J02W1

We left about noon today headed for Norway to pick up Walt and Kathy Werden before heading out. It felt funny leaving Iron Mountain with the temperature above freezing. We had never had that experience before. It's always been below zero on previous trips.

We met the others, Wally and Anne Petersen and Don and Marion Holliday in Escanaba, and then stopped at Burger King for lunch.

After and uneventful day, except for the weather turning foul south of the Bridge, we arrived in Mt. Pleasant around 7PM and went in to the Casino to eat. The prices were outrageous so six of the eight of us ate in our rigs instead.

We ended up over at Walt and Kathy's after supper for a couple of beers and conversation and then came home for the night.

We were now on Eastern Standard Time and we were off early at 9AM. We only had about an hour to drive and we got to Ionia for the Samboree about noon and then we settled in.

Wally and Anne sat the first shift of selling patches. Don and Marion followed them and Sharon and I finished up from 3-5PM. After 4 hours we had sold 300 of our 500 patches. Me and the Mrs. Will open up shop tomorrow at 8AM, and we should be pretty well sold out by noon. If not, we'll just rotate until their gone.

We went out to the China Buffet for supper tonight. The food was absolutely excellent. The place didn't look like much on the outside. but it was really good food. There were seven of us who went. By the time we got home we had to "rest our meal". We just sat around watching TV the rest of the night.

The weather appears to be in the winter mode for the time being. I hope it warms up at least a little.

Up early (5:30) again today. I wonder when this will all catch up to me. I thought once we got on the road I would relax and start to sleep later.

We opened up the patch selling business at 8 this morning. That's 7 our (CST) time. We sold quite a few before we turned it over to Wally and Anne. We walked around the commercials and Sharon bought all her raffle tickets. She likes to buy tickets from most of the Chapters selling tickets.

We also had to do some shopping for supper when we got back home, and make a phone call to Jerry and Mary Milan, friends that we wanted to see while we are down here. We left a message on the Milan's answering machine while we were shopping, and then came home to eat lunch.

After lunch we headed over to Jerry and Mary's and we stayed there until late in the afternoon. Late enough so that Sharon didn't have time to cook supper. No problem. We stopped at Big Boy and had their Seafood Buffet. It was good and we walked away very satisfied.

We got back home just in time for the evening's entertainment. They were called "Family Tradition" and they were a 50's-60's singing group. We enjoyed the program very much. They were really good.

After the program we came back home and had fresh Raspberry Pie that was made by Kathy's brother Pete and it was fabulous. It tastes like you're eating the raspberries right off the vine. This is the second time we've had it. It's not a pie that you soon forget.

We both slept in this morning. Me til 8, and Sharon for an hour after that. The sun is shining this morning and it looks like it's going to be a nice day. We'll see.

We went over to takeover the patch table so Wally could go to the State Committee meeting but they were already sold out. Another 500 of our handiwork traveling around The country.

Sharon picked up our door prize and I checked our e-mail for the first time since we left. We had about 8 messages. Most were junk.

After lunch we went over for the ice cream social and then took a tour on the "people mover." It doesn't seem like there is 420 rigs here but I guess the size of the fairgrounds is deceptive. The Door prize and chapter drawing were also held this afternoon. Sharon won twice. A beaded lamp and a big Halloween Pumpkin made of fabric. Sharon will send it home with Walt and have him deliver it to Jen. We'll keep the lamp and hang it out for Halloween.

The entertainment tonight was a family group singing mostly country. It was not the kind of music that I like to sit and enjoy, but they were very talented. The door prize drawing afterwards found the little mrs. winning again. A year's membership in the Good Sam Club.

We came back home and had coffee and cake for Kim's birthday. Kim is Walt and Kathy's Granddaughter. After a while we came in and went to bed. It was around 11 anyway.

Up early again today, but we'll be leaving heading south to Elkhart, Indiana. We'll try to stay with Walt at the Monaco factory, but if not we'll go on to Wal-Mart at Goshen.

Wally and Anne left us just before we left Michigan. We'll see them Tuesday at Shipshewana. It didn't appear that we'd be able to stay with Walt and Kathy at Monaco in Elkhart so we just drove on to Goshen and stayed at Camp Wal-Mart. One of our favorite destinations. We keep saying it's free, but after shopping it seems to add up. We had a hell of a time finding it, but we settled right in after parking. We also found gas for $1.279 here which is a real deal compared to home. ($1.639 the day we left)

Walt and Kathy drove up while we were eating supper. We were surprised that they found us. It took us about an hour to find this place, and we didn't think we'd see each other until tomorrow when we went to the RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart.



	The Journal of 2001-02 By Bill Rocheleau An Early Departure Wednesday, September 26, 2001 We left about noon today headed for Norway to pick up Walt and Kathy Werden before heading out. It felt funny leaving Iron Mountain with the temperature above freezing. We had never had that experience before. It's always been below zero on previous trips. We met the others, Wally and Anne Petersen and Don and Marion Holliday in Escanaba, and then stopped at Burger King for lunch. After and uneventful day, except for the weather turning foul south of the Bridge, we arrived in Mt. Pleasant around 7PM and went in to the Casino to eat. The prices were outrageous so six of the eight of us ate in our rigs instead. We ended up over at Walt and Kathy's after supper for a couple of beers and conversation and then came home for the night. Thursday, September 27, 2001 We were now on Eastern Standard Time and we were off early at 9AM. We only had about an hour to drive and we got to Ionia for the Samboree about noon and then we settled in. Wally and Anne sat the first shift of selling patches. Don and Marion followed them and Sharon and I finished up from 3-5PM. After 4 hours we had sold 300 of our 500 patches. Me and the Mrs. Will open up shop tomorrow at 8AM, and we should be pretty well sold out by noon. If not, we'll just rotate until their gone. We went out to the China Buffet for supper tonight. The food was absolutely excellent. The place didn't look like much on the outside. but it was really good food. There were seven of us who went. By the time we got home we had to "rest our meal". We just sat around watching TV the rest of the night. The weather appears to be in the winter mode for the time being. I hope it warms up at least a little. Friday, September 28, 2001 Up early (5:30) again today. I wonder when this will all catch up to me. I thought once we got on the road I would relax and start to sleep later. We opened up the patch selling business at 8 this morning. That's 7 our (CST) time. We sold quite a few before we turned it over to Wally and Anne. We walked around the commercials and Sharon bought all her raffle tickets. She likes to buy tickets from most of the Chapters selling tickets. We also had to do some shopping for supper when we got back home, and make a phone call to Jerry and Mary Milan, friends that we wanted to see while we are down here. We left a message on the Milan's answering machine while we were shopping, and then came home to eat lunch. After lunch we headed over to Jerry and Mary's and we stayed there until late in the afternoon. Late enough so that Sharon didn't have time to cook supper. No problem. We stopped at Big Boy and had their Seafood Buffet. It was good and we walked away very satisfied. We got back home just in time for the evening's entertainment. They were called "Family Tradition" and they were a 50's-60's singing group. We enjoyed the program very much. They were really good. After the program we came back home and had fresh Raspberry Pie that was made by Kathy's brother Pete and it was fabulous. It tastes like you're eating the raspberries right off the vine. This is the second time we've had it. It's not a pie that you soon forget. We sat around talking with the group for a while before coming in and going to bed. Saturday, September 29, 2001 We both slept in this morning. Me til 8, and Sharon for an hour after that. The sun is shining this morning and it looks like it's going to be a nice day. We'll see. We went over to takeover the patch table so Wally could go to the State Committee meeting but they were already sold out. Another 500 of our handiwork traveling around The country. Sharon picked up our door prize and I checked our e-mail for the first time since we left. We had about 8 messages. Most were junk. After lunch we went over for the ice cream social and then took a tour on the "people mover." It doesn't seem like there is 420 rigs here but I guess the size of the fairgrounds is deceptive. The Door prize and chapter drawing were also held this afternoon. Sharon won twice. A beaded lamp and a big Halloween Pumpkin made of fabric. Sharon will send it home with Walt and have him deliver it to Jen. We'll keep the lamp and hang it out for Halloween. We had Shrimp Etoufette for supper tonight. And of course our usual nectar for the chaser. The entertainment tonight was a family group singing mostly country. It was not the kind of music that I like to sit and enjoy, but they were very talented. The door prize drawing afterwards found the little mrs. winning again. A year's membership in the Good Sam Club. We came back home and had coffee and cake for Kim's birthday. Kim is Walt and Kathy's Granddaughter. After a while we came in and went to bed. It was around 11 anyway. Sunday, September 30, 2001 Up early again today, but we'll be leaving heading south to Elkhart, Indiana. We'll try to stay with Walt at the Monaco factory, but if not we'll go on to Wal-Mart at Goshen. Wally and Anne left us just before we left Michigan. We'll see them Tuesday at Shipshewana. It didn't appear that we'd be able to stay with Walt and Kathy at Monaco in Elkhart so we just drove on to Goshen and stayed at Camp Wal-Mart. One of our favorite destinations. We keep saying it's free, but after shopping it seems to add up. We had a hell of a time finding it, but we settled right in after parking. We also found gas for $1.279 here which is a real deal compared to home. ($1.639 the day we left) Walt and Kathy drove up while we were eating supper. We were surprised that they found us. It took us about an hour to find this place, and we didn't think we'd see each other until tomorrow when we went to the RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart. Sharon and I had Fried Chicken from Wal-mart for supper along with a salad and Chewy Bread. We watched TV all night tonight. An unusual occurrence for us. We were more than bored.