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

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

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.

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

Today has been a bittersweet day for me.  It is Sunday, October 4th.  We are set to launch (leave this area) on Friday, October 9th.  Four more days to get ready for this great adventure.  There is excitement building. However, there is also a sadness.

First thing this morning we said our goodbyes to Crissa, Mike and Miranda.  They have been on the road for 5 years.  They don’t say goodbye, they say see you down the road.  Because our paths of travel are not going the same way for the foreseeable future, it was goodbye for me.  I should be used to this by now but I’m not.  It’s always sad to see them drive away.  I will miss them.

After the first goodbyes, we headed to worship at our family church.  We have been part of this “church family” for over 38 years.  We have a lot of history there.  A lot of good friends. Pastors and their families that we love.   As I stand to worship and sing with our leadership band, it hits me again .  This is bittersweet.  I have grown to love our service band.  They are lovers of the Lord and they bring that passion into our worship every Sunday. I look around the room and see so many faces that are near and dear to my heart.  This is hard .  I know we will meet other believers as we worship on the road.  But, Brandon and Caitlyn, I will miss you and the band.  You have brought a new energy to worship for me.  Haven will always be our home church. I will miss you all.

Tonight, we had a delicious dinner with our close family Bob and Diane.  They are family (as in cousin’s of Larrie’s). And they are also part of our Christian family from Haven.  Our families have grown up together.  We have shared many ups and downs of life with each other.  And now, we are leaving for a period of time.  This too is bittersweet.  We will miss them along with other family members and gatherings.  In case you do not know it, you are both very special to us.  Please come visit us this winter in Florida.

Leaving Michigan to explore has been a dream of ours for some time.  I am grateful we are able to do this.  There is so much to see and do.  I know we will meet some great people if we just open our eyes and our hearts.  We plan to do both.  Still, you all have played an important part in our lives and we will miss you.

JA

PS… these next 4 days are filled with many activities to be ready to leave on Friday.  One of these things is to say goodbye to our other daughter Cathy , her children, Amber and Mitchell and a grandson in Holland, Harrison.  Talk about bittersweet.  Larrie, keep the tissues ready.

In October of 2014 I mailed in an application to be a camp host at Markin Glen Campground in Kalamazoo.  Now that was positive thinking as we had not bought a trailer yet.  Still, we knew we were going to do this starting in May of 2015.  We also knew that there are only 5 1/2 summer months that they would need a host and they would receive a lot of requests . I think it was about March that we received a phone call from Josh, the campground manager.  He asked us a few questions and then said he had an opening for the month of August.  We happily said yes.

Markin Glen Campground is a county park in Kalamazoo.  It really is a hidden gem that many local people are not aware of.  The campground has 38 sites.  Every site has a cement slab, with full hook-ups.  The trees are on the small size, yet they do provide some shade.  Bathrooms and showers are kept very clean. Connected to the campground is a wonderful recreation area. It  includes a swimming lake, fishing area, tennis courts, 3 pavilions, and a black-topped path around the whole area to walk on. Even if you are not camping, you can pay a daily fee to come in and enjoy the park for the day.  Many people come to fish.  Although the swimming and fishing waters are on the small size, we have seen many people leave with some nice sized fish.  Another nice feature is the connection from the walking path to the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail.  If you like to walk or bike a longer distance, this is a great place to do it.

Your job as a camp host can be many different things depending on the park you are hosting at.  At Fort Custer State Park the host provides coffee on the weekends.  They also help with some fund raising by working on a pancake breakfast or a chicken dinner. Some parks provide children’s crafts on the weekends. Others, you help keep bathrooms and showers clean.   Our daughter’s family were camp hosts in a couple different states over the last few years.  They helped in the office, worked at the front gate, staffed a small museum, etc.

At Markin Glen your job is really very easy.  We walk around to meet and greet our camping “neighbors a few times every day.  If there is bad weather in the forecast, we let campers know where they can go for safety.  We “leave the outside light on” at night so if there is a problem, people can come to us for help.  Since the staff go home late at night, we are the come-to people for any issues or problems. That’s about it.

We did sponsor a children’s Nature Adventure on one  weekend.  Our daughter, Cathy, is a teacher at Western Michigan University getting her PHD.  She teaches science and provided kits for the kids to dissect owl pellets.  We had 20 kids and 10 adults show up and they all had a great time.  They also learned how to make ice cream which was a tasty treat.  That evening we setup a projector outside and showed a family Disney movie.  Overall, it was a fun time for all who attended.

We started this adventure in May camping at Markin Glen.  We have been here a lot of the summer and will probably end our Michigan time at this park.  Hopefully, we will be back next summer and can again host for the month of August.

JA

For those of you who have been following us …….I am sorry we have not written much on this site.

I thought when we started this adventure that I would have all kinds of fun, exciting things to write about.  The reality is , we really have not started our adventure yet.  Oh sure, we are living in our trailer and getting used to what works and what doesn’t work for us.  But, in real life, our life is still the same as when we were living in the Skyrise.  Larrie is still working 3 days per work.  We are still involved with our kids, grandkids, and extended families.  We still attend our home church and work on responsibilities there.  Our cars are still breaking down and need to go in for repairs.  The list could go on and on.  Not too exciting is it?

We have had some wonderful moments in these last 3 months.  Like the first rain storm we weathered through.  Rain hitting a metal trailer has its own sound.  A rhythm that is somewhat soothing .  Of course this  last storm had some pretty good wind gust .  And the thunder you could feel in the floor of the trailer as you walked.  Still, it was a new experience to enjoy.

Another nice part of this adventure is the new people you meet.  Local people , like us, who just want to get away from the busyness of life.  People from other states who tell us of their adventures in our beautiful state of  Michigan.  Sadly, they have seen places that I didn’t know existed  (we have started a list to explore next summer).   Back in May, over Memorial Day weekend, we camped next to  two  wonderful  couples.  They had camped together for over 30 years.  We shared a fire and they shared stories of their camping adventures.  We saw them  over the 4th of July and they are camping this weekend in the same park we are.  Again, we are welcomed in like family to share time and stories with them. Thanks, sites 22  and 38 . We look forward to meeting up with you in the future.

We are glad that we choose to live in this area for a season in our  “home on wheels” before we really hit the road.  There are a lot of new things to learn, living in a trailer.  How do we hook up the hitch and stabilizers? Who connects the water and electric? More important who connects the sewer? Where do I stand so you can see me when backing up and what hand motions help?  Remembering all the things to do before you hit the road is important.  Otherwise you might have to pull over on the side of the road , in the rain, and add the extra mirrors you needed (right Larrie?)

Overall, we are having a great summer as “Austins on Wheels”.  We know we are more than ready for the main event to begin.  In fact, Larrie is so ready that he is moving his retirement back a month.  We are trying to fit in as much time with family as we can.  We will miss them.

So, keep looking for a new blog.  The real adventure begins in just a few short weeks!   JA

I spent the whole day at Markin Glen Park where we have been set up for a week. Reality is that transitioning to a new lifestyle is not instant and getting a chance to stay put for a day was a privilege.  It opened my eyes to the enjoyment and experiences ahead.

A leisure start followed by a day of just taking in and observing all that was around us gave a new perspective to our new “yard”.  Jogging on the adjacent trail was convenient and ended when I noticed a small snake while on my cool-down walk back to the site.

The rain subsided to reveal a very pleasant day.  We sat on “our patio” and just listened to the sounds of nature about us, then the sounds of people pulling in for the weekend.  All creation to appreciate if I’m willing.

-LA

Our home at a friends’ as we staged it for occupancy.  Grateful for the gracious friend.