Goodbye Summer, Hello Ford

September 21, 2024 / marniesteve / Leave a comment

We’ve just finished our first summer as seasonal residents of the Traverse Bay RV Resort (TBRV) in beautiful Traverse City, Michigan. Where did the time go? We’ve been so busy having the time of our lives that we haven’t posted in quite awhile. Let’s try to get caught up!

After a busy June and early July with visits from Mitch and the Green family, my sister Mickie came all the way from Arizona to visit us in Michigan. We did our best to show her a good time. We went to the casino, visited lighthouses, and explored numerous wineries and distilleries. It was fun to share our new summer home with Mickie and find some new gems with her. Thanks for visiting, sis!

We were attracted to the Traverse City area partly because of the miles of bike trails. We can easily get out on the trail and ride or run for miles. As you can see, we explored as many miles as possible!

In addition, the area around Traverse City is chocked full of wineries. We became members at Chateau Chantal and enjoyed a weekly visit to enjoy the views and the wine.

One of the wineries on the Mission Peninsula

One of the best things about our summer was, of course, the wonderful friends we’ve made. It was Kunio and Michelle who first introduced us to their summer home, and they made our transition into the community quick and fun. Michelle coordinates the on-site breakfast four times throughout the season and recruited us to serve on the breakfast crew. Steve became an expert pancake maker by the last event!

Michelle and Marnie; Photo credit to Kunio

Our RV friends Gail and Jeff stopped in Traverse City for a week and stayed in a site right behind us. Together with Michelle and Kunio we had a wine tasting afternoon, which was super fun.

Lots of time was spent on the patio with new and old friends. Happy hour is a regular activity at TBRV, and we hosted a gathering one evening. Our theme was the Olympics, and we watched the Opening Ceremonies while socializing.

We also spent time with our friends Steve and Dwight. We met Steve almost five years ago when he hosted us at his home in Florida as part of the Boondockers Welcome program. These guys had planned to stay at TBRV for a week this summer but ended up staying longer in the lot they bought while they were here! We’re looking forward to more happy hours with them next summer!

A day on the Mission Peninsula with Dwight and Steve

The resort offers a busy social calendar. I participated in the monthly book club and even led the discussion in August. The monthly ladies luncheon provided opportunities to meet more of our neighbors and make even more new friends.

After Labor Day, Steve flew to Omaha to join his brother Brian and nephew Nathan at the Nebraska – Colorado football game in Lincoln. Go Big Red!

And since Steve was gone, Gail and Jeff joined me and the rest of the gang at Traverse City’s second annual International Fireworks Competition. While the weather all summer was warm and mild, we braved a little cold to view the choreographed fireworks spectacular. This is one event we’ll do again next summer.

Bundled up to watch fireworks – Jeff, Marnie, Gail, Michelle & Kunio

When the day finally arrived that we had to move along, we headed towards Detroit to check out the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and to take a tour of the Ford Rouge factory. No photos are allowed inside the factory, so you’ll have to believe us when we say it was really fascinating.

On our second day in Dearborn we visited Ford’s Greenfield Village, an 80-acre collection of artifacts and homes of famous Americans. Besides seeing Edison’s laboratory and Noah Webster’s (of Merriam-Webster fame) home, we rode the historic steam locomotive and a 1914 Model T. The 111-year-old Hershell-Spillman Carousel took us back to our childhoods.

Would we recommend a visit to The Henry Ford? The answer is a resounding YES! The factory tour gave us incredible insight into how our truck was made. The Village was filled with one surprise after another. We didn’t stay in the Detroit area for long, but the part that we saw was worth the detour.

The fall marathon race schedule is about to begin. Watch for more blog posts from some super cool places!

National Grand Design Rally

September 3, 2024 / marniesteve / Leave a comment

We took a break from our time in Michigan to attend our first National Grand Design Rally in Goshen, Indiana. This is the largest gathering of Grand Design owners in the country and is a week filled with food, music, tours, and technical repairs. We split the four hour drive to Indiana with a stay at a great Harvest Host location: Archival Brewing. Located in Belmont, MI, just north of Grand Rapids, Archival has great beer and food and allowed us to park right next to the biergarten. After a great meal we enjoyed live music before retiring to our RV for the night. Harvest Hosts are really cool!

The Grand Design National Rally takes over the Elkhart 4-H Fairgrounds. With over 600 Grand Design rigs on the property., more than 1500 owners, vendors, and Grand Design staff gather to explore all things RV and Grand Design.

By attending we got work done on our rig and bought a few new accessories which make life on the road a little easier. New wallpaper in the bathroom and an improved entry door handle were worth the trip. Every day’s agenda was filled with activities and opportunities. One of my favorites was the silent auction, where I walked away with four baskets of goodies!

One day I joined an organized tour to explore the nearby Amish country. Our guide-led exploration took us to a leather goods workshop, a carriage maker, and an Amish bakery.

This is truly some of the most beautiful rural areas we’ve seen in a long time. Along the way we ate really yummy food with an Amish family and gained insights into their simple life.

Typical sights on the road in Amish Country

Steve and I also had the opportunity to take a tour of the factory. This is where our Grand Design Solitude fifth wheel was made. We walked through the manufacturing process, from chassis to side walls, from roof to interiors.

It was fascinating to see how our little house on wheels came together just over a year ago. The tour reassured us that Grand Design is producing high quality RVs that they stand behind. If you are in the market for an RV, we highly recommend Grand Design!

A few finished products outside the factory

Crossing the USA, Visiting Family & Friends

July 12, 2024 / marniesteve / Leave a comment

The bulk of this summer will be spent at our “new to us” RV lot at Traverse Bay RV Resort in Traverse City, Michigan. However, to get there, we had a bit of a haul from Idaho. Traveling across the country with an RV is certainly the way to go, and we made the most of our cross-country trek by stopping along the way to visit family and friends.

From Idaho we stopped at Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park near Whitehall, Montana to check out the caves. Discovered in 1892 by local hunters, these caverns went on to become Montana’s first state park. As one of the largest known limestone cavern systems in the northwest, people have been exploring the caves for over 100 years. However, Lewis and Clark weren’t among them though they did explore in the area. We were glad we took the two hour, two mile guided walking tour that gained an elevation of 300ft, ascended over 100 stairs, and descended over 500 stairs.

While in the area we checked out a place where Lewis and Clark definitely stopped: the headwaters of the Missouri River. Steve lived along the river as he was growing up in Blair, Nebraska, and he’s always had a fascination with the river. Now he’s been to where it all starts.

As we crossed Montana, we made a stop at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. This area memorializes the US Army’s 7th Cavalry, Crow, and Arikara scouts and the Lakotas, Cheyennes, and Arapaho in one of the American Indian’s last armed efforts to preserve their way of life. Here on June 25 and 26 of 1876, 263 soldiers, including Lt. Col. George A. Custer died fighting several thousand native warriors. It was a quick stop for us and a sobering reminder of the lives that were lost in the battle for western lands.

After several more days of driving we landed in Elkhorn, Nebraska and the home of Steve’s brother Brian. During our two day visit we hung out with the kids, spent time in the pool, and celebrated my birthday. It’s always fun to stop at Brian’s house!

As we traveled through Iowa we made stops in Corning to visit the cousins, in Des Moines for lunch with our friends Dan and Jackie, and in Muscatine to spend time with Steve’s high school buddy Kent and and his wife Lori. Unfortunately we didn’t take any photos of our night with the cousins but we did remember to snap a few at our other stops. Again, our RV lifestyle allows us to stay connected with so many of our loved ones, and for that we are grateful.

We had one more stop before arriving to our new place in Michigan. In Elkhart, Indiana, Steve attended the Lippert RV Owner’s School. For three days he attended classes related to plumbing, electrical, roofs, suspensions, and more. He doesn’t promise to be able to fix your RV, but he now knows more than he did before.

Next we arrive to our new home in Michigan and we’ll have another post soon to give you all those details.

Marnie and Steve Travel

We're retired! Let's go!

RV Adventures

Goodbye Summer, Hello Ford

National Grand Design Rally

Crossing the USA, Visiting Family & Friends