Home again, home again...

We are headed home, with a little over 500 miles behind us from Traverse City.  Outside Springfield, Illinois, we have parked ourselves to rest up for the final push home tomorrow.  I am trying to be better about not power driving through to get home, after my 15 hour grind behind the wheel to get home from North Carolina.  I am retired now and need to adjust some behaviors that are a bit ingrained, so this is an attempt at one of them...Lord knows there are a few more (notice the religious reference?... see, I have it in me).


Looking back on this trip, it was fun to go where we have not gone before and explore a bit.  We both agree that Michigan will get a redo in the future.  The film festival would be good to take more advantage of and I loved the music provided by the kids and faculty at Interlochen.  We scouted out a better campsite with a view of the lake we were on...Duck Lake, for next time.

Yakin' on Duck Lake.

With more and more time spent in campgrounds, the type of people we run across are becoming more apparent.  We were surprised at how many people were not real friendly.  Some walk past with not much life in their face (the "zombies")...maybe it was the screaming, whining shadows following them.  Then there were the ones that don't think their voices carry very well across long distances, or at least to our campsite (the "aural fixators").  I would describe him physically, but then you might think I was picking on him because of his enormous weight, greasy appearance, and know-it-all tone in his voice...I'll just leave it at that.  There are the "normal" ones that wave or say hi back when encountered.  The "groupies" tend to be there with at least 3 other families and form a tent city as if pioneers circling their wagons for the night.  The "arsonists" tend to have a fire going all the time, no matter the temperature or time of day.  "Gadget-geeks" tend to have something for everything and it is relatively new stuff...from the SUV to the inflatable air mattress to the gas grill.  The "father/son" duos seem to be there to pass on the art of fishing and make memories.  The "beermeisters" we have not met yet, but I am sure in time our campsites will cross.  What are Miki and I?  Yet to be determined.  If we are not thrown out of our last campground tonight, we will continue to evolve.  We took the dogs out for a walk and try out this giant trampoline thing.  We obviously fit into the "blind" camper category, because we were not supposed to get on the giant tramp without paying and we had the dogs in the playground area, where it states, NO PETS IN PLAY AREA.  We will try to be low profile for the next 12 hours.

Cool jumpy thing we had never seen before and got on illegally.

"YOU MUST PURCHASE AND WEAR A WRIST BAND"
We missed this some how?

Dogs frolicking in... 

unauthorized area...oops.

We put ourselves under house arrest for the rest of the evening.

Well, it is becoming clearer what Miki and I will be doing the next 50 years...judging people in campgrounds, breaking campground rules, and visiting lots of campgrounds to do it.


My Zen from the Road:  Wallie's Law of Urban Proximity, the frequency of profanity increases the closer you are to a big city (involves the ratio of road conditions to the intensity of vibrational injuries in a tow vehicle).