Gas Station Ettiquette

We are in St. Ignace, Michigan, a fair day's drive from Michigan City, Indiana, where we were last night (the lower east side of Lake Michigan).  


While my co-pilots were doing their due diligence for the day...

oops, that is a John Grisham novel I believe, not a book by Rand McNally.  Mulligan on the other hand is practicing his evasive steering moves in his dreams, wishing he could drive a 6 ton doghouse through fields of catnip.  Now you know why I drive most of the time.  The fields of beans and corn have transformed into coniferous forests.


I spent a better part of the day, not with John Grisham, but contemplating the actions of a few young people I got to observe while waiting for the gas pump.  The same thing occurred in two completely different towns, on two different days (yesterday and today), and the only common theme was they were young...18-21 yrs young.  In both cases, I had pulled up to the only diesel fuel pump, which also served unleaded as well, and waited for the person(s) to finish paying and move on.  Yesterday it was a female.  I know what you males are thinking...today it was a male, so I couldn't draw that conclusion.  Anyway, she came out after paying for her gas, got in her car, and proceeded to not proceed.  She dug around in her back seat (not her butt) for a bit as if looking for something.  Then did a few other pre-flight checks in the front seat.  I felt as though she had lost her keys and was looking for them...no, I guess she was just nesting before taking off with all the patience I could muster.  Seriously, a few minutes had passed and when you are idling on fumes, it was an eternity.  I felt as though I should send her a thank you card after she left, but that was the one thing I wasn't thinking of, as my life seemed to slip away those few minutes.  The same thing happened today, with a dude this time.  It was not as if he didn't see me and the 38 foot shoebox behind me.  Again, after paying for his fuel up, he got in the cockpit and attended to other business...I can only assume he thought I was okay with that.  In both cases I was seconds away from helping them understand gas station ettiquette...I guess that doesn't come in driver's ed. anymore, with cutbacks all around.  Just sharing these experiences has lessened my burden of carrying my rage inside, so thank you.


We arrived in St. Ignace mid afternoon and set up camp (sounds primitive, huh?).  With the help of some hydraulics, the legs of the trailer went down, and the slides went out.  The hardest part was waiting for the air conditioners to cool the place down.  In the meantime, we slipped into town and checked the ferry schedule (leave it alone...).  St. Ignace is the jumping off point for getting to Mackinaw Island, our destination for tomorrow, where we will meet up with more Heynes.

Mackinaw Bridge
The bridge that takes you to the upper peninsula of Michigan.

Mackinaw Island off in the distance, as seen from the bridge.

The bridge separates Lake Michigan on the left and Lake Huron on the right.  There are no cars on the island, so we will take our bikes with us to tour around for the day.  It is about 8 pm and the temperature has been pleasant in the lower 80's in the shade (for you Missourians).  This marks the first time since we've become RVer's that we have hung out outside.

Miki in her hammock and me bloggin' it, in the shade of the doghouse.

In a short follow-up to the giant cross from yesterday... in a small advertisement in our state park map, there was an ad for the largest crucifix in the world.  Google Cross of the Woods if so moved.  If large religious objects become a theme on this trip, this could be a mysterious way...remember he moves this way.


My Zen from the Road came to me as I pulled out from one small town onto the highway entry ramp after gassing fueling up.  When driving such a large trailer with a large truck, I am learning to take it slow, anticipate, and be more observant.  While pulling onto the entry ramp and trying not to run up over the curb on the right, I said out loud, "Swing wide."  So when life gives you turns you might not feel confident in making...SWING WIDE!