Going Back to School

Summer vacation's come to an end and it is back to school. Here's Jack on his first day of middle school, 6th grade. He leaves earlier than the others now, before they even get up. And his bus stop isn't on our corner anymore. Big guy!

Here's the rest of the crew on Day 1.

Miss Girl's got a new book bag for big stuff 1st grade. Sam's practicing for Mr. Olympia.


Here's Grant heading off to 4th grade. He has a no-homework teacher this year and I think they are gonna get along just fine.

And how did Sam take it, with all his sibling playmates taking off to spend entire days at school and leaving him behind?

You be the judge. See him pedaling like mad as soon as they are all on the bus, ready to tear into their rooms and mess with their stuff?

Caroline on Day 2.

See these glasses? Now they are in three pieces. New frames coming in a week.

And see the spot on the tip of Diane's nose? After two weeks, the wasp sting wound has finally simmered down. Ouch.

Michigan Vacation-- The Final Chapter Finally

These are blueberry fields. We stayed a few days smack dab in the heart of blueberry country. Michigan is the U.S.'s biggest supplier of blueberries and the area where we were staying produces 80% of Michigan's blueberries, so you know I am not exaggerating when I say there were blueberries everywhere. And they were priced at 75 cents a pint, the same amount that here at home costs $5. So I would have liked to have brought home a year's supply of blueberries, but considering how fragile they are, I brought home one pint. And will cringe every time I see them at the grocery store.

The soil was so sandy in this region that it is perfect for blueberry roots that will drown in any kind of clay soil. Other than the blueberries, this locale was remote and lacking in any kind of industry. The house we rented was closest to Grand Junction, Michigan. And the house we rented was right next to a bar that's signs professed to be "Putting the Function Back in Grand Junction!" Surprise!! Your family vacation house is feet from a redneck bar. They didn't list that in the amenities. Oh well, the bar was only open one night while we were there, but had we known...

This is where the bar was XXX

This is the house looking from Silver Lake. It had a nice little beach and the water was really nice. It was shallow enough that Sam could wade out quite a distance and it was only to his chest. It was warm even though the air temperature might only be 70 degrees. Beautiful days!!

As usual for this family, making sandcastles was a highlight of vacation. And what was cool about these was that there was no tide to take them away overnight.

This was the study on how many bucketfuls of water would it take to make this castle fail. It was very many!

We had a firepit in the backyard, so we had a weinie roast and Jack was kind enough to roast marshmallows special for Sam.

More days playing around in the lake!

Closest you will ever find of a picture of Diane in a string bikini.

The lake was very calm and pretty quiet. Occasionally someone would have a boat out, but for the most part, it was just us.

This dock was great! It was anchored but could be moved to where ever we wanted it.
It's where I fell asleep and got a sunburn on one half of my body.

The kids played around in the backyard, too. Don't ask me why but it appears Sam was getting practiced in k-i-s-s-i-n-g but isn't it supposed to be about sitting with someone in a tree?

Here he's practicing his Michael Flatley.

One day we went to Saugatuck, Michigan and found this Lake Michigan beach. It was beautiful and you think it has to be an ocean, seeing no end.

I don't know if I could pick a favorite out of these two daddy/daughter pictures. I love them both!

Grant did not want to get out of this water! It was very cool, but he was having a blast in the waves.

Caroline looks so somber, but she was just people-watching. We did see a guy who you would swear was the Santa Claus. Totally white beard, big belly, green and red Speedo. Just kidding. It wasn't really green and red.

And I apologize, no picture! I'm gonna get fired from this blog thing.

More sand construction.

And I cannot believe the kids got ahold of the camera and snapped this of Gary and me!

Well, except it's not Gary or me, and the snapping of the picture was actually done by me. Hey, you two, get a room!

The next day, it was time for us to head home after 9 days on the road. We went through Indianapolis and stopped by Clay County for a night, getting to visit with Karen and Joe and Grandma and Grandpa Harrell. Then we finally got home to Glen Carbon and found we were locked out of our house, missing a key and with the garage door opener power shut off. Long story short, we were able to get a key from the house of the boy who had been hired to feed and water Scooter even though he and his parents were not home, and finally at 10 p.m. we got into our house. Boy, did our beds feel good that night! And I will say we had a happy dog.

Michigan Vacation -- continued continued

Detroit-- Motor City

The orange sign says Tunnel to Canada but we didn't.

The thing about Detroit was it was graffiti and litter-covered and this bridge looks like one of its best actually. You can't really tell from this far-away shot, but this building is just a deteriorating shell-- everything's busted out, no windows at all. Many, many of the buildings were like this, and not just really old-turn-of-the-century buildings--buildings like this one that could be kinda modern if not for the totally abandoned state it was in. Downtown Detroit felt like East St Louis and that was sad. I haven't travelled all that many places but of all I have been, it was the unclassiest city, and really just downright dirty. Sorry, Detroit, I know it sounds harsh. But so true.

It feels like this Detroit arrow should be pointing downward, if you get my drift.


So we hightailed it outta there, but along the way couldn't miss that Detroit really is, or used to be, automobile-world. Sam loved this:

Mimi told us a story about once when she went downtown Detroit, she was harassed by a group on the street because she was driving her Hyundai.

All the Ford sites seemed to still be working, but some of the GM buildings and other automobile-relateds, like parts factories, were shut down and boarded up. There was no avoiding noticing the economic effects and high unemployment in this state.

We headed back west across the state and here's our handsome navigator:


And have you ever seen headphones made to look like earrings?
We spent that night in Kalamazoo and there's not much to say about that other than we would not rave about that night's hotel, although their pool was fun for us. Well, until Sam threw up in it. I guess they could say there wasn't much good to say about the Gills staying in their hotel.

The next day, we continued on Westward until we hit Lake Michigan. And can I just say THANKS A LOT to whoever invented the SlugBug game because 1) there are a heck of a bunch of these on the road, yep, even in Michigan and 2) all the kids pick me to slug when they see one and you can imagine how quick and focused they are when it comes spotting them.

We had lunch at South Haven, a Lake Michigan harbor town.

You might notice the smile on my face and it is similar to the one you saw July 13, 1996 or July 9, 1998, June 29, 2000, June 17, 2003, and even the one from Sept. 8, 2004. Well, the reason for this happy day, I was having my first taste of chocolate in over one week! It wasn't intentional that I didn't have any chocolate, but with us in the van and hoteling it, I just hadn't had any.

And can I ask, if one is blessed with such a sweet tooth, why would the same one also have to be blessed with hefty arms? I'm telling you, they shouldn't go together. Just make a note of that, DNA-planner person or whoever it is that's in charge. Thank you.

And you know I am not the only one who is serious about ice cream.

I don't even know what to tell you about this picture except Miss Girl was trying out new 'dos in the van and this shot just cracks me up so much, even though she's not gonna be happy it's included. But I couldn't deprive our loyal followers of a chuckle just to save her some humiliation.

Well, The Gills on the Go are signing off for now, and the last installment of Michigan Vacation follows. The beach is within reach!!