The title of this blog is for what folks from Michigan call themselves which is not that easy to say! We made it to Michigan and will be staying in various locations throughout the state over the next three weeks. We are currently in Jenison which is very close to Grand Rapids. The campground (Steamboat campground) is very nice with full hook-ups (for those who don’t RV camp (which was us until two weeks ago) means it has electric, water and sewer to hook up the RV too).  We are right on Grand River which is beautiful. The campground also owns the Grand Lady Riverboat! We were hopeful to take a cruise but the entire time we were here they had private parties -ugh! Yesterday we found a county park that was full of hiking trails! We walked about 3 miles which for an old pup (11 years old) and two old chunky gals that’s a lot. Today we visited the most awesome dog park we have ever seen. Grand Ravines Dog Park! It fenced area was at least two acres and outside the fences there were trails all around from 2 miles to 10! We let Codey play with the other pups for a while then walked one of the trails and did some geocaching (geocaching.com). Our goal is to find at least one cache in each state. It’s a great way to learn about the area. We have kept that goal so far – woohoo! One of the trails has a suspension bridge that was spectacular. They even had a dog bathing area which Codey LOVED. He’s a true Lab and loves water. Tomorrow we head to Harbor Beach, Michigan which is on Lake Huron. On this trip we will hit three out of five Great Lakes: Lake Huron, Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. We are excited as we move along!

We are now in Knightstown, IN for a couple of nights. For our road trip here we decided to avoid interstates and took mostly state roads that were two lanes. Jeanne did great at navigating the drive especially when our GPS had us turn onto a small town street which had diagonal parking. We had about 6 inches on each side to get through! Whew!

One of the most exciting roads we drove on was the Kentucky Speed Way. We were on the road for about 2 miles. There’s a picture above of the speed way. It’s set up in such a way that it looks full of people. Very cool.

The Yogi Bear Jellystone RV Park is having a special event weekend, Christmas in July. Of course most of the activities are for the kids. Our RV is set up close to the Ranger station so we get to see all the activities and the kiddos have such a great time.

We met our neighbors who are a young couple with two small children. We mentioned being full time rv’ers and they said they were doing the same. They sold their house 4 days ago, picked up their new RV and truck a couple of days later and here they are. She is a nurse and for income she is going to do traveling nursing around the country. So they are newbies and learning as they go as well. They will probably learn much faster and retain info faster then us because they are young! Lol!

Codey seems to be adapting to the RV life well. After all, he can sleep and poop anywhere! 🐶💩

We commented to each other this morning that so far we aren’t tired of being together 24/7! Of course it’s only been 10 day!  Babahaha!

We head further north tomorrow to Michigan and over the next couple of weeks will stay on 3 out of 5 Great Lakes! Looking forward to that!  Until next write up – later!

Well we did it – sold the house, packed up our hopes and dreams, and headed out in our almost 30-foot travel trailer! As we prepared for this adventure we would share our plans with friends, family and any stranger that would listen. Without fail, folks would tell us – “Wow! You are living my dream!” or something very close to that sentiment. So we have decided to try and share this journey with you. Some basics that you should know… We are traveling in our truck, her name is “RubyBill” and Grand Design Imagine travel trailer, her name is “Cora Leigh.” We are accompanied by our faithful companion, our 11-year old Chocolate Lab, Codey-Bo.

 

 

 

 

 

Where are we headed? Everywhere we hope! Our plan is to travel for the next year, or two or three, and see the country. Meaning the lower 48 States, 5 Provinces, and Alaska. Our nephew asked us what was on our Bucket List. That is a great question. Sure, we want to see the usual, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, Yosemite, all the well known major National Parks. But we also want to see where the road takes us. Being 2018, we cannot really rely on just showing up at campgrounds and finding a spot. So we do have a route planned out, but with only a couple of exceptions, our route takes us to new and not necessarily well know places. For example, this summer/fall will find us in Iron River, MI, Newton, IA and Milton, WV among others.

Our goal is to be joyful in our journey. We are not trying to be sappy – rather we want to be intentional. As we discover new places, find new friends and acquaintances, learn about new place, we hope to share that with you.

So welcome to our adventure!!

So far we have covered three states, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. In North Carolina we traveled the Hendersonville and visited with family as we celebrated with our nephew and his new wife. It was a wonderful time with family. We headed north and found ourselves in Heiskell, TN, for one night. Next we moved to Frankfort, KY. We have been here three nights. Yesterday we went on a hike. We found a great local park, Cove Spring, that had waterfalls and many hiking trails. After studying the trail map, Jeanne had the trails figured out and lead Jane and Codey-Bo on the shortest loop, the Holly Loop. After about two hours and almost three miles later, we returned to the parking lot where Codey promptly jumped into the creek. 🙂 Jeanne returned to the trail map and discovered that she had mistakenly taken the Holly Loop when she meant to take the much shorter and less strenuous Meadow Loop. Hahahahah!!! We had a great time – saw beautiful views – and got some serious exercise. What a great day! Today, we took a much less strenuous tour of Buffalo Trace Distillery. We highly recommend both activities. 🙂

We are off to Knightstown, IN. See you soon!
JB2

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton