Hustle and Bustle - Mon., Oct. 20, 2014

Hither and yon. The last time you heard from us we were in Chelsea, Michigan on Saturday. I wanted to update you on our whereabouts, but I don't have time for a full blog now.

Here's a teaser...our walk in Ann Arbor was excellent. It focused on fairies, kind of, fairy doors to be specific. What's a fairy door, you may ask? We wondered the same thing and weren't sure what we were looking for. Luckily our Volksmarch directions told us where to look. Seems Ann Arbor denizens have taken a liking to cute little fairy doors. Take a quick look...

See the tiny door by Bob's foot? That's a fairy door!

The fairy doors are usually next to the front door. See below. The small door is a fairy door. I have put an enlarged version of the fairy door in the second photo below.

Front door with fairy door.

The fairy door

You can see little gifts people have left for the fairies: a pebble, a Lego and a candy. Who knew?

The Ann Arbor walk was Sunday morning. By Sunday evening we were in Columbus, Ohio at Alton RV Park ready for our state Capitol Volksmarch on Monday morning.

Monday morning, we were on the walk at 7:35 a.m. in downtown Columbus. 

Inside Columbus state Capitol

When we finished, we grabbed lunch at Taco Bell, packed up the 5th wheel and hit the road. 

Next stop, Indianapolis, Indiana. We were going to do the Indiana Capitol Volksmarch this afternoon, but I admit I dilly-dallied after we got here thinking we could start the walk until 7:00 p.m. We drove downtown to the start point only to find it closed at 5:00 p.m. Sigh. What's a person to do? Well, we grabbed a brochure with sights to see in downtown Indianapolis and took off walking. We'll do the Volksmarch in the morning.

We can tell you that we LOVE Indianapolis. Here's a few reasons why...

Downtown

Art

The Capitol

"Enlightenment"

Tomorrow morning we will be up early to tour the Capitol and then do the Volksmarch (which I think we may have done part of tonight). Stay tuned for our location tomorrow night. 

Travel Bug out.

Long Lost Aunt and Uncle - Fri., Oct. 17

This morning Bob and I went to visit Carl and Cathy, my aunt and uncle I haven't seen for 50 years. My memories of their house were so pleasant. I played with my cousin Jody who was a few years younger than me. They had bunnies in their house that were so cute!

In the intervening years they have moved into a different home.

Uncle Carl loves wood carving - Native Americans, sea captains and animals - and has many on display in their home. He has sent four or five to mom which she displays in her dining room. He does excellent work and has been carving for 22 years.

Carvings of mountain goat, wolf, and bighorn sheep.

My uncle also made this clock.

Not to be outdone, Aunt Cathy makes gorgeous quilts. She used do them by hand but the most recent ones are done by machine.

After Aunt Cathy showed us around their home, she took us to the rehabilitation center where Uncle Carl is recuperating from a knee replacement ten days ago. He says he would not recommend it to anyone as he's in a world of hurt. He developed pneumonia, but they caught it right away and he looks really good. We visited an hour and a half until his lunch came.

Aunt Cathy, me, Uncle Carl (mom's brother)

After our visit with Uncle Carl, Aunt Cathy played tour guide and directed Bob (who took over the driving) to see the house my mom lived in, and then the house my grandmother lived in when I visited at age 10. I used to mow grandma's yard with a riding lawnmower and thought that was the coolest thing ever (except for rollercoasters!).

One of the houses Mom lived in

Where I visited my grandma when I was 10.

After sightseeing in Ann Arbor, we went to lunch at Knight's Steak House. The food and service were excellent. Thank you, Aunt Cathy, for lunch.

Bob with bountiful food at Knight's.

Me and Aunt Cathy at Knight's

We loved talking with Aunt Cathy about the days she and mom worked in their hair salon, and learning about their trip to New York City as young ladies. Then it was back to Cathy and Carl's home after lunch. We said good-bye as we had chores to do (laundry) before we move to our family's private campground tomorrow.

Aunt Cathy and I on the porch of their home

Aunt Cathy and Uncle Carl's home

Thank you, Aunt Cathy, for showing us around Ann Arbor, taking us to see Uncle Carl, and treating us to lunch at Knight's.

We did laundry and then Bob ran12 miles around Ford Lake (for the third time this week). He wanted to finish his run before it rained. Just before he walked in the door a little less than three hours later it did start to rain. Then the wind kicked up. According to NOAA we were having gusts up to 29-40 mph. The 5th wheel was quaking in its boots.

Tomorrow we move to our family's private campground in Chelsea with 20 amp electric, no water, no sewer. Not a problem, we'll only be there one night. The campground is very beautiful with a creek and lake, rolling green hills, trees and deer. We will have lunch with two cousins and their spouses. That should be a lot of fun.

See you tomorrow.

1911 Ann Arbor Original - Thurs., Oct. 16, 2014

Ann Arbor, Michigan is my home city. I was born here, but Mom and Dad moved the family out West when I was three. In my life, I have only been back to Michigan twice before...once when I was ten and once when I was about 12. I have many relatives here - aunts, uncles, cousins - and I want to see as many as possible.

Yesterday, we spent time with relatives from my dad's side of the family, and today and tomorrow, we will spend time with my mom's relatives. Saturday, it will be my dad's side of the family again. Couldn't be happier.

Art, who we visited today, is my mom's cousin's husband. We met Art and Kathy most recently in Rot, Germany in 2006. They were there at the same time we were and provided translation with our German relatives. We enjoyed their company so much. In the meantime, Kathy passed away unexpectedly. Aunt Kathy was mom's cousin with whom she was very close. Art is very much part of the family and we spent the afternoon with him.

One thing we have in common with Art is our love of travel. Art and Kathy traveled to Germany many times to visit our relatives. He went to California several times to see his sister.

For fun, Art has a 1911 Ann Arbor automobile. It's the only one in existence. He takes it to vintage auto shows. It has a top, can be a convertible, or, if he wants, the two back seats come out and it is a pick-up truck. Look at the photo of his stained glass window below to see what it looks like as a pick-up.

Stained glass window showing Art's car in
its various configurations

Art in his 1911 Ann Arbor

Bob and Art talking

The auto was manufactured by Huron River Mfg. Co.

If you look carefully in the following photo, you can see the chain going to the wheels, much like a bicycle.

Art and Kathy have a son, Chandler, who lives in Sault Ste. Marie. if we had known that, we could have called and tried to meet while we were there.

Even though retired, Art keeps very busy. Besides showing his auto and going to auto shows, he belongs to three German Verein (clubs) and has been president of one of the clubs for 36 years! That is very impressive.

The club where Art is president.

Art's home

The unique bricks used in making Art & Kathy's house were made in Canada.

A different pattern of brick

Bob asked Art why so many Germans emigrated to Michigan and Germany. Art enlightened us that it was because of the Revolution of 1848 in Germany. Liberals, called 48ers, were persecuted and forced to flee. Most of them came to the United States and settled from Wisconsin to Texas.

We asked Art if we could take him to dinner, but he insisted he was taking us. Bob told him they'd arm wrestle over it. Art suggested either Knight's or Metzger's. We know we love Metzger's, so that's what we chose. Art ended up treating us to dinner. That was very sweet. Thank you, Art.

After dinner, Bob asked Art if he would give us a tour to Whitmore Lake which is where my Dad grew up. Art drove us up to see the lake, and the Whitmore Lake house where Dad and Aunt Flora grew up.

Whitmore Lake

Van Schoten's Whitmore Lake house

As the sun went down, we ended up at Art's house and hugged our good-byes. Another wonderful day.

Travel Bug out.