The Travels of the Agnew Family

Look what's found a home in our garage .... yup finally got the ATVs I've been lusting after. Now we just need to find to ride them. For some reason finishing the shed has top priority.

My family met for breakfast this morning --- it was included with the room. As we were leaving the restaurant, a person we passed asked where Zaph was. Turning I recognized a woman (Deb) who lives around the corner from us. She has a little dog named Mac, who really likes Zaph. We chatted for a few minutes then went our separate ways. About 15 minutes later Ed walked over to my mother's room which was two doors down from our room. Who was standing at the door to the room between us? ... yup Deb. She was in Midland with her family attending a wedding. Turned out a number of people on the floor around us were also from Walkerton.

Have you ever wondered what happens to girl guides when they grow up? Actually, I haven't either but I did find out. There was a group of "old girl guides" from Owen Sound on a mystery tour weekend and they were having a great time.


With my sister living in Texas we don't get together very often so thought we should take a few photos.
From the left, my sister Carol, me, my mom and my brother David.


A nice lady offered to take a photo of all of us. Ed, Carol, me, Sarah in front of mom, David and Carol's husband Darryl.

My mother is 90 years young today. Early in the summer I had asked her how she wanted to celebrate her birthday and she said "no party", there had been a party for her 80th birthday and she didn't need another one. That gave me a challenge as I wanted her birthday to be special. My sister, brother-in-law and one of my sister's granddaughters were coming to help celebrate and we came up with the idea of a boat tour. After researching the different tours available we chose the Serendipity Princess out of Port Severn. The captain told us we were probably a week early for the peak of the fall colours but we did have amazing weather and really enjoyed the trip.


The trip started at Lock 45 in Port Severn. Several boats went through the lock while we waited for the Serendipity Princess to return after it's morning tour.


The Serendipity Princess.

As Port Severn is a seasonal port for the tour company, you had to buy your tickets on the boat --- no problem we were near the front of the line. Unfortunately, a bus load of people arrived and they started boarding as we were buying our tickets. Ed noticing this took my mom and headed for the front of the top deck and was able to get us fantastic seats. I bought the tickets for our group (5 seniors, 1 adult and 1 child) and joined the rest of them on the top deck. It felt like the total for all the tickets was a lot lower than I expected, so once the boat was underway I went and found the fellow I had paid. The fellow was impressed that I had returned and split the difference with me, giving us a free ticket.


My mom. She was really looking forward to the boat ride.


Some of the beautiful scenery we passed on the way to Big Chute.


One of the "small" cottages we passed.


Little Chute. The narrowest part of the trip.


There wasn't a lot of colour but this tree tried it's best to show off "fall colours".


Big Chute Marine Railway is lock 44 on the Trent-Severn Waterway. A carriage is lowered into the water and the boats drive onto it. Once the boats are secured the carriage begins to move up or down depending on the direction you are going, lifting the boats out of the water. When the carriage reaches the other end of the lock, it again goes into the water allowing the boats to drive off.


If you look closely at the photo you can see that some of the men are adjusting their pants. Initially, they were lined up at the railing waving at us, then they mooned the boat. Good laugh for all of us.

A couple more scenery shots. It really was a beautiful day for a boat ride.





You can't celebrate a birthday without cake or at least cupcakes.

We were all ready for a snack when we got off the boat, so I thought it was the perfect time for cake. Not the prettiest decorated cupcakes but they got the message across.

I booked rooms for all of us the Best Western in Midland. For my mom and brother I had booked a King Suite --- a bedroom with a king size bed and a pull out couch in the living room (gave them privacy and mom the help she needs in a unfamiliar place as she is legally blind). Mom was impressed with the large rooms, TV's in both rooms and the jacuzzi tub. Yup, after we had a "cool" time in the hotel's hot tub mom tried out the jacuzzi. Don't think she wanted to miss out on anything. Oh, ya we also went out for a very nice dinner in Midland.

The shed is progressing, though it feels slow to me. I guess I just see the "big things" like the floor, the walls and the roof and don't see all the finicky things that need to be done that take all the time.


Todays big progress was the sheathing on the walls. When Ed first designed the shed he found some pre-finished wood siding that would have eliminated the sheathing step, but after he ordered the siding the lumber yard was told that it was no longer available. So it was back to sheathing and siding ... more expense and more time.

Ed and I had talked about building another shed to store barbecues, smokers, lawn furniture over the winter. In previous years these items were stored in the garage and workshop but with the addition of the Miata and Ed wanting to use his workshop this winter they won't fit. The work on the shed has begun.



While Ed has been working on the shed I've been doing my fall cleaning, so I guess you can say that it's been a busy week.

Last evening my sister Carol, her husband Darryl and their granddaughter arrived. They stopped for an overnight visit as they are off to visit "mothers". Carol is going to our mom's home for the week and Darryl and Sarah are going to his 96 year old mother's home for the week. On Saturday we are all getting together to celebrate my mother's 90th birthday. Sarah adores Zaph and had a great time playing with him. It was great to see them especially as we won't be going to Texas this year.

Thirty years ago a great Canadian Folk musician died in a fire aboard Air Canada Flight 797 on the ground at the Greater Cincinnati Airport. Stan Rogers was only 33 years old but his influence on Canadian folk music has been deep and lasting. Some of his well known songs are Northwest Passage, Barrett's Privateers, The Mary Ellen Carter, Make and Break Harbour, The Field Behind the Plow, Lies, Fogarty's Cove and Forty-Five Years.

Our friend Jack along with four other musician created a Stan Rogers tribute show. Tonight was their third performance and we attended it along with our friends Bob and Gwen.

The show was great. I may be a little prejudice but I think Jack did an amazing job.


The band: Dan Patterson, Jack Cole, Paul Mills, Brad Nelson and Anne Lederman


It always seems to make the show better when the musicians are having a great time.


Jack.

As the show was in Brampton we spent the night at Gwen and Bob's house. Had a great visit and Zaph wasn't too traumatized by the eight pound cat. He has found that if you don't look at the cat it really isn't there and won't beat you up.

This year was the 100th International Plowing Match (IPM). It was held in Mitchell, Ontario just over an hours drive from Walkerton.


Hay wagons are used as people movers. I said that this year I wanted to watch some of the plowing --- only bit I saw was while we were driven to the main site from the parking lot. There was a lot to see and do and we only managed a little of it. Now I understand why people bring their trailers and stay for a few days.


There were a number of steam engines around the show. One was making ice cream, another one was pulling a wagon giving rides, this one was pumping water.


There were lots of old tractors on display, but Ed didn't take any photos of them. He liked the old gas pumps and the old cars.




As one would expect there were lots of new toys on display.

For us the highlight of the show was the Canadian Forces Snowbirds show. The schedule indicated a range of time for the snowbirds performance so it was a bit of a surprise when the planes flew towards the IPM. It was a perfect day for watching the planes fly .... sunny and clear. Ed, of course, took a lot of photos and I chose a few to share with you.










Back in the hay wagon after a long day of visiting the show. The parking lot was emptying out.

It was one of those perfect fall mornings, crisp and clear. Ed jumped out of bed and headed out hoping to get some shots of the mist rising from the lake.








What it would have been like to RV camp in the 40s. Think I'll stick with my new trailer.


The street signs in the park let you know that you are in Car Country. Just north of the park was Ford Lake, just west was a Ford plant.

We drove home today, ending our trip to Michigan. It's funny how the house grew while we were away. Even the bathroom feels large. I'm sure those feelings will go away soon, but it's nice while they last.

Now to start thinking about the next trip. Where should we go?

I had complained to Ed that when he took photos of the park, he hadn't taken any of the trailer on the campsite. We were in a pretty, treed campsite --- would never have gotten the big 5th wheel in here.

The reason for stopping in Ypsilanti was to go to the Henry Ford Museum. When you look at Michigan tourism sites the Ford museum is always near the top of the list.

The Edison Institute was dedicated by President Herbert Hoover to Ford's longtime friend Thomas Edison on October 21, 1929 – the 50th anniversary of the first successful incandescent light bulb. The Edison Institute consists of The Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village and the Ford Institute. On this trip we're just going to see the museum, next time we'll plan on visiting the village.

The museum building itself is a work of art. According to information at one of the exhibits, the exhibit was installed and the museum built around it.


One of the main halls. The hall was so high you didn't notice the bi-plane over your head till you walked away and looked back.


The model T in pieces. Did you know that Henry Ford started two car companies that failed? His third company was successful.


The steam engine on the right is the Allegheny Locomotive which was built in 1941 and weighed in at 600 tons, this was one of the largest steam-powered locomotives ever built. The steam engine on the left pulled cars that looked like stage coaches.


There are a lot of automobiles in the museum. One section consisting of about 20 vehicles showed the history of the automobile. another section included luxury vehicles, race cars, trailers, a motor home, sports cars and muscle cars. Top Left: 1931 Duesenberg Model J, only 481 model Js were built between 1928 and 1935. No two were identical because independent coachbuilders crafted each body to the buyer's specifications. Top Right: 1931 Bugatti Type 41 Royale. Longer than a Duesenberg, twice the horsepower of a Rolls-Royce, more costly than both put together. The Bugatti Royale was the ultimate automobile. Bugatti built only 6 Royales. Bottom Left: one of my favorites the 1951 Crosley Hotshot Roadster Bottom Right: another one of my favorites, the 1927 LaSalle Roadster. You could have it in any color --- black too.


There were three choices for lunch --- the Michigan Cafe, the Wienermobile Cafe (yup there was a Oscar Meyer Wienermobile there), and Larry's Dinner. As Larry's dinner was with the cars it's were we chose to stop for lunch. It was an authentic dinner complete with it's 1940's menu --- unfortunately you couldn't order off of it. You had to use the current menu. 65 cents for a dinner would have been a really good deal.


To really give you a feel for the size of the building, you just had to look at the DC-3 hanging from the ceiling. The plane actually looked smallish. Top Left: DC-3 Top Right: 1928 Ford Trimotor, this was the plane Admiral Byrd flew over the South Pole. Bottom Left: 1926 Fokker Trimotor. Byrd flew this plane to the north pole. Edsel Ford funded Byrd's trip to the artic so the plane was named for his daughter Josephine. The manufactured wanted to be sure no one mistook the plane for a ford so he painted the giant "FOKKER" on the wings and the fuselage. Bottom Right: 1931 Pitcairn Autogiro. The plane took aerial photos for the Detroit News.


This model T is taken apart each morning before the museum opens and is put together by visitors each day.


I think this is the Gothic Steam engine, one of several steam engines on display. Many of these steam engines were built in manufacturing plants to provide electricity. Once electricity was more readily available the steam engines were removed.


Buckminster Fuller designed Dymaxion House in 1929 and redesigned it in 1945. He had hoped that this aircraft aluminum prefab home would help with the housing shortage after world war II. Unfortunately, the cost of re-tooling the Boeing Plant was expensive and investors couldn't be found. Investor William Graham bought up the two prototypes and assembled them on his lake front property as an extension to an existing ranch house. The house was inhabited for about 30 years. In 1990 the Graham family donated this house to the Henry Ford Museum. A painstaking process was used to restore the Dymaxion house.

Today we drove to Ypsilanti Michigan and are staying at the Detroit / Greenfield RV Park. This is the first time we've driven through this area of Michigan and were pleasantly surprised by all of the lakes and green space. The RV park has it's own little lake with a trail that goes around the lake. Made for a very pleasant walk. We reaped a benefit of downsizing today --- we have a wonderful site in the woods where all of the big rigs are in an open field.


From the far side of the lake looking at the trailer park.


There are some interesting trailers in this park. There are two antique cars that are pulling antique trailers. Inside the trailer is a bed and the back trunk is a small galley. There are two doors, one on each side of the trailer for each side of the bed.

I can't believe how busy the roads are around the extended Shipshewana area at least during the day. But by 5:30 pm most of the stores are closed down and the traffic is much lighter.


First stop this morning was Wakarusa. It's a small town with some nice looking buildings on it's main streets.




The hardware store still has the wall of drawers filled with all the little things you need to buy at a hardware store.


Next stop was the river walk in Elkhart. The description in the brochure made you think it was similar to the the river walk in San Antonio Texas --- it's not (at least not where we were), though it is a nice place for a stroll.







As we were in the area we decided to go to the birth place of our trailer. We could have gone on a factory tour but as we had Zaph with us and it was over 90F so we decided against it. This area of Indiana is the "land of trailer manufacturing". I think we drove by at least a half dozen different trailer companies in our travels.


A sign of the times. It was interesting that the store had to put up a sign to reserve parking for buggies. As we were leaving the parking lot a buggy pulled in and parked in front of the sign.

First stop this morning was the flea market. We arrived early to beat the heat and beat the crowds. The flea market is huge but we managed to walk through it in four hours just stopping at the places that interested us. A few items did insist we take them home with us.


Fall is coming, the mums have arrived.


One of the rows in the market.

This afternoon we went for a drive and followed the "scenic route" through Amish country. The country side looked much like it does at home though the roads here don't have shoulders --- much happier driving the truck when there are shoulders.


We stopped in the town of Groshen, where we saw this interesting police booth. Don't think we've ever seen one of these before.


Not sure why a statue of Neptune is in a town that is not near water. It's a beautiful statue in front of an impressive looking courthouse.


Downtown Goshen is filled with beautiful old buildings.


Next stop was Napanee. This is one of many quilt gardens that can be found in the area. The gardens are planted so they look like a traditional quilt square.


We got him where we want him ... in jail. Zaph is actually on a platform looking at the quilt garden.

It reached 95F today. I felted melted by time we got back to the trailer even though we spent most of the time in the air conditioned truck.

We're leaving Traverse City today but are sure we will return again someday. It's a beautiful place and we haven't seen or done everything yet. The first plan was to drive to Holland (Michigan) and visit the windmill but due to weather we've decided to visit Holland another time and are driving directly to Shipshewana, Indiana (it's just south of the Michigan border). Shipshewana is a small town in Amish country known for it's antique markets, flea markets and all things Amish. When we arrived the temperature had climb into the 90's F. In the shade with a breeze it wasn't too bad but the trailer got hot really quick. Ed and I don't tend to run air conditioning but are happy to report that the air conditioner in this trailer works really well. Would you believe our neighbours in the RV park are from Lions Head, Ontario?


After supper we drove into town to look for a geocache. The stores all close by 5pm so it was pretty quite.

For once the weather forecast was accurate ... today is a beautiful sunny day. Perfect for exploring more of the national lakeshore.

First stop was Glen Haven a restored logging town. In the late 1800's the town was booming. There was a large dock for steamships and freighters. The steamers brought tourists to town and the freighters picked up lumber and cherries that were grown on the local farms and canned at the local cannery.


One of the buildings in Glen Haven.


The beach at Glen Haven. The seagulls are sitting on posts from the old dock.


The old cannery is now a boat museum. This unsinkable boat was used by the coast guard for search and rescue.


Down the road from Glen Haven is the Coast Guard Museum. The rail tracks are from the marine railway are were used to move boats in and out of the boat house.


Someone is having a good time.


The Sleeping Bear Dune trail afforded wonderful views of the dunes, Lake Michigan and South Manitou Island and North Manitou Island.


It almost looks like the end of the world.


If you look closely you can see South and North Manitou Islands on the horizon.


Hiking the kilometer up hill on the Pyramid Point trail was worth it.






As usual Ed managed to sneak in some geocaching. The instructions to find one of the caches led us onto a winding back road that ended at a look out. Some interesting graffiti on the sign.

One of the big draws to the Leelanau Peninsula is the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The park is named for the immense sand dunes "perched" atop the already towering headlands that are glacial moraines.

It was one of those weird weather days today. Rain, thunder, sun, humidity and a lot of haze. It's suppose to be clear and sunny tomorrow so we'll explore the park again hoping to get some great scenery shots.


A rafter of wild turkeys. (OK, I cheated --- I googled what a group of turkeys was called).


The beach at the end of Esch Road.


In the 1960's Pierce Stocking built a scenic drive on his land. He was a lumberman with road building experience and wanted to share the beauty of the area with others. He built this covered bridge as one of the attractions for tourists. The national park service purchased the drive after Pierce died in 1976.


One of the stops on the drive is a mile and a half walk through the dunes. The walk took you to top of the dune climb, through strands of cottonwood trees and to the top of dunes where you could see for miles.


Zaph and Ed enjoying one of the views from the dunes walk.


Another view from the dune walk.


Another stop on the scenic drive is the Lake Michigan Overlook and the Sleeping Bear Overlook. Unfortunately, you couldn't see much of Lake Michigan as the visibility was very poor --- you could only see the lake if you looked down.


The visibility was better if you looked in land at the Sleeping Bear Dune.


D H Day owned much of the land that is now Sleeping Bear Dune National Lakeshore. The massive white barn of Day's farm still stands.


I popped into the grocery store in Glen Arbor to pick up some hamburger buns for dinner and came out with the buns and a mini cherry pie made just down the road with local cherries. It looked so good we found a picnic table and started eating. The pie was really, really good. Might have to buy another one before we leave the area.

The Leelanau Peninsula is the land between Lake Michigan and the Grand Traverse Bay. The steep terrain and large bodies of water produce a milder microclimate than the more temperate areas further inland. The peninsula is known as one of the best Michigan wine regions and is also a productive fruit region growing apples and tart cherries.

First stop on our journey up the peninsula is the picturesque village of Sutton Bay.


Couldn't resist wandering around this store. Somehow I managed to not buy anything.


The main street in Sutton Bay is almost as inviting as the garden store. We purchased a couple of fresh croissants for breakfast (chocolate for Ed and cream cheese for me) that were amazing.


The harbor at Sutton's Bay. I can certainly understand retiring to this cute village.


Northport is another cute village. Today was market day. Zaph managed to get lots of pets here.


At the far end of the peninsula is the Grand Traverse Lighthouse which was built in 1852. The lighthouse was hosting an interesting exhibit of aerial photographs of Michigan Lighthouses.


My boys.


Zaph is such a co-operative fellow --- he really didn't want to look through the hole but he did it for his dad with a bit of mom's help. Just north of Northport is the Woolsley Memorial Airport. Ed peeked in the window of the airport terminal and the photo on the right is what he saw. Pilots can borrow the bikes to ride into town.


The airport terminal.

Leland is a small town on Lake Michigan on the west side of the Leelanau Peninsula. The town is famous for it's "Fishtown District".


As early as 1880, commercial fishermen sailed out of the harbor to catch trout and whitefish, building wooden shacks where they processed their catch and serviced their fleet. Today, the historic fishing settlement and two fish tugs are owned by a non-profit organization, Fishtown Preservation Society. Fishtown is home to a working fishery and a thriving charter fishing business. The riverfront is lined by a boardwalk and quaint shacks that have been converted into tourist shops.

Zaph has been having some tummy troubles so we put him on a chicken and rice diet. This morning we figured out the chicken and rice diet didn't work so it's off to the local veterinarian office. Not sure what's causing the problem but hopefully we brought home a solution with us --- some pills to coat his tummy, antibiotics, probiotics and special dog food.

As the day was going to be cut up we decided to visit the Old Mission Peninsula --- it's the closest item on our "to see" list.

Old Mission Peninsula located is 22 miles long and divides Grand Traverse Bay into East and West Bays. To preserve some of the history of the area (and create a tourist attraction I'm sure), quilt squares were created and displayed on barns.


Some of quilt barns we found. The barn owners chose or designed the quilt square. The designed squares told a story about either the history of the family or the family itself. Most of the quilt barns are over 100 years old.


As the peninsula is surrounded by water it has a mild climate perfect for growing grapes and fruit trees, especially cherry trees. Along with grapes are a number of wineries. We didn't stop at any of the wineries on this trip as we had Zaph with us.


The Old Mission Lighthouse is at the end of the Peninsula.


Ed spotted this little guy while we were walking down a trail.


Art shot.


My boys. As we were walking along Zaph pulled me back about 10 feet --- he had sniffed out a ball. He carried it the entire time we walked around the lighthouse and out on the beach. He dropped it just before we headed back to the truck. Guess he was leaving it for the next dog.


The drive along the peninsula was beautiful. These boats were moored just off Haserot Beach.


Geocaching wise it was also a successful day as we found 20 caches. The most interesting one was located in this out house by an Inn.

Traverse City is about three quarters of the way north on the West Coast of Michigan. When we were perusing the Good Sam campground web site we found a campground just south of Traverse City that sounded really nice and it sounded even nicer when we realized that it had off season rates that started on September 2nd.


Our site at Holiday Park Campground. Ed was told that this campground was originally an Airstream only membership park. I believe the park is still a membership park though they do rent to us non-members and they allow other brands of trailers into the park.


There are still a lot of Airstream trailers in the park.


The park is situated at the bottom of Silver Lake with many of the sites backing onto the lake.

The Traverse City area is the largest producer of tart cherries in the United States. The surrounding countryside also produces grapes, and is one of the centers of wine production in the Midwest. In 2009, TripAdvisor named Traverse City the number two small town travel destination in the United States. In 2012, the city was listed among the 10 best places to retire in the U.S. by U.S. News.

After setting up camp we drove into town to explore the downtown area.


Zaph was impressed with the downtown area as a number of shops put water bowls on the sidewalk. This movie theater covered all the bases with small, medium and large bowls. The ticket seller also gave Zaph a cookie.


The downtown area had lots of interesting shops but this building in old town caught our attention.


There were some beautiful old houses and lots of interesting restaurants.


The harbor is block north of the main shopping area and a lot of people were out enjoying the good weather.

Ed decided a "day of rest" was in order so so we stayed at John and Carol's for one more day.

While the boys were working away on John's new computer, Carol and I took the quads for a spin. After less an a minute of riding I remembered why I wanted a quad --- they are a lot of fun. Later, Ed went for a ride with me and he really enjoyed himself too. One of these days we'll get our quads.

On our last visit, John and Carol told us about a restaurant with Latin American cuisine, this time we went to it. During Happy Hour you can buy appetizers for $3.00, margaritas for $3.00 and get a $1.00 off other drinks.


We ordered everything but the taco (ran out of room) and everything was really good. The homemade salsa was amazing --- think it was the roasted tomatoes. If you ever see a Red Mesa Grill it's worth a visit.


Mural on the patio. The restaurant was a block from the lake but there was still a view of the lake from the patio.


Think these ducks get fed a lot as they were quite happy to pose for photos.


Gotta love the fish's bikini. I found a new friend but managed to pry him off and leave him in the store.

Last winter Carol had asked if we would be interested in joining her and John in walking the Mackinac Bridge during the annual bridge walk. I'm always willing to try something different so I said yes. When the alarm went off at 5 am I was wondering what I had been thinking when I said "yes, let's walk the bridge". The governor starts the walk on the St. Ignace side of the bridge at 7am. Between 7am and 11 am walkers are allowed to start walking the 5 miles across the bridge. John and Ed, both avid photographers, wanted to get photos when the bridge was full of walkers so they wanted to be at the start of the walk between 7:30 and 8:00. Working backwards resulted in the 5am wake-up (5:30am for Ed).


A bus driver told us 80 school buses were used to transport people across the bridge. Police boats patrolled under the bridge and the National Guard were on the bridge. I was a little surprised to see all bags being searched by the police before you could walk on the bridge but I guess after the Boston Marathon bombing, security has been beefed up every where.


The plan worked well we got to see the governors party near the beginning of the walk. By time we saw the Governor a couple of recumbent bicycles and the runners were ahead of him. Carol and I started our walk at 7:30 and we off the bridge by 9:35. The boys took a lot longer but then the stopped to take a lot of photos.


The mass of people walking the bridge. I was pleasantly surprised that even though the road was busy there wasn't a real crush of people.


To commemorate their walking of the bridge, some people buy badges and sew them onto a jacket. This fellow told Ed and John that he has walked the bridge 32 times.


Two lanes of the bridge are grates, Ed walked on the grated lane and took some interesting photos.


At the finish line .... we made sure that we crossed the official line.


I guess this was a necessary but definitely not comforting site.


We drove to St. Ignace which meant taking a bus back across the bridge to St. Ignace after the walk. Carol and I were elected to fetch the car as the "boys" were still walking the bridge. Waiting in line for the bus was the slowest part of the day. The "boys" were just reaching the finish line when Carol and I arrived back in Mackinaw City with the car.

Felt like a full day when we arrived back at the house just after noon.

The confiscation of Zaph's food at the border during our visit to Michigan in late May made us a little wary, so this time we brought minimal dog food, no meat, no fresh vegetables and no fresh fruit. As we are staying at John and Carol's for a few days we don't need a lot of food in the immediate future but Zaph definitely needs dog food. We decided to make today a rest / shopping day.