On to Kankakee

Petoskey and Harbor Springs were in our rear view mirrors. We were moving on to the Kankakee South KOA where we meet the Adventure Caravan Rt 66 tour. To be honest, neither of us was really excited about the trip. The cost of fuel certainly paints a pall over the trip along Rt 66. 

We experienced light rain most of the way through the Michigan "mitten", and when the rain stopped, near the coast of Lake Michigan, the fog moved in! Traffic grew progressively heavier as we neared Chicago, but there were few delays. 

Near Grandville, MI I spotted this huge building along the Interstate Wow....was it a northern version of Disney Land?! 

Not Disney, but the Grand Castle Apartments. This 15-story building was designed to emulate Germany's Neuschwanstein Castle. Having seen the castle at Neuschwanstein, I feel that Germans might take offense at the suggestions that this monstrous building, housing over 500 apartments, is any comparison to the beauty and majesty of the original. 

Neuschwanstein Castle

The next awe-some view was this "canyon" near Thornton, Illinois. I read that this is often called the "Grand Canyon of the Midwest" The landform is not natural. It is the Thornton limestone quarry.  The highway crosses the 1/2 mile wide quarry on a land bridge, created when limestone was quarried on either side of the road. 

We made it to the Kankakee KOA in the afternoon, having driven 399 miles. Luckily, the additional hour we gained by crossing into CDT was welcome. We pulled into the campground and discovered that we had a "Paw Pen" site....the girls aren't so sure that they like their private yard! 

But, they adore the attention they get when we walk around the grounds. They were practically 'mugged' by eight kids on one of our circuits of the grounds!

Harbor Springs

 We were told by quite a few folks that we must go visit Harbor Springs, MI while we were in the area. Wednesday, or last day in town, was perfectly beautiful for a trip to the town found on Little Traverse Bay. 

We drove around and oohed and ahhed over some of the beautiful old homes and churches. Then the Mister noticed something of great interest to him....an old train engine. 

To be more specific, he noticed the Shay engine, located in Shay Park....coincidence? 

Nope! Ephraim Shay invented Shay locomotives, which are unique in that they are gear driven steam engines. These were true work horses that had a lot of power, but not much speed. They were primarily used in logging, mining and heavy industry. 

Across the park from the Shay engine is the "Aha". This steel boat was designed and built by Shay in the 1890's. It was built close to where it stands now. 

Ephraim Shay also built this home in Harbor Springs.

It is across from the Shay engine and the Aha. 

The house was built in 1892. Its exterior is covered in stamped steel pieces emulating brick and stone. 

Other views in town:

Looking toward the marina

Some homes on Bay Street

....and just a few in town:

Definitely worth a visit...

and worth more time on another visit.

Onward to Michigan

 By day 4 we made it to Michigan. We planned a few nights in Howell, between Lansing and Detroit. This is where my BFF just moved. There were few campgrounds around, but I did find Taylor's Beach Campground. I called several weeks ago and reserved a spot. When we pulled up to the office and I walked in to register....the two men behind the desk kinda shook their heads. They told me, "You won't fit in the site you were assigned to go in."  Oh? Lovely! And what do you suggest? The men were endearing. They tossed around a few site numbers. Finally one of them said, "There are 2 sites at the beach. You won't fit in the sites, but you can pull up on the road in front of the sites, and have a lake front site!" Seriously? We were a bit skeptical, so we drove the truck around to see what they were talking about, and yes, it could work, if we had some extensions for our power cord and hose...which we have. So, around we came in what appeared to be a monster RV compared to most of the RV's in the campground. We got everything set up and totally enjoyed our stay!

Taylor's Beach Campground is a family weekend/summer escape for many folks living nearby. There were many RVs that were permanently installed, with decking and storage buildings onsite. There was a playground out of the 60's and several floating play areas in the lake itself. There were plenty of families there, with kids all around. Everyone was having a good time...including we dreamers! 

Of course, the girls were a hit with everyone. They received lots of petting and scritches, 

and I'm sure it went totally to their heads! 

We had the chance to visit with my BFF, Marjie, her husband and her son.

And of course, Marjie had to take me to the local quilt shop! 

It was wonderful....but I did resist the call to buy some lovely fabric!

KERPLUNK KERFLOOEY - Day Two-ee

Day two & three of travel:

We heard a THUNK!

 A very distinct, very loud, POP!

No warning lights lit, so we didn’t stop.

I did a quick walk-around inside,

But nothing out of place could I find. 

A bit later, the Mister, outside walked around,

But again, nothing out of the ordinary was to be found. 

We went on our way to our next campground stay,

And forgot about the POW that started our day.

We had time to relax, and go for a walk with the dogs,

Had a quick supper, and slept like logs.

In the morning, like a tortoise pulling in its legs,

We began to pull in our slides, to get on our way.

Uh oh, the one that yesterday had made the KERPLUNK!

Tried to come in a bit sideways, and it was stuck!

We put it out and tried again,

And the Mister put some pressure on one end.  

The slide came in as it usually does

But we now have a suspicion of what that THUNK was!

Some part of the slide that helps pull it in,

Was the part that went SPROING when our day did begin.

We will go on, only pushing the slide a bit out,

Until we can find a service center along our route. 

This isn’t our RV…thank goodness, our problem hopefully isn’t that bad!

  

Day One of our Adventure

 Is that adventure...or misadventure?! We had a bit of both today.

We were off and away by 9:15. Hooray! 

View from my window for the next few hours....or so I thought:

Three hours later:

It's love bug season! Poor guys... talk about coitus interruptus!

I bet you can tell what we did for the next few hours!  

No cool, blue swimming pool for us 

Nap

It All Adds Up

 How can that possibly be right?

Just the other morning my BFF and I were chatting on the phone. We were talking about fabric "collections".  My mind turned to getting rid of fabric, as in, making some more quilts with what I have on hand. 

Hmmm, I thought, how much do I have on hand?

I began estimating what's in the stash behind me in the picture.

Each 12" cubby (not all are visible in the picture) is split into two sections for each color; red, yellow orange, green, blue, violet, neutral, brown, and black. The left side of the cubby has pieces that are just under 1/2 yard to just over 1/8 yard. The right hand side of each cubby has pieces that are 1/2 yard to 1 1/2 yard lengths of fabric. I have 2 cubbies with pieces that are 2 yards or larger. In addition, I have "Charm Packs" (5 1/2" squares), some jelly rolls, some "Layer Cakes" (10" squares) and various and sundry other scraps. Oh, and yeah, there are some bins containing even more fabric already designated for future projects.

Sitting back in my chair I began estimating, visually grouping 4 or 5 quarter yard chunks together, 2 half yard pieces together, etc. (Oh...and some of my cubbies with quarter yard pieces have a whole 'nother pile behind the first!) 1, 2, 3.....7, 8, 9 yards....25, 26.....42.... 65........ 

Who woulda thunk that those cubbies house well over 250 yards of fabric in total! Yikes! 

And that doesn't even account for the bits and pieces in these bins...which is where I pulled most of the fabric for the quilt I mentioned in the previous post! 

OK folks...time to get serious! When I return from my trip I better get to work sorting and snipping, and clipping and stitching! I have a long way to sew....

Suffering the DT's

 As in a Dire Tickle to play with fabric! 

Other than doing one paper piecing block for a Guild project, I haven't had the opportunity to sew for almost a week....maybe longer! I am preparing for our big trip, so I have been busy collecting things and finding a niche for everything in the RV. I've packed a Singer Featherweight and threw in a bit of fabric for a wall hanging...but wanted to have something more on hand...just in case I end up with time on my hands. I wanted to play with fabric now! 

The owner of Bold Notions Quilt shop sells APQS long arms and has a delicious stash of wide backings and quilting threads. She also has some collections of quilting cotton. She also posts frequent videos of quilts she is making or quilting as inspiration!

A few weeks ago Lauren posted a reel on Facebook making this happy scrappy quilt. I saved it as I have a lot of scraps! I decided that I'd try making a few of the blocks today, and if I liked them, I could cut the fabric to take with me on our trip. 

The blocks are easy to make and don't require any special rulers. That will be nice on the road when my cutting space will be limited to a 12" square mat.

After a few hours of cutting...tada! I'm ready for the road!

Does my stash look much smaller?

You'll have to take my word...it doesn't! I used a some 2 1/2" squares I had previously cut, and some 2 1/2" strips from earlier projects, as well as wider strips I have cut and stashed away elsewhere. I did pull out some of the pieces you see behind me, and I cut a strip or two off of them...but most all went back on the shelves! 

I feel better now. I am prepared! And, if I don't get to it on the trip, I have an easy project to tackle when I return!