Michigan and on to Rochester

Our next stop was Lansing, Michigan. We had a nice visit with Jim’s Brothers Roger and Bill, along with their wives Cecile and Cherie. We had a nice visit for a couple of days, and then it was on to Port Huron for a week. Jim’s Mom along with her companion John came to tour our motor home. We had a nice visit with everyone.

The next day, we drove up to Frankenmuth for some of that legendary chicken. It is served family style by the Zender family, and has been a Michigan tradition for many years.

Jim’s Mother hosted a get together at her home, and I got to taste some more of that legendary potato salad for which she is so famous. Jim’s brother Bruce and his wife Paula plus his sister Penny dropped by, and we got to chat with them all. We got caught up with all the dirt, but we were sad that we missed Jim’s brother Bobbie. He was on his way from Michigan’s UP to a meeting with DMV officials in Lansing.

All and all we had a wonderful time in Michigan between Thunder Storms. On our final day, Bruce and Paula stopped by the RV while on their way to their trailer north of Port Huron. It was nice to see Little Bruce once again after many years, along with his younger sister Shannon. Little Bruce and Shannon wandered off to rent some bicycles and also to the park’s attractions while the rest of us got caught up on the local gossip.

We headed out across Southern Ontario to spend the night in London. We were concerned about crossing into Canada, but other than just squeezing through the tollbooth at the Blue Water Bridge, we managed to enter Canada with out incident. The treck across Southern Ontario saved us more than 250 miles by having to go around lake Erie and up through Pennsylvania, and the Southern tier of New York.

We arrived back in the US at the bridge at Lewiston, New York. The wait for customs was about 30 minutes (on a Sunday Morning), but otherwise without incident. The drive to Rochester took about an hour, and soon we were at our campground in LeRoy. A former ski area, it had been converted to a campground for the summer months. It took us a while to choose a site that was good for our Pace Arrow because of the overhead wires and our height of 13+ feet. The campground was very quiet, and we enjoyed our stay.

The weather in the Northeast has been very wet. Since Omaha, it seems every other day was wet. Asta does not enjoy thunderboomies, and tires to hide in the bathroom. I can't say that I blame her since the thunder was quite loud, and the rain pounded on our roof. I am pleased to say that we remained dry – The RV has passed the wet test.

Soon we were in contact with our long time friends Dean Close and Steve Fisher. I worked with these guys many years ago at Channel 8 WROC-TV. This was my first job out of college in 1968, and I worked there until 1974. We had not seen Steve and Dean since the late 80’s, so it was time to get caught up on all the gossip. We had a wonderful visit with everyone. Our last night in Rochester, we had dinner with everyone including Ted and Russ. A feisty waiter and a pile of ribs in front of us, we had a wonderful time renewing old friendships. Jim and I have vowed not to let so much time pass before our next visit. I will post some pictures of this portion of the trip as soon as we get them. Steve and Dean snapped many pictures, so I will post a few.