The Ray Adventures: E. China Township June 26-July 1

We have been at Suzanne's another week, I hope we haven't worn out our welcome. We leave in the morning for Toronto and points east.

Saturday was very stormy with 3 inches of rain forecast. The weather may be lousy but it's a good day for me, the quilt gods are with me. I wanted to give Suzanne and Jeff the quilt I just finished for a hospitality thank you gift but I needed to get it quilted before we leave on the 2nd. I called the local quilt store for names of long-arm quilters in the area that they would recommend. I gave Becky a call, explaining my quandary, she said bring it right over. We jumped in the car (in the downpour) to go to Fort Gratiat to Jo-Ann's for the backing fabric then back to Marysville to give the quilt to Becky. She was so nice, told me she would call me tomorrow (sunday) when she was finished. What luck!
For dinner that night Jeff did a Walleye fish fry, he'd just been fishing in the St. Clair River the night before we arrived. He says the best time to fish for Walleye is at night. Likely story. Anyway it was delish! After dinner we taught them to play Mexican Train, I think we have them hooked on the game.

Sunday was a better day weather wise, not great but better. Becky called me about 11, she had finished the quilt. I ran up to Marysville (about 10 miles) to pick it up, she did a fabulous job, I think the best quilting job I've ever had done. I put the binding on as soon as I got back to coach. One of Suzanne's hens is on the bottom of the pecking order, the other 3 hens peck the feathers off her back. Suzanne found a pattern on line for a cape for Betty. I fashioned her cape out of Superman fabric I had leftover from Patryk's quilt. She looks lovely. All that left is the hand sewing. In the afternoon we drove to St. Clair for their annual art fair on the banks of the St. Clair River. The poor vendors got soaked on Saturday and did very little business. There were some amazing photographs that showcased the beauty of the Great Lakes. After a dinner of BBQ'd chicken we played Mexican Train.

Monday we had an appointment in Dearborn (near Detroit about 40 minutes drive) at 9:00 for a alignment for the coach. Poor Luci thought we were hitting the road again, putting everything away, pulling in the slides and jacks, she got to stay with Keiley for the day. While they worked on the coach we walked around the neighborhood checking out the few stores. By the time we got back it was all done. On the way back we fueled up for the trip to Canada, they say gas is half again as much as in the US. On the drive to and from Dearborn I hand stitched the binding on the quilt. In the afternoon while we were enjoying happy hour at the pool I gave J & S the quilt. After dinner of Pasties (we bought them in Mackinaw City) we played the longest game ever of Mexican Train.

Tuesday we drove up to Fort Huron to have lunch with Steve and Marty, friends we made in Texas, they summer in Michigan and spent most of their working years in Flint. It was great to see them, we had a lot of laughs, especially about RV blunders and bad RV parks. The restaurant was right on the Black River (which was brown from the heavy rains) which flows into St. Clair River. We said our good byes, will see them again in Rockport the 1st of November. Stacy called, they just got home from their Alaskan cruise. It is a good thing I hadn't paid much attention to the news. a tour airplane ride crashed killing 8 people from a different Princess cruise. Anyway they enjoyed the trip, especially Glacier Bay. After a quick trip to a quilt store we walked along the Bridge to Bay Trail along the St. Clair River, Thursday we will cross over the river on our way to Canada. We had a quiet evening, no Mexican Train.

Wednesday we did laundry, cleaned the coach, did some repairs to the coach, washed the car. We have to leave early Thursday for Toronto.

That's it for this week, enjoy the pic's.

TTFN

Gary and Pam