Sunday, June 23, was a day of transitions for our intrepid duo: we went from one reunion (Alexx's college) to another (Diedre’s family); and from mosquitoes in Minnesota the size of the state bird (the loon) to mosquitoes in Michigan that were definitely on steroids. In fact at the first evening’s campground while hooking up AB1’s electricity, one earthy mosquito landed on my right leg and another lit on my left leg. I’m not positive, but I could almost swear I heard one of them say, “Make a wish.”
Diedre and her siblings (older brother “Doug,” older sister “Goldie,” (my nickname for Jeanie) and younger brother “George” … (although he prefers to go by “Remy” … inside family joke) along with their spouses and, up until this year, their beloved mother Barbara “Barty” had orchestrated family reunions every summer for the past 11 years. The charge and location of each reunion rotated among the 4 siblings and could be anywhere in the country. Whoever was in charge a particular year would choose the location and make all planning decisions. Reunion sites were as varied as Sedona, AZ; Breckenridge, CO; Lutsen, MN; and Captiva Island, FL. This reunion was a bit bittersweet since it was to be the first one held since the death of Barty. These reunions had been so important to her that she made us promise to keep having them even after she was gone. It was the plucky 94-year old’s final wish.
This year’s rendezvous found us gathering at Charlevoix, Michigan, near the banks of the ocean-like Lake Michigan. I say “ocean-like” a bit tongue-in-cheek, since as a 9-year old, Diedre had visited her grandparents in the area, and then returned home to Minnesota where she announced to the neighborhood kids that she had been “to the ocean” in Michigan. It took her quite awhile to live that one down.
The first night the assembled group met up with our Aunt Jane (widow of Barty's brother Al), a feisty 89-year old broad (meant in the best way) who always has a smile on her face while telling you exactly what she thinks. We all love her to death. Jane still lives on her own on beautiful Walloon Lake. Walloon Lake holds a special significance for me as the great writer, Ernest Hemingway, spent much of his youth living on that lake. My writing has often been compared to Hemingway’s in the fact that we both use(d) verbs in most of our sentences. 
On Wednesday, we held our annual reunion golf outing. In the past, it had always been a scramble pitting the 4 siblings against three of the spouses and Barty. Remy’s wife Lisa was the only one with the good sense to avoid the viciousness, the taunts, and the bragging that went with this annual “fun” event. I, of course, had always been above all this foolishness, although I must add that the spouses do lead the series with 7 wins, 2 losses, and 1 tie … I’m just sayin’. Afterwards, we amicably adjourned to a nearby watering hole where I especially enjoyed the sign in the front window: “Guys, no shirt – no service. Gals: no shirt-free drinks”.
The annual golf outing was followed by the annual boat outing; Diedre's family is nothing if not predictable. All too soon it was Friday and time for the family to depart: Doug and Linda back to retirement in Colorado; Remy and Lisa back to their jobs in Menomonie, Wisconsin running a church; and Diedre and me to take on the really tough task of continuing our marathon 178-day vacation. We all gotta sacrifice somehow. (Goldie and Mac will wait to join us when the reunion returns to Florida.)
Part 2 of our Michigan-west sojourn had us heading to the Holland State Park campground before meeting up in West Olive, again on the banks of Diedre's "ocean," with long time friends John and Mary Harberts. And now, dear bloggers and bloggerettes, it's time for a little fun quiz. Which of the following 4 statements is true:
a) John was the best man at our wedding
b) Alexx used to date Mary (nee Cox) before she met John
c) Diedre once dated John before he married Mary
d) Mary was once the head of all operations for Northwest Airlines
The palatial Harberts estate rests high upon a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. It's a wonderful site for a party, and surprise, surprise, they were throwing one the Saturday we arrived. John, Mary, and Diedre had worked together for 14 years in the Grand Rapids, MI, school system in the 70's and 80's, so many of the people invited were from the GRSD, with a few even remembering Diedre's reign of terror (she had been a grade school principal part of the time). The party was a wonderful opportunity to raise money for Habitat for Humanity. As usual, I was the life of the party, telling humorous anecdotes, regaling the gathered throng with RV stories, and doing my famous "lampshade on my head" monologue.
I could have gone on all night.
Our week catching up with the Harberts included a cookout, a hike, a night of memories as Diedre made “Pat Sandwiches” (a legendary Dagwood-like sandwich Diedre was famous for during her time in Grand Rapids), a visit to Mary's twin sister's home, a viewing of the new "Lone Ranger" movie (I liked it, nobody else seemed to), and highlighted by 4th of July fireworks viewed from the Harberts' beach-side deck.
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| View from Harberts' window of Lake Michigan |
We took a day off in the middle of the week to return to Paw Paw, Michigan,
and its museum/historical society where we donated a lot of Barty's memorabilia,
letters, and photos historical society. Barty had saved similar stuff from not
only her mother but her grandmother (Diedre's great-grandmother). There were
photos from the 1890's and one significantly historical letter detailing her
grandmother's first time voting after the amendment passed allowing women the
right to vote. Baby Barty had even accompanied her mother into the voting booth
on most historical occasion. 
We followed up that stop with another one at the giant Girl Scouts of
America building in Kalamazoo. Back in the 1930's, Barty had been a girl scout,
a VERY good girl scout. She had earned one of the coveted "Golden Eagle" pin, an award given out statewide to just a handful of girls over` the years. Barty was the last one to ever receive one. The solid gold pin had been in her jewelry box for decades; it was just during her final year that a Michigan girl scout troop,
doing a study of GSA history, was able to locate Barty, the last living Golden
Eagle winner, in Tampa, FL. Diedre and Barty even had the joy of Skyping with
the young girls. And now, some 75 years later, the pin, along with an actual
girl scout whistle of Barty's from the same era, had made their way back to the
site of their origins.
The GSA staff was so pleased, they offered me a 10-minute romp in their fabled "Girl Scout Cookie Room." Tears, not of joy, welled up in this diabetic's eyes. It was an emotionally draining day for everyone that Tuesday.
Mary Harberts has long been Diedre's best friend, almost like sisters. And like sisters, they have many of the same unusual personality quirks. They both often do unintended things resulting in humorous outcomes. That said, it's now Friday, July 5. The 4 of us are attending a minor-league baseball game, Grand Rapids Whitecaps vs Midland Loons. We're having a grand time, even considering the stadium's mammoth "5th-3rd Burger," retailing at the perfectly reasonable ballpark price of $22 (Note nutrition info-the food sheriff was definitely on patrol here).
We spent most of a day at the wonderful little seaside town of Saugatuck (Chippewa for "expensive trinkets). There we saw what we believed to be the last hand-cranked, chain driven ferry in the country, dating back about 150 years and still in service today. We were going to board the sturdy craft until Diedre found this sign that lessened our chances of making the crossing :"ALL GAMBLERS AND FANCY WOMEN MUST SIGN UP WITH CAPTAIN BEFORE BOAT LEAVES FOR NEW ORLEANS."
We also made a stop at one of favorite places, Michigan old-fashioned ice cream store chain that has the good sense to stock some very tasty sugar-free salted caramel ice cream. The franchise operation made my afternoon almost every day we were in West Michigan.
Diedre and I were married on Saturday, July 6, 1991, in a Hawaiian ceremony in my parents backyard in Minneapolis (Don't ask). Now 22 years later, we paid homage to that blessed event by donning our wedding duds (light Hawaiian white sun dress for Diedre, a blue and white Hawaiian shirt for me) just as we have done every year since our wedding and joined the Harberts (Mary had been the maid-of-honor at our wedding while John had been my do-everything, go-to guy during wedding week) at the fine Piper Restaurant on the shores of Lake Macatawa. Good luck to us on the next 22.
Oh, and the answer to the earlier quiz is "C."
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Hi Everyone! Diedre here. Not much to add to this blog except my apologies for the initial posting of this blog with the ill formatting and the delay in getting the posts to you. We have had intermittent access to the internet and when we did have it my computer was not cooperating. I knew it was dying before I left on this trip but I thought I could limp along for the duration, but I finally had to move to Alexx's computer to finally get this posting up on the web. The east coast trip should be ready in a few days and then Ohio. Soon you'll be all caught up with us! We continue to have a wonderful time. We keep amazing ourselves on what we are learning about the mechanics of a motorhome - have actually started to read the manuals - and we are loving the opportunity to see so many friends, family and places around this beautiful country. Stay tuned!
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