More Exploration

We woke up today to more thunderstorms. When they let up a bit, we set out on our walk. I wore my raincoat, and we both carried umbrellas, which we used on and off.

Later we decided to drive around a bit and check out other possible campgrounds. Out on our walk, we had seen a couple of signs pointing towards campgrounds. We found Oak Knoll Family Campground pretty easily. It has spaces that would fit our rig and is reasonably attractive, but we probably won’t ever go there. All the electric is 30 amp and looks old. The prices are higher than the county campground, and it’s not near the lake. The kicker is that there is no Verizon signal and no view of the southern sky.

We drove on looking for another couple of parks, but turned around, deciding that if they were farther than we had driven, we weren’t interested. Then we dropped by to visit with Gordon and Shellie. We dropped off the watermelon that Romaine had sent with us. Then we just sat around chatting, talking mainly about family.

Shellie talked about her “daycare kids,” and her ongoing friendships with them and their parents. She came back to Muskegon from Houston, where she is living now, to attend the graduation of one young man for whom doctors had not held out much hope of a bright future. His mother told Shellie she deserved at least part of the credit for the young man’s success.

Tales were told of other children who had been part of the extended “family.” Gordon mentioned that the neighbor children had called him “Grandpa Ho Ho” and Jan “Grandma Janny.”

We invited Gordon and Shellie to go out to eat. Gordon suggested the Harbor Grille in Whitehall for lunch tomorrow. We’ll pick them up, since they don’t have a car at the cottage.

Our walks have taken us up and down the local roads. We’ve noticed lots of ferns and plenty of greenery—evidence of the relatively wet climate. Michigan has lakes everywhere.

I made split pea soup for dinner tonight and baked a loaf of banana bread for breakfast tomorrow. A couple in the campground stopped by to admire Venture, so we invited them in to take a tour. They have a teenager at home yet, but hope to do more traveling once all the kids are out of the nest.

Tonight we watched a Masterpiece Mystery: Hercule Poirot in “Murder in Three Acts.” Quite a puzzle, and a wonderful opportunity to watch David Suchet portray Poirot.