Off to a good start...

Well, one thing for sure, we're not used to working this hard!  The owners and our co-workers are great!  Since they are a bit short handed, we have been working a lot.  Ron is in his element, fixing things and driving around the golf cart escorting campers to their spots.  I'm mostly in the office, greeting campers, checking in and out sites and answering phones.  It's not rocket science, but there's still a bit of learning to do.  This KOA is a bit more rustic than others, which we love, but it still offers the KOA amenities people look for, like laundry.  We have been trained in cleaning cabins and bathrooms, but it seems that we will only be backing up the regular cleaners.  Whew!  So far, so good.  

Update on mom is that she is still fighting an infection, a bit better, but it's still day to day.  Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers, and please keep it up as she is still pretty weak.  

First day on the job!

Second day on the job the inspectors for quality control arrived to check out the campground.

First day off we went to town for breakfast on our bikes through the back of camp to an actual bike path. 

The path we took through the woods was so peaceful, almost too quiet

We knew we made it to the edge of town once we saw the giant dog of Wienerlicious!

Ron couldn't wait to grab a bite!

Saw this strange caterpillar type thing, come to find out it's bad for the tree...pretty interesting though.

Arrived to Our Home...

We have had a bittersweet arrival to our camp.  As we first arrived we got word that my mom, Nancy, is sick and had to be taken to the E.R. on Thursday.  As of this post, she is stable but seems to have some type of infection.  Thoughts and prayers for this little lady are appreciated.

Until we know more, we are here and they have started us off already. Upon setting up, we had a very warm welcome from the owners and our new co-workers.  Our site is tucked in a nice shaded, wooded part of the campground.  The camp is just our style being older with mature trees and forest all around.  As we arrived, apparently another couple decided to not stay on to work, so we may be working more hours than anticipated.  Still, we will have at least two days off together to explore this amazing area of Michigan.  

Today, because of the owners schedule, we have been given a day off with instructions and free passes to explore Mackinaw Island. 

Duty must call, but our hearts are heavy with worry.  We will try to keep up the blog as we go, but please understand if we lapse a bit.

Our first glimpse of Lake Michigan coming into the area.

We's here!

Home sweet home 

The Mackinaw Bridge spans 5 miles!

View from the laundry room not so shabby...

After some supply shopping, we had to hit up the local burger drive-in called Yek's

Thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery please.

From Iowa to Michigan in a day...

Since we knew we still had about 750 miles to go, we checked in with our new boss and found out we could slow down a bit.  That's all we needed to hear, so we fit in a little sight seeing.  I was reminded from a friend that American Pickers store, Antique Archaeology, was in LeClaire, IA so we had to stop in of course.  Mike, Frank, nor Danielle were not there, but we had a fun time exploring their shops. 

Barge on the Ole Miss

Should say home of the pickers!

Signage, as Mike would say...

Who's older?

Loads of fun stuff...

We then crossed over the Mississippi into Illinois for a bit.  The road took us through the south side of Chicago, so we missed most of the city traffic, except for all the road repairs.  We hit the tip of Indiana before heading north into Michigan.  Finally, we are in our destination state.  We stayed at a private campground along the Saint Joseph river.  It was another beautiful spot.  Although the miles weren't too long, we found ourselves exhausted.  We both napped and slept in the next morning!  A first in all these days on the road.  

Would love to have a river home...well maybe not :/

Not the best shot through the window, just trying to capture the enormity of the Mississippi

Made it over the bridge

Beautiful farm

Just for a minute we hit Indiana....

See, finally made it to Michigan...

Iowa's Best Burger Cafe...

The next day we left Gottenburg NE quite early for another 400 mile day.  The motivation today was a burger.  That's right, I found a RV park that boasted its cafe has the "Best Burger in Iowa".  We had to see for ourselves.  Now, since we didn't get to eat at any other burger joint in all of Iowa, we too voted it the best burger in Iowa!  It was very good!

Long day ahead...

We would love to explore some of these old barns

Happy Memorial Day to all our veterans and special honor to those who gave their lives for our freedoms we enjoy, including this trip.

Fun waving to the CanAm gang

Farm life

Waiting on our burgers

These guys know how to get the food out fast and very delish!

Ron's a happy camper!

Beautiful sunset, good night Kellogg.

Nebraska..."the good life"

Travels through part of Nebraska we had not been to before were beautiful.  The campground we found in Gottenburg was a wonderful city park with a meandering river running all through it.  The quaint town was patriotic with flags flying everywhere for the Memorial Day weekend.  We really loved the stay here.

You know I always get my state sign 

Home on the range

See the quilt block on the barn?  I have one for the front of the RV when we get to Mackinaw

World Headquarters was a HUGE complex

Lafayette City Park in Gottenburg NE was beautiful! 

View from our campsite

This meandered through the whole park

Wyoming travels...

The next few days proved to be a pleasant blur of farms, farms and farms, with the occasional small town in between.  Don't get us wrong, we enjoy every minute of this beautiful country, but damn there are a lot of farms! Our stay for the night was at Red Desert Rose RV park in Rawlins.  Very friendly, clean and accommodating.  We marked down as one we'd stay at again.

Made it!

Just around each bend is another long stretch

On to Utah for a short bit...

So sorry for the delays in posting, between crappy wi-fi and poor (as in 3G) phone service, I couldn't update our blog...

So anyway, we left Reno very early and planned another 400 mile day.  That would become our norm for the next several days.  As you may know, this is NOT how we like to role but this trip is just to get there.  Large highways and freeways are not us, but we are forced to go against our nature.  Here are some pics of our journey through Utah...

Just getting our first view of the salt flats, Bonneville Speedway up ahead.

Barren Salt Flats

Pretty reflection of the mountains

Triple trucks are allowed here, they roar by forever

This peak of the Great Salt Lake was all we got

Cowboys at work on the open range

Great railroad art, yep this sums it up