North for the Summer

Just got an e-mail from our good friend Sallie Majerlie in Traverse City saying that she was concerned for our well being as hadn't seen a blog post since April 16th.
Oops...sorry Sallie but we have been off-line for the last few weeks as have been traveling north to our summer digs here in Michigan. Problem was further complicated by the fact that we only get dial-up internet out here in Cedar; my notebook doesn't have a built in modem and I somehow misplaced my external one...so had to buy a new dial modem which just arrived today by Fed-X. However, we are now firmly ensconced in our usual spot behind Deb's cottage near Sugarloaf and receiving visitors.
We left Lake Havasu on April 17 for an uneventful five-day trip to Appleton, WI. We overnighted along the way in Gallup, NM - Amarillo, TX - Miami, OK & Springfield, IL, arriving in Appleton on Saturday the 21st. On Sunday we visited with Mike & Toni and went out to dinner with them Sunday evening. We had an appointment at Appleton Camping to have a fireplace installed in the Cardinal so were there to greet them when they opened on Monday morning. After retrieving the Cardinal Monday afternoon we parked at the Snug-Inn for three days while making a round of Doctor appointments and visits with all of our Appleton friends & neighbors. We were able to see the Schemms from the old neighborhood, and our dear friend Marilyn Anderson. Had lunch Tuesday with Tony, Becky & Rose Welhouse. Tuesday evening Jen & Dick Orr hosted a special “Martini Group” dinner in our honor so we were able to see Tom & Carol Sykes, Greg & Sue Madson, Wes Evans, and Kate Ewing.
We finally left Appleton Thursday for the final leg of our journey to our summer home here in Cedar, MI (near Traverse City).
After traveling close to 2500 miles without incident, a low hanging branch over our driveway caught the refer vent cover and tore it off. Damage was mostly to my ego, I should have been watching more closely. Oh well, $15.85 for a new cover and all’s well. Needless to say, the branch now resides in the brush pile. My baby brother, Lyle has volunteered to climb up on my roof and install the new one as I don't climb so well anymore. One of the benefits of getting old is you can get other people to do jobs that you would normally have to do yourself. ;-)