Not
a lot to say other than what's in the pictures. The automobile section
is being updated and refurbished, so it was closed, but there were
still plenty of exhibits to see. We got there at 10:00am and left about
4:00. We saw most of it, but didn't stop to read every placard.
When
we got back to the camper I realized that I hadn't taken the
traditional picture of our campsite, so that's in today's batch. Enjoy
the pictures. Tomorrow we'll be at Greenfield Village which is Alex's
favorite place to be.
Check back later for pictures from the village!
We rolled into the Wayne County Fairgrounds' Good Sam Campground at 1:30pm and got set up. Then we called Jessica and headed for her house. When we got there, Alex and Brayden were home while Jessica and Ella were at the grocery store.
About five minutes after we arrived at the house, Jess and Ella got home. Much to our surprise, Alex and Jess are expecting a third child in about a month. They'll find out if it's a boy are a girl when it's born.
We had a great chicken dinner while we visited. Even the yellow squash & zucchini that Alex fixed on the grill were good! After dinner and more visiting, we headed for the camper and snuggled in for a great night's sleep in the cool Michigan nighttime weather.
Now Marsha has my head cold, or whatever it is, so we're both hacking, sniffing and coughing. We drove up to Sturgis, MI (about 10 miles) in search of a decent Wi-Fi connection at the local Mickey D's. That's how I was able to post the pictures in the previous entry. After that, we went back to Shipshewana and wandered through one of the local hardware stores. You'd be surprised at the different stuff you see in a hardware store in an Amish community!
Then we came back to the campground and checked out the on-site custard stand. Good stuff! After that, it was the usual wandering around, visiting old friends and meeting new ones. There are about 40 Aframes attending the rally, so we have a pretty good crowd.
Before dinner, we had a local merchant tell us all about Honda generators. The subsequent potluck dinner was good, as usual, and many stories were told around the campfire while John was trying to get a fire stack going. Marsha and showered and turned in early in hopes of shaking our colds.
More later.
I'm writing this on Thursday afternoon, August 18. Between not having Internet access sometimes and having too much fun other times, I haven't posted anything since we left home on August 10, headed for Bill Kerola's Big Little Rally in Transfer, PA. So here's a thumbnail sketch of what we've been doing for the past 9 days.
We probably could have made the drive all the way to the Big Little Rally in one day, but the driving time was about ten hours let alone stopping for gas, etc. So we decided to spend the night at Alum Creek State Park near Delaware, OH. It's about twenty miles north of Columbus on Rt. 23. Nice park! We got in there about 4:00pm and had a relaxing evening with dinner by the fire.
Thursday morning, in no big hurry, we left the park and drove the last 176 miles to Transfer, PA. Bill Kerola puts on a free rally there at the county fairgrounds. Free camping, free bonfire each night, free ice cream social, free band and a free great time! Bill is a camper dealer there in Transfer and the rally is open to anyone who has the kind of camper he sells, even if you didn't buy it from him. We had a great time and met Jim and Elaine Cardinal from Mill Hall, PA with whom we spent quite a bit of time gabbing. Most of the pictures below are from the rally.
I almost forgot - Bill Kerola's pastor did the judging to see who would win one of the three trophies they were awarding. As you can see from the pictures, we lucked out! The trophy's were not awarded for the cleanest, coolest, most unique camper. It was more for the pastor's "experience" as he visited with the many rally participants. The "Aliner" on the trophy simply means that the winner was in that brand of camper. Marsha and I were dumfounded when Bill called our name to come up and accept the trophy.
On Sunday, August 14, we headed north to Girard, PA, about fifteen miles west of Erie, to spend a few days with our old friends, Jim & Sandy Anderson. It was only an hour-and-a-half drive. While we were there, we drove out to Kenny and Georgia Prather's house to take a look at Kenny's latest project. It started out as a 1973 Suzuki 500, but will end up looking nothing like it used to. The plan is to attach a hand built side car. Knowing many of Kenny's former projects, some of which have been featured in Hot Rod Magazine and several others, I'm sure it will be real neat when it's done. Just Google "Kenny Prather" for a look at his chopped VW bus with a supercharged Chevy engine behind the seats!
On Wednesday morning, August 17, we left Jim & Sandy's house for the 313 mile drive to Shipshewana, IN where we are attending the Aliner Owners Club Central Great Lakes Region Rally. Nice weather, so far, and people are still rolling in because the rally actually starts today (8/18). About forty units are expected.
Well, that catches you up on our current trip. More as we get time!
