Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Michigan - East side

Monroe

We stayed in the Sterling State Park on Lake Erie. Beautiful park, with a nature trial that meanders around the wetlands and lakes that is full of birds, a long beachfront to walk, play, find trinkets or watch the sunrise,
The one weird or disconcerting aspect of the park is we were nestled between the nuclear plant and a factory that is emitting steam 24/7. If you ignored those it was perfect.

Wasp nest in the sand
Thought of our son-in-law Steve when we saw this sign
                                                                                                                                                         











This has been a pretty mellow stay, which after the hectic pace of Kentucky, Indiana, and Holland, we were perfectly happy to stop and catch our breath. We have explored the nature trail, and even found time to ride our bikes, which we hadn't done yet on our trip. As always there were stairs to climb.
Observation Deck and view 











We visited the Raisin River Battlefield, which was really interesting. They have a lighted audio presentation you can listen to that was very informative, as well as displays inside the museum and outside on the grounds.
               
It is hard to wrap your brain around what it must have been like to fight in a war with the brutal conditions that existed back then.

Nancy so wanted to play dress-up 






The freezing weather, without proper clothes or shoes. The lack of food and poor accommodations had to have been unbearable.






Mother/Daughter Time
Nancy spent three days with Katrina, while Steve was out of town. They had a great time shopping, eating, beer tasting and laughing. They enjoyed downtown Northvillle and the North Center Brewery. Opening day of the Farmington Farmer's Market, as well as the Cheese Lady Store - you must go there. Lunch and beer tasting at the Farmington Brewery, which was a favorite of Nancy's and then a hike at Mayberry Park with Heidi, their dog. Sunday was church at the Ann Arbor Vineyard, so good to see old friends, lunch at Bigalora and then babysitting for Cora, Nigel and Tina's adorable little girl. The weekend ended much to fast, but we still had a week coming up to stay with them.

We got to give tours of our RV while visiting with friends. Denny and Maggie came and spent a day with us, it was so good to see them again, it had been way to long. We love to share our new home with everyone and of course one of Nancy's favorite things to do is to feed people. Due to some heavy rains our site was a little flooded but if you walked carefully you could avoid the lake.
We also had a visit from Mary Ellen and Paul and LeeAnne. Always good to spend time with them.



We got a much needed hair cut for Mielikki and while she was getting beautiful we headed to the Toledo Botanical Gardens. This is one of the best botanical gardens we have been to. They have a small artist village with a pottery studio, glass studio, and a hands on studio where they offer classes. A cute little gift shop filled with many pieces from local artists, and a lithosphere museum. We were a little early for some of the gardens to be in bloom but the rhododendrons and peonies didn't disappoint us. The herb garden was pretty abundant as well. It was a refreshing stroll through all of the gardens - some surrounded by large circular hedges that were like stepping in the Secret Garden. They also have an adorable fairy garden behind the gift shop.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
Beehive tepee 



We were impressed with how well the grounds were maintained. The majority of the paths are asphalt so easy to navigate, especially for strollers and wheelchairs.




The landscape is dotted with sculptures, gazebo's, statues and gates. Along with a creek and ponds full of birds and fish.
















We ventured into Cabela's one day between our visits to Dundee and Tecumsch. The store is huge and has just about everything you can think of for the outdoors. In Dundee we had coffee at Cool Beanzs Coffee Shop - it is such a neat place, lots of local artists work for sale and they offer classes as well. In Tecumseh we stopped for a flight of beer at the Tecumseh Brewing Company. Good beer, a favorite was the mango wheat.



We also stopped at the Silver Bells Christmas Store - this one has everything you can think of for Christmas. If you need a decoration you can probably find it here.













Nancy loves old cemeteries and wandering through the headstones to find angels and other statues. Monroe offered up a pretty nice one.












Next stop Katrina and Steve's, so until we meet again.....

Happy Trails to you!

Tips and things we have learned along the way 
~ when making your site reservations ask about flooding on the site
~ check for ants everyday - we hadn't had any for over a week and opened up a cupboard one morning and found a ton of them - so we will now check everyday to catch them right away.
~ when you live in a small space you need to be aware of every inch you live in. Les went to turn the recliner one night while the back was down a bit and hit the light switches and broke them off - another visit to Camping World to get new ones is on the to-do list.

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