery at The Blue Gate Restaurant.Pies at The Blue Gate Bakery.We went back to Eash Sales to look around.They have these beautiful wind spinners.Colorful chairs and barn art.Then we went and sat by the Lagrange County Courthouse and waited for the phone call.  Jay called and said we are ready.Jay asked that we spend the night in his parking lot so that we could test the slide.  He wanted to move it in and out a few more times before we took off to the north. It is working great now.

Friday May 27, 2016Our new heroes, Jay (on the left) and Fly of Twin Lakes RV Repair..  They fixed us up and finished all of the other warranty items.  Jay fixed my trash can cabinet with new hinges and a custom shelf. They really took good care of us.  We will be back to have annual service and maintenance taken care of.  Thank you Jay and Fly.Heading to northern Michigan. They have a Bellevue too.We saw these huge windmills.Driving straight up I-127 to Mount Pleasant.We made it to the Isabella County Fairgrounds.  $15.00 a night for Passport Members.  We had 30 amp and water.  Very neat place.  We would recommend this to anyone. Easy in and out and not far from the Interstate.We were set up by 11:15. This little steeple was on the hill at the corner.  See our 5th wheel in the background?We had almost the whole place to ourselves.  Three popups showed up and set up, but we never heard a peep out of anyone.

Saturday May 28, 2016We headed north on 127 and it connected to I-75. We saw a rest area that had a Scenic pull off, so we decided to check it out.Nice trail up.That is Burt Lake in the distance.Beautiful wild flowers on the trail.Cliff decided to check the tires at the rest stop and noticed the tire on the right was starting to bulge and separate. We were not far from the campground, so we continued on.We made it to Mackinaw Mill Creek Camping and set up in Site 776.  Nice and deep.  Cliff called Coach Net, our road side emergency service, and explained about the tire. They said they would send someone as soon as possible.  We are here for a week, so we could have waited until after the holiday weekend.  They sent someone anyway.  He put the spare tire on the unit and off he went.  This is the second time we have used Coach Net to change a tire.  The service has already paid for itself.  Thanks Coach Net.  We are now in search for new tires.The campground gives the children rides on an old fire engine through the park.  This is a very large campground.I walked down to the shore line to get my first look at the Mackinac Bridge.  Longest suspension bridge in the Unites States.The shore line was busy waiting on the sunset and the fireworks.It was worth the wait.

Sunday May 29, 2016Nice view of the bridge this morning.We went for a drive around Mickinaw City, MI.These May Flies are everywhere, especially near the water.  It was crazy.We found this fresh fish market.  They were so nice and gave us some samples which lead to us buying some smoked trout.  It is wonderful.Check out the view at this house!Beautiful house in downtown Mackinaw City, MI.View from the city park.Old Mackinac Point Light Station. Founded 1889. This is right in the middle of town by the bridge.We also learned that the word Mackinac and Mackinaw are both pronounced with the ‘aw’. It does not matter how they are spelled.Colonial Michilimackinac.  This Colonial village was built by the French in 1714.  During the following years the British military took control of the community until the Indians attached them in 1763.  The British moved the fort to Mackinac Island and renamed it Fort Mackinac.  This site has been restored and is currently an archaeological site.The visitor center in right under the bridge.We went to Walmart in Cheboygan. It is fun just saying the name. You can see it on the water tower behind the store.And there was a Big Boy. Have not seen one of these in a long time.And another beautiful sunset.

Monday May 30, 2016  Memorial Day.   We spent the whole day touring Mackinac Island. When we got back to the campground, it was almost deserted.  So we looked around and found a nice new site with a view of the water and bridge.  The office staff said it was fine and we got $19.00 back because it is a 30 amp site and we had a 50 amp site.  Even better.What a view.  Worth every penny.That is Mackinac Island.The bridge at night is beautiful.Sunrise from our back door.

I will do a separate blog for Mackinac Island and Sault St.Marie.

Wednesday June 1, 2016  Rainy Day There are always those days that are just yucky. Not every day is paradise.  But these are the perfect days to get the chores done.Today is Laundry Day.  It even said so on the wall in the back.Not bad.  We had not done laundry in over a week.  They had large and small washers, so we took advantage and took everything we could think of that needed washing.  It cost $11.00 to do 3 loads of wash and one large dryer.We had a late lunch at Darrow’s Family Restaurant.  Very good.We both had Gulumpki for the first time.  Kind of like cabbage soup.  It was very good, especially on a chilly, rainy day.   We played a few rounds of Tri-ominos and watched American Ninja Warrior on TV.

The next few blogs will be about Mackinac Island and Sault St. Marie.