Big Foot at White Pigeon, Michigan

Greetings from White Pigeon, Michigan, just three miles north of the Indiana state line.  It is a delightful little town that celebrates an interesting and unique past.

The town is named for Chief Wahbememe (White Pigeon) of the Pottawatomi nation.  He had been a signer of the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 which ceded large portions of Indian homelands to the white colonists who were moving in.

 Within a few years after the signing of that treaty, white families were buying land in Chief White Pigeon's own area.  By 1930, this land office was selling the fertile forests and prairies of the area for $1.25 per acre.  This, the oldest U.S. Land Office in Michigan, now serves as the county's museum.

Despite the influx of whites into his homelands, Chief White Pigeon befriended the newcomers.  Sometime around 1830, he was attending a gathering of chiefs in the area of Detroit.  There he learned of a plot to attack the settlement in the near future.  He left the gathering and ran, without stopping for food or rest, nearly 150 miles back to warn the town of the impending danger.  Having alerted the residents of the threat, he died shortly thereafter from exhaustion.  He is buried on the outskirts of the town that bears his name.

We found this history interesting, but the past was not the reason we had come to White Pigeon.  It is now a town of about 1600 residents and is presently the location of the corporate offices of Quadra Manufacturing Inc. 

Quadra manufactures BigFoot.  Not the Big Foot that prowls the forests of the northwest United States, however!  Quadra's BigFoot is a hydraulic leveling system for RVs.  Strong hydraulic "legs" mounted on the four corners of the RV can be activated remotely from a small control panel to automatically level the rig both front to back and side to side.  The legs and feet of the BigFoot system are strong enough to lift the wheels of the rig up off the ground if necessary!

It's been getting more and more difficult for us to level our fifth wheel with the "wood pile" of boards we carry in the truck for that purpose.  So we had a BigFoot system installed  on our rig.

It is our hope that this present-day investment will enhance the future of our RVing life!

Y'all have safe travels and lots of fun!

Bruce and MarySue

Back "home" to Darke County, Ohio

Darke County, in west central Ohio on the Indiana line, was home to Lowell Thomas, the famous news reporter, Zachary Lansdowne, pilot of the ill-fated dirigible The USS Shenandoah, and Annie Oakley. "Little Miss Sure Shot" of Wild West Show fame.  For 25 years, before we became RV full-timers, it was our home, too.  It is one of the foremost agricultural counties of the state, so the major social event for the county -- ever since 1853 -- has been The Great Darke County Fair.

Fair week is not until August so during our visit this past week we rented one of the campsites available on the fairgrounds.

                                    

On our morning walks we enjoyed watching the horses as they were exercised on the race track in front of the grandstand.

Last year marked the 100th anniversary of the grandstand, center of  the Fair activities.

Several evenings a week as we walked, we watched young 4-H members practice their riding and showmanship skills.

It was fun to visit dear old friends and once again tour familiar places, but there was not a twinge of homesickness.  We were ready to move on in our travels, but our truck had other ideas. Yesterday, after  we enjoyed lunch with friends, it would not start! Was it jealous of our delicious lunch?  or staging a non-starting strike? did it need a vacation from traveling?  or was it just pure cussedness?  We'll never know but the tow truck took it to the nearby Ford dealer and we rented a car.  Twenty four hours later, after all tests were run and computers checked on the misbehaving machine, the mechanics were unable to replicate the problem and released the truck back to us. They had no idea why it didn't start and, being unable to fix anything, they didn't even charge us for their labor!  

Tomorrow off to Indiana.

Bruce and MarySue

Caesar Creek State Park

Welcome from Caesar Creek State Park near Waynesville, Ohio.

We arrived yesterday afternoon and settled into this quiet site surrounded by large trees.

Business appointments and the early summer heat spell have kept us from spending much time enjoying the lake

or the swimming beach.

But we have learned a little about the history of this area.  This sizeable lake is formed by a dam on Caesar's Creek.  The stream was originally named for a black slave named Caesar who had been captured by the Shawnee Indians of this area of southwest Ohio in the 1770s.  He adapted to the Shawnee culture and customs and spent the remainder of his life living with them.  He was courageous in the Shawnee raids on neighboring white settlers under the renowned Shawnee War Chief Blue Jacket, a white man who also chose to adopt the Shawnee way of life.  In appreciation for Caesar's dedication to the tribe, he was given this creek, which they named for him, and all the lands it drained were considered to be his hunting grounds.

Tomorrow we'll head northwest for some visits with family.  We hope your summer is enjoyable as ours.  (And for those of you who stayed in south Texas for the summer, perhaps you will be comforted to know that it's nearly as hot here in Ohio as it is in the Rio Grande Valley!)

Bruce and MarySue

Gravel Pedestal

Behind this attractive driveway is our own "private RV site."  We've mentioned before that our son's little farm in southeast Ohio includes a meadow where we can park our rig when we come to visit him.

In the two and a half years he has lived there, he (and his dad!) have made a number of improvements in "our" space.  What started out looking like an overgrown jungle full of poison ivy, Virginia creeper, multiflora rose, burdock, dandelions and other nameless weeds, now looks like a lawn.  It's a delightful place to sit and enjoy watching the birds, and the butterflies.  The horses in the adjoining field give it the look of a real farm and several of the resident pet dogs come often to give us a hospitable welcome.

But this year he outdid himself with improvements to "our space!"
 

He and his dad laid another truckload of gravel on our site and then he built us a sturdy retaining wall of landscape blocks to hold the gravel in place!  As you can see, it improves both the looks of the site and the ease of leveling the rig on it.  He was so impressed with the improvement he had made that he thought he might rent it out during hunting season!  Our son refers to it as a retaining wall, but I choose to think of it as the pedestal that he has given us!    

The Twelve Days of Vacation

(to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas")

On the first day of vacation, we weeded for our son

a rosy purple rhodendron.

On the second day of vacation, we weeded for our son

two bleeding hearts, and a rosy purple rhodendron!

On the third day of vacation, we weeded for our son

three nameless lilies, two bleeding hearts, and a rosy purple rhodedendron.

On the fourth day of vacation, we weeded for our son

four tiny iris, three nameless lilies, two bleeding hearts and a rosy purple rhodedendron.

On the fifth day of vacation, we weeded for our son

five towering pines;

four tiny iris; three nameless lilies; two bleeding hearts;

and a rosy purple rhodedendron.

On the sixth day of vacation, we weeded for our son

six pink Columbine

(and you can read backwards faster than I can write it out!)

On the seventh day of vacation, we weeded for our son

seven spikes of 'sparagras (etc.)

On the eighth day of vacation, we weeded for our son

eight fanning ferns (etc. etc.)

On the ninth day of vacation, we weeded for our son

nine little violets.

On the tenth day of vacation, we weeded for our son

ten greening beans

nine little violets, eight fanning ferns, seven spikes of 'sparagras, six pink Columbine (etc.)

On the eleventh day of vacation, we weeded for our son

eleven red-leafed somethings.

Ten ... nine....eight ....seven .... six ....

On the twelfth day of vacation, we weeded for our son

twelve dozen hastas!

Eleven red-leafed somethings; ten greening beans; nine little violets, eight fanning ferns; seven spikes of 'sparagras; six pink Columbine; five towering pines; four tiny iris; three nameless lilies; two bleeding hearts; and a rosy purple rhodedendron!

So, what that means is that

on the first day of vacation, we pulled out of the ground

a wicked-looking poison ivy vine!

On the second day of vacation, we pulled out of the ground

two piles of dog poop, and a wicked-looking poison ivy vine.

On the third day of vacation, we pulled out of the ground

three kinds of grasses,

two piles of dog poop; and a wicked looking poison ivy vine.

On the fourth day of vacation, we pulled up from the ground

four buckets of clover,

three kinds of grasses, two piles of dog poop, and a wicked looking poison ivy vine!

On the fifth day of vacation, we pulled up from the ground

five acres of dandelions,

four buckets of clover, three kinds of grasses, two piles of dog poop,

and a wicked looking poison ivy vine!

On the sixth day of vacation, we pulled up from the ground

sixty burdock bundles.

Fifty acres of dandelions, four buckets of clover, three kinds of grasses,

and a wicked looking poison ivy vine.

On the seventh day of vacation, we pulled up from the ground

seven leagues of weed vines.

Six ... five... four ...  (you know the routine by now!)

On the eighth day of vacation, we pulled up from the ground

eight miles of (Virginia) creeper.

Seven ... six ... (etc. etc.)

On the ninth day of vacation, we pulled up from the ground

eight slimy earthworms,

(etc. backwards again.)

On the tenth day of vacation, we pulled up from the ground

ten thorny thistles,

(you know the routine!)

On the eleventh day of vacation, we pulled up from the ground

eleventeenth tiny critters.....

On the twelfth day of vacation, we pulled up from the ground

twelve multifloras,

eleventeenth small critters, ten thorny thistles, nine slimy earthworms, eight miles of creeper, seven leagues of weed vines, sixty burdock bundles, five acres of dandelions, four buckets of clover, three kinds of grasses, two piles of dog poop, and a wicked looking poison ivy vine! 

WOW, are we pooped!

Bruce and MarySue

Athens County, Ohio

On Thursday we arrived at our favorite mid-western RV "park":the meadow above the home of our son, Joel.  He lives near Athens, Ohio and keeps this area mowed up for us whenever we tell him we're coming his way!

He has lived here for three years and is slowly transforming his little jungle into a pleasant and cozy country home.  Each time we visit we try to help him out with some of his on-going improvement projects.  This year, so far, it's been mowing, weeding, hauling off trash and putting up a protective structure for his wood pile. 



Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky

We enjoyed a pleasant visit with our friends, Keith and Joan, in Campbell County Kentucky.  Yesterday Keith took us on a driving tour of some of the sights of Cincinnati, Ohio and Newport, Kentucky.

View of downtown Cincinnati from Mt. Adams.

The Ohio River from Mt. Adams.  Newport, Kentucky is on the far side of the river and Cincinnati, Ohio, is on the near bank.

 Fountain Square, Cincinnati Ohio, the "Queen City."

The Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal.  Built in 1931, Union Terminal had the capacity for 216 trains a day -- 108 in and 108 out.  After the decline of railroad travel, most of the building was converted to other uses, and now houses museums, theaters, and a library.

One of the mosaic murals in the rotunda of the Cincinnati Museum Center.

Another of the mosaic murals in the rotunda of the Cincinnati Museum Center.

The World Peace Bell in Newport, Kentucky, is one of more than twenty peace bells around the world. This bell, cast in Nantes, France, is twelve feet in diameter.

We also enjoyed seeing Cincinnati's two new sports stadiums, Eden Park, Kountz Conservatory, the Art Museum, and Newport on the Levee before raindrops sent us back home.