The Ray Adventures: Grand Rapids, Mi

We have been in Michigan since May 29th, who knew there would be so much to see and do here. We still have another week here before we head off to Canada. I think summer is here to stay, the last time I said that we put away our little electric heaters only to take them out a few days later.

Thursday, June 18, Moving day, off to Grand Rapids. If you ever need an RV park in Honor Michigan, do not stay at Sunnywoods RV Park, at least they don't have the nerve to call is a resort. The spaces weren't level, lots of soft sand, a community of mosquitos, dumpster overflowing even though we were the only ones there except for 2 full-time. Ok now you know how I really feel, we are so glad to be heading out. We left about 10, having to "fuel" up, we squeezed into a station, it was just a little stressful pulling out, hit the guide line for the power pole or the gas pumps. We got out unscathed and headed down the road for the 130 mile trip to Cedar Springs just 15 miles north of Grand Rapids. Even with all the researching of RV parks we do, it still can be "crapshoot" between what they say and what they actually are. Always a challenge. Lakeside RV is like a breath of fresh air, clean level sights, an actual lake, activities, very dog friendly and no mosquitos. After getting set up I drove east to Greenville to exchange a pair of shoes I bought in Menominee, a small local retail shoe outlet in Michigan. Success! Picked up a few groceries and headed back to camp. Time to relax. Ahhhhh!

Friday, June 19 We left Luci in the coach for the day, we were off to Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, our 36th president, and the only library/museum in two different locations.  Grand Rapids was developed on the banks of the Grand River where there was once a set of rapids which were removed to make it easier to float logs down the river for the booming furniture manufacturing industry. The downtown area was suffering from "construction" season along with most of the roads in the state, we kept trying to get into the parking lot of the museum with no luck even after calling for advice We ended up parking in a garage across the river and walked on the pedestrian bridge over to the museum. The Grand River has lovely riverfront walkways, however, they were flooded from recent heavy rains. The Museum displays both his personal and public life from his birth to death. After serving in the Navy during WWII he attended Yale Law. Upon graduation he went back to his hometown of Grand Rapids to open a small firm. He got interested in politics, elected to Congress serving 25 years before being picked by Nixon to replace Agnew after he resigned in scandal, then the President after Nixon had his own troubles. He is the first and only person to be Vice President and President without being elected . He failed his bid for re-election, some speculate it was because he pardoned Nixon. A short walk from the Museum you will be able to view Jerry and Betty's tombs. We enjoy visiting Presidential Libraries, this was our 6th, our favorite being Regan's in Simi Valley, Ca. The Grand Rapids downtown is a mix of old and new architecture, we found lunch at (surprise) Grand Rapids Brewery. After a trip to Costco to stock up on "stuff" and have the tires rotated we headed back to Cedar Springs. Luci, as usual, was very happy to see us.

Saturday, June 20 Luci went off to doggie day care so we could go to Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, we'd heard how magnificent the statues were, but pleasantly surprised to learn the Japanese Gardens had opened up just the week before. Now this is a must if you're ever in the area! The Park is 158 acres of gardens, 200 sculptures (one by Rodin), natural meadows and woodlands and wetlands. a 5 story conservatory and 8 acres devoted to the Japanese Gardens. The Michigan Farm Garden was complete with farmhouse and barn, all the animals were scuptures. Inside the farmhouse a Chef demonstrated how to make biscuits then were treated to samples. After several hours walking through the gardens we went to the Rose Show being held that weekend. I was in "scentsory" heaven, you must take time to stop and smell the roses. We picked up Luci and headed home. all of us were very tired.

Sunday, June 21 Happy Fathers Day and first day of summer! The camp had a special Father's Day breakfast, biscuits and gravy (yuk) one of Gary's fav's. They weren't so good but were free so who's complaining. It was moving day, I don't know where my head was when I planned the itinerary, so poor Gary on his special day he had to pack up and drive to Camp Dearborn 150 miles away. The drive was going pretty good, not too much traffic and good weather, then, we took the exit Miss Sally directed us to, well due to construction (orange cone) season, the overpass we needed to take was closed. The good part, we drove through the town of Brighton, very nice, the bad part, finding an alternate route. We finally pulled into Camp Dearborn a little after 3. Camp Dearborn is a Dearborn's (35 miles away) city park. Wow what a great place, it has over 600 acres, 6 lakes, several fishing ponds, a half mile swimming beach, pool, 27 hole golf course, mini golf, 200 RV sites, and cabins and tents for rent. Gary's request for F.D. dinner was meatloaf bbq'd on the Traeger.

Monday, June 22 We dropped Luci off at doggie day care while we went to see Gerald Ford's Library located at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, about 35 miles away. The library opened up in 1981, the collection contains presidential archives, documents, transcripts, photos and video footage about domestic and foreign policies during Ford's administration. Visitors are only allowed on the first floor, most of the items were a duplicate of what we'd seen in Grand Rapids. The best part, it was free. We stopped at the University of Michigan football stadium, one of the biggest college stadiums in the US, seating 109,000. The north campus houses the medical school and 6 hospitals that serve more than a million patients annually. Adjacent to the campus is Nichols Arboretum, with nature trails through the 123 acres along side the Huron River. I wanted to go because the peonies were in bloom, well, unfortunately only a handful were still blooming, it was just past their prime. Dang! Time to pick up Luci and head home, thunderstorms and tornado warnings were forecast. We almost made it back to camp in time, almost being the key word. It started raining, then lightning, then the rain came down so hard the wipers fast wouldn't keep the windshield clear.  Camp Dearborn is on General Motors Road, to get back we had to pass General Motors Proving Ground. The traffic was very heavy because it was quitting time making it extra stressful. I was curious about the Proving Grounds, what exactly did they do there so I checked out Wikipedia. There are 4,000 acres, 4,800 employees and 107 buildings. The VDTA, Vehicle Dynamics Test area includes 67 acres of blacktop, an oval track 3.8 miles, a circle track 4.5 miles, 2 straightaway courses and a short course with tight curves with a speed limit of 120 miles. I would loved to take a tour of the facility but there just wasn't time. Anyway, the storm hit with a vengeance about 11:00, the tornado warning expired at 3:00. I didn't get to sleep until after 3 when the thunder and lightning stopped.

Tues, June 23, Happy birthday Laurie (Gary's sis!) Luci went off to doggie day care again. Gary had been to Ford Museum about 25 years ago but didn't have time for Greenfield Village. The village covers more than 90 acres including seven historic districts with buildings of historic significance.  Ford's childhood home, Edison's library, the Wright Brother's cycle shop, the courthouse where Lincoln held court and several others. Nearly over 100 buildings were moved from their original location and arranged in village settings. You could get rides in Model T's, horse drawn carriages, an Omnibus and a steam driven railroad. Between the museum and the village you could spend at least 2 days. It was a perfect day, not too hot but not cold either with a nice breeze. We picked up Luci, and again the 3 of us were beat.

Wednesday, June 24 We took the day off to clean the coach and do the laundry. We will be staying at Jeff and Suzanne's house near St. Clair, Mi. for about a week. We took Luci for a long walk then took her back to the coach so the adults could play mini golf. The course was in bad condition, at least that was my excuse. I played poorly and Gary whomped me.

Thursday, June 25, It was time to move again, grass was growing between our toes. The drive was only 75 miles, we arrived before 11:00. Suzanne and I tried an experiment, I bbq'd baby back ribs on the Traeger and she did hers in the oven, finishing the last 30 minutes on the gas grill. They were both good but in different ways. Suzanne has (had) 6 hens, her lab killed one of them the day before we got there and the second one in the afternoon. She keeps her 2 goats in the same field as the chickens, after dinner we went to feed them. Well Luci was a bad girl, she got in the gate,
started chasing one of the goats which leaped over the gate. It was funny but scary too. We finally corralled the goat and Luci and all was well. What a snot!

Friday, A pretty quiet day, Gary got a hair cut and I went to the dermatologist. Suzanne made Lemon Caper Pasta for dinner. Yum.

Enjoy the pictures, I had to wade through 100's.

TTFN

Gary and Pam