Day 93

Saturday, August 31

Can you believe it?  3 months!  We left on May 31 and here it is August 31.  Who woulda thunk it!?!

We finished our Nashville tour with a stop at the Country Music Hall of  Fame, a walk through the music stars park, more strolling along the honky Tonkin strip (found the Wildhorse Saloon!), and then we drove out to the Bluebird Cafe (a must see for us based on the TV show "Nashville"!).

Yesterday we made our way to the Beanpot Campground in Crossville, TN.  Went to Mikki's, and the kids wanted to go to the Cumberland County Fair so that's where we spent our evening.

Don't know what today will bring - but I, for one, think swimming should definitely be a part of the plan!

Day 90

Wednesday, August 28

3 months on the road!  Wow!  Can't believe it's been that long!

So, here we are outside of Nashville.  Went into the city this afternoon to find out what kinds of things there are to see and do in Music City.  Spent some time walking up and down "Music Row", poking our heads into several honky tonks to listen to music.  How fun!

And can you believe it?  I FORGOT THE STEPS TO PONTOON!  I've been away from dance much too long!!

Day 88

Monday, August 26

Kids headed home yesterday afternoon - really enjoyed our camping visit with them!

We left Iron Mountain this morning - and made it as far as Milton, Wisconsin.  Really nice campground here - went to the pool and hot tub for awhile as soon as we pulled in.  Very nice.  Took a walk around the park after dinner - pretty big place.  1/2 the park is more "permanent" and then the other half is for travelers or seasonals.  Nice sites.

So we're on our final leg - headed south....

Day 86

Saturday, August 24

Camping with the kids since Thursday.  We're at the Summer Breeze campground just outside Iron Mountain.

Today was "kids" day.  We started with birthday presents right after breakfast, then it was go-karts and mini-golf, and next is cake and ice cream.  We've had fabulous weather for camping out and we're hoping the 50% chance of rain tonight doesn't come and soak everyone!

Days 81-83

Monday, August 19

Arrived in Oconto, Wisconsin.  Cute little town - took the bikes for a ride around town to o some exploring.  Campground is right on the Oconto river - if we walk our our trailer door and walk 50 feet, we'd land right in the river!  Nice!




Tuesday, August 20

Packer practice!  How fun is that?!!?

And visited with Tom's brother/sister-in-law.  Went out to eat for dinner.  Nice visit.





Wednesday, August 21

Visited with Tom's stepmom in Sheboygan today.  And then back to Lee & Nancy's for the evening.

Heading north again tomorrow to camp with Bill and his family for a long weekend.

Day 80

Sunday, August 18

Final day in Marquette County.  Tom and Bill golfed in the morning, then the kids came and swam for a bit.  We went back to their house and took a walk along the recreation trails and then to Red Lobster for dinner (yum!).

Nice day and now we have next weekend to look forward to where we'll all go camping for a few days.

Tomorrow we'll head into Wisconsin for a few days...

Day 78 & 79

Friday, August 16

Said goodbye to Houghton for another year and headed to Marquette.  Got set up in our campsite and waited for the boy to get off of work.  Went to Bill's house for the evening and was greeted in the front yard by Gabby.  So excited to see my girl!  Bill and Lyndsi, too.  Have to wait until next weekend for Camden; he's at his dad's.

So we visited, got to show off some of our trip pics, and then called it a night...

Saturday, August 17

It was our pleasure to have Gabby with us all day today.  We ran some errands in the morning and then spent the rest of the day at the pool.  I know one little girl who is going to sleep really, really well tonight!  Bill joined us for dinner and it'll be a campfire with s'mores in a little bit...

Day 77

Thursday, August 15

Final day in the Copper Country.  Moved from Hancock to Houghton today.  Took Taylor to the beach (she finally did make it in the water today!); ran some errands; visited with friends I haven't seen in quite some time (Lori & Cathy!); and had dinner with Susan and Bob (great dinner!).

Tomorrow...  onward to Marquette...

Day 75 & 76

Tuesday, August 13

Spent the day running errands around town, connecting with friends, and then Taylor came over and spent the night with us.

Wednesday, August 14

Today, took Taylor and went up to the Estivant Pines.  Figured if we'd seen every other big tree in this country, we ought to cap it off with the big White Pines of the UP.  They're pretty small by comparison to the sequoias and the redwoods, but hey - we saw them anyway.  Went to the cemetery to see my mom, took Taylor to the beach (too cold to swim) and capped off our afternoon adventure with ice cream (yum!).

Went to Mike & Marlene's for dinner tonight - really nice to catch up with them...

Day 74

Monday, August 12

Arrived in the Copper Country this afternoon.  Watched the temperature gradually decrease with every mile closer to Houghton.  Actually have a heater going tonight.  Only in the UP!

Visited with #2 granddaughter, Taylor, this evening.  Hoping to get to spend some good, quality time with her over the next few days.  Also connected with a few friends and made our visiting plans.

Tomorrow - laundry, errands, a little sight-seeing to see what changes there are around town since last year.

Very pleasantly surprised with our campsite - have both wifi and cable TV - totally unexpected.  Nice!

Day 73

Sunday, August 11

Went for a cruise around the Apostle Islands this morning.  Gotta love being our on Lake Superior!  Had smoked fish for lunch - Yum!  Walked around town and poked around the little shops, stopped in the Maritime Museum, and then came home.

What a peaceful day!

Day 72

Saturday, August 10

Made it to Bayfield, Wisconsin.  Nice to be on the shores of Gitchee Gumee again.  We walked around the marina, bought our tickets for a boat tour of the Apostle Islands (which we'll do tomorrow), and drove around the little town a bit.

Day 71

Friday, August 9

Well, after a bit of a trailer wheel scare, we finally departed Fargo, North Dakota and entered Minnesota.  We are now in Brainerd, Minnesota and EAST of the Mississippi River!

When we got to Fargo last night, another motorist pulled alongside us and motioned for us to put our window down.  He proceeded to tell us that we had a bad axle on the trailer and were going to lose our wheel!  Oh boy!  What to do now???

We continued on to the park that we were hoping to stay in and got ourselves into a site.  I called Good Sam Roadside and got some phone numbers of possible repair places to call in the morning; we looked in the Fargo phone book and wrote down some numbers; and I went online and found a few numbers.

This morning, Tom went out and jacked up the trailer and tried to jiggle the wheel - it was pretty firmly on there.  Hmmmm....  We got ourselves an appointment at an RV repair place for 1:00pm and continued to think.  He spun the tire around and it didn't look like it was spinning properly.  Maybe it's just the tire?  So we went to Walmart Tire and the guys took one look at it and said that the steel belt had separated.  Yes, this would cause the tire/wheel to look wobbly to a passing motorist.  Yes, the tire is under warranty; it got replaced for free.  Yippee!  We canceled our 1:00 appointment and headed out of town.

Tragedy averted.  No major repair costs.  And no real time lost.  Whew!

Day 70

Thursday, August 8

Highlight of the day:  Corn Palace of Mitchell, SD!

Visited the Corn Palace this morning before heading out on the road.

Crossed into North Dakota around 4:30 in the afternoon (central time) and are still currently driving.  Hoping to find a campground in the Fargo area...  Woodall's has pretty slim pickin's!