Indian River, Michigan (GA583)

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 5,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

To view past blogs, scroll to the bottom of this page and use the menu.

I’m currently in my 24th year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

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The motorhome is parked at Shady Acres RV Park in Yuma, Arizona. I may be here until March 4th.

 

 

 

Since my RVing life is changing (see above), I’m starting to re-visit previously visited places. So rather than constantly re-blogging past entries, I’ve decided to do something different.

  In 2011-2013, Mary and I did a 682 day, 12,679 miles in the motorhome and 8,000 miles in the Bronco, circumnavigation of the United States, which I called The Great Adventure. I called it so because other than my oldest granddaughter’s high school graduation in June in Connecticut, I didn’t know where we would be going or when we would be there!

So, unless I do something really different and unusual warranting a new blog entry, I’ll be posting entries from that trip.

This entry was posted August 18, 2013…

 

 

 

 

Yesterday I drove the motorhome the 198 miles from Flint to Indian River, Michigan.

 

 

We continued our journey northward on Interstate Highway 75. Ever since we entered Michigan on this highway the road conditions have been horrible. I’ve been telling Mary I didn’t think the motorhome would make it all the way through Michigan because it would be shaken apart first. Michigan by far, has the poorest roads in all of the United States…in my humble opinion!

 

 

 

 

 

As we headed north yesterday they improved slightly…

 

 

 

 

 

We saw this sign during our lunch break at a rest area. No one seems to put up these kinds of signs anymore. Too bad…

 

 

 

 

 

What’s this? Pop art? Nope it’s the remains of a head-on collusion with a flying bug that must have been about the size of a three-pound plum. It hit with a resounding blam and splat…

 

 

 

 

 

We ended up parking in the rear of VFW Post #7439 at Indian River…

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s the usual dinette photo…

 

 

 

 

 

The VFW post was closed, but there was a note with the officers phone numbers. I called and shortly thereafter our welcoming committee arrived. The Commander, Ray on the right is 80 years old and a Korean Vet. Leo in the middle is 89 years old and a World War II Vet. On the left is Dave, 65 years old and a Vietnam Vet. They invited us inside and we spent a most enjoyable two hours swapping tales. It proved to be one of the most heartwarming discussions I’ve ever had with veterans. I’m proud to call them brothers! Thanks for your friendship and hospitality…

 

 

Since it was away from the road we enjoyed a restful night’s sleep. We’ll continue our northward journey later this morning.

 

 

Enjoying visiting with old VFW members is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

 

 

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Michigan. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! MARY WROTE A MANY GREAT BLOGS…SO WHENEVER SHE PUBLISHED A BLOG POSTING THE SAME DAY THAT I DID…YOU WILL BE ABLE TO READ HER BLOG BY CLICKING THE BELOW LINK! DO IT NOW!

https://otrwjam.wordpress.com/2013/08/18/from-flint-to-indian-river-mi/

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Forecast for today is sunny and 60 degrees.

 

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

 

“Let me recommend the best medicine in the world: a long journey, a mild season, through a pleasant country, in easy stages.” –James Madison

 

 

“Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all of one’s lifetime.” —Mark Twain

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 600 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://picasaweb.google.com/jimjrver

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2019

St. Ignace, Michigan

Yesterday I drove the motorhome the 47 miles from Indian River to St. Ignace, Michigan.

When we arrived yesterday, I had driven the motorhome 1,070 miles in the last six days. About 1,000 mile of that was on the Interstate Highway system, which I hate to do. It’s very stressful and dangerous. But we needed to get away from the heat and humidity on the east coast and get staged for the next portion of our journey…to arrive in Monroe, Washington on September 24th. In addition to my annual physical on September 26th at the VA Hospital  in Seattle (which I missed last year), I have an eye exam scheduled, I need to renew my driver’s license and have my mechanic Mike do some mechanical work for me. We want to be heading south for Mary’s home in California before the rainy season begins in Washington around October 1st.

We are now on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan…where the locals are called Youpers. Mary told me folks from lower Michigan are called udders or trolls by the Youpers.

As we started yesterday’s travels…it was time to clear the windshield after six days of hard-driving…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

Instead of taking Interstate Highway 75 to the Mackinac Bridge, we opted for Michigan Route 27 which went through Cheboygen…a real pretty town…

The Mackinac Bridge is the third longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the world and the longest in the western hemisphere and was completed in 1957. You can read all about this bridge by clicking the official website link… http://www.mackinacbridge.org/

Here are some of the photos of the bridge as shot from the southern end in Mackinaw City. Some of the photos are in the watercolor mode…

In St. Ignace we went to the Museum of the Ojibwa Culture. Mary thinks she might have some of this blood in her. Here;s the official website link… http://museumofojibwaculture.net/

Mary sees a resemblance between herself and the guy in the middle…

Pasty is a regional Upper Peninsula food which you can read about by clicking this link… http://absolutemichigan.com/michigan/real-michigan-food-the-pasty/

For lunch we went to Bessie’s Pasties…which just happens to be next to VFW Post #5114 where we parked for the night. We took out pasties into the VFW and had a beer with them…

We’re parked on the grass behind the VFW Post away from the road…

Here’s the usual dinette photo…

Later this morning we’ll start out on U.S. Highway 2 West on which we will follow all the way to Washington State.

Enjoying eating local foods is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Michigan. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Indian River, Michigan

Yesterday I drove the motorhome the 198 miles from Flint to Indian River, Michigan.

We continued our journey northward on Interstate Highway 75. Ever since we entered Michigan on this highway the road conditions have been horrible. I’ve been telling Mary I didn’t think the motorhome would make it all the way through Michigan because it would be shaken apart first. Michigan by far, has the poorest roads in all of the United States…in my humble opinion!

As we headed north yesterday they improved slightly…

We saw this sign during our lunch break at a rest area. No one seems to put up these kinds of signs anymore. Too bad…

What’s this? Pop art? Nope it’s the remains of a head-on collusion with a flying bug that must have been about the size of a three-pound plum. It hit with a resounding blam and splat…

We ended up parking in the rear of VFW Post #7439 at Indian River…

Here’s the usual dinette photo…

The VFW post was closed, but there was a note with the officers phone numbers. I called and shortly thereafter our welcoming committee arrived. The Commander, Ray on the right is 80 years old and a Korean Vet. Leo in the middle is 89 years old and a World War II Vet. On the left is Dave, 65 years old and a Vietnam Vet. They invited us inside and we spent a most enjoyable two hours swapping tales. It proved to be one of the most heartwarming discussions I’ve ever had with veterans. I’m proud to call them brothers! Thanks for your friendship and hospitality…

Since it was away from the road we enjoyed a restful night’s sleep. We’ll continue our northward journey later this morning.

Enjoying visiting with old VFW members is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Michigan. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust