Is this Normal?

When I grew up near, and went to college in, a town called Normal the name seemed, well, "normal". After moving away for 30 years and being all over the country seeing other towns named Lexington, Bloomington, and Carrollton but no others named Normal I am beginning to realize the name Normal may not be normal after all. Anyway that's where we are, Normal, Illinois, where I grew up and went to school.
From Detroit we went to Shipshewana, Indiana. Shipshewana is Amish country famous for Amish people riding their horse drawn carriages down the country roads, a big flea market and an antique auction on Wednesday with several auctioneers calling at the same time. We were their Monday and Tuesday and made it to the flea market. Our RV was built a short distance from here so we have been to Shipshewana a few times before while our house was being built and during some repair trips to the factory after that.
We then went a few hours south to the farm of my aunt Maralee and uncle Merritt "Dude" Hardt in Flora, Indiana. We parked right at their machine shed and had a great visit for a couple of days. When we got ready to leave we found the bedroom slide power head had sheared a shaft. I had to order a new one and it is going to be next week before it arrives so we left the house there and went on to Normal, Illinois where we are now staying with my step mother Bonnie. Friday Tonya saw the eye doctor about her Glaucoma and found that after a year and a half her eye pressure is finally down to where they were trying to get it.
My brother Jeff has been having some trouble with pain in his arm that has kept him from working or playing the guitar for the last three months. The problem is with vertebrae in his neck which doctors think they can fix with three months of intense therapy. He doesn't have health insurance so his friends and fans (he is the best "rocker" lead guitar player in the area and has lots of fans) were having a benefit for him all day yesterday. He didn't know we were coming to town so when we showed up he was really surprised. There was a motorcycle Poker Run, band, food, 50/50 drawings, door prizes, and an auction of lots of donated items. All of that along with a good turnout meant it was a big success. One of the main money raisers was a raffle for a Les Paul guitar, $1,000 value. The owner of the bar won the raffle and immediately gave the guitar to Jeff with the stipulation that he play at the bar when he recovered. We'll be here a couple of more days visiting friends and family.

Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village

From Cedar Point we went just around the corner of Lake Erie to a state park near Detroit. We wanted to go to Deerfield, MI see the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, an entire community of businesses, such as a jeweler watch maker, hat maker, silkworm maker, blacksmith etc. circa 1929 that Henry Ford either moved there or duplicated then maintained in original condition. The museum has everything from doll houses to enormous steam powered generators. The rocking chair Abe Lincoln was sitting in when assassinated, the bus Rosa Parks did not move to the back of, and Kennedy's presidential limousine are some examples of things this museum has. It is like the Smithsonian of the Midwest.
We spent so much time in the museum we didn't get to see many of the buildings in the village before they closed at five. But, as luck would have it, they were having their annual car show that day with 500 beautifully restored cars from the 20's to the 70's on the grounds. We watched several pull up to the review stand where two vintage car experts explained how and why each was designed the way it was. Then there was a live band replicating a USO show from 1945, complete with dancers dressed in clothes of the period.
There is also a factory tour and other things to do on the grounds so if you ever come here allow a couple of days and be prepared to walk several miles.

I can Cross Cedar Point off

my "Bucket List". Cedar Point, an amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio is "The Roller Coaster capital of the world". I didn't go on all 17 coasters but I made a few. The first one I went on was the Millennium Force, 310 feet tall with speeds of 93 mph. Here I am before the ride.

Here I am after the ride.

I next rode the Magnum XL 200. It was the first roller coaster to top 200' when it was built in 1989. After that I rode the Gemini, a wood frame that runs two coasters at a time, side by side. One would think that was enough but I decided to try one more.
Here I am before the ride. Notice the sign that says "Height, 420 feet" and "Speed, 120 mph". Notice the three other guys in the picture whose combined age is probably less than mine. What is wrong with this picture?

This shows the ride (Not the one I was on, I was screaming a lot louder than the girls on this trip).

Checking the fun meter after the ride.

This is more my speed.

Photo finish, I won by a nose!

Tonya was smart enough not to do any roller coasters but found some other rides she liked, there's plenty to do there. Cedar Point is a great place. I recommend you add it to your bucket list.

Niagara Falls

Friday we went to Niagara Falls. Fortunately we had previously got some advice from the Evans' that the best place to see the falls is from the Canadian side, so that's where we went first and they were right. I'll just pass that tip on to you free of charge. We were going to stretch it over a couple of days but ended up staying all day, watched them light up the falls at night and saw the fireworks at 10:00 pm before we left. Hung around Buffalo, NY Saturday and moved down the road this afternoon.

Tonya with her fancy rain gear on the "Maid of the Mist". We needed it, they really get close.

There must be a pot of gold at the bottom of the falls, I just don't know how you get to it.

This is a level 6 rapids downriver from the falls. I didn't see a "No Swimming" sign anywhere.

Sightseeing in NY

On Tuesday we went to Corning, NY which at one time was the home of 55 different glass makers. It is where Corning Glass is still made and where Corning has a Museum of Glass. The museum has examples of just about every kind of glass ever made and an amazing collection of art glass. It is hard to imagine the art objects that can be made from glass unless you see the stuff here. Amazingly enough Tonya was fascinated by a scene made of glass miniatures. Many other things like a 7' cut glass candle holder and an apparent autopsy replica. We also saw a demonstration of glass blowing as a guy made a vase right before our very eyes.. Wednesday it rained all day so we went to an earth history museum in Ithaca where they had what was left of a fish I caught earlier this year. We then went to the Cornell University ornithology (bird watching) lab but the rain meant we mostly just watched the ducks. Left Ithaca this morning and are staying just down the road from Niagara Falls tonight.

Worth The Trip!

The wedding, and recovery from same, is now over. It may have been the most fun wedding we have ever been to. Starting with the rehearsal dinner on Friday night. It was great food at a beautiful setting, and did I mention "open bar". We got to meet all the parents and wedding party as well as see a slideshow of the history of Mike and Sarah. The wedding on Saturday was at the Stratford Hotel, which is right in the middle of the Cornell University campus. Odd to have a hotel on campus I thought, until I found out Cornell has a world famous school of Hotel Administration which the hotel is part of. Mike and Sarah didn't want the wedding to be too conventional and it certainly wasn't as it started with Kate, Mike's sister, explaining how the two had met and what they had been doing in the last 9 1/2 years besides answering the question "When are you guys going to get married?. Then the bride and groom gave the reasons they wanted to marry each other. Mike's consisted of a Top Ten List. Sarah's mother, who is an ordained minister in Nevada (also legal in New York), performed the marriage ceremony. The vows were also unconventional but beautiful, she finished by saying "Mike, you may now kiss my daughter." The reception was a delicious sit down dinner with more silverware than I have ever seen at one setting. Mike played another slide/video show of how a cheerleader fell in love with him, the high school quarterback (actually a trombone playing geek). There was a fun DJ, dancing, and an open bar from 5:00 pm until midnight. The next morning breakfast was provided at the hotel for the people staying there and any other guests that wanted to attend.
We spent yesterday recuperating and walking a steep but beautiful 2 mile state park trail along several waterfalls just a couple of miles from where we are staying. All rested up today and going sightseeing in Corning.

Made it to the church on time.

It took all day to find the valve stems I wanted so we were delayed a day in Erie, but we made it to Ithaca in time to go to the rehearsal dinner last night, great fun. Very steep hills here which is putting the truck transmission to the test. The wedding is this evening, will keep you posted.

It's Erie.

The name of the Lake, name of the city, name of the campground. Erie isn't it.

I'll tell you what's eerie. We were going to leave Whitehouse last Saturday. Had some things to do so changed our plan to leave on Sunday. While going to the hardware store on Saturday one of the truck tire sensors showed a tire losing pressure. I got back home before it went flat, took off the tire, threw it in the trunk of the car and took it to the tire store. Found out it was the rubber valve stem. Had it changed to a solid bolted on valve stem just before closing time. The other tires all have the same rubber valve stem so I knew I was going to change them too when I got a chance. Didn't have time on Saturday, didn't figure I would get it done on the holiday weekend so I would just have them changed when we got to our destination, (they had been on there for couple of years). After getting rigged up here today I ran in to town to get a pizza. On the way home another tire started losing air, I was able to make it home where I found the same problem with anther rubber valve stem. Will get the remaining three valve stems changed tomorrow morning. In the last 4 days all of my driving time has been with the truck loaded. Why did these two failures happen with the truck empty just a few blocks from home? Now that's eerie.

O"hi"o

Made it just past Cincinnati today. Last night we stayed near Nashville in a small RV park full of junky little trailers in a site we could barely get in and out of. Tonight we are in a state park that is probably 400 acres and we have about 100 acres all to ourselves. Traveling in an RV is like a box of chocolates. Drove through Kentucky today. It is the "Bluegrass State" but:

We looked and looked
All over the place
We looked until we were
Blue in the face.
But I did not see any grass that was blue
Not one blade, not two.