Summer Travels
2008
Click on State for write-ups and pictures
Verona, VA
Rabbits at our campground
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Meredith, NH
Historical Society Car Show
Weir's Beach, NH
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Cruise around Lake Winnipesaukee
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Driving Around White Mountain State Park
White Mountains State Park, NH
Crawford Notch, NH
Old Man in the Mountains
Silver Cascades Waterfalls
Bob's Antique & Classic Car Museum
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Thousand Island Boat Tour
Bolt Castle
Thousand Islands, NY
Side trip to Kingston, ON Canada
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Canandaigua, NY
Side Trip to Niagara Falls, ON Canada
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Port Huron, MI
Car Show
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Frankenmuth, MI
Antique Fire Truck Parade
Encampment at River Place
River Place
Bronners CHRISTmas Place
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Alpena, MI
Maritime Heritage Center
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Thomason, MI
Palm Brook State Park
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Garden, MI
Fayette Historic State Park
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Norway, MI
Dickinson County Fair
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Iron Mountain, MI
Ski Jump
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Springfield, IL
Botanical Gardens
Rose Gardens
Thomas Rees Carillion Tower
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Cape Girardeau, MO
Cape Girardeau Murals
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Grenada, MS
Halloween in Grenada, MS
Hit by a deer
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Silver Springs, FL
Silver Springs Park
Corvette Car Show
Halloween at the park
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Canada
Side trip to Niagara Falls, ON
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Virginia - May 2008
Verona, VA, Our Campground Pictures
Verona, VA - May 7, 2008
We did our usual set up, eating lunch and took a walk around the campground. We were followed by a young boy, about 12 years old, who was chasing the rabbits. There are a lot of rabbits around the campground and every time he approached one, it ran away and he even had food for them. Jack explained that he had to move very slowly and when he was able to feed them and even pet one, became Jack’s best friend. Jack even told him how to pick up a baby rabbit so he could put it in his lap and pet it. The boy was ecstatic when he put the rabbit in his lap and didn’t even have to hold him to make him stay. He followed us all around the campground until his aunt came after him.
New Hampshire - June 2008
Meredith, NH All Pictures (Meredith, Weir's Beach, Lake Winnipesaukee Cruise, Car Show)
June 7, 2008
The sun came out today with temperatures in the high 80’s so we went into the town of Meredith, NH. What a beautiful town. The Village area has several shops, restaurants and coffee shops. Meredith has a lot of unique shops and on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee. A beautiful marina and docks downtown lined with wooden docks. There are several stores and restaurants along the walkway where you can sit outside next to the water. We will definitely come back here again. I bought another cat in one of the shops and saw the most outrageous cats ever; they were all dressed up like the Old Farts dolls. There is also an Adirondacks store with really unique wood furniture. We drove downtown to check out the Flowers in Bloom Festival at the marina. They had two tents set up that had flowers; there were displays of flowers in pots. They had a balloon tent for the kids, sidewalk caulk contests for the kids, a two piece band and two vendors with hamburgers and ice cream. There were a lot of people walking around, kids fishing off the pier, and lots of boats either already in the water or being launched. The sun was really hot and I think it got up into the 90’s. We walked up the docks and sat on some chairs in the shade at a hotel just watching the boats. On the way back we passed a family with six-month old twins that were just happy as clams sitting on the floor of the boat. There was a World Champion Race boat at the docks and lots of other really nice small and big boats
Weir's Beach NH - Weir's Beach
June 8, 2008
Weir Beach is only one and a half miles from Meredith and is golden sand and it was packed with people. One road has most of the shops, arcades and restaurants. Next week is Bike Week and every shop is now selling Biker shirts and other biker accessories. One side of the road is already lined with bikes. We found a place to park and walked over to The Winnipesaukee Railroad Station and watched the train come in and leave again ten-minutes later. It goes for an hour roundtrip to Meredith or an hour round trip to Alton. You can also get the Mount Washington Boat Cruise here but it was already gone. We walked up and down the road looking at all the shop and arcades and got an ice cream but decided to eat it in the car with the A/C on. It was just too hot!
Lake Winnipesaukee Boat Cruise - Lake Winnipesaukee Boat Cruise
Alexandria Bay, NH - June 9, 2008
The boat, The M/S Mount Washington, pulls up to the dock and about thirty people got on. The M/S Mount Washington dates back to the Steamship Mount Washington launched in Alton Bay in 1872. The boat is 230 feet long with four levels and can carry 1,250 passengers. I had a ball wondering from deck to deck, inside and out taking pictures. Lake Winnipesaukee is a beautiful lake and boy is it large, in fact it is the largest lake in New Hampshire covering 72 square miles or 44,000 acres of water from 30 to 200 feet deep and has 244 habitable islands. It is spring fed but formed by glaciers. We passed several of the islands and the Captain, or maybe a tape, would give some history about them or stories about someone associated with the island. There was so much history my head was swimming. All I know is that Bear Island is the largest of the 244 islands in the lake and the smallest island is inhabited by one woman. All the rest I forgot. Our first stop was at Weirs Beach but only to drop off or pickup passengers. We were there yesterday and now I saw it from the water. On our way again our next stop was at Center Harbor, the farthest north point of Lake Winnipesaukee, that is a small town and where they dry dock the Mount Washington for repairs. There are only docks, maybe a small store and a couple of houses. We left Center Harbor and came back to Meredith. This took two and a half hours.
Historical Society Car Show - Car Show
Meredith, NH - June 9, 2008
Afterwards we drove up the road to the Winnipesaukee Museum for the Historical Society Car Show. There were some nice cars and a GMC Sprint that Jack never saw before but Joe V. knew about. After walking around there for about 45 minutes, we came back to call it a night.
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White Mountain Drive Pictures
June 16, 2008
We drove into the White Mountain State Park to see a waterfall we passed on the way up. It’s called Silver Cascades. It comes from a high mountain and cascades what looks to be nearly 2,000 feet over the rocks down to the road. It is beautiful. We continued a little ways beyond the falls and stopped to take a picture of the Mount Washington Hotel before we turned around and headed back. We stopped at the Crawford Notch General Store. They have a little bit of everything. The next day we took a drive into the Franconia Notch area but didn’t see the Old Man in the Mountain, famous New Hampshire landmark. We stopped at the Flume and found out the rocks making up the Old Man in the Mountain came crashing down on May 2nd, 2003. We watched a short 20-minute film and they said some 72,000 tons of rock tumbled down the mountainside. It was estimated that the rocks had been there for some 25,000 years and employees from the Flume noticed the ”Man” was missing when they did their rounds the next day. Wow! The ”Man” was created by Mother Nature and so it was destroyed by Mother Nature. We continued passed Clark’s Trading Post only to see the train outside because it was closed. We then drove south and stopped at Bob’s Antique & Classic Cars next door. You enter through the gift shop and it is free. They have about 15 cars that were rare or unusual ones. One of the more unusual cars was a very small trailer, you hitch to a car, whose roof was a boat.
New York - June 2008
Thousand Island Boat Tour All Pictures (Thousand Island Tour, Boldt Castle)
Alexandria Bay, NY - June 27, 2008
We took a tour of the Thousand Islands. The tour was by Uncle Sam Boat Tours and our boat had three decks, two covered and air-conditioned. It was very foggy this morning but the sun finally did come out. We left the dock and rode along Millionaires Row where the houses are mansions. The tour takes two and half hours and has a narrative explaining some history, funny or sad stories and interesting facts about the islands and the people who live on them. There are actually 1,742 islands here in the St. Lawrence River and they range in size from a large rock to several square miles. In order to be classified an island it must have at least one tree growing on it. If that tree dies or is destroyed, the island is reclassified as a rock protrusion. There are a few ”islands” where there are only a few feet around the lone house in the middle. Jack said that was ideal because there’s no grass to cut. The Thousand Islands are beautiful. The houses along the shoreline are awesome and it’s just so pretty boating around the islands. We crossed over into the Canadian side of the river and went under the 1000 Islands International Bridge. There are actually five spans of the bridge, three that are Canadian, one that is international and one that is US. The international span reaches across the border of Canada and the US for 90 feet and is the shortest international vehicular bridge in the world. We passed a house on an island that has a foot bridge crossing over the water to another smaller island. This in itself isn’t unusual except that the island with the house is in Canada, the water the bridge goes over is international waters and the island it goes to is in the US. They fly the Canadian flag on the Canadian part of the bridge, an international flag in the middle of the bridge and the American flag on the US part of the bridge. We passed a house that was owned by a basketball player in the early 1900’s that had a full-size basketball court sitting on the edge of the water that was fully enclosed. However, it was in disrepair and sinking into the river. This made Jack heartsick. Did you know that Thousand Island dressing was originated from here? Well, they say it was and you can buy a bottle at the Boldt Castle.
Boldt Castle Boldt Castle
The tour ended at the Boldt Castle on Heart Island. Boldt Castle was built as a testimony of unsurpassed love of a man for his wife. George Boldt who became a successful hotel magnate, built this as his dream summer home. He had 300 men working on the house and another 350 men working the quarry for the stones to build it, which he also owned. To George Boldt, cost was only a minor concern and had the finest materials, sculptures, Italian mantle pieces, imported tapestries, furniture and only the best artists and craftsmen to design and build the castle. However, in 1904, before the completion of the house, Mrs. Louise Boldt died at the age of 42. A telegram arrived with an order to stop all work and all the workmen dropped their tools, left the island and never returned. The Boldts' never lived in the house and George Boldt was so devastated that he never returned to the island. The castle sat empty for 73 years. Weather, vandalism and lack of concern badly deteriorated the castle but in 1977, the Thousand Islands Bridge Authority assumed ownership and began a rehabilitation program. Today, the first floor of the castle, the grounds, the Power House, and Yacht House have been restored back to the original. During the restoration, imported Italian marble statues were found still in their crates in a sunken boat house. The castle was modeled after buildings of the 16th century; it has six floors, 127 rooms, 365 windows, several porches or balconies and built with massive granite walls. It is truly a sight to behold. Inside the front door is a massive entry hall with a marble staircase to the second floor. The top of the ceiling is a large stained glass dome. The dining room looks out over the river with large floor to ceiling windows and there is a circular sitting room. There is a large ballroom with a massive organ, a billiard room, a library and a butler’s pantry. The woodwork and carved details are incredible. The second and third floors house the bedrooms for Mr. & Mrs. Boldt plus guest quarters, baths and a reception room. The fourth floor houses the servants’ quarters and more guest rooms. The last two floors are not open to the public. As I said, only the first floor is restored but they allow you to walk around the second, third and fourth floors and you can see the construction and the deteriorated state.
We walked outside through the gardens to the Alster Tower or Play House. This looks like a miniature medieval castle built out of stone, shells and granite. It even had a two-lane bowling alley in the basement. The Alster Tower has not been restored on the inside. There is a gazebo outside in the gardens next to the play house and people were just arriving for a wedding. They said they have thousands of weddings each year and I can see why; it is such a beautiful setting. We then walked down to the Arch. This was the water gate at the front of the castle where launches would arrive to drop off visitors to the castle. You can walk through the Arch, also of granite and back toward the castle. We then walked over to the Power House. The Boldt's intended to have electricity on the island and had this building designed where gasoline and diesel fuel would be brought to run the steam generators. It was built detached from the island except for a stone foot bridge and looks like a mini-castle. Power to the island is now supplied by underwater cable so the Power House is a museum with some of the generators and pictures of the history of the castle. Across the river on Wellesley Island is the Yacht House where the Boldt's housed their family yachts and houseboat and quarters for the crew and maintenance staff and a shop to build and service racing boats. When the Boldt's acquired the island, than called Hart Island, they had the name changed to ”Heart” Island and incorporated hearts everywhere made from granite, iron and flowers throughout the buildings and island. After George Boldt’s death, he sons sold most of his companies and Boldt Castle. He left 20 million dollars to his children and grandchildren. We finished our tour of Boldt Castle and boarded a shuttle back to Alexandria Bay.
Kingston, Ontario, Canada Pictures
June 29, 2008
The sun was shining and looked like it was going to be a beautiful day so we headed out to Cape Vincent. Cape Vincent is a small village with quaint homes and a few shops and caught the ferry over to Wolfe Island, Ontario. It took ten minutes to get to Wolfe Island, Ontario where we went through Customs. Showing our passports and answering a couple of questions was all that was needed. Wolfe Island is the largest island in the Thousand Islands chain and yet only has two main roads. We drove across the island seeing mostly open land or farm land. Once in Marysville, we picked up the ferry for Kingston, Ontario costing us $13 for the car and $2 for the passengers. The ferry can only fit five cars; we were the second one on. This ferry can accommodate fifty-five cars and took 25 minutes across the St. Lawrence River to Kingston, Ontario. Kingston is a large collage town now but was once the capitol of Ontario. The town has varied styles of architecture but all are old and mostly built of limestone. Besides being a big collage town, there are also ten penitentiaries and Fort Henry. Impressive from the water.
New York - July 2008
Canandaigua, NY All Pictures (Canandaigua, NY, Niagara Falls, Canada)
July 6, 2008
We drove into Canandaigua. We parked at the Wine & Culinary Center and took a walk in. This place has classes on food preparation, matching wines with foods and has a café too boot. We then walked down to the pier where there were hundreds of people and even more boats. The harbor is very pretty and there were a lot of people on the beach and lots of boats anchored in the middle of the harbor just sitting there. I guess with the price of gas, people can only afford the boat, not the gas to run it around the lake.
Falls View Casino at Niagara Falls, ON Canada - Niagara Falls, Canada
July 7, 2008
We drove over the Rainbow Bridge into Canada and parked the car at the Falls View Casino. We walked around outside where you can get some pretty views of the falls. After taking a few pictures we put the camera away and headed inside to play. Falls View Casino is a large casino on one floor with penny to dollar slots. It seems no matter what direction you turn, there are slot machines with no rime or reason as to their layout. If you park in the casino and show your players card you don’t have to pay the $5 parking charge and you can also get $1 off the buffet, so we headed to the Advantage Players Club for our players cards.
Michigan - July 2008
Port Huron Car Show Pictures
July 18, 2008
We hung out at the campground and Jack installed the new fan sensor, we’ll see if that was the problem when we leave here. We sat outside until almost 4 PM when we headed downtown to watch a classic car cruise through downtown. We parked at the Power’s Diner and ate dinner. The cruise wasn’t until 6 PM so we had plenty of time. The Power’s Diner is an old 50’s type diner with the silver tin outside and the bar stools, 50’s style tables and chairs and black and white checkerboard floor. They have mostly sandwiches, burgers and wraps. I had a turkey wrap and Jack had a club sandwich; both were very good. We left the car parked at the diner and took our chairs across the street. We joined a couple at the corner who have a ’56 Chevy but decided not to cruise but sit and watch the other cars cruise instead. We walked down to the ”staging area” on the next street where all the cars where waiting to start. This area is the road in front of the Vantage Point and we also saw two large tankers go down the river going opposite directions and passing each other. We came back to the chairs when the cruise started. They closed down Main Street for four blocks and the cars cruised single file. There must have been 300 or more cars. Some were pretty nice but most were nice old cars.
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Frankenmuth, MI
All Pictures (Frankenmuth, Glockenspiel, Antique Fire Truck Parade, River Place, Encampment, Bronners Christmas Store)
July 25, 2008
We went downtown Frankenmuth to the Frankenmuth Bavarian Inn for dinner. This Bavarian style Inn and Restaurant was established in 1888 and has twelve German-themed dining rooms and a variety of chicken and other German foods. They first served us a bread bowl with homemade white, wheat and Stollen, the traditional German Christmas bread with fruit, nuts and raisins with a strawberry spread. Next they brought a cup of chicken noodle soup, then four small bowls with chicken salad, coleslaw, bean salad, and cranberry nut salad. Then they served our dinner!. A platter of Kasseler Rippehen (smoked pork loin), Sauerbraten (marinated beef), Wiener Schnitzel (breaded veal), chicken and two small links of Bratwurst, several small bowls of sauerkraut, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, mashed zucchini, buttered noodles and potato cheese puffs AND, ice cream and two almond cookies for dessert. Phew! We didn’t clean all the plates but did a good job making a dent in them. We were stuffed! On the lower level of the Inn are the Castle Shops with a bakery, candy shop, chocolate shop, toy store. They also have an extensive wine store and a gift shop with jewelry, collectibles, dolls and items from Germany. Just our luck, we met our neighbors and found out all the locals go down to the lower level to the small grill there and get everything you can get upstairs at half the cost.
Frankenmuth was founded in 1845 by a group of German immigrants from Bavaria who came to the area for the purpose of teaching Christianity to the Chippewa Indians. “Franken” is the province from where the settlers came and ”Muth” means courage in German. The name Frankenmuth means ”Courage of the Franconians.” The community is done in the style of the Bavarian Village to celebrate and maintain their heritage. There is a lot to see around here and the flowers are beautiful. The streets are lined with flowers and there are flowers everywhere. The residents take great pride in the community and they say the village has an annual budget of $100,000 just for the flowers. We sat on the bench for a little while just watching everyone and the horse and the pristine white buggies go by. Frankenmuth even has a web page to help you with your visit: www.frankenmuth.org
July 26, 2008
We parked in back of the Bavarian Inn and walked toward Main Street to watch the Antique Fire Truck Parade, however, the parade didn’t start for an hour so we walked around town. When we came back, we saw the girl come out with a whole tray of large soft pretzels. Naturally we just had to get one and two cokes to wash it down.
Glockenspiel - Glockenspiel
We were right in front of the Glockenspiel which is part of the Bavarian Inn and the "show” was about to start. First the 35-bell carillon Glockenspiel plays several German and American tunes. Then beneath the bells on a round stage, the Pied Piper and fourteen life-size figures appear through the copper doors on one side and moves on four tracks to the other, acting out the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamein, Germany all to narration and the haunting tune of the Pied Piper’s flute. It is performed every day in both German and English and something to see.
Antique Fire Apparatus Muster Parade - Antique Fire Truck Parade
It wasn’t ten minutes later the first antique fire truck came down the street. This was the Eleventh Annual Frankenmuth Antique Fire Apparatus Muster Parade. There must have been forty or more trucks in the parade. There was a horse drawn pumper, 1925 and 1926 fire truck, and lots of other old trucks. We walked over to Heritage Park later where all the trucks were on display. They had at least a dozen trucks pumping water through their hoses into the river. What a sight! There were even a few trucks that were in need of restoration but most were totally restored and what a job they did too. There was also a very large trailer pulled by an antique truck advertising Dobson’s Giant Fire Truck Museum with ”over 4,000 tiny fire trucks and equipment on display” and the longest ladder truck I ever saw. They also had two trucks side by side with their ladders fully extended, one with the USA flag at the top and the other with the Canadian flag on the top. These trucks were from all over and we saw a few from Pennsylvania.
River Place Shops - River Place Shops
After the parade we walked over to the River Place Shops. This is an area laid out, built and decorated like a small Bavarian village with dozens of shops. There was a band playing outside one of the stores. There were shops selling toys, jewelry, clothes, shoes, crafts, woodwork, lamps, kitchen stuffs, a bakery, and a grill and video games. There are flowers everywhere and a fountain. On the grounds we walked through a Cass River Encampment where actors re-live the 1700’s and 1800’s in mid-Michigan. They had canvas tents, row boats, drying skins, muskets, pottery, and a day of games and demonstrations all day.
Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland - Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland
Frankenmuth, MI - July 29, 2008
We finished our lunch and went to Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland. Bronner’s is the world’s largest Christmas store. It has 15 sections/buildings all connected together that’s the size of five and a half football fields. This place is huge! You walk in an entrance and are overwhelmed by all the ”stuff” you see on the walls and ceiling that are not for sale but are displays. There are lights everywhere. Of course they have Santa, they have books and toys, home décor, dishware, nutcrackers, nativities, calendars, CD’s, angels, Precious Moments, lighted houses, tree skirts, stockings, Christmas cards, spun glass, outdoor decorations, lights, trees and wreaths and a whole section of any type of ornament you can think of. Phew! AND you can get any one of them personalized. They have decorated trees throughout the place and I saw a basketball tree for Jack and a tree that had a girl as the top and the decorations/tree as her skirt. They even have a snack area just in case you get hungry. We spent hours just looking at all the displays. If you can’t find it here, I don’t think it has been made. At 10 PM Jack said let’s go over to Bronner’s to see the 100,000 Christmas lights. The parking lot is decorated with lights on all the trees and bushes. You drive around and through Christmas decorations everywhere. We stopped at the Silent Night Memorial Chapel that is Bronner’s replica of the Silent Night Memorial chapel of Oberndorf, near Salzburg, Austria. You walk along a lamppost-lined walkway with plaques with the hymn ”Silent Night” in over 300 languages written on them. They say Silent Night is the most beloved and widely known Christmas hymn in the world. There is a life-size Nativity in front of the Chapel that is just beautiful. Of course, the song Silent Night is playing inside and outside on the chapel grounds. Very nice and listening to Silent Night walking around Christmas lights warmed our hearts. They have a website just loaded with stuff www.bronnerswonderland.com
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Alpena, MI All Pictures (Our campground, Maritime Heritage Center)
August 3, 2008
Our campground was laid out among canals off Thunder Bay area of Lake Huron. Most sites are really large but the hook-ups are shared and not spaced for convenience. Our site, #75 isn’t too bad. The canal is filled with weeds and water lilies but we can see the bay beyond and being in the back, maybe quiet. We saw a small train/tractor that pulls a few cars around the campground.
Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center - Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center
Alpena, MI - August 5, 2008
Today we went to the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena, MI. The museum is an 8,000 square foot exhibit area displaying the maritime history of shipwrecks. The museum is free and when we entered we were given a short narration of what the museum is all about and told how to see it. A large replica of the stern of a ship sits in front of you with the aft half in another room; but more about that later. We were directed to start our tour by going up a set of stairs to read the banners at the top of some history of ships wreaked in Thunder Bay. Thunder Bay is one of the busiest crossing points of the Great Lakes traveled by thousands of ships between 1845 and 1967 and got its name because of the severe storms that develop in this area that sank of over 200 ships. The depth of the water, the coldness of the water and being fresh water has preserved these ships for centuries and is today, one of the best areas to explore sunken ships. There are a few videos talking about the ships with pictures and models of the ships explaining their stories. Most were sunk due to weather, a few because of human error and one tanker found upside down with no explanation as to what happened. We than came down a set of stairs to the replica ship and went inside. This is a replica of an old sailing ship that is sinking into the sea. You walk through the staterooms, up to the deck then down into the other room that simulates being under water. The lamps inside sway side-to-side and the floors are slanted and we found ourselves feeling like we were on a moving ship. While you are on the deck of the ship, a simulated thunderstorm started with thunder, lightening and loud noise. As we walked down under the water, the strobe lights made you feel like you really were under the water. In the next room there are several glass cases with artifacts recovered from the sunken ships and hundreds of other artifacts on tables being cataloged or being researched. The museum is very interesting.
Mackinac Island, MI Pictures
August 8, 2008
This afternoon we boarded the Ferry to Mackinac Island. Once on Mackinac Island we walked up and down the streets just enjoying the atmosphere. There are no motorized vehicles allowed on the island and everything is transported by horse and buggy, bikes, or foot. It looks really funny seeing luggage and garbage hauled around by horse and buggies. I, for some reason, wanted to see the ”Arch” and Jack didn’t so I told him the girl in the Visitor Center said it was a 15 to 20 minutes walk so don’t expect to see me too soon and took off on my walk alone. The Arch is one and a quarter miles from town. It is a natural arch formation close to the road. When I got there a sign directed you up steep steps to the Arch. I started up the steps to the first level ok but by the second level I was having trouble. The steps were very steep, narrow and there were several more sets of steps to go according to a woman I met. As much as I wanted to see it, this was ridiculous; I just couldn’t go any further. I took my pictures of it from the road and started back the mile and a quarter into town. I did enjoy the walk and saw beautiful gardens of a hotel, saw a wedding at the golf club, had lemonade and a taste of fudge along the way. We continued our walk around town. We didn’t go up to the Grand Hotel and you can’t go inside anyway; besides now I was tired and my feet hurt but I didn’t tell Jack that.
Palms Brook State Park All Pictures (Palms Brook State Park, Fayette Historic State Park)
Thompson, MI - August 19, 2008
We took a ride to the Palms Brook State Park in Thompson, MI. The State Park is 308 acres with a Big Spring, the largest spring in Michigan measuring 300 feet by 175 feet and 40 feet deep. We walked through the woods to a beautiful emerald green spring. We took a large wooden ”raft” with a glass bottom across the spring. Someone must manually turn a wheel to push the raft along a cable strung across the spring. There were a few kids on the raft so naturally they wanted to turn the wheel. The spring is actually a sink hole with one difference; this sink hole is tapped into a fast-flowing spring that gushes up through the sand in the bottom at 10,000 gallons a minute at a 45 degree temperature. Out over the middle of the spring looking through the glass bottom we saw large bubbling holes of sand where the hole is being fed by the spring, large bass swimming around and all kinds of fallen trees. The spring is called Kitch-iti-kipi. The story or legend of the name comes from a young Indian warrior, after declaring his love for a young maiden, was made to prove his love by going out in his canoe and catching her as she jumped from the cliffs above. It doesn’t elaborate how but he went to his death in the cold waters of the spring trying to prove his love and the spring was named after this event. However, it was discovered that the man who owned the land made up this story. There are other legends as to the name but whatever the story Kitch-iti-kipi is Chippewa for several words, one of which is bubbling waters. The park has a nice gift shop and a picnic area.
Fayette Historic State Park - Fayette Historic State Park
Garden, MI - August 20, 2008
Today we packed our lunch and went to the Fayette Historic State Park. The park is a restored Jackson Iron Company’s Upper Peninsula’s most productive iron-smelting operations. A small town grew up around the iron ore smelting processes with two blast furnaces, kilns, quarry, company store, hotel and housing for nearly 500 residents all nestled in a beautiful harbor. We walked all around the town and inside each building that we could. Some of the buildings are furnished as they were in 1870 when the town was at its most productive but most are empty shells. There are only four homes still standing that were original to the town. This town was in operation for 24 years and produced a total of 229,288 tons of iron but when the charcoal iron market began to decline, the company closed this operation; it was 1891. It was an interesting place and a beautiful setting.
Dickinson County Fair All Pictures (Dickinson County Fair, Ski Jump, Rugs by Alice)
Norway, MI - August 29, 2008
This afternoon we went to the Dickinson County Fair in Norway, MI. The fair opens at 1 PM and on our way there we saw clocks showing 12:15 PM when our watches showed 1:15 PM. Well it seemed that the counties bordering Wisconsin were in the Central Time Zone while all the others were in the Eastern Time Zone; crossed over into Central time and didn’t know it. We were still able to walk around the fair grounds until everything opened. There were plenty of arcade games and several rides for the kids, barns with horses, cows, pigs, rabbits and chickens and watched judging of several beautiful horses pulling carriages around an arena. The fair wasn’t all that big.
Ski Jump & Woman who makes rugs, etc. out of plastic bags - Ski Jump & Rugs by Alice
Pine Mountain, MI - August 30, 2008
The campground is right on the bend of the Menominee River and very nice. We drove up to the Pine Mountain Resort to see the Pine Mountain Ski jump. This jump is a 123.5 meter ski slide and the world’s highest artificial ski jump. The scaffold is 186 feet high, the slide is 381 feet long and the total length of the slide is 1.440 feet. Both national and international jumps are held here each year during February. I met our neighbors and ended up talking to her for two hours. She makes cup holders, rugs, table cloths, and pocketbooks, pocket hangers, etc. out of used plastic bags. She showed me pictures of stuff she’s made, gave me one of the bottle holders she made. It’s just amazing how she makes this stuff and the rugs look just like cloth rugs and the table cloths look like lace! I took some pictures to show Gerry W.
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Illinois - 2008
Springfield, IL
Washington Park Botanical Gardens All Pictures (Botanical Garden & Rose Garden, Carillion Tower
September 21, 2008
The grounds are expansive and very well manicured. We walked around the building through flowers and greenery to the Rose Garden. They still had some really pretty roses in a large garden and I had a ball taking pictures of every one. There were a few people walking around, walking their dogs, sitting under the shade trees and one other camera nut taking pictures of the roses. Inside the Conservatory were plants from southern regions and Africa with beautiful orchids and lush greenery.
Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon Tower - Thomas Rees Carillon Tower
The Carillon bell tower is surrounded by a pool and fountains and there is a small room with a desk and an elevator. You can go up the elevator to three levels but no one was there and they had a sign not to proceed without a tour guide. Well, we waited around for about 15 minutes but didn’t want to be up in the tower when the bells started playing so we walked over to a sitting area and sat down to listen. The bell tower is the Thomas Rees Memorial Carillon Bell Tower that is twelve-stories high with three observation decks and houses 66 bells that weigh nearly 75,000 pounds. It is the world’s 5th largest bell tower. The bells were very pretty sounding but they played music that neither one of us recognized and seemed it was more of a demonstration of every bell. We didn’t see any organ so we assumed it was controlled by a CD or something playing the bells. It sure wasn’t like the one in Stone Mountain where you could see the organist and even request a song; now that was great. The bells played for about 20 minutes then we left.
Missouri - September 2008
Cape Girardeau, MO Pictures
September 30, 2008
We walked along the main street and along the floodwall. The town has a lot of antique shops with some nice stuff but there were still some stores empty as there was three years ago when we were here. The Floodwall extends along the Mississippi River in front of the shopping district and has 24 panels that tell a 200-year story of Cape Girardeau and the Mississippi River. They are very well done. Further down the road is the Wall of Fame that has pictures of famous persons who were either born in Missouri or became famous while living here. There are 45 such pictures like Mark Twain, Jean Harlow, Betty Grable, Vincent Price and Rush Limbaugh. Impressive.
Mississippi - 2008
We were hit by a deer Pictures
Grenada, MS - October 2008
Our trip wasn’t that great, we were doing fine until about 50 miles from the campground when a deer ran across three lanes of traffic and just before it ran in front of us, it stopped and turned around. I guess it got spooked again because it turned back toward us and ran head long into the back of our motor home and car. We couldn’t pull over right away and a guy pulled up next to us and signaled us to pull over. He wanted to see if we were okay and said the deer damaged our car. Jack got out and looked, sure enough the radiator screen on the motorhome was bent and three ribs were broken but thankfully the radiator was untouched. The driver’s fog light lens was broken with scratches on the car bumper and the fender was pushed out a little and the driver’s door has a dent its entire length. Nothing we could do right now so we continued to the campground. Once we got in our site we called our Insurance and reported the accident.
Florida - October 2008
Corvette Show at Silver Springs Park Pictures
Silver Springs, FL - November 1, 2008
Well our last stop for this year had to be for a car show, a corvette car show at Silver Springs Park, FL. The park was also celebrating October Fest with the car show. The October Fest had Halloween displays and games for the kids. Most of the Corvettes were newer, some really nice and some with graphics that were something else. There must have been around 300 cars spread all over the grounds where they normally hold the concerts. We then walked around the park looking at the animals, cougars, bears, alligators and birds. I took a ride on the safari jeep through the woods. The guide was funny, the ride was very bumpy and we did see some animals. We watched as they fed the bears and alligators. We even saw one alligator with one really small baby on its back; never saw that before. At first we couldn’t tell if it was a baby or a twig but Jack kept watching it while I watched them being fed and said it moved. We then took a ride on a glass bottom boat through the swamps. The water is so very clear and beautiful and we did see a few alligators, lots of birds and turtles. We walked over to the cougar pens and met CiCi a young cougar who loves playing with feathers; the keeper posed him for me to take a picture. What a beautiful animal.
Well, we are now back home again for the winter. Another great summer of travel under our belts.
Hope everyone has enjoyed traveling with us.
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