Finishing out July

July is almost over and than means summer is starting to wind down.. We'll be leaving MI on Tues for the rest of the summer. We've had a good time seeing the state and visiting with friends but it's time to move on. Aug is shaping up to be a very busy month with us moving every week to a new location. I'll keep ya'll posted on where we're at and what's going on with us.
Today was spa day for Lady. We decided to get her groomed again here cause the place we go to does a good job and you never know what kind of cut she'll get on the road. I had her cut short but she'll be needing a cut by the time we get to the RGV in the fall. Tigger is sitting beside me watching me so I guess I should mention that he's doing good too and looks like he'll be returning with us this fall..We didn't know if he had another year in him or not but he just had his 14th birthday and most days he's looking pretty good.

Trip back to Hartland

We packed up on Wed and headed back to Hartland. We checked the weather and the temps & rain chances were going to be about the same for either Alpena or Hartland so we decided to finish the month out here. Today didn't disappoint or did it. It depends on who you ask. The rain started about mid afternoon and was still going strong after midnight. As far as I can tell it's going to rain most of the weekend. Good thing I have a few books to keep me busy. Nancy and Bob are here but we haven't had a chance to hang out due to the weather.
We'll be in MI till the 3rd and then leaving MI for the summer. We have events planned in OH and IN for the next 5 weeks that will keep us busy.

Fast week

Our week in Alpena went fast. We got together on Friday for the fish fry with Phyllis and Larry. The food was really good. Sat and Sun was golf weekend. The tournament was held in Scotland so the tv coverage started at 4am. Thank goodness for DVR's. Sunday was a rainy day so it was a good day for watching golf and baseball. Go Braves. Monday we headed over to P&L for dinner. We had another nice visit and then said our good byes till the fall when we all get back together at Leisure.

Flooding in South Texas

Over to course of the last week I've talked to people that's been in the Mission area and rec'd emails from others about how things are going in Mission. Our park is doing ok and looking pretty good with plenty of green grass. Fruit trees are full of developing fruit. (that's a good thing.) The rain has brought the mosquitos though and they are pretty bad. Hopefully they will be gone before any of us head back down in the fall.
Based on the local newspaper article the businesses along the river are flooded. Pepe's and Riverside cafe were taking a hit. Riverside was trying to salvage some of its tables and chairs and other items. Below is what was written in the paper about Pepe's:

Nearby Pepe’s on the River was almost completely submerged in water.

On Saturday, the widening river banks lapped at the back deck, with families and drinkers enjoying the popular bar.

On Wednesday, only a portion of the roof and its supporting bars could be seen above the new river levels. (end of paper's comments)

Also Chimney park was flooded too. I believe I'm correct in saying that's where the border patrol was located. I've seen pic's of the flooding in this park. If anyone wants to see those pic's email me and I'll be happy to forward them on to you..I don't know how to put pic's on this.
Just thought you might want to know how things are going after a couple of tropical near misses...(if these are misses what would a direct hit be like)

Alpena Mi

We left the west coast yesterday and moved over to the east coast. That's the coast of MI in case anyone was wondering. We orginally had plans to go back to Hartland but the weather was calling for high temps this week so we decided to stay farther north. Hopefully the heat will break by the time we head back down toward the southern parts of MI.
We're staying at Thunder Bay RV park in Hillman. We've been to this park before and really like this area. It's quiet and away from the hussle of some of the MI parks we've been to.
Phyllis and Larry live near here and we saw them last night along with Jim and Jan.
Jim and Jan have a lake house here for the summer and they winter in Bandera. They've come down to Mission to visit before so we've seen them several times over the last couple of yrs. We all met up at Bolton's Bar and had supper. Reid loves the pizza there. We had the place pretty much to ourselves and we sat and talked for a couple of hours.
Friday night is fish fry night here at the rv park grill so P&L are heading over here for that tomorrow night.
No real plans for the rest of the week. Reid will golf some and we're going over to P&L's sometime before we leave here.

Where to next

Reid has been watching the weather and it looks like it's going to be a really hot week in Hartland so we decided to go farther north and stay in Hillman, MI for a week. We've been to this rv park before and it's really a nice quiet place. There's plenty of area for me to ride my bike and walk to get my miles in each day. Our friends P&L live in this area and if they are home and if they are free we'll visit with them. We have a couple of places we like to hang out when were in town with them so that will be the plan if they are available.
We'll head back down toward Hartland on the 21st..weather permitting. that's the plan right now but when it comes to the heat we never know.

Sightseeing in W MI

West Mi was new for us and we wanted to see a couple of the things people told us to visit. We drove up the scenic route on 22 up to Sleeping Bear Dunes..I was looking for bears along the way but didn't see any. I did see a deer.. There was a pull out on the way up that we got a great view of Lake MI. I could have looked at that view all day. It was just beautiful..We saw dolphins...No we didn't that was a joke and the person it was directed to will get a laugh out of it. I love looking at the water, hearing it lap upon the shore, I just love it. Later we took a driving tour around the dunes. That was pretty interesting to see. This dune is 450 feet high and people do walk down it to the water but getting back up is the trick..no we didn't go down it. Kids were running up and down it and anyone over 30 was having a rough time of it and others (like us) we're even gonna try it.
We decided to head into Traverse City and take 31 back to the rv park. We saw a groc store and stopped to get a couple of items so I could make spaghetti sause then found a mexican restaurant for a late lunch. it was really good. You all know our trials of finding good mexican food.. We always try to hit local places when we're traveling cause we can do the chains anytime.

we moved...West MI

Where have I been. For some reason I hadn't gotten around to update my blog till now. We left on Thurday heading to W MI. this is our first trip to the west coast of MI and I've been looking forward to it. We had planned to come here last yr but Steph's surgery changed all that so we postponed it till this yr. The weather had been nice. Cooler than it was last week but the temps will be climbing most of the week. We plan to do some sightseeing next week. Traverse City is on our list to visit but they are having their Cherry festival this week and we want to go after that..I know most people visit during festivals but not us..Crowds arent' for us.
Also on the list is Sleeping Bear Dunes and Lake MI so that will keep us busy.
We finally found a pizza place today.. Reid had been talking pizza for several days so I knew he would find one soon. Tomorrow we're going out for breakfast.
I like the park. It's nice and paved..I've enjoyed walking and biking around the park the last couple of days.. Lady too is getting in her walk. No dogs off their leash so she's getting out and about.

Alex stayed away

You know me I was watching the weather channel..While I do watch hurricane coverage this time was a bit more interesting cause it was heading toward our place in TX. But it went farther south so we got lots of rain but not alot of wind. We haven't gotten any calls so everything in our park must be ok. I heard last night that McAllen had gotten 7 inches of rain already and more expected.
Now for some good weather..oh it's been great. The lows this past week have been around 50 (one night was 48) and the highs 70 with lots of sun. We're enjoying it.
I even had a jacket on last night while we sat outside.
This has been a fun week. On Sunday Rita and Dan stopped by. Phyllis and Larry was going to but the weather was bad and they had a long drive so they headed on home. We had fun seeing Rita and Dan again. They spend last winter with us in So TX.
Tues Nancy and I went to get our hair done. I needed my root therapy again...where does the gray come from. We stopped for lunch afterwards.
Tim and Jean were here all weekend and we got to met their daughter Trina and granddaughter Alexis. She's such a cutie. You just wanted to hug all over here.
Tomorrow is Lady's day. She's getting her spa treatment.
I don't know what we're doing for the 4th. The park is having their fireworks on Sat night so we'll watch them.
take care everyone