Terri and Peter's RV Adventures

(Written July 7, Published July 8 due to Starlink Work Stoppage)

Sitting outside early this morning as the clouds made up their minds when they were going to float away, I was drinking coffee and starting to read my meditation books as I stared out into the woods behind our campsite. Lily was meditating on a squirrel that was debating whether or not to chance a ground game against the black lab. All this was happening as an older woman was taking her morning smoking walk down the adjacent path. It seemed a little weird that someone would find it a healthy pursuit to walk and smoke but hey, at least she was walking! I’ve encountered a lot more smokers in Michigan. It’s hard to imagine that people still smoke but they do. It was the hardest habit for me to quit so I empathize.

The day centered around Peter meeting a second cousin on the Bluford/Blumrosen side of the family. He and Fran had been corresponding and planned this get together in Traverse City, equidistant from where we’re staying and where she lives.

Before that, I was able to finally secure an emergency pedicure. I considered it a medical appointment given the blister issue I had a month ago or so. In any case, it was a luxury even if I had to walk through a mall to get there. I’m not a fan of malls.

We drove into Traverse City to The Filling Station, our meeting place with Peter’s cousin. From what I’ve seen, “city” is in name only. It seems more like a town with an outer band of box stores and car dealerships and yes, a mall. The interior that we saw consisted of smaller two story homes packed closely together in residential neighborhoods but we didn’t run into a main commercial district. Maybe our destination didn’t route us through one.

Fortunately, arriving 15 minutes early, we discovered a park with a lake a couple of blocks away which provided a perfect place for—you guessed it—a Lily ball chuck it exercise on an expansive green lawn and into Boardman Lake.

Our lunch with Fran was delightful. She’s four days younger than Peter and while she didn’t have the understanding of their family history that Peter had, she was enthralled to hear about it and told very funny stories about her dad who died a few years ago at the age of 101. Looking at photos he looked more like 70. Fran had a fantastic sense of humor, was Midwestern/Detroit down-to-earth and curious about Peter’s siblings and children. The two hours flew by. While she didn’t have much to add about the family, it was a lovely connection and I think she felt great hearing about Peter’s side of the family.

Returning to camp, we hitched up, Peter emptied our tanks and filled our fresh water reservoir and we drove to a place that filled up our propane tanks. This is life when you’re camping for weeks on end. These tasks make me appreciate the infrastructure that we have in our homes: endless water on demand and sewer and wastewater facilities under our homes (or wherever it goes). There’s no watching the grey water tank and being careful how much water you use when washing dishes (although we do when we’re at home, as we live in a desert). Camping, even in an RV, makes you hyper aware of these limited and precious resources that we need and use in our daily lives.

Tomorrow is fairly open but we were lucky to get an appointment with the local Airstream dealer to look at an issue we’re having with our door. It’s just the simple (and scary) matter that we are having a difficult time opening it, whether we’re inside or outside the trailer. Apparently, it’s not uncommon and they said they can fix it. We have a number of far less important issues that will need to be fixed when we get home. For now, I’m grateful they are creating time to fix this important problem.

Summer weather in Michigan has taken hold and life on lakes is pretty bucolic here.