Friday, July 21 was a travel day, and we were excited as we set out to drive across the famous Mackinaw Bridge! What a masterpiece of architecture!
What a beautiful drive we enjoyed today. I really like Michigan, y'all! I can easily see why people would want to spend their summers here! The weather is just fabulous! We arrived and got set up at the Oscoda/Tawas KOA ($68 a night) and for a change, were just delighted with our site! Wide spacious lot with a large patio area, swing and a firepit. We're going to enjoy a couple of restful days here.
We drove around the area enjoying seeing Lake Huron, and the beaches here seem a bit more like our FL beaches, nicer sand and not so much dirt. I'm amazed at all the people we'd see out swimming! I guess if you're from here, and this is the July weather you're used to, this is the time to swim, but y'all, that water is COLD! No way would I go swimming in the lake!
Saturday was the day we were so looking forward to to enjoy our beautiful site, and wouldn't you just know, it was rainy all day! Ugh.... being inside looking out on that lovely patio was not what I wanted to do! After a little pouting, I decided to make the best of it and I worked on the Upper Peninsula blog and got it out, and then since I'm reading a great book, we just snuggled in and had a nice quiet day. Hoping tomorrow will be nicer!
Sunday we arose to a much prettier day. We watched our home church service online, and what a blessing. It was Daniel and Lauren's last Sunday there before they move to Texas, and he passionately shared his heart and 30 people were baptized this morning! I was moved to tears when Daniel baptized Brock, their own sweet boy, as he clearly and confidently confessed his faith. What a legacy that little boy has, going back to Skip and Linda and beyond.... we hate to lose them, but TX will be blessed by them, I know!
This afternoon, we sat out and read - it was just a little bit cool, but we put on a light jacket and were determined to sit outside to enjoy our pretty site!
Later, we rode around the area, since we'll be leaving tomorrow, and after a nice ride around Oscado and Tawas, we found a lovely Chinese restaurant, and enjoyed a wonderful dinner. Earl likes Chinese more than I do, and it's usually just "ok" to me, so we don't eat Chinese real often, but it had been quite some time, and we both thought it sounded good, and indeed it was! Yum.
Monday 7/24 we drove to the KOA Funtime in Holly/Fenton. It was the only one in the area that had 50 amp power, and it's not a great site! Terribly rough roads and while they have tons of fun stuff for kids, we were not impressed at $48 a night. BUT....nothing can dampen our excitement about being here, as we are reconnecting with our wonderful friends, Gary and Charlene Coomer! We were so very sad when we learned that they'd be moving back to MI, and the day we said goodbye to them in FL was sad and teary, but we consoled ourselves that we'd be seeing them this summer. We hadn't known them that long, but they're the kind of people that we just immediately bonded with and knew we'd be friends forever! We love them so much and could hardly wait for this point in our trip. I think that's sometimes just the way God blesses you. We're so blessed with many dear friends, but Gary and Char are definitely some of our favorites.
We were anxious to see their new house and had hoped to meet their family, but that didn't work out this time. Hopefully next time, as we want to meet that cute baby Jaxon. We got to their house and Earl had barely stopped the car before I was running out to get hugs. So happy to see what a lovely home they have. After showing us around and chatting for awhile, we went to dinner at Zukey's Tavern on Lake Zukey (pronounced Zookey). We got our drinks up on the deck upstairs, and then went downstairs to enjoy a delicious buffet! Thanks for treating us, Gary and Char!
After dinner, we went back to their house and sat on the beautiful new deck Gary built for them. What gorgeous weather to be outside! Look at Char's beautiful flowers!
Lovely kitchen!
Easy enough to leave tonight as we have such an exciting day planned for tomorrow! Earl of course, had to photo bomb their picture. Crazy guy.
Tuesday, July 25. Our RV park was half way between where they live and Frankenmuth where they had planned to take us so they just came to the RV and picked us up and OH MY GOODNESS, y'all! Have you ever been to Bronner's? The largest Christmas store in the world! Wow! My mouth was hanging open! It's a CHRISTmas Wonderland!
The sights and sounds of Christmas completely surround you when you enter this magical fairyland! Wally Bronner opened his store 70 years ago, and little could he have dreamed that one day it would be the largest Christmas store in the world, visited by millions of people!
My friend, Ronni, who has the largest Christmas village I've ever seen, should be here to see this! I'm pretty sure she'd need Vic to build up another level or two!
We came upon this Detroit Tigers tree, and Earl thought it would serve just fine as a Gator tree! Ha
Seeing Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland is something I'll never ever forget. Now I really want to bring my sister, Elyn, and my best friend, Sheila!
And now....to see Frankenmuth! Known as Michigan's "Little Bavaria," this quaint city was founded in 1845 and is well known for its Bavarian heritage, hospitality and charm. This is definitely one of my favorite places we've been on our trip. For my friends at home, it's like Mount Dora on steroids!
We learned that a group of fifteen German-Lutheran missionaries came to the area for the purpose of teaching Christianity to the Chippewa Indians. The name Frankenmuth means "Courage of the Franconians."
This is the famous Zehnder's where we later ate lunch. They are famous for their chicken dinners! What a lovely place! One of the few places we had to stand in line just to get our name on the waiting list and then have a 20 minute wait after putting your name in! But it was worth it!
The streets are just filled with shops, boutiques, toy stores, specialty shops with jewelry and gifts, and even stores featuring meat and cheeses, and oh....more FUDGE!! Yummmm
We found not only Frankenmuth but almost all of Michigan to be ablaze with flowers. I was just enthralled with the beauty! I think if you survive their long winters, they really celebrate spring and summer! So glad I got to benefit from all this beauty!
Here we are at the Bavarian Inn....
And Gary and Charlene....
What a feast for the eyes! I don't think I've ever seen a city plant right on the street curbs...it's like they take advantage of every possible spot to plant colorful flowers.
Amazing array of cheeses.
And this was a first! Fruit flavored cheese! Mint Chocolate Chip and PB Cheese! And it was YUMMY!!! Could not believe we were sampling CHEESE!
I have GOT to get OUT of Michigan!!! The FUDGE here is amazing!!!
Char and I decided to help ourselves to the samples of goodies this attractive gentleman was offering. LOL
My beautiful friend standing by a geranium tower! Just lovely!
Here we are at Zehnder's awaiting our yummy chicken dinner! We're not going to need to eat for days after we leave here! Whoa....
There are activities and events that go on all year here! You wouldn't believe their schedule of festivals, etc. As much as I really hate cold winter, I'd be sorely tempted to come just for a few days near Christmas. Would love to see this beautiful city under a blanket of snow with ice sculptures and lights everywhere!
This guy was playing the accordion for a group dining in a sidewalk cafe when we were walking back to the car. Pretty....
We headed back to our RV, but as we were leaving Frankenmuth, I realized you might get a better grasp of the size of Bronner's if I took a video as we drove by on our way out of town....here you go - the enormity of this place is really something you have to see to believe.
We went back to the RV and had a nice long visit before the moment we'd been dreading came. I really hate saying goodbye to dear friends, but especially when we have no known plans as to when we can get together again! Boooo but thank goodness for FB as we can see pictures and have Messenger and texts to stay in touch. Love you, Gary and Char! Thanks so much for making this such a memorable visit! So glad we got to see Frankenmuth with YOU!
Wednesday, we enjoyed a quiet day of reading and catching up. Tomorrow we head to Indiana for a few days, then OH where we'll leave the RV at a friend's house and fly home for a few days to see the family! So it will be awhile until I post another blog. As always, thanks for tagging along with us! Love our friends!
