Christmas + Kids = FUN

Ah, what laughs when you get six kids under the age of 13 together to celebrate a family Christmas. We had a great time in St. Louis with the kids and grandkids. We wish each of our blog followers a joyous Christmas and a wonderful new year.

Snow Dog

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. . . at least after today's snow. Our Florida dog wasn't too sure about it at first and didn't want to come out, but he was soon romping around having a great time. We're only one of two RV's in the campground here in the St. Louis area. Guess everyone else was smart enough to head south by now! We'll be doing the same right after Christmas. Merry Christmas, everyone.

Ice! in Texas

Well, it was INSIDE, but it was ice none-the-less. The Gaylord Texan has an annual tradition of presenting a truly spectacular 14,000-square-foot "ICE!" exhibit. This year it was a Charlie Brown Christmas, featuring a variety of magical holiday scenes and sculptures hand-carved by 40 visiting artisans from China. Walking through the exhibit, you feel as though you've been transported to the North Pole. You bundle up in warm parkas and enter a winter wonderland created with TWO MILLION pounds of ice and kept at a wintry 9 degrees. Charlie Brown and friends have never been cooler.

Missouri Wine Country

Autumn is a wonderful time to tour the wineries in central Missouri. We got together with Drew's sister, Kathleen, and her husband, Dave, and traveled the Missouri Weinstrasse from Defiance to Augusta. Lunch was at the Montelle Winery, on a deck overlooking the Missouri River valley. A spectacular setting.

A Family Affair

Our 5-year-old granddaughter, Sophia, is playing soccer this year. Coaching the team are her parents, Jill and Tony. What a hoot to watch! The girls take the game pretty seriously, but their attention span often wanes.

Pet Rocks

I developed a fascination with Michigan's Petoskey stones and couldn't take a walk without searching for them. I ultimately found close to 200 on the campground property. I only got around to polishing about half of them, since I don't have professional equipment to make the job easier. I kept the ones you see here and will be giving some to the grandkids and anyone else who shows an interest! Me and my Dremmel have been busy. The stones I polished but didn't keep are in the campground store and the unpolished ones will be given to a fellow rock enthusiast.

Leaving the Leaves

Our time in Michigan is drawing to a close, but not before we catch some early Fall colors. We don't have to venture far to enjoy. The campground and trails are resplendent with reds, oranges, yellows. It's time to go if we want to avoid all the raking!

Going U.P.

We made our first foray into Michigan's Upper Peninsular. Our destination was Tahquamenon Falls, the second largest in the U.S., second only to Niagara Falls, spilling over 3300 gallons of water per SECOND. We also got our first glimpse of Lake Superior, another one of the Greats. Beautiful country U.P. here!

Pudgy Fudgies

We went back to Mackinaw Island while my brother Robbie was visiting and indulged again in their famous fudge. Once you have, you become a "fudgie." Yum. Good eats.

Polish Cracker

What happens when a Florida Cracker attends a Polish festival? You have a Polish Cracker! So many festivals, so little time. . . This one was in Boyne Falls and was complete with a Polka tent and of course the required Kielbasa, Polish sausage, and kraut. An added attraction was the pre-1960 classic tractor pull. Ya think this is farm country?

Petoskey Rocks!

Both the town and the stones. We strolled the bay front park and looked at the immaculately restored homes and buildings near downtown and along the bay. You can see what was once a neglected church is now an impressive art center. The Petoskey Stone is Michigan's state stone. It is a type of coral from about 350 million years ago when this area of Michigan was a shallow marine sea. The "eyes" in the stone are actually individual cells where a small animal lived and harvested food. Lake Michigan beachcombers search for the stones, much as us Floridians look for sharks teeth. I've found some and am in the process of sanding and polishing them in hopes of them eventually looking like the sample in the picture!

The Beat of the (Steel) Drum

What happens when you offer high schoolers an opportunity for fun and travel? You get a stage full of talented, energetic Steel Drum performers! The Petoskey HS program that started out about 14 years ago with a mere eight musicians, has grown to one of the most popular music programs in the State. All equipment, instruments, and expenses are paid for from fund raisers and the sale of CD's and a new DVD. These sought-out kids have performed several times in New Orleans, in Hawaii, and other parts of the country. During the summer they often perform as many as three concerts a day, spanning several cities. Their repertoire is diverse, too, from the traditional Jimmy Buffet songs, to Lord of the Dance, to the Nutcracker, to Deliverance's famous dueling banjos (steel drum style). For us, they were the highlight of Alpenfest. They rock!

I Love a Parade

Gaylord's Alpenfest saves the best for last. Their parade is on Saturday, closing day for the festival. And what a parade! It went on for over an hour and included marching bands, floats, antique cars, local clubs and businesses, police, rescue, fire, and of course "dignitaries" such as Ronald MacDonald, Homer (Home Depot) and Jet (Jet's Pizza). A unique group was the local grocers' precision marching shopping carts! I'd estimate that over one third of the approximately fifty floats were queens and courts from other Michigan towns and festivals. This state loves it's festivals!

Alpenfest

The third week of July is when the little town of Gaylord hosts a huge swiss-themed festival. Several blocks downtown are closed off for carnival rides, food booths and vendors. There are free events and concerts all day, and with the purchase of a souvenir pin for $3 you get free food and admission to special events held every day. Many families make this their annual vacation destination. Dirndl's and lederhosen abound!

Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries

At least at the National Cherry Festival. We likened it to the Strawberry Festival in Plant City (FL), in that there were more ways to use cherries than you could imagine! Of course there's no pit spitting contest at the Strawberry Festival. (Can you believe there are people who can propel a cherry pit to over 50 feet?!) The week-long Cherry Festival is held along the beautiful shores of the bay in Traverse City, MI. Some of the festivities we enjoyed during our afternoon and evening there included the kids chalk art, the Air Dog competition, the wine sampling tent complete with a host sommelier (pictured in the green shirt by the barrel), and of course the live music venues.

Oldies but Goodies

Northern Michigan has numerous car shows throughout the summer months. We drove over to Lewiston, a small town nearby, to catch one. There were 200 classics on display--almost more than the town population! A few of our favorites are pictured: A Bentley convertible, a Herman Munster Ford, and a stub-nosed Chevrolet commercial truck.

Wing Swinging

A Friday night Big Band party under the wings of a B17 kicked off Gaylord's weekend air show. Attendees were encouraged to come in WWII period attire, which many did (although someone should tell the lady in the poodle skirt that she was more 50's era). We danced the night away to the very excellent 17-piece big band orchestra.

A Very Grand Hotel

If any of you movie buffs ever saw "Somewhere in Time," you've seen The Grand Hotel on Mackinaw Island. And grand it is. We strolled the manicured grounds, went up to the Cupola Bar for a rum punch, and spent time relaxing in a rocking chair on the longest porch in the world. When our RVing days are over, we'd love to splurge and come stay here as hotel guests.

Big Mac

Mackinaw Island is everything we'd heard and more. Access is by passenger ferry. No autos are allowed, so even UPS is by horse-drawn wagons. What a quaint and picturesque village. We loved our leisurely afternoon there.