Thanksgiving Travels to Michigan
We've known since Harry was excepted into
Americorp he'd be off for four days at Thanksgiving we just just didn't know,
until a couple of weeks ago, where he'd be. It turned out to be a YMCA camp in
Augusta, MI (between Kalamazoo
and
Battle Creek). This puts Harry about two hours drive time to Noel's
boyhood home. So, the trip was on so we could enjoy Thanksgiving with Harry and
we could all enjoy some of the things Noel liked about mid-Michigan.
Tuesday November 24 – Diana off at 2p, we
make a mad dash as far east as we could make it by 8p. Tonight was the FINAL
episode of Dancing with the
Stars and we HAD to get to our hotel in time to watch! That turned
out to be a Motel 6 in Kearney, NE.
Wednesday November 25 – Drive, drive, drive
. . . that was it until Chicago.
Steady rain and rush hour traffic
resulted in two hours of 20mph or less driving. Diana was closing her eyes most
of he time. Noel wanted to . . . We arrived at the YMCA camp about 1 ½ hours
later than estimated. Pickup up Harry after 9p and got him a bite to eat and
checked into a cheap and lousy motel and crashed quickly. We had planned to
spend three nights at the Battle
Creek Days Inn. We cancelled the next two nights , , ,
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Harry turning in for the night . . . |
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Thursday November 26 – Thanksgiving and the
first stop is Turkeyville! (Marshall, MI) we planned to get Squished Pennies,
not a meal, but arrived an hour before opening. Later . . . Next is the Potter
Zoo in Lansing. Harry thought we'd experience a
squad car for B&E as we so
no one at all as we wondered through the zoo. We just walked in. No workers. No
visitors. We knew there was a Squished Penny machine in the gift shop and the
lions' den. The gift shop
was near the front but closed. We found a map and headed for the lions. Here we
did find a Squished machine and another family visiting the zoo, too. Harry was
relieved.
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The sign at Turkeyville |
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Diana and Harry walking in the zoo |
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Two Squished Penny machines as seen through the locked door of the gift shop |
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Harry as a monkey . . . |
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Lots of Lemurs |
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Diana at Squished machine with habitat behind |
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This machines offering |
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Lion |
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This guy doesn't agree with the sign |
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Harry at the eagle's habitiat |
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His good side . . . |
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Note left eye - or lack of |
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On to Flint and a culinary taste treat that has to
be experienced. OK if you grew up with it you love it, if not you don't quite
like it, usually. Harry and Noel love it! We did take Diana on a tour of
downtown
Flint on the way through, include the store Noel managed that is now a
parking lot. Next is Noel's drive through memory lane visiting
Otisville and his boyhood
homes. We then wound our way to
Huckleberry Railroad (closed) and then the
Baymont Inn. We settled in, took Harry to his grandmother's house for
dinner and then back to the hotel for hot tubbing and indoor pool,
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What's left of the Fisher Body (for Buicks) plant in Flint. The sight of the first UAW sit-down strike. Noel put 4 of the 7 screws in the left rear wheel moldings of 1978 and 79 Electras and LeSabres here . . . |
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Saginaw street downtown Flint as seen from the south. Note brick streets |
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Vernors painting on side of old bottling plant |
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Another angle of the painting |
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Kewpies downtown Flint. "7 days without a Halo Burger makes 1 week" |
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Angelo's Coney Island - the maker's of our Coney Island hot dogs - they squeak when ya bite 'em. |
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LakeVille High School - Otisville, MI |
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Noel's Crawford road home starting about 1971 |
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Noel's home 1955-1971 |
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Our "hot tub and pool" hotel |
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Friday November 27 – Bronner's is the
grandest, hugest, coolest Christmas display store in the known universe so since
we were only half an hour away we went. Pretty cool and so is Frankenmuth, the
town it's in. We then wound our way back to Flint, another classic restaurant
and then toward the YMCA camp. We stopped by Turkeyville again. Open this time
and then to the camp Harry gave us a great tour of his living and workspace.
After a tearful goodbye (well, Noel cried) Diana and Noel went to the
Kalamazoo Motel 6 for a good night's sleep.
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"Clock" outside Bronner's |
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Display near the entry |
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More marvelous diplays |
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Harry looking at some Christmas stuff |
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Diana at Squished Penny machine in Bronner's |
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Diana Squishing . . . |
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Another look inside Bronner's |
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Diana examining some of the paper money on display. It says they have one from every country. |
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A pretty ornament |
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Ain't it the truth! |
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Another display |
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Another Squished Penny machines offerings |
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More cool displays |
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. . . another look |
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Signs near the entrance/exit of Bronner's |
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Directions to . . . |
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Diana at Jellystone Park Squished Penny machine |
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This machines offering |
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Outside Jellystone Park in Frankenmuth |
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The Bavarian Inn Lodge (their Squished machine was OOO) |
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Barn next to the Inn |
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Outside the Cheese Haus downtown |
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Harry looking at teas and Diana Squishing |
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The single die offered |
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Diana and Harry entering another Squished Machine location |
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Diana Squishing again |
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The Bavarian Inn restaurant (line was too line for us to wait) |
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Zehnder's (across from Bavarian Inn) |
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A maypole statue downtown |
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The leather shop |
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Covered bridge we drove through |
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Diana Squishing Pennies in the Leather Shop |
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The Squished Penny machine (left) and cover bridge outside |
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Closer view |
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Two of the dozen or so carriags in town |
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Back in Flint, the Colonial restaurant |
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Now at the Turkeyville Squished Penny machine |
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It's die design |
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Noel driving to the YMCA |
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Harry riding to the YMCA |
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Diana and Harry walking to the cabin he lives in. |
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Diana inside the front room |
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Other side of the front room |
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A shelter on the grounds of the camp |
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The "rock throwing" range (really) |
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A game of some sort |
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A long slide. See the white hole at the end? |
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Archery range |
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The YMCA creed |
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The workout room in the YMCA main building |
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The indoor pool (there's a climbing wall too - inside) |
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The entry to the main building |
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Saturday November 28 – Drive, drive, drive – again. A nice room at our
new favorite
motel chain, America's Best Value Inns. This one was in York, NE.
Sunday November 29 – Short trip (relatively
- six hours) and home, sweet home. Always nice to travel, always nice to be home
. . .