On The Road Again...Michigan and a Wedding...

Aubrey called us Tuesday, August 11th to tell us she was going to get married to Jack Gould on Tuesday, August 25th. We determined that we wanted to attend this wedding. Hence the oil change on my car again last week. The timing for our visits to Michigan are usually to leave Friday and have dinner with Jake in Chelsea Friday night. Leave Chelsea Saturday morning and head to Muskegon/Holton area for Saturday and Sunday. Then drive home on Monday. Everyone works and this schedule gives us maximum visit time. However, this time Aubrey scheduled her wedding for a Tuesday evening. Hmm...That took a bit of thought to see everyone and work around their schedule. The plan we ended up with was a drive to Chelsea on a Friday. Dinner with Jake social distancing. Spend the night in Chelsea and drive to Muskegon on Saturday. Spend the afternoon with the Ropers and Paul. We would drive to Holton and stay at the Tyler home for the rest of our visit. Wednesday we would leave for Sadieville. 

Friday, August 21, 2020
Claude and I got up in the morning and got ready to leave for our trip. We went to Georgetown first and did our walk in Moss Park. Then we took Papa a treat and left an extra treat for while we were gone. I also filled his birdfeeder. We stopped at Bojangles for a biscuit then back to Sadieville to fill up the car with gasoline. We were on the road by 11am. 

We stopped in Sydney, Ohio for a real meal at Burger King. Ever wonder how they lay cable. We watched these guys pushing and pulling blue cable through white PVC pipes. It takes a lot of muscle to do this and they had lots of it all over this back lawn area. 

During this drive to Chelsea we would see something neither of us has never seen. A truck drove past us on the Interstate with an American flag flying from the bed of the truck. That we have seen. However, this flag and a confederate flag design on half of it. Never saw that before. Not happy with this on the American flag. We would see another of these another day with a snake coiled on it and the words "Don't Tread on Me". I need to learn what this is all about.

Then we passed a truck with this unique license plate on it. It says RIPUNW1 which is interpreted as Rip You a New One. 

We got to Chelsea about 4:30pm. Jake asked us to meet him at Veteran's Park on the north side of Chelsea. We rested for a bit and then went to KFC and ordered a boxed meal for each of us. Then we found Jake and set up our folding chairs in the shade of a tree and enjoyed our meal and good conversation. It was really hard to not get a bear hug from Jake. We also found a way to get an approriately socially distanced picture of the three of us. It was so good to see Jake and visit with him a bit. We knew it was time to head for our hotel when the mosquitos started to bite on each of us. Darn mosquitos!

Saturday, August 22, 2020
We slept in a bit and were on the road to Muskegon by 10am. We did get stuck in traffic a couple of times. One of the times we were not moving and we noted a sign on the side of the road that was an understatement. It read "Watch for Backups". Duh!! 

We made it to Muskegon about noon. I had everyone's order and called ahead to the Pita Place to order our lunches. We picked up the meals and met the Ropers and Paul at the Roper home. These are pictures of playing with the girls. Raelyn is very much into the new Frozen movie. She loved to sing it and do all the movements from the movie. I remember the first Frozen movie coming out and Bailey doing just what Raelyn was doing. It was fun to see this continue. It was also absolutely precious to watch Paul playing peek-a-boo with Emelia. I took two bonnets that were my mothers for the girls dress up stuff. Good family times.

This afternoon Andie sent us pictures of Bailey and her cross country team and her run. Bailey is happy to be doing cross country again.

We left about 4:30pm to go to Holton. The Tyler's have restained their deck and added a tent with a table and chairs under it. We would sit and visit here this night and have dinner out there the next evening. Love this because it lets you sit outside longer without mosquitos getting to your appendages. Good day. Time for sleep.

Sunday, August 23, 2020
I look forward to these days a lot. We take an entire day to just adult. Nissa and Todd would take us for a drive on Michigan roads. I love just the four of us being together. I love driving with Todd because he is Pure Michigan. He loves the state and knows so much about it and what has happened in his lifetime. The goal this day was to go north to Ludington. After driving through Ludington we drove through a state park along the Lake Michigan shore. These are some of the views through the window of the lake and the dunes. I very much enjoyed looking at the lay of those sand dunes. How in the world grass and trees grow out of sand is amazing. 

South of Ludington a bit is a power plant for Ludington that uses the water from Lake Michigan. We parked and hiked up to a look out spot. I have to say it felt good to get out and walk for a bit. Claude and I enjoy our walks in the park and we had not done that since Friday morning. So a little hike up the hill and walk over the highway to the look out point felt very good to me. The hill was made from the dirt taken from the lake to make the spot for the water. There is a thin brown line that is really a net in the water to keep the fish from entering the lagoon area and getting in the equipment. Great views from this area.

Nissa took this picture of Claude and I and posted this on Facebook: "Took my parents on a car ride today. Yep, after 50 years of marriage they still share the relationship I strive for. They hold hands, flirt the day away and share nicknames. Love my mom and dad! They are awesome!"

 I was able to snap another "Where's Claudo?" picture.

The other interesting picture I took was of the map at the overlook. It is a map of Michigan and shows where these power storage plants are located throughout the state. When I got home and took this picture off my camera, I realized Nissa's reflection was in the map! One day as she and I were sitting in her living room, I asked her if she was happy in Michigan. She looked at me with a big grin and said in the most sincere way, "I am!" So I will think of that conversation each time I look at this picture. My daughter is happy!

Our next destination was Silver Lake and the sand dunes around it. I don't know what the name of this lake is that we passed along the way but it was a pretty one. 

We drove from here to Silver Lake. This lake is surrounded by sand dunes. Aubrey's soon-to-be husband actually works at a company that does drives over these dunes. Todd explained to us that Silver Lake is actually drying up. The dunes have created a weather system and rain just goes around the lake and not into it. Jack told us he watches that happen when rain storms come across Lake Michigan. The other thing that happens over the winter is the sand blows and covers up houses on the edge of the beach in the left side of the last picture. Some of the houses are covered and they will stay that way. The others on the end were uncovered this year again! Yike!

After our great drive through part of Michigan, we returned to the Tyler home where Todd grilled steaks for our dinner. We again dined in the tent on the deck. Nissa prepared a side dish of 'riced cauliflower'. Nissa and Todd are on the Keto diet and have lost lots of weight. We were enjoying a Keto meal and cauliflower is something they use instead of potatoes. Nissa buys the cauliflower that has been riced or grated into rice-like shapes. Nissa seasoned it with herbs and it was really good. It was a great meal and a wonderful way to end the day.

Monday, August 24, 2020
Katelyn said she would text me with a couple of hours we might visit with her and the girls on Monday. Katelyn has started to work. She works through the night so sleep is necessary during the day. However, she is also the mom of two active little girls. So being awake during the day is something she is having to work out. She can get a few hours of sleep in the morning until the girls wake up. Then when Drew gets home from work in the afternoon, she is able to get a few more hours of sleep. The other thing that happened was a conversation with Nissa where she let me know they have a Firehouse Subs in Muskegon not far from the Ropers. I love Firehouse subs and have not had one since my teeth were repaired. All these things came together and we took subs to Katelyn's home and had a little more playtime with the girls. 

We left Holton and stopped at Whispering Pines to shop. This is the Amish store. They have the molasses cookies that I love. Claude loves their cheeses and breads. We even remembered to bring a little cooler to bring our treasures back to Kentucky in. Yum!!

These are pictures of the Roper girls playing with their great grampa. How fun it this?

We returned to the Tyler home in Holton and rested for the afternoon. Nissa and Todd came home and made us Keto friendly tacos. They were delicious. This was the day we weren't sure about how to fill this day. I believe we did and excellent job with this day.

Tuesday, August 25, 2020 - Wedding Day
This day Aubrey Anne Thompson and Jack Gould would become man and wife. They came to the Tyler home in the morning and left Nelson off for the day. Nissa would cut Nelson's hair and make sure he had a nap so he would be a happy kid during the wedding. This gave us a chance to meet and visit with Jack for the first time. We learned he lived in Kentucky as a young child. He moved away when he was 10 years old. He misses Kentucky. We found him to be a personable young man. 

These are pictures of Claude and Nelson playing. One of the cute things Nelson does is counting down to do something. He doesn't say, "One, two, three!" or "Ready, set, go!" Instead, this unique little man says, "Three, eight, nine!" 

The wedding was to be at 6pm. Nissa got Nelson dressed in his wedding duds. Oh be still my heart. He is just so cute and with his new haircut he looks so grown up. 

Nissa drove us to the wedding. These are pictures before the wedding. The wedding was held in Holton at the home of a friend of Aubrey's. Nelson was enjoying the open yard. The minister was explaining what would happen to Jack. Aubrey had Nissa walk her down the aisle. The last picture is them looking out from behind the barn to know when to come to the tent for the wedding ceremony.

As Aubrey and Nissa walked from the barn to the tent, Nelson joined them. 

This was the ministers first wedding ceremony. He would smile at the couple and seemed to be enjoying their happiness. The minister gave a brief talk to the bride and groom. Then he had them exchange rings. 

Before the minister pronounced them man and wife, Jack, and then Aubrey, read their own vows to each other. Aubrey forgot to bring hers and sent her mother back to get them from the barn after Nissa left Aubrey at the altar. When it came time for Aubrey to read her vows, Nissa gave the paper to Nelson and had him take them to Aubrey.

After the wedding, I took some pictures of family and friends. There were only a few of us in attendance at this wedding. 

It was a simple, lovely wedding. So very grateful we made this trip. 

After the wedding Nissa, Claude and I went back to her home where Todd was now home from work. Nissa put a pot of chili on during the day made with venison. We enjoyed this so very much. Really good flavor. Aubrey and Jack came by so she could give Todd a hug. He worked so Nissa could attend the wedding. Much thanks to be given there. Good day and it seemed to be just what Aubrey and Jack wanted it to be.

Wednesday, August 25, 2020
We said our goodbyes to Nissa and Todd Tuesday evening. They leave for work at 6am. We would sleep in a bit and then pack and leave Wednesday morning. We drove Hwy 31 south to check out some possibilities for a home some day. We drove through Spring Lake and likes some areas of it. Then we drove through some of Grand Haven and didn't get as many good feelings there. Our final area to look at was Holland. We drove through an area on the north side of Holland called Sapphire Lake Estates and really liked some of the homes there. Didn't find anything in Holland though. From there we drove on to South Bend, Indiana and around Indianapolis to Cincinnati and then south to Sadieville. Other than two times where people thought they needed to pull into our lane and almost wipe us out, we had a good drive home. We were home about 6pm. We got all unpacked and just sat for the evening.

Thursday, August 26 2020
We have had a good day getting back into real life. We picked up our mail at the post office, did our walk in Georgetown, stopped at the bank to sign some papers, took Papa a treat bag, had our big meal for the day from Panera, and Claude did our grocery shopping. We came home from that outing and Claude cut the grass while I worked on this Blog. Whew!! We are definitely back in the grind.

Hurricane Laura came ashore last night on the Louisiana coast. It was a Category 4 and has done a lot of damage. I have family in southern Louisiana and to the best of my knowledge they have all made it through this ordeal. Now Laura will become a Tropical Depression and go right over Kentucky. We'll get the rain but not all the devastation that Louisiana has sustained. We are ready. Grocery are bought and the yard is ready. We'll hunker down for the next couple of days. Life is good.