Tom and I celebrated our 43rd wedding anniversary on 30 July as we traveled to Mackinaw City. We are so blessed to share our lives.
~ Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.~Aristotle
We left Mackinaw City Saturday morning and drove down the East Coast of Michigan. What a beautiful drive down as we drove along the shores of Lake Huron and Lake Erie. We stopped several times to take in the beauty of the shoreline. I had always wanted to go to Saginaw, Michigan..always liked the the song by Lefty Frizzell "I was born in Saginaw, Michigan". I tried several times to sing the first few lines but was not so much appreciated by Tom, Tom and Joan!! We stopped in Frankenmuth Michigan which is in Saginaw County. Frankenmuth is Michigan's little Bavaria. We walked about the town and had the famous "home cooked" chicken dinner at the restaurant at the Bavarian Inn. Yes, it was very good! We also visited Bronner's Christmas Wonderland. It covers 27 acres and is the largest Christmas store in the world. AND Joan and Tom bought fudge...another town with lots of fudge stores! We had planned to spend the night half way home. We made last minute reservations at a hotel and when we arrived found that there was a potential hazard and all water was not to be used. There were toxins in all the water coming from Lake Erie and was not recommended to drink or shower with the water. SO we decided to drive the extra 3 hours to Linesville ...Tom and Joan's home. We got home about 11 PM. After Mass on Sunday, we did laundry, washed and packed our car, shopped at the local markets for dinner and played cards and dice games and laughed! We always enjoy traveling with Joan and Tom. Monday Morning, we finished packing our car, gave big hugs to Joan and Tom and headed South toward home. We only drove a few hours on Monday. Then Tuesday we headed for Fort Leonardwood, Missouri for the night. I visited with Amy Kinnon for a few hours during our stop on Monday. It was good to give her a hug catch up with her. Amy and I had worked together for several years at Davis-Monthan. The staff at the lodging at Fort Leonardwood are all just so friendly. I do think that they get the STAR for having the friendliest staff. It does seem that they really all like their jobs!! Today we drove here to Springdale , Arkansas. Was only on the road for 4 hours today. Arrived here just after noon. We always stay here at the Holiday Inn in Springdale. Tomorrow we will spend the day with Tom's Aunts. This evening we went to our favorite Italian Restaurant here...Mary Maestri's.
We also did FACETIME with the Walsh girls and Emme. Emme is staying with Auntie Kelly since Carrie is TDY for 2 weeks. What fun it always is to see them and talk to them. Today we picked up Aunt Lois and went to the Catfish House for lunch and then went to visit with Aunt Marilyn and her daughter Nancy and son Mike. We remembered Nancy, her daughter who passed away in June after being diagnosed with bone cancer in April. Then we met Aunt Lois again and went to the 106th Grape Festival in Tonitown which is a few miles from where we are staying here in Springdale.
We had their famous fried chicken and spaghetti dinner. We also tried their Grape Ice Cream..which was really good. We ran into Tom's cousin and then spent some time with Aunt Lois's kids. It was a beautiful day here in Springdale. Only issue was the high humidity....we are just not used to humidity. Tomorrow we will head West to Tucson. How excited we are to be able to give all our grand-girls big hugs.
We are so thankful for all your prayers and God blessing us with safe travels during all the weeks we have had since we left home on 16 March.
As we drove through the various states we felt so much HOPE as we saw all the American Flags that were flying on so many homes in all the little towns and villages. We are also so blessed to meet all the people we come into contact as we travel that touch our lives for minutes or hours in just casual conversation whether it be someone at our billeting or hotels, in the breakfast room, on the street or at the parks or in an elevator. AND spending time with all our friends and family who welcome us into their homes or meet us for a few hours as we travel through their towns have enriched our lives...this is what our travels are about. AND then we get to go home and have all our family and friends that are family in Tucson. Seeing all the beauty in the forest, rolling hills, farm lands, skies and stars in the sky, waters, wild flowers that grow along side the roads and around every curve together with all the wonderful people we meet along the way...every hug, laugh or tear we shed on our way...lets us know that our Lord is with us at every turn. These are our daily blessings.
I will add more photos in the next few days.
~Travel is the only thing you buy, that makes you richer.
Love and hug,
God Bless,
Tom and Maryann
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