#9. On the Road Home

As we wind down the trip and head for home, we are noticing fewer and fewer campers. Here at P J Hoffmaster State Park in Muskegon, there were only a handful of us.

Of course, since our trip is coming to an end, the weather in the next few days is going to be the best we have had in the last month. Oh, wellll…..

One nice thing about traveling is that there is always something new or different to see or do. Probably our most unique experience on this trip occurred this week in Muskegon where we had an excellent dining experience at the Culinary Institute of Michigan, a school for those wanting to pursue the food service business. They have a fine dining restaurant fully staffed by students. We had some tasty dishes, including the appetizer shown - dates with creamy gorgonzola topped with a toasted walnut and a thin strip of sugared bacon and a drizzle of raspberry sauce. 

Idgy and Rosie have never been good buddies, but with the close quarters in the RV, it sometimes looked almost like they were.

Our last stop in Michigan is Berrien Springs, where the city operates a campground along the St. Joseph river. We are camped about 100 feet from this swift river. Mornings have afforded some spectacular color on the trees and reflected in the water. This photo does not do the colors justice - they are even more vivid!

Today we visited the Fernwood gardens, and were pleased to find that they waived our entrance fee with our Morton Arboretum pass. The garden is comprised of about 8 acres with many exhibits of trees, plants, and sculpture.   They were featuring a special exhibit when we visited - a railroad garden with several "O" gage trains running on it.  All of the miniature buildings are replicas of existing buildings. This photo shows a trolley passing over a bridge. 

Have you ever SMELLED a field of grapes?  Driving through vineyard after vineyard, we did just that.  Speaking to the owner of a U-Pick grape stand, we learned that the fragrance came from the Concord grapes, which will be harvested in the next week or so.  We could see great big bunches of them hanging from the vines, whose leaves have begun to brown.  It's neat to be out walking around among rows and rows of grapevines, and cutting whatever bunch you like the look of (80 cents per lb.). We wound up with a couple of pounds of Vanessa seedless grapes to bring home; I think we probably ate a couple of pounds straight off the vine, too!

What better place to finish our trip off than with a visit to an ice cream shop in New Buffalo called "Oinks"? On the recommendation of our friend, Ann, we gave it a try and were not disappointed at all.

You know, the return trip home is always shorter than the trip out. Maybe that is because you have people that you want to see sooooo bad. For us, one of those is our almost 9 month old granddaughter, Anna, and her brothers. Who wouldn't want to get back home to give a big hug to this little sweetie?

Well, bye for now. And thanks for travelin' with us. Its been great fun!

Anne & John

#8. Headin' South

When you are RV-ing, you have to improvise pretty often, and this trip was no exception. One of the first issues we had was when we realized that we forgot to bring the battery charger for the camera! It turns out that you can charge one battery with another - from the rechargable drill in this case. Why do we have a drill on board? Don’t ask……..

Leaving Sleeping Bear Dunes, we drove through the countryside, and saw some great color.  However, only about 25% of the woodland trees have colored up, and the farther south we drive, the less color is evident.   From the road we were able to see a great number of orchards, some having already been harvested and others with trees overloaded with bright red apples.  There were many small roadside fruit stands, unmanned, with payment on the honor system.

  

Camping in Manistee at the Little River Casino Campground, we were able to make our donation to the native Americans in the area. The campground was convenient to the town, and had all the amenities, including a great internet connection! The town of Manistee prides itself for its Victorian architecture, and a surprising number of older buildings are scattered throughout the town. In addition to a farmer’s market we went to a neat little museum housed in a former hardware / drugstore building. They had preserved an amazing number of artifacts and old photos of the area in their relatively small space. 

A drive through the hilly countryside was a nice way to spend the afternoon. In one small town, we found the "bottle house" The pic may not show it well, but the exterior is all bottles - the bottom facing outward!

We are camped in a state park in Muskegon now, and and are mostly recovered from shock of paying $41 for an out of stater’s night camping in a state park – camping fee + RV fee + car fee! Pretty pricey for a mostly plane jane camping spot, but the summer beach activities warrant the cost, probably.