MICHIGAN TO ALABAMA TRIP

Brother Up At The Ski Lodge Ready For Tequila Tasting

Temperatures Inside And Outside On Ski Day

I Don't Do This In San Diego!!

This trip is about taking dad to places him and mom visted during their many trips down south in their 5th wheel.

The trip starts with family up in Boyne City at the ski slopes. My brother Gary in his rental with other friends come to ski and drink and eat. The flurries are falling and it is 19 degrees tonight at 10:00 pm. but colder temps are forcast for tomorrow. I will start the bunny slopes tomorrow to test the hip and take it from there. The goal for me is to do no harm..........and have fun in the process. Ski lift is the only expense because thanks to e-bay and local garage sales Gary has enough ski equipment to outfit everyone.

Saturday Morning 1/10: Single digit temperatures to start the ski day as the picture shows. But bundled up it doesn't seem to be so bad. Got to see much of the mountain and spend time with some great people. Skied till about 5:30 off and on.....great time. Didn't ski Sunday so as not to risk the rest of the trip.

Monday January 12, 2009: Up in Harrison Michigan with Dad I am reminded of why I moved to California. Snow piled against doors, in the driveway with ice under and over everything makes it difficult to get around. The cold is refreshing and there is plenty of that to come. Minus temperatures are predicted to make a showing for the next three nights and single digit highs during the day. Snow is forecast thru the week all around here. The escape plan is down to Saginaw tomorrow evening and after an eye appointment on Wednesday off to Indiana to the first stop. From there we stay around Nashville a few days and then to Eufaula Alabama.
Of course this is all subject to change depending on how much snow we get tonight. One to four inches is what it should be.

Wednesday 14th: Still in Saginaw at sisters house. Estimated departure is Thursday now. I will put together a slide show and add pictures to it as the trip unfolds from here. Snow is falling, the sound of snow plows on the city streets and a nice view of a snow covered patio. Not a bad place to hang out till we depart.

Thursday 15th: A snowy drive down the highway from Saginaw with temperatures all day that never got above single digits. We pulled into the Huggy Bear Hotel (Warren Indiana) for the first stop on the “sentimental journey”. Things have changed over the years from what dad last remembers, some of the hotel rooms are apartments now and the Broasted chicken so coveted in the past is no longer made. Just goes to show ya to enjoy the moments when you have them because it may never come again.

Friday 16th: 15 degrees below zero with a wind chill getting it into the -20’s has been the lowest temperature I’ve experienced outside a lab test chamber. Going to and from the hotel to the gas station/store/diner (50 to 70 yards) seemed like taking your life in your hands. Ice under the crunching snow meant travel had to be slow. But we got to the diner to have breakfast and take in some of the local color. Remind me to tell you the story of the raccoon hat and the waitress. The drive was beautiful with a stop in Indianapolis to get a phone charger. The snow line was about the same as I remember extending to about the middle of Indiana. After that there was little snow, just bare trees and the bitter cold. Tonight is spent in Bowling Green in a Hotel 6. Dinner was compliments of a fist full of Red Lobster gift cards dad had in his glove box, so thanks all for the cards over the years, one was from us a few years ago. Enough for yet another meal too.

Sunday 18th: A good day. Sunny and temps in the low 60's. Leaving from Montgomery it was a short days drive thru the Alabama back roads to Eufaula. With some looking, we got to the White Oak Campground about 3:00 or so with lots of time to explore the sites where dad and mom spent numbers of weeks each year. Usually it was in the spring on the way back from Mississippi they would stay here. But Oakwood loop with sites 30-59 was closed for the winter. It was site 52 where they would stay. We went around some of the open campgrounds to see the area and having come this far it was concluded that parking the car and walking into the closed section was the thing to do. So after some power walking down the road we lingered at site 52 for some time talking about the things they use to do while here. Neighbors giving them fish, walks in the woods, trips into town etc.

This seems to be a trip where specific memories are a moving target. Things have changed since dad was last at these places and memories are not always accurate, making for some uncertainty in facts. But the certainty of what he feels does not need much prompting because every mile we travel is not just hotels, campgrounds and restraunts but connections to a time and a person providing a comfort that familiar things bring.

Below is a slideshow that will be updated as we go.

Mondy 19th: Another day in Eufaula spent seeing the area. Some additional slides added at the back of the show. Of note, Kathy McGovern's AND Rusty Fullers' Birthday today. Got in the traditional call to Rusty but missed Kathy..........so happy birthday Kathy. And of course Happy Birthday to Bob Howie too. How long has it been since we got together on a birthday Bob? Perhaps next year hu? Remember Total Eclipse 2012 in northern CA!!! May 12th I believe.

Anyway, me and dad will leave for Waveland Mississippi tomorrow and I will add more files to a different entry with different music in a couple days.