Wednesday, March 23, 2016

LANSING MICHIGAN TO BAYFIELD ONTARIO…..WE ALMOST BEAT THE RAIN & GOOD TO BE HOME:))

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‘WE ARE HOME’ & THE BIG EEE IS BACK IN HER SUMMER SPOT…..photo by Kelly:))

A quiet night behind Lansing Michigan's Cracker Barrel restaurant.  No rumbling train whistles, Interstate traffic noise, or young folks in purposely noisy mufflered cars revving up their engines in a Walmart parking lot.   Kelly had Pheebs & I up by 4 a.m. & i noticed temperatures had definitely dropped overnight.  I was glad it was not raining……or worse. DSC_0001

APPROACHING PORT HURON MICHIGAN & THE BORDER

Despite all Tuesday’s dire weather predictions I was heartened to see a ‘clear’ weather ahead of us all the way to Bayfield when I checked the weather map first thing this morning but close behind us I could see rain closing in.  It would be a race to the finish line in which we were later to come in second.  Freezing rain warnings were out & it was quickly shaping up to be a potentially nasty day.  Time was not to be wasted.DSC_0004

HEADING OVER THE BLUE WATER BRIDGE FROM THE UNITED STATES TO CANADA

It was dark when we pulled out from behind Lansing’s Cracker Barrel at 6:10 this morning.  Luckily traffic was still light at that hour but an hour later we were mixing it up with Flint Michigan’s morning rush hour on the city’s by-pass.  Pretty mild stuff compared to Des Moines morning rush just a day before.

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THAT’S CANADA OVER THERE:))

With a graying mist hanging in the air we rolled up & over the large Blue Water bridge at Port Huron Michigan/Sarnia Ontario.  Lake Huron was visible out our left window with the St. Clair River below leading to Lake Erie far off to the right.  It was 8:20 a.m. & with only 1 vehicle ahead of us at the border crossing we rolled up to the gate.  Nice young fella with the usual questions welcomed us back to Canada & that was it…….we were across the border & back in Canada:))))))

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PULLING AWAY FROM THE BORDER GATE WE ARE HAPPY TO SEE THAT ‘ONTARIO’ SIGN

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AND A GOOD OLD CANADIAN BARN ALONG THE WAY

Twenty happy minutes later we were in Forest Ontario at Tim Hortons coffee shop for our traditional coming home coffee & doughnuts.  Although a cold & cloudy damp day it was better than a year ago when we stopped at Forest’s Tim Hortons & stepped out of the rig into snow.

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PHEEBS IS TOTALLY FOCUSED ON TIM HORTONS WAITING FOR MOM

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OH BOY I THINK THAT’S MOM COMING NOW

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YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY:))

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Within a minute of leaving Forest we had ourselves a couple dozen raindrops on the windshield but that was all for the moment.  However motoring into Grand Bend a short time later a light rain began to fall & from there to Bayfield we had our wipers on intermittent.  The rain had beat us home by about 20 minutes.  It was just a few minutes before 10 o’clock when we rolled past STORMRUNNER RV SALES & SERVICE & gave Di 6 big ‘horn honks’ to let her know we were home:))

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ONLY TOOK ME A FEW SECONDS TO EAT MY APPLE FRITTER DOUGHNUT & HERE I AM WORKING ON MY FIRST ‘TIMMIES’ OF THE YEAR:))

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CRANKING UP SOME GROOVY ‘COMING HOME’ TUNES

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“MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM”

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OH-OH A FEW RAIN DROPS ON THE WINDSHIELD

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BY THE TIME WE GOT HOME IT WAS LOOKING A BIT RAINY IN BAYFIELD

Pulled over on the south side of Bayfield’s Clan Gregor square & unhitched the Jeep.  We were only a mile from home & minutes later we were home.  Ahhhhhhh, how nice it is.  Kelly & Pheebs in the Jeep arrived a minute before I did so Kelly was out taking a few pics of me pulling the Big EEE into it’s summer spot.  It was 10 after 10 & our long tiring & sometimes tedious journey was finally at an end.

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In a cold but light drizzle we spent the next hour or so unloading about a third of the rig.  The rest of the stuff can wait for nicer weather.  No surprises in the house & everything like the TV & internet fired up smoothly.  It was late afternoon when I finally flopped into my big old cushy recliner with the same thought I always have after our long trek home from the South-west each year.  “That’s it I’m never leaving home again”!!!!!  Of course that feeling doesn’t last long & I know in a week or two my travel restlessness will be growing once again & won’t leave me alone until we are back on the road next October heading back to the great American South-west again.  So in the meantime Pheebs & I had better get ourselves out shortly with a coffee & a muffin to begin checking out our areas good old back roads again:))

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KELLY TAKES A FEW PHOTOS OF THE BIG EEE ARRIVING HOME

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NICE TO FINALLY BE HOME:))

GROANER’S CORNER:((    Shooting the breeze down at the Veteran's hospital, a trio of old timers ran out of tales of their own heroic exploits and started bragging about their ancestors. "My great grandfather, at age 13," one declared proudly, "was a drummer boy at Shiloh."  "Mine," boasted another, "went down with Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn."  "I'm the only soldier in my family," confessed vet number three, "but if my great grandfather was living today he'd be the most famous man in the world."  "What'd he do?" his friends wanted to know.  "Nothing much. But he would be 165 years old."

35 comments:

  1. Welcome Home!
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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  2. That's a really clean rig after a trip over 2,000 miles. I'm glad to see that Kelly went with the larger size of Timmie's and that The Pheebes was barking?? at her return.

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  3. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaa! No place like home.

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  4. Welcome back to Canada, we slowly making our way there.
    Looks like you parked at the Foodland in Forest we we pick up a lot of our groceries.
    Enjoy your time there.

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  5. I was sitting here about 9.30 this morning thinking you might already be back in Canada and would soon be home. Glad the trip went so well, though I'm sure it was a long haul. Looking forward to hearing about all your days here.

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  6. Glad you are home safe and sound ----with nary a scratch...

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  7. Welcome home!

    Always the best feeling. :-)

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  8. You back to home in time before freezing rain... good for you
    So....212 days remain till trip to Arizona...:-))

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  9. I love the picture of the white church where you unhooked. We too are glad you are home safe and sound.

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  10. Glad your back home safe and sound. Glad the Big EEE did well on the trip out and back. As my Dave would have said "Welcome home, you happy Canuk!"

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  11. Good to know you made it home safely. Looking forward to all those wonderful Al photos during the months to come. Now if the three of you just stay healthy!......

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  12. Wow, that was quite the haul - I'm sure you're thrilled to be out of the driver's seat for awhile. Pheebs cracks me up - that face with Kelly is hysterical! The place looks pretty good this year.

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  13. It seems like you just left Arizona - you sure didn't waste any time getting back to Bayfield. Glad you were ahead of bad weather. Now take some time to rest up!

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  14. You are safely home..yeaaa! Enjoy your summer. Seems like you are home earlier this year. Rest well.

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  15. Welcome back to Dear Old Canada!
    Elaine in Saltair BC

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  16. It's been fun following your quick trip home. Nice timing on the weather! Looking forward to crossing paths again in the future.

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  17. I know it must be good to be home and off the road. Glad your trip went so well.

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  18. Sharon and I are remembering fondly our brief afternoon visit with you at "home" in Congress. Glad you made to your other home in Bayfield safely. We hope to run into you both again...in Congress if it hasn't sold, or somewhere along the road.

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  19. That was quite a trip, glad you made it home safely. Welcome back.

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  20. Nice you beat the freezing rain and found all well at home. Now you need a few long walks after all those hours in the drivers seat. Wishing you guys a stress free Summer.

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  21. Welcome home! Do you keep the heat on in the house while you are away? We did not as we shut down the power, so always took a while before we actually could sit down in the house.

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    1. Yes we always leave some heat on in the house & a neighbor comes over before we get home & cranks up the thermostat.

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  22. So glad you are are HOME! Phew! Now you can sit by the fireplace, recline, and relax! And have more coffee and muffins! :-)

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  23. Ones again, I'm very glad , you sit in your home today and sipping coffee.
    Weather and road conditions across the States is terrible....

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  24. glad you were able to beat the bad storms that went thru the midwest yesterday. safe is good.

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  25. I enjoyed following you on your drive home. Pheebs sure has filled out. Could you find a photo of her when you first got her and post it against a recent one so we can see how much she has grown?

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  26. Glad you three made it safely. Those trips home get tiring.

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  27. So happy you beat that nasty weather! I am happy to be back for about a week..The first thing I hate is the train noise in our back yard..don't look forward to that after months of forest, ocean and birds...Welcome home, Bayfield Bunch!!

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  28. So glad to hear you made it home safely:) And you beat the big storm...good job:) Love Pheebs excitement about Kelly and her treats returning.

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  29. Welcome home. Nice that you almost beat the rain. Seems like one of your easiest border crossings. Now get out there and clean up that yard. ;)

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  30. I'm about an hour west of Port Huron. *waves hello*

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