Author: austinsonwheels

Austin’s Fall trip East

Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Vermont Leave a comment

Our plan this year was to head out to the east coast the first part of September .  We have always wanted to visit Bar Harbor Maine and see all the fall colors on the way.  We thought we would leave right after Labor Day weekend.  Plans are always made to be broken.

Some of you know that we have had a problem with our travel trailer this past year.  The cover (called the skin in trailer talk) started to buckle on the front of the trailer. We noticed it in March.  It was a small little dent on the very top of the front curve of the trailer.  We didn’t think too much about it at first.   Then in July on a nice sunny day we looked up and noticed this little dent was now a much larger dent and was spreading across the front of the trailer.  We contacted General RV as that is where we bought it new back in February 2015. We were told to contact Coachman in Indiana as we were 6 months over the warrenty.  I called and explained our problem with their customer service manager.  That started the process of sending pictures and waiting to see if and when they would take responsibility for repairing it.  We wanted to get it fixed before we left for the south for the winter.  Because it would take time to get this all processed and order parts, we decided to leave for the east coast a little bit later than  originally planned.

 

We started our fall adventure on September 18th.  We both have a “bucket list” of places and things we would like to do while on this adventure.  I am happy to say we were able to check off a number of them on this trip.

Highlights of our East Coast adventure

  •  Niagara Falls.  It  took us almost 50 years of marriage to make it to this  honeymoon destination.  Of course no trip is complete without the boat ride on The Maid of the Mist
  • Toured Fort Niagara on Lake Ontario
  • Cooperstown, NY and the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  We spent many hours reading stats and watching video of baseballs greatest.
  • An unexpected treat of having dinner with our friend Carol in Massachusetts
  • A visit to L.L.Bean in Freeport, Maine.
  • Time exploring and sightseeing in Acadia National Park
  • Bar Harbor Maine eating Lobster
  • Mount Desert Oceanarium in Bar Harbor.  It features a lobster hatchery and salt marsh
  • Visited Larrie’s cousin Nancy and Steve Bird in Brandon, Vermont  Had a great time catching up on life
  • Ben & Jerry’s Factory Tour in Waterbury, Vermont.
  • Stops at cider mills, winerys, cheese factories, and a distillery.
  • Mount Independence State Historic Site, Orwell, Vermont.  Fort built in 1776
  • Many Fall leaf color drives in New York, New Hampshire, Maine, and  Vermont
  •  Almost annual trip to Shipshewana and Lolly’s fabric store (Jackie’s highlight )
  • Musical “Josiah for President” at the Blue Gate Theater (wish we had someone like him to vote for).

As you can see, we had a full  trip to the East coast and back to Michigan. We will now have our trailer repaired courtesy of Coachman and General RV.  Then we will head south as the weather is getting colder and the campgrounds are closing.

JA

Austin’s summer update

Michigan Leave a comment

Summer is officially over.  It must be time for us to start moving south.  First, let me catch you up on our summer in Michigan.

Highlights of our summer

  • We celebrated and watched our second grandchild, Amber, graduate from Portage Northern H.S.  She is now attending Eastern Michigan in their pre-med program
  • Attended dance recitals for Amber and Mitchell in June
  • Camped with family at Ft. Custer and Markin Glen
  • Watched grandson Harrison play vintage baseball on the Flying Dutchman team in Holland (Larrie even got the chance to play a game with them)
  • Attended Comstock Community Theaters production of “The Adam’s Family” to watch Mitchell dance
  • We had some special time with camping friends sharing stories at Markin Glen. It was great to see you again M&M and G&J.
  • We spent time helping our good friend Carol as she readied her house to put on the market to sell.
  • Had a full week with our traveling granddaughter Miranda. Boy did we play lots of cards!
  • We were surprised and pleased to have Crissa, Mike and Miranda come to Michigan for part of the summer.  They even spent some time at Markin Glen with us.
  • Spending time with both our daughters in the same place !!(it doesn’t happen much anymore)
  • Watched Mitchell and his dance partner/friend Grace take second place in the American Teen Talent Competition in Kalamazoo
  • A three week trip to Michigan’s  U.P. with cousin’s/friends Bob and Diane Dekker.  We had a great vacation together.
  • We visited Jackie’s cousins Barb and Fred in Wisconsin and Paul and Diane in Illinois

A lot of our summer this year was spent in relocating Larrie’s mom from an apartment into assisted living.  It wasn’t a move she wanted to make so Larrie and his sister Linda had their work cut out for them.  I am glad to say she is now living in a very nice place and is slowly adjusting to it.  We know it will always be a “work in progress” but will continue to try and help her adjust the best we can.

With the end of summer comes the end of campgrounds open in the north.  That’s our sign to move forward with our Fall and Winter plans.  We are in the process of putting those together .  We’ll let you know more as the time comes.

Hope you had a wonderful summer with your family and friends.

JA

 

 

 

 

 

We are home!

Michigan Leave a comment

If you have traveled at all, you might  know when you are in a certain state again.  In Florida, even if you did not see the sign that says “Welcome to Florida” you know you are there.  Palm trees start to show up.  Orange groves are seen in the distance.  And, of course, there are signs for Walt Disney World.  As we returned to Michigan the end of April, it did not take long to know we were back.  The skies were spring time gray, and the roads threaten to swallow us up in pot holes. Still, we are happy to be back to spend time with  friends and family.

Our summer is starting early.  So early that the local campgrounds were not open when we arrived.  Thankfully, Markin Glen opened on April 29th and we were able to get a site for the season kick-off weekend. It was very wet and cold but there were many die-hard campers in the park.  We spent a lot of time in this campground last summer and loved it.  They have made a few changes this year but the things that are important (clean place, friendly people) are still here.  We plan to be in and out again this summer.  Hopefully, we will meet up with some of you again to share a fire and “stories”.

We can’t believe how fast this first year “on the road” has gone.  May 8th marked our  1 year anniversary .  People keep asking us how we are doing.  How did we make it in such a small space .  Surprising to most, we just smile and say we are doing just fine.  It is hard for some to understand you really can live in under 200 sq. feet with very little posessions and be happy. In fact, we are planning on sorting  and getting rid of a few things that we have carried with us this year.  We just didn’t use it or something else would have worked just as well.  Just think if we did that in all our homes how much extra space we would have. Something to think about.

We will be in Michigan for most of the summer. Our only long trip will be a month traveling the UP.  Then in September, we will head East to enjoy New England in the Fall.

It’s been a great first year.  We are looking forward to year two!

JA

 

 

 

Alabama brings change

Alabama Leave a comment

Sweet Home Alabama. Big signs, stating this, line the highways as we drive. So did this become Alabama’s logo first and the song copy it ?  Or, did they write the song and then the state adopted it?  Who knows.  I do know they are a friendly state.

There is a very nice Escapees park in Summerdale AL.   It is close to Gulfshores where we wanted to spend some time on the beach.  We thought we would stay a week.  The weather was forecast to be nice all week.  A slow, restful week sounded good.

After setting up camp, we headed to the local Walmart.  About a mile in and the van started having trouble shifting gears.  Larrie stopped to check the fluid level and discovered no transmission fluid.  After looking under the van he saw where it all had gone.  We “limped ” our way in to Walmart where he bought fluid and I bought groceries.  We then went back to the campground to wait until Monday so we could have it checked out.  Why do these things always happen on weekends?

Monday morning Larrie went to the local Chevy garage.  A short time later he called to tell me the good news.  We needed a new (rebuilt) transmission.  And, there were a few more things wrong with the engine too.  They could order the parts and we would need to stay in the area for 2 weeks.  Oh yes, the cost to repair would be $5,200.00.

For those of you who know Larrie well, you know how much he loves his van.   He bought it new in 2003.   He drove it while still working for Xerox.   It had taken us on many vacations.  It made numerous trips to Pass Christian, MS for Katrina mission trips.   We had loaned it out many times .  We took out seats and used it as a truck.    The van had traveled 165,000 miles.   And for the past 10 months it was part of Austinsonwheels.   It had served us well.  But, at this age and this many miles do we really put that kind of money into keeping it on  the road?

 

Old wheels

It didn’t take us long to answer that question.  We had talked out this scenario before we started our adventure.  All the what if’s?   As much as we didn’t want to, it was time to shop for a different vehicle.

We now own a 2013 Chevy Silverado.   It only took 60 plus years to be a truck owner.

New wheels

 

It wasn’t our plan to change vehicles after only 10 months of a 3 year adventure.  But, we are grateful.   The transmission on the van could have left us on the side of the highway, in the middle of nowhere.  Instead, we were at the campground, made our trip to Walmart, and drove it into the Chevy garage without it dying.  In all things, God is good.

JKA

 

 

 

Goodbye Sunshine State

Florida Leave a comment

After 3 months in Florida, we are ready to hit the road again. It has been a good winter. We didn’t do as much “site seeing” as I thought we would. We did spend lots of time with friends and extended family. That was great, catching up on life with people we don’t see that often.

This past month (March) we spent on the Gulf Coast.  We spent 10 days in the Lake Manatee State Campground near Brandenton.  It is a beautiful state park with bike,canoe,and small boat rental.  Because of the time of year, we had to split our 10 days on three different sites.  It sounded bad at first . But with only water and electric hookup, moving was a good option to visit the classic “dump” station.

While in the area we spent time with our dear friend Carol.  It was good to catch up on life with her.  We also went to our favorite beach restaurant on Anna Marie Island.  They have the best fish dinners.

IMG_0591Carol and Jackie pick out fabric

Another place we visited was The Ringling.  It was the winter home for the Ringling Barnam/Bailey Circus back in the late 1920s/30s.  It is now owned by the state of Florida and has a wonderful museum , art gallery (Mr Ringling’s extensive collection), and the beautiful estate home of the Ringlings.  If you are in the Sarasota area, this is a great place to visit.

Ringling4Ringling Venetian Gothic style mansion built in 1926

Ringling2Inside the “Big Top” Circus Museum

After leaving  the Bradenton area, we spent two weeks at Hide-away RV park near Ruskin (a small town near the Tampa Bay area).  Larrie’s cousin Don and Lori live there for the winter.  We had a great time again catching up on each other’s families.  Larrie even got a couple fishing trips in.

Don and LoriDon and Lori

We finished our Florida winter outside of Tallahassee, the states capital.  We spent a day visiting the local museum and the state’s old and new capital buildings.

Florida old capitolRestored Old State Capitol of Florida

We are now on the road again.  We will take our time and make our way north to Michigan.  See you soon.

JKA

Where are the Austins ?

Florida Leave a comment

Where are the Austin’s?  Well, we are still in the sunshine state, which thankfully is now true to its name.  We are enjoying days in the high 70’s and low 80’s. Today, they say will be in the high 80’s.  Just can’t beat that Florida sun.

I haven’t written since January so I will give you an update on where we have been and what we have been doing.

January we spent in a park called Clerbrook in Clermont, Florida.  It is a large park with  1,250 sites in it.  They offer 3 swimming pools, a golf course, woodshop, softball teams, and every type of club you can think of.  We had some nice neighbors and a great site.  January weather was chilly for Florida.  And, the sun did not shine as much as we would have liked.  Still, we were not shoveling snow or having to wear winter coats.

We like the Clermont area.  Back in 1994, we lived there  for 2 1/2 years.  It was a quiet little town that had lots of rolling hills, open fields, and beautiful lakes.  We met many nice people that we still keep in touch with today.  Of course the area is nothing like it was 20 years ago.  Oh,the hills and lakes are still here.  But all those open fields are now filled with houses.  The town that only had 2 grocery stores and a K-Mart, now has every restaurant chain, clothing store and support businesses that any other large town has.  No more driving 45 minutes to get to a movie.  Of course with all the people comes all their cars.  Two lane roads are now 5 lane roads.  Add all the snow birds, and it makes for a lot of congestion. Still, it was good to be here long enough to see old friends more than one time.

Another plus for Larrie at Clerbrook was the 55 plus slow pitch softball teams.  After talking with the coaches, he decided he would give it a try.  Of course that meant we had to buy a glove (we lost his a couple years ago) and spikes .  Their season continues through March, but he only played for January and February.  He had “fun” in spite of the aching muscles and bruises.  I will say no more as I think he will want to blog on his experience himself.

In February we moved to Bushnell, Florida.  It is only about a 45 minute drive from the Clermont area.  This park is a lot smaller with only 100 sites.  Again, we have had great neighbors.  Because we are still so close to Clermont, we have continued to visit with Florida friends.  We also continued to worship at the Clermont church we went to in January.  Wonderful people with great ‘teaching” pastors .  It felt like home .

While in the Bushnell area, we visited the Dade Battlefield Historic State Park.  It is home to one of the battles of the Seminole Indian Wars.  They have a nice museum with a guide that was very informative.  We also spent a day at the Webster Flea Market.  You have never seen so much “stuff”!

We stopped at a Russell Stover Candy Outlet in Wildwood.  This was not a factory to tour although they did have a video you could watch to see how they make their delicious candies.  It was an outlet where you grab a basket, and walk through rows of candies that are “out of season”. At half-price or less there were boxes of chocolate Santa’s, bags of marshmallow turkeys and large decorated hearts full of delicious chocolate candy.  Of course they also had the “now” season candies (Easter eggs, bunnies, and chicks) at full price.

We took a tour of the Lakeridge Winery in Clermont.  They make about 12 different types of wine .  After the tour we stopped at the wine tasting counter.  It was fun to taste  the different type of wines.  They were having a big sale (surprise!-surprise!).  So we bought a few to enjoy.

I guess you could say our time in the past two months has mostly been spent with people. We have enjoyed numerous visits with our friends and neighbors from 20 years ago.  We went to a super bowl party at  Larrie’s cousins in Leesburg. We took a 4 week class on Wednesday nights at the Church at South Lake. We visited a wonderful German bakery in Yalaha.  We listened to a great jazz/blues band at the Clermont 1st Friday celebration.

Right now we are at Lake Manatee State Park.  It is a beautiful park with lots of trails and a lake.  They say there are bobcats and armadilla’s here.  We have seen the armadila’s but not a bobcat yet.  We are here for a few more days and then we move to a park on Tampa Bay for 2 weeks.  Larrie’s cousin lives there and I know they are planning on doing some fishing in the gulf.

After our Tampa Bay stop, we will start traveling back to Michigan.  We plan to be back by the end of April.  Our granddaughter Amber graduates this year .  We want to be back to celebrate her and all she’s accomplished.

Enjoy the rest of your winter, where ever you are staying.

JA

The Sunshine State

Florida Leave a comment

Winter is finally here.  Every morning Larrie looks to see what is happening in Kalamazoo.  “It’s 14 degrees,  50% chance of snow, and 0% of sun”.  OK.  Maybe that’s not the forecast for everyday.  But you have to admit, more days read like that than we want to.  Michigan can get lots of snow.  The roads can be icy .  And the schools do close for bad weather days. That’s Michigan in winter.  After all, Michigan is the Winter Wonderland state.

We are finally in Florida for the winter.  I never thought I would be the person who wanted to leave home and go south for the winter.  I do miss our kids, grandkids, and of course our church family too.  But, there is something about sunshine that just lifts your spirits.  And Florida is called the sunshine state. Right?

Well, I have to admit, it has been chilly for Florida weather.  And, even though we are not shoveling snow, the skies have been gray a lot this last week or so.  I really don’t mind that it is cold most mornings, if the sun will just shine. The locals say “this weather is so strange. Just wait and the sun will be back”.  I’m counting on it!

The weather men here are about as good as at home for predicting the weather.  So far, not one day has gotten as warm as they said it would.  And on days when the chance of sun is 60%, we have watched all day for it to show up.  Still, I know this is the sunshine state.  I know the sun and all it’s warmth will be here one day.

Today I woke up to a bright light shining in my window.  This is the second day in a row.  I LOVE IT!  It was in the low 60’s yesterday.  Today is to be the same or higher.  Even a cool day is ok  if that sun shines.

 

IMG_0454

Sunrise in Clermont, Florida

The plan is to be in Florida for the next 3 months.  We are moving around , staying in 3 different areas of the state.  We want  to enjoy the people, scenery , and sunshine.  We’ll let you know how the sunshine part works out.

JA

Home for the holidays

Michigan Leave a comment

I have always loved the Christmas season.  As a Christian, I celebrate the birth of Jesus and what it means for everyone who believes in Him.  Because of this first Christmas, and the special gift of love given to us, I enjoy showing that love to others.  For me that includes baking cookies and Christmas pies.  It also includes decorating the Christmas tree (not holiday tree), the Christmas parades in our home town, and listening to Christmas music, (which begins around November 1st) .  I love looking for  a special gift for family and friends.  Then there is the family and friend gatherings to share time and show love to one another.

The middle of December we  returned  to Michigan for the Christmas season.  Not all of our family still live in Michigan.  but, for those who were there, we wanted to share this time with them.  We came home in time to attend some special concerts that our grandchildren were in.  This is Amber’s senior year so it was  her last performance in “Collage ” a Christmas music program presented by PNHS .  It is always such a professionally  presented program that surpasses the normal high school level.  We loved it.

Returning home is tricky when your home is a travel trailer that you winterized and left in Tennessee.  We have a wonderful friend who generously opened her home for us to stay in.  She winters in Florida so we had the whole house to ourselves.  Because of her generosity, we were even able to host two family gatherings . Thanks Carol.  We love you.

Of course spending time with family and friends was the best part of coming home.  Our grandson, Harrison had a four day weekend off because of the holiday.  We were able to pick him up and have him stay with us for a couple days.  On Christmas we spent the day with our family.  We opened presents, ate great food, and played games.  It was a wonderful day.  I also had the opportunity to have dinner with my sisters and Carrie.  We don’t get the chance to see each other that often, so it was very special too.

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Carrie,  Gerrie,  Julie,  Jackie

I know that Christmas can be celebrated in many different ways with many different people.  We did that when we lived in Florida and had little family near us.  But, if I have a choice, spending time with my family will always be my first choice.

“Oh there’s no place like home for the holidays. Cause no matter how far away you roam.  If you want to be happy in a million ways.  For the holidays you can’t beat home sweet home!”.

JA

Goodbye Tennessee

Tennessee Leave a comment

We are finally saying goodbye to  Tennessee, for now.  We have explored the Nashville and Knoxville areas for almost 8 weeks.   We have walked on civil war battlefields, toured museums, and visited the state capital.  While in the Nashville area, we celebrated our 49th anniversary by attending the Grand Ole Opry.  Another night we hit the downtown area, hopping from one place  to another to listen to great country music.  In  Knoxville , we enjoyed the downtown with it’s historical buildings, trolley rides, and great food.  The downtown visitors center houses the WDVX Blue Plate Special Concert Series.  Held every day at noon, you can sit and listen to some great music from the area (the 2nd place on The Voice this season is from Knoxville and performs here).

Overall, I like Tennessee.  I certainly like the country music (sorry Kevin).  From the professionals to the simple downhome musician’s,  it was enjoyable.  Driving the countryside roads proved to be scary at times (narrow roads with steep drop-offs).  Still, the scenery was beautiful.  The people in the south seem more friendly too, always ready to say hello and how are y’all.

I realize as we are leaving the state that after 8 weeks, we really have only seen a small amount of  the state. Even in the Nashville and Knoxville areas there is so much more to see.  And, we have not even ventured to western Tennessee yet.  That will have to be on another trip through that area in the future.  For now we are ready to move south, hopefully to less rain and more sunshine.

JA