Back on the road again!!

We took a huge leap of faith by leaving home on the icy roads this morning after finishing packing the camper and shutting down the house. I knew the roads were bad because I drove into Cedar to drop off our recycling collection. I told Nancy I would try the long haul to Indianapolis if she would promise to not climb on the dashboard each time the back tires slipped on the ice.
We drove on snow and ice packed roads all the way to US131 south of Cadillac. Even M115 was completely covered with snow! It was a long journey to Indy and our hotel for the night, but (thank God), we made it without incident. Even the new kayaks behaved themselves on the roof and didn't make a peep.
The temperature when we left home was 3 degrees. When we got to Cadillac it was four degrees. When we hit Grand Rapids it was 10 for a minute, but at the Indiana border it was 4 degrees again. We hit Indy at 3 below and are wondering if this trend will continue all the way to Florida?!? It will be funny to see the Gulf frozen over.
Here are a couple of pictures from the day. Don't say we are afraid of a little adventure!

Getting ready to get out of Dodge in the Dodge.

 

A view of the roads we traveled for the first two and a half hours. Now I know how the Ice Road Truckers feel.

 

Hope everyone is well. We will keep you posted of our trip when time and WiFi connectivity allow. We are looking forward to a fun filled four months of vacation.

 

 

Getting Settled

Back in the north country and still getting used to the temperatures! When we got back Monday there were still piles of snow in the yard and woods, and Glen Lake, Lake Leelanau, and Good Harbor bay still were ice covered. As the week went on we lost most of the snow and the lakes are beginning to break up. Lake Michigan still has rafts of ice that blow in and away from shore with the winds.
Glen Lake is now 75% ice free, and the remaining ice is also blowing with the wind. We are hoping for some warmer weather since we have been hard pressed to get above the forties during the day.
Next year we will probably stay further south until the end of April instead of coming home earlier.
Slowly we are getting back to a routine and back to work at Anderson's and the Good Harbor Winery. Anderson's is closed for the remodeling and will open again next weekend. It will be much improved and modernized. Nancy came home from work Saturday and said that "The Wine Warriors" reality show has been filming and will be in the tasting rooms as the season progresses. It looks like this will add to the publicity about the wine industry in Leelanau and Grand Traverse Counties.
Here are some pictures from yesterday's hke to the lookout on Alligator Hill...

Ice still floating on Lake Michigan looking out at South Manitou Island

The "Crib" shipping marker in Manitou Passage must have taken quite a beating this winter!

 

Looking north we could see five islands in Lake Michigan, North and South Manitou, North and South Fox Islands and Beaver Island far off on the horizon!

 

We are back in Michigan

We had a great time with the Rubans at Gatlinburg. The cabin they had was perched in the hills above town and was crazy to get to as it was situated so high up on a winding, climbing road
on the side of the mountain as it was. The weather in Tennessee went from eighty on Saturday and Sunday to 30 on Monday night. Tuesday we woke up to about an inch of snow!
We arrived at Mike's house in Romeo on Thursday night after a night at Kentucky's Big Bone Lick State Park. We noticed the disappearance of green as we moved north, but at least no snow.
We are spending Easter weekend with Mike, Amy and the girls and we are seeing Tom and Evey, and we even went to an Easter egg hunt at Amy's sister Sue's house near Clarkston.
We will leave here on Monday to return to the north country where we hear that the snow is all but gone! Halleluiah!
Congratulations to niece Janie, who gave birth to a son last week. We are looking forward to meeting Mathew James Balliet when we get back to town.
We are looking to see everyone that we left behind when we left in January, and we count our blessings that we are able to do our winter travelling.
Here's to summer time in Northern Michigan!! Come up and see us whenever you can.

Greetings from the Smokies

Our last night in Florida was last Thursday at Oleno State park. We moved from there to Indian Springs State park northeast of Macon Georgia. We found that the northeast corner of Georgia was just spectacular at this time of year. Now we are at Smokey Mountain National Park outside of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Laura and Sean are here with the kids at a cabin in the hills just outside of town We had the kids at our camp overnight and now we are spending the next two nights at the cabin.
The hills here are coming to life with the dogwoods in bloom and the redbud trees starting to glow with their gorgeous purple flowers. The weather was in the high seventies and even eighty for two days. A cold front is moving through now, and we may get a snow flurry on Tuesday night!
This is the third time we have been to the Gatlinburg area and each time we are amazed at how much more this area has grown. Dollywood started the explosive growth, and it just keeps on growing. We have never seen so many people in the park as we have this time.
Springtime here is one of the most enjoyable seasons as all of the flowers are starting to come out and things are greening up. The hills are alive!

Northeastern Georgia on Saturday morning

A replica of an old settlement at Nantahala National Forest

Gatlinburg at night from the hills

Nolan and Kara at camp

Here we are after hiking to Laurel Falls in Smokey Mountain National Park

The old mill at Cade's Cove

Drive thru barn. Fast food for the horses and cows?

the kids

This is the view from the cabin that Laura and Sean are staying at.

Last days in Florida

We are spending the night with Becky and the kids on Siesta Key tonight. Dave flew home this morning, ands we leave tomorrow morning. Becky, Jenny and the kids will start driving home tomorrow evening.
Our last stop in Florida will be near Gainesville for one night, then we move on to Georgia, then Tennessee. It's hard to believe the winter is rapidly drawing to a close and we will be back in Michigan in just over a week! We plan on arriving in Romeo a week from Thursday and then driving north to Maple City on the Monday after Easter. The past three months have gone by so fast it doesn't seem possible. We are so glad to get the opportunity to be in warm weather while Michigan and the northern states had such a brutal winter.
We have enjoyed the gulf and the Everglades, and the Florida panhandle immensely. Even though we have been to many of these areas in Florida and are getting used to them we know there is a lot to see here yet that will be new to us. We plan on coming back next winter, and maybe trying some new parks and campgrounds. We already have a two week stay schedule in the Keys in February and March of 2015!
Hope everyone is well back home.

Becky, Dave and the kids at the Cottage Inn where we had a nice dinner together.

Nancy and I

The whole gang after our dinner.

Siesta Key

We have been on the move from Ochlockonee River to Manatee Springs state park and are now back at Oscar Scherer State Park at Osprey near Sarasota. We set up camp this morning and this afternoon we met up with Becky, Jenny and the kids at Siesta Key.
We had a fun beach day and then went back to the beach at sunset and watched the drum circle. This is a local phenomenon that takes place every Sunday evening. A meeting of drummers happens on the beach and they perform drum beating ceremonies for as long as the audience keeps them going. It is like a tribal ceremony straight out of Africa! Very entertaining too!
We have had a string of beautiful 80 degree weather this week and have been enjoying it. Yesterday we rented a canoe and explored the Dead River and the back bays of Lake Griffin. We saw half a dozen alligators as we rowed around the shoreline.
We are spending a few days here with the kids and then start moving back north.

The shore at Pensacola Bay at Naval Live Oaks State Park

Nesting Ospreys at Fort Pickens

The fishing pier at Pensacola Beach. Sheepshead were biting and lots of people fishing.

A Fort Pickens sunset. 

Self Portrait on the beach

The same sunset a little later.

Ochlockonee River

A white squirrel at Ochlockonee State Park. We saw several of these as well as a deer that was half white!

Canoeing on Lake Griffin near Leesburg

The bandshell at one of the city squares at the Villages.

Trevor at Siesta Key Beach

Ben was here too!

Kate with her Grandma

Becky and Jenny at Siesta Key at sunset.

The drum circle on the beach.

Ochlockonee River State Park

We are moving back to the southeast now and are south of Tallahassee in the panhandle. We moved from Fort Pickens on Monday. We are getting some really nice weather with highs in the seventies and clear skies after the huge rain we had last Thursday and Friday. We had four inches of rain that flooded a good portion of the campground (again).
This campground is on the river and we have a great campsite right along the bank. Lots of trails here and they have white squirrels! We were told by the ranger when checking in that we would see the white squirrels, and sure enough we have had one in our campsite. Last night we went for a walk and saw a mostly white deer! It was white up to its shoulders, and the neck and head were brown. This is the first time I have seen a piebald deer in the wild.
We can't believe it's April now. We are so grateful that we have this opportunity to be in a mild climate where we can be outdoors every day and not be cooped up looking at all the snow!
I will post some pictures when we have a better internet signal.
Hope all is well with everyone.