"You're going WHERE?"

Well, after months of going nowhere (except to Nashville and Greensboro for long wedding weekends without Mo, and down to UD for Beth's graduation WITH Mo as our travelling kitchen), we are getting ready to hit the road again. Destination: Indiana and Michigan.

And everyone asks, "WHY??". Or, alternatively, "What's THERE??"

Well, lots, as it turns out :) We're planning to stop first in Elkhart, IN to visit the RV Museum, and take a factory tour of one of the RV factories in Elkhart (although sadly, with the gas "crisis", several of them have apparently closed.) From there we will head up to the Michigan coastline along Lake Michigan, stopping along the way at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, go north to the area around Traverse City, and then go via Mackinac Island up to the UP (that's Upper Peninsula, for you New Jersey people who have never lived in the midwest!), with a stop at Sault Ste Marie to check out the Soo Locks, and then along the coast of Lake Superior (Tahquamenon Falls, the Shipwreck Museum, etc), until it is time to turn around and come home.

At least, that is the plan.

Right now we are in preparation mode. This includes getting "flat" on paperwork (both Joe and I have plenty of it), making packing lists, fooling around with a new MP3 player (and loading up our Travelling Music), doing the laundry so we have clean clothes to pack, paying the bills for the month, etc. It also included me checking out the interior of Mo. Joe had cleaned up in there, cleaning and airing out the refrigerator, etc. But... I climbed up to check out the cab overhead bed, and yuck-- once again, we've had a leak someplace, and we need to dry it out. At least we discovered this BEFORE we hit the road, unlike last September, when we had to take the bed apart to air out while we were driving. With luck, we can handle that before we leave.

Other systems appear to be in reasonable working order, however-- she started right up and turned over with no problems today, which I guess is a good sign. In any case, we are hoping for the best--Joe has been working on our intermittent vapor lock problem (which gave us problems again in May, when we took Mo for a weekend down to Delaware.) He's done some research since then, however, and done some brainstorming with our friend Mike (another car buff), and we are hoping to NOT have any engine issues on this upcoming trip.

The plan is, we are leaving Friday (Sept 5) and returning Sept 20 in time for Selichot. YAY!!!