Tuesday, August 28, through Wednesday, September 5, 2012:  Back to Michigan (and the Wheelers):

Tuesday, we finally left Canada and made the easy trip of 161 miles to St. Clair, Michigan---about 40 miles north of Detroit.  Getting through the border at Port Huron, Michigan, was a piece of cake.



Becky had made a list of fruits and vegetables we had on board and was prepared to hand it to the agent.  He never even asked what we were carrying.

We are staying at the Thousand Trails Preserve in St. Clair.  It’s a very nice place (especially for a TT preserve, some of which are getting a little ratty---e.g., Soledad Canyon).  Initially, we had difficulty getting TV reception, but moved the trailer five feet forward (out from under a tree) and the problem was solved.  Hurrah!

We decided to make a quick visit to Grosse Pointe, a northern suburb of Detroit, where I had lived in 1943 and 1944.  I had punched into our GPS what I thought was the address of our home, which I had not seen in 68 years, and before we got there I told Becky what I thought I remembered about the place---where it was, what it looked like, its location on the block, the appearance of the house next door, and the name of the cross street. 



I have no idea how I remembered the address or any of the other details, but I was right on the mark on everything.  Maybe it‘s senility rising.

The house is in a surprisingly nice neighborhood, and, just a few blocks closer to Lake St. Clair, the neighborhood gets even better.  Actual mansions.  And along the lakefront (in adjacent Grosse Pointe Woods) there are virtual castles.  Wow! 

We made the 152-miles to Marshall on Thursday in a short, uninterrupted trek.  It's located about halfway between Ann Arbor (the home of the University of Michigan) and Battle Creek (the home of Kellogg's, which, some years ago, closed its cereal plant there and sent 4,000 workers packing).  We are staying at the Tri-Lake Trails Campground, a 300-acre property with trees, lakes, lots of grass, corn fields, and big RV sites.  Very nice.

Bill and Pat Wheeler are from Marshall, and they have been back here for the last six months, taking care of Pat's 99-year old father.  We had dinner with them Thursday night at the Stagecoach Inn, a local pub.  I had fish & chips, their all-you-can-eat special.  Very good.  I ate too much, of course.

The restaurant is on Michigan Avenue in Marshall.  By law, all Michigan cities must name their main street Michigan Avenue.  Not terribly creative. 



A couple of weeks ago, the “Check Engine” light on our truck started coming on again.  And we started belching smoke again.  And we started losing some coolant.  It was time to give up and have the truck looked at.  I showed up at the GMC dealer in Battle Creek (DeMaagd Nissan/GMC) at 8:00AM on Friday.  There is a dealer in Marshall, but the service advisor there had already told me his diesel man was not as good as the one at DeMaagd, and he had recommended that I go there.  The service advisor at DeMaagd, Rob Taylor, was very nice and seemed very knowledgeable.  I left the truck in his hands.

Bill Wheeler picked me up in Battle Creek and we headed back to Marshall.  Bill stopped at Louie’s Bakery for some very sweet and gooey pastries.  Yum.

He then took me on a brief tour of the neighborhood. Marshall is a town of only 4,000 people but it has a history of having had a number of well-to-do people build nice homes there in the 19th century---which have largely been very well-maintained over the years.  There are a lot of places on historic registers. It’s an interesting place to visit.

An hour later, Rob called with the bad news.  The fuel injectors we had replaced previously need to be replaced again and we have a leaking water pump.  The former injector work was guaranteed for only 12,000 miles (we had gone 50,000 miles) or one year (it had been 22 months).  Ka-ching!!!  And the truck would probably not be ready until Thursday afternoon, six days later.

(The fact that Labor Day was Monday did not help.)  We were scheduled to leave Marshall on Thursday, so we will have to push our schedule back a day.  I spent the rest of the day a little depressed at all that news, but I bounced back.  Bill and Pat loaned us one of their cars so at least we didn’t have to rent one while we waited.

Saturday evening, we met the Wheelers at Schuler's, a 103-year old landmark restaurant in Marshall.  I had a delicious Winston Burger in the pub side of the restaurant.  (Winston "Win" Schuler, the now-deceased son of the creator, managed the restaurant for many years.)

Sunday was a lazy day.

Monday morning, Becky took her bike on a 17-mile ride to Battle Creek, where I picked her up.  We then tracked down at the Meijer Market a wine we had discovered at a winery (Good Harbor) in northern Michigan.  We had been told the market stocked this brand and this particular blend of red table wine.  The first store said they had it, but they did not.  The second store came through with 12 bottles, which we snapped up. 



In the afternoon, the Wheelers stopped by and we had a Labor Day barbecue.  The RV park was jumping.  There were people everywhere.  That night, there were fireworks nearby.  Very festive.

Tuesday was another day of rest.  Wednesday, we got word that our truck would be ready in the afternoon.  Hurray!  We can leave on Thursday, as originally planned.  We picked it up, gave Bill his "loaner" back, and headed back to the RV park. 

Wednesday evening, we met the Wheeletrs for dinner at Applebee's, where I had a tasty Fiesta Chicken Chopped Salad.  We then said goodbye to them---until we meet again in November in Palm Springs, California.

This ended our Michigan adventure.