Great trip to Michigan

Sally, Mike & Brenda at rest area in UP

Sally and Mike, whom we met at Timber Ridge in Spring several years ago, have been after us to come visit them in central Michigan for several years.
On Labor Day, we finally made the trip. We did not take the motorhome but instead took the car. I'm really, glad we did as fuel prices jumped markedly during our time there.

Mike and Sally are superb hosts. We  had wonderful meals from their garden and they guided us all over the state of Michigan. I used to live there several years ago, about 40, and we saw more in seven days than I saw in the five years that I lived there.
Their home is in old remodeled farmhouse built in the 1860s. They did a great job remodeling and the house seems to suit him to a T. They even dug a full-size basement under the house without moving the house, a remarkable feat if I ever saw one.

We arrived there on Tuesday and on Thursday we left for Mackinac Island and the Upper Peninsula. Mackinac Island is a very interesting place and so unpolluted due to the lack of vehicles  allowed on the island. It's about a 20 min. ferry ride from from the UP side of the Mackinac Bridge.
We took the buggy ride that lasted most of the day. The tour was very informative, and we learned a lot about the different horses that pulled wagons and buggies on the island.
We also learned that during the war of 1812, the British attacked the island in large numbers and won the island without ever firing a shot. The Americans were so terribly outnumbered that fighting the British would not change the outcome of the attack, so, the general surrendered the island without a fight.

A sleigh that was once used on the island

The white horses that pulled our carriage

We stayed the night in a very nice motel in the UP. We had dinner boat reservations for the Soo locks in Sault Ste. Marie for 5:30 PM the next  day. Sault Ste. Marie is only about 75 miles from the bridge, so we kind of meandered our way to the Soo. We made a side trip to the Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point. There is a lighthouse there that is automated now but was manned up until the 1950s. The US Coast Guard took over the lighthouses during that time, and started automating all of the coastal lighthouses under their jurisdiction. We visited the light keeper's house as well as touring the grounds. They are doing some major maintenance on the light so we could not get too close.
We also had our 1st Pastie (passtee). Brenda and I had heard of them and we were excited to taste them.
You probably heard of the wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald that happened in 1975. The sinking took place in 565 feet of water 17 miles off the coast of Whitefish Point.
The bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald is on display in the museum along with the suit that the diver wore to retrieve the bell from that depth of water.
Lake superior is extremely cold even in summer. Along with the cold, the depth was such that the diver needed a hard pressurized suit.

The pressure suit

The Light at Whitefish Point

The entrance to the Canadian Locks

The museum and lighthouse close October 1 of each year but is open one day in November, so that the Edmund Fitzgerald's Bell can be wrung 29 times on the anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald sinking. If I remember correctly, the museum is only open to the families of the 29 men who died on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The dinner boat cruise was nice and we rode through the locks first on the Canadian side, then turned around and went back through the American side. The Canadian locks are much shorter and older than the American locks and it seems big ore freighters go to the American side as I don't think they'll fit in the Canadian side.

Two years ago we wintered on the coast of Mississippi. We met some very very nice people who live in Mount Morris and Flushing which is near Flint. Carson City, where Mike and Sally live, is only about 70 or 75 miles from Mount Morris. On Wednesday, we drove over to visit with Johnny, Ed and Ben. We had a nice visit and we were invited back for one of Ben's specialties, barbecue pork butt.
We went back on Monday, and Ben surprised us by cooking up a rack of ribs and smoking a turkey. The food was excellent and so was the company. There was potato salad and coleslaw and beans and I thought I was in the South if it hadn't been so cool for this time of year.
It sure was nice seeing them again and renewing our friendship.

The trip home was uneventful and Cleo tolerated it but not as well as the trip up. As this is her home, she is very relaxed here and if we had stayed another week with Sally and Mike, she would've  been as relaxed there as she is here. She was getting more comfortable each day.

On 30 August, I took the coach in to have ABS light checked. They had to order the part, ABS control module, from Monaco. I took the coach back yesterday to have the part installed and found out that Monaco had some for wrong ABS module. I had paid for the module before it was ordered and as we're leaving for Texas on Monday we did not have time for them to reorder the part and install it, so they refunded my money. These people are so nice, that they didn't even charge me for diagnosing the problem. The fault was not theirs that they didn't fix the problem, so I really did expect at least an inspection fee.
 The parts manager said he would continue looking for the part and order it, and send it to me in Texas. I know what the part goes, so installation should be relatively easy therefore I can do it myself.

We are looking forward to our time at Livingston State Park, but regret that we had made this commitment and not able to stay here to help Mike with the stable.

Mike and Barbara really want us to stay, but understand that we have to do what we have to do to fulfill our commitment. Also, we need to visit with Val and Tony as we haven't seen them in over seven months. Val and I talk almost every Saturday morning as has become a habit over the last several years. But talking on the phone is not quite the same as visiting.

Tata for now.