THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU, MR. BORDER GUARD GUY…….SIR:))

LOADING UP THE GANG AT 6:17 A.M. THIS MORNING

I am generally up well before Kelly but I heard some shuffling around about 4:15 so knew it was time to get up & get moving.  It had been raining hard when I went to bed about 6 hours before but the start to our day was dry with surprisingly mild temperatures & that just added an extra touch of niceness to loading up the last few things in the rig before heading out.

 

CROSSING THE BLUEWATER BRIDGE……. DESPITE THESE EASY TO READ SIGNS I STILL MANAGED TO GET MYSELF INTO THE WRONG LANE FURTHER AHEAD AT THE BORDER!!

We started the big wheels rolling at exactly 6:20 a.m.  It's always a weird kind of feeling leaving your home behind knowing you won't be back again for a whole 5 or 6 months.  Doesn't quite seem real in a way driving off into the darkness leaving all your comfy, cozy security behind you but it only takes a few miles to get that feeling all shook out & then the journey ahead becomes priority one.

OUR FIRST STOP WAS A CRACKER BARREL IN LANSING, MICHIGAN

It's an easy drive from our place to the border at Sarnia/Port Huron & by the time we rolled up to the gate it was light with the clock showing 7:50 a.m.  Renee, we passed over your old farm at Indian Road about 7:45:))  I was so intent on getting everything right as we approached the customs gate that I promptly pulled into the wrong line up of course.  Well, that got me rattled so I brushed a yellow utility pole in the narrow lane with my right mirror.  We now have a nice flash of yellow paint on the mirror but It's ok because I really like it.  A few more of those & we'll have one of those big colorful fancy schmancy paint jobs on our coach.   Besides, it matches our desert boondocking pinstriping that sets us apart from the pavement huggers !!

WAITING PATIENTLY IN LINE AT CRACKER BARREL

Did you hear that big sigh of relief blow through your neighborhood this morning about 8:05 Ontario time:))  I had my coat ready, the dog leashes out, & was fully prepared to be pulled over for our usual grinding agriculture check.  Young fellow at the gate asked the usual questions, was very polite & had a pleasant personality.  Not the gruffness we are used to.  He asked if he could step into the coach & we said of course.  Said he had 2 big dogs at home so he liked ours.  He apologized for leaving the coach door open behind him & asked if he could walk further back in the coach.  Made some nice comments about our dogs & then headed back to his booth, handed our passports back & said, "have a nice trip folks."  Kelly & I were in a totally exuberant state of shock.  This was the best border crossing we ever had & this nice young fellow with the dark rimmed glasses (be sure to get him if you cross) was soooooooo totally polite & respectful.  What a great professional attitude he had compared to a lot of the border guards we have run into.  Thank-you from The Bayfield Bunch young man whoever you were:))

FIRST DOGGY PIT STOP OF THE DAY

Very light traffic all through Michigan & that's why I prefer to drive Saturday's & Sundays.  Friends of ours usually start their trip on a week day & I've never understood why.  Been raining on & off all day & we drove through a half a dozen short heavy rain cells.  Our 'first eats' stop this morning around 11 was our 'last eats' stop on the way home last March.  Lansing Michigan's Cracker Barrel of course:))  It's very rare we ever eat out at home so we save those times up for when we are on the road traveling.  Ya gotta love those $5.99 prices & we both waddled out of there filled right up.

YESEREEEEE, YUMMY IN THE TUMMY:))

It felt soooooo good to be back on the road to-day & finally going somewhere again.  And it's sooooooo nice to have a Class A to do it in.  Warm & toasty plus the whole gang's to-gether.  Great for the doggy guys.  Kelly can grab us a coffee or sandwich while rolling or be sitting comfortably at the computer desk.  Never have to leave the coach to use the washroom either.  Plugged our Verizon air card into the laptop in Lansing Michigan & we were on-line within about 20 seconds.  Now, how nice is that:))

 

KELLY FIELDS HER FIRST DEERPARK LODGE CALL OF THE TRIP

I should clear something up here about last night's blog before I get myself deeper into trouble & it regards our sleeping arrangements.  Kelly felt I may have put her in a bad light.  One of her most important things is getting a good night's sleep & it goes a long way to making her the sweet charming pleasant little person she really is.  Kelly has to have the room totally dark & quiet with not so much as a squeak anywhere.  I, on the other hand am up & down in the night like a jack in the box & rarely ever get a good night's sleep & I'm sure that goes a long way to making me the cranky cursmudgeon I really am.  I'm just not good company for a sound sleeper & besides, I've never understood why 2 full grown people would ever cram themselves onto a bed for a whole night's sleep with hardly enough room for a spider to crawl between them.  At home we have our own rooms & Kelly has hers all fixed up just the way she likes it & I have mine all junked up just the way I like it too.  Sure makes a whole lot of perfectly good sense to both of us to have our own space.  In the motorhome it is the same & if any of the doggy guys have to go out in the night or early in the morning I sleep up front near the door & can get up & do that without disturbing or waking up big chief little boss in her quiet bedroom at the back of the coach.  Now, I thought that was mighty darn considerate of me.........didn't you:))

  DIDN’T TAKE THE KIDS LONG TO GET THEIR TOYS OUT ONCE WE GOT STOPPED FOR THE DAY  (click any photo to enlarge it)

This blog to-day is coming to you from a Wal-Mart parking lot in Angola, Indiana & we are in the very same spot we were last March for our last night on the road before reaching home.  Last year we stayed in Pokagon State Park just a few miles from here on the way south but when we pulled in there to-day all the pull through sites were taken so we remembered this Wal-Mart & came a few miles further.  Great spot for the dogs with lots of grass beside us.  Windy, cold, & raining at the moment.  Glad we're heading south & not north.  And, talking about heading somewhere, I figure it's just about time for me & the furry guys to draw straws & see who takes the first shift at sleeping on the single bed to-night. 

And, that just about wraps up the Bayfield Bunch's first day on the road for 2009/10:))     (blog may look a little choppy for a few days until I get it configured for the laptop)

 

ANGOLA, MICHIGAN…..OUR FIRST OVERNIGHTER

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft.
Unsurprisingly, it sank, proving once again, that you can't have your kayak and heat it, too.

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The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now....AL.