LANSING MICHIGAN TO BAYFIELD ONTARIO….’YAHOUIE LOUIE’ WE’RE HOME:)))))))

IN FOREST ONTARIO THIS MORNING I SNAPPED THIS PHOTO WHILE PHEEBS AND I WAITED FOR THE TIM HORTON COFFEE LADY I was pleasantly surprised to step out into warmer air this morning at our Lansing Michigan Cracker Barrel location.  Thought for sure Sunday nights colder temperatures would still have been with us.  It was 6:40 a.m. and still dark when we made our way out of CB's parking lot and onto I-69 a short distance away.  Pointed  the Big EEE’s nose east and away we went.  And how fortunate for us to have a cloud cover preventing Monday morning's blazing Sun from sitting on the horizon in front of us blowing our eyeballs out.  Visibility was great all the way to Port Huron.
ONLY ABOUT HALF A MILE TO THE BORDER NOW

HEADING FOR CANADA OVER THE PORT HURON/SARNIA BLUE WATER BRIDGE

A LONG LINE OF SLOW MOVING TRAFFIC LINED UP COMING THE OTHER WAY WAITING TO CROSS INTO THE STATES Morning rush hour traffic around Lansing and Flint Michigan was heavy for a bit but we smoked our way straight through it and finally reached the border at Port Huron about 8:45.  Three cars ahead of us and five minutes later after a few basic questions we uneventfully rolled into Canada.  Oh my, that a HUGE sense of relief to be safely back in our own country after a long adventurous journey is always such a welcome relief each year. 
ST CLAIR RIVER BELOW AND LAKE HURON ON THE HORIZON LINE

MUST BE A SLOW DAY FOR PEOPLE LEGALLY ENTERING CANADA, ONLY ONE CUSTOMS BOOTH OPEN BY THE LOOKS OF IT

YEP ONLY ONE

A lite rain had started about 20 miles before we reached Port Huron and became heavier by the time we crossed into Canada.  Kelly was about to dig her rain coat out before reaching our annual Tim Horton coffee stop in Forest Ontario but luckily the rain quit just before we got there.  Oh boy we sure did enjoy our Tim Horton coffees to go as we made our way from Forest all the way to Bayfield on bare and dry roads.  
AND HERE COMES THAT TIM HORTON COFFEE LADY NOW

NOW THAT IS ONE HAPPY LITTLE DOG


I THINK HER HANDS ARE SHAKING TRYING TO GET THAT LID OFF SO FAST

THEN I HEARD A GREAT BIG ‘SCHLURPING’ SOUND AND SO DID PHEEBS A few skiffs and patches of snow along the ditches and fields but certainly nothing to worry about and it was mild enough today to keep that remaining snow in a melting state. 
IN BETWEEN THOSE 2 TOWNS LIES BAYFIELD SO YEP WE’RE HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION ALRIGHT….THOSE ARE KILOMETERS AND NOT MILES ON THAT SIGN

ROLLING THROUGH GRAND BEND ONTARIO

‘HANG IN THERE MA WE’RE ALMOST HOME’ It was at Bayfield's Clan Gregor Square where I un-hooked the Jeep and with Kelly leading the way we drove the short mile and a half or so to our place at the Five Seasons Resort.  We were home:))))))))))
PHEEBS SAYS, ‘FOLLOW THAT JEEP DAD CAUSE MOM’S DRIVING IT AND WE DON’T WANT HER TO GET LOST’’

A BIT OF SNOW IN THE SHADED DITCHES

AND THAT SIGN UP THERE IS THE RIGHT HAND TURN INTO OUR PARK

BECAUSE WE ARE BASICALLY IN A PINE FOREST SNOW ALWAYS TAKES LONGER TO MELT IN OUR PARK What a great feeling as I pulled the Motorhome in the final few feet to it's summer parking spot and shut er down.  Another big huge sigh of relief on my part as I said a quiet 'thank-you' to the rig for being trouble free and running so well for us this past winter. 
TURNING  INTO THE ‘BIG EEE’S’ PARKING SPOT

I won't go into all the great things about being home but it’s safe to say we are really appreciating all the extra space and getting re-acquainted with all our neat homey stuff again.  And I sure like when that happens every year:)) LIBBY IS GOING TO NEED A BIG CLEAN-UP After emptying the rig's refrigerator and freezer and bringing in a few essentials we both just kinda flopped into our recliners after awhile and said the heck with all the rest of the stuff.  We'll work away at that over the next bunch of days.  Usually we try to do everything all at once but I think our overall tiredness this time has left us just a little bit on the totally drained side.  KELLY AND I WEREN’T THE ONLY ONES MIGHTY HAPPY TO BE HOME I could see by walking around the property everything was looking good.  No big branches down and even my rail fence was still standing.  Thought for sure the local snow blower guy who does our streets in the winter would have taken that fence down with a few well aimed blasts from is snow blower.
AT THE TIME OF PUBLISHING THIS TONIGHT THIS LIGHT DUSTING OF SNOW ON THE GROUND THIS MORNING WAS ALL GONE

I’M ALREADY CHOMPING AT THE BIT TO GET OUT THERE AND START THE BIG SPRING CLEAN-UP….I ENJOY DOING THAT EVERY YEAR Well folks it's the end of another winter's season in the great American Southwest and we are once again safely home.  Our readership will now take a steep drop until we are once again back on the  traveling road again.  Before I lose many of you folks for the summer I'd just like to say thank you for traveling along with us and we hope to see you all back in the Fall.  In the meantime I do plan to continue my blog as best I can on a daily basis so starting tomorrow we’ll see how that goes…………….. AND I KNOW THE BIG EEE IS HAPPY TO BE HOME AS WELL….GOOD JOB MY FRIEND GROANER'S CORNER:((  In the middle of an argument a man said to his wife, Mabel, "I don't know how you can be so stupid and so beautiful all at the same time!"  Mabel responded calmly, "Allow me to explain... the good Lord made me beautiful so you would be attracted to me; and he made me stupid so I would be attracted to you!" --------------------- I recovered my stolen car using the serial number and now I feel VINdicated. --------------------- A man went to his lawyer and said "I would like to make a will but I don't know exactly how to go about it."  The lawyer says "No problem, leave it all to me".  The man looks somewhat upset ... "Well I knew you were going to take the biggest slice, but I'd like to leave a little to my children too!

DES MOINES IOWA TO LANSING MICHIGAN—A LONG DRIVING DAY BUT WE’RE ONLY 300 MILES FROM HOME NOW:))

SUNRISE ON I-80 THIS MORNING


Southerly winds not as strong this morning so our east bound journey went a bit smoother.  I figured the winds knew it was Sunday and decided to back off  a tad and relax.  I figure Sunday is always the best travel day of the week followed by Saturday.

CROSSING THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER THIS MORNING SOUTH OF DAVENPORT IOWA


SURE IS ONE MIGHTY WIDE RIVER ALRIGHT



ONCE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MISSISSIPPI WE WERE IMMEDIATELY IN THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
Had ourselves on the move by 7:30  a.m. Ontario time and made our way back to I-80 north of us along deserted streets which just 12 hours before were choked with the late Saturday afternoon hustle and bustle of local traffic.  Once back on I-80 we weren’t long in leaving Des Moines Iowa far behind us.

A reasonably mild morning when we started our day but when we finished our day 10 hours later it was cold, cold, cold!!  Traffic eastbound on I-80 was thankfully lite and I was glad to see the landscape finally begin to flatten out the further east we went.  I don’t remember those Midwest hills and long grades bothering me before but this year for some reason they really had me ticked off as did a lot of poor road conditions.  Bumpity bumpity bump bang bump!!

IF YOU CAN SEE PAST THE BUGS ON THE WINDSHIELD THERE ARE 2 GOLF CARTS ON THE LINKS THIS MORNING SOMEWHERE WEST OF DAVENPORT IOWA
Chicago traffic began heating up about 30 miles west of the city and quickly got hotter the closer we got to town.  By 1:30 this afternoon we were pretty much into the soup and were both surprised at how much traffic there was even for a Sunday.  We plowed our way through the churning morass of metal madness though and nobody even got hurt.  Well not that we’re aware of anyway.

EAST ON I-80 INTO CHICAGO



WE SURE RAN INTO A LOT OF ROAD CONSTRUCTION ALONG THE WAY
My goal today was to land us in the Lansing Michigan Cracker Barrel parking lot and that is exactly where this post is originating from tonight.  The past few years we have generally made this Lansing Cracker Barrel our last night on the road before crossing the border the following day.  This morning I just wanted to get us here no matter how long it took or how many miles we had to drive.  Yes it was a long day but at least now we are poised for the last 300 kil. (196 miles) slog of our journey.

YES YOU CAN SURE TELL WE WERE IN CRACKER BARREL AGAIN ALRIGHT

WE HAD THEIR SUNDAY SPECIAL WHICH WAS VEGGIES, MASHED POTATOS AND GRAVY WITH A COUPLE BIG PIECES OF FRIED CHICKEN

GOT A KICK OUT OF THESE KIDS AT THE NEXT TABLE ENGROSSED IN THEIR SMART PHONES

OUR LAST CRACKER BARREL STOP OF THE SEASON

TOO COLD FOR A GAME OF CHECKERS OUTSIDE TODAY
With a little or a whole lotta luck we will be across the border in the morning and well within the hour drinking our first Tim Horton coffees.  Along with our coffee’s we’ll be chowing us down a couple big old apple fritter donuts as well.   It’s an annual ‘coming home’ tradition with us. 

Chances are we will not be spending another night in the Motorhome until possibly next October and the way we feel tonight that is quite alright.  Only a fellow Snow Birder might understand the saying, ‘the best part of going away is coming home’.  It wasn’t that many years ago that I would have vehemently disagreed with that but not anymore.  No Sireeeee Toto, there’s no place like home:))

WE GENERALLY GET THIS VERY SAME CRACKER BARREL SPOT WHENEVER HERE


GROANER’S CORNER:((  It's scary when you start making the same noises as your coffee maker.
A Sunday school teacher asked her little children, as they were on the way to church service, “And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?” One bright little girl replied, “Because people are sleeping.”
Who invented King Arthur's round table?  Sir Cumference
A wife and husband both talked in their sleep. She loved auctions; his hobby was golf.  The other night, as they slept, the golfer yelled, "Fore!"  His wife yelled back, "Four and a quarter !"

PRATT KANSAS TO DES MOINES IOWA…..KANSAS, NEBRASKA AND IOWA TODAY.. --- EASY MORNING DRIVE BUT A TOUGH AFTERNOON

A FEW ‘DRIVE-BY PHOTOS’ AGAIN TONIGHT

Soon as I stepped out of the rig with Pheebs this morning and felt a stiff southerly breeze I knew we were going to have us a nice tailwind for as long as we headed in a northerly direction

Went through a time change somewhere Friday so we are now only an hour behind our Ontario time.  We rolled out of Walmart in Pratt Kansas about 7:30, picked up I-35 heading north a block away and off we went.  And yes indeed how nice to have the wind behind us again.

SO NICE TO SEE RIVERS, CREEKS, AND PONDS WITH WATER IN THEM

SURE IS FLAT OUT HERE

Not a lot of tall vegetation in this part of Kansas as we traversed mainly flat lands and gentle rolling hills.  Although the plains have a beauty all their own I don’t think I would like living out there.  We northerners like our trees too much.

OUR ACE NAVIGATOR IS ALMOST ALWAYS ON THE BALL

Not wanting to have to do Chicago on a week day my goal today was to get us within striking distance of putting Chicago behind us sometime Sunday.  Reaching the outskirts of West De Moines Iowa does just that but it made for a long driving day to get us here with the section between York Nebraska to Des Moines Iowa a tough haul.

SPOTTED OUR FIRST SKIFF OF SNOW ABOUT 20 MILES SOUTH OF YORK NEBRASKA AND YET IIT WAS SO UNBELIEVABLY MILD TODAY

That helpful tailwind all the way from Pratt sure turned into one big ugly Monster of a crosswind soon as we turned east onto I-80.  With the seemingly endless hills and looooong grades every mile of the way between York Nebraska and Des Moines Iowa it was quite an exciting drive at times.  Well at least for me it was.  I am soooooo impressed with this Triple E Motorhome of ours and especially the big Chevy 8.1 Vortec motor.  A very powerful engine indeed and I’ve heard it said the next step up from this engine is a diesel.  Despite today’s gusting crosswinds and long grades the Big EEE never faltered and powered it’s way though.

THIS IS CALLED THE ‘MORMON BRIDGE’

THE SECTION OF I-80 BETWEEN YORK NEBRASKA AND DES MOINES  IOWA SURE HAS A LOT OF  BIG HILLS AND GULLEYS

Needing a break from our afternoon slog Kelly found us a Cracker Barrel on the west side of Omaha Nebraska so we weren’t long in wheeling ourselves right in there and strapping on the old feedbag.  We do love our Crackle Barrels and today’s stop was our first one of the year.  While waiting for our food I got a kick out of a couple young fellas playing checkers at a table behind Kelly.  When their Grandmother came and got them the checker board was next occupied by what I assume was a Father and daughter and it was interesting listening to the Father teaching his daughter the game of checkers.  The photo quality isn’t the best but I think the look on the little girl’s face says it all.

WHENEVER YOU SEE THAT FIREPLACE YOU JUST KNOW IT’S CRACKER BARREL

We are at a Walmart in West Des Moines several miles south of I-80 tonight.  The housing and living density in this section of the city is unbelievable.  Multilevel same-same Condos squeezed in everywhere and there must be more people packed in per square inch than anywhere I have ever seen before.  Just can’t imagine how people live like this.  I guess we just sometimes forget how fortunate we really are living where we do in Bayfield Ontario Canada.  Bayfield still retains much of it’s old small fishing village charm on the shores of Lake Huron, third largest fresh water lake in the world.  And our house is only about a mile from it’s clear blue green waters.  Yep gonna be nice getting home again alright.  Cold weather snow or not it doesn’t matter.  Looking forward to ‘Home Sweet Home’:))

STILL WARM ENOUGH  HERE IN IOWA TO LEAVE OUR SIDE DOOR AND WINDOWS OPEN

GROANER’S CORNER:((  I asked a friend of mine by phone what he was doing. He told me he couldn't talk because he was working on an 'aqua-thermal treatment of ceramics, aluminum, and steel while under a dangerously constrained environment.' I was impressed until the following day when I learned that meant he was 'washing dishes with hot water under his upset wife's supervision.'

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A couple was dining out when the wife noticed a familiar face at the bar. She recognized him as an old flame.  "Honey," she said to her husband, as she pointed out the man, "that guy at the bar has been drinking like that since I left him seven years ago."  Her husband said, "That's silly, no one celebrates that much!"

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The inmate on death row was scheduled to be put to death by firing squad the follow morning. Throughout the day, the prison guards were being very nice to him.  But when they asked him if he wanted something specific for his last meal, he didn't want anything special.  When they asked if there was something special he wanted to do, he said nothing.  Finally when he was put before the firing squad, the guard asked if he wanted a cigarette and a blindfold.  "No," the inmate said, "just get it over with."  "Well, is there anything that I can do for you before you go?" said the guard.  The inmate thought. "Actually," he said, "Music is my life. One thing I would really like, is to sing my favorite song, the whole thing, with no interruptions."  The guard nodded and told him to go ahead.  The inmate started, "One billion bottles of beer on the wall..."