Bobby asked me to move in with him in April of 2024. While I hated the thought of leaving my beloved northeast coast and my little condo in the trees, I felt like this was the direction I was meant to go. And so I went.
That summer, we decided to head to Michigan to stay at the little place I used to own in Gaylord on Five Lakes, my ‘cabbage’ (CABin in the woods and cottAGE on the lake). We thought it would be fun to try and stop at all our friends’ places on the drive up. We’d kill two birds with one stone by seeing old friends and meeting new ones, and saving money on hotels. We weren’t in any hurry, so we truly meandered all the way up, with the first stop at his sister Mary’s in Georgia and the last stop Gaylord, Michigan.
This is what it looked like:
I think it took us between 10 and 12 days, sometimes spending just one overnight, but often staying a bit longer, like in Chicago, Wisconsin, and Goetzville. I was able to work in the car, so I kept up with that end of things, and Bobby did the driving. I don’t remember a harsh word between us as we stopped at each place, and I met so many of his old friends and people he hadn’t seen in a while. He was able to meet some of mine, with the oddest one being my friend from Florida now living in Tennessee. As we’re sitting around their table eating her wonderful dinner she’d made for us, we discovered that Patrice and Bobby had, of all things, MEAT CUTTING in common. Ken and I sat and listened, amazed, as they talked of working in a meat department, how to cut ham, steaks and all kinds of meat. We found it thoroughly enjoyable!
On to Cincinnati to visit the Sheas, then to Chicago where we rented an Air B&B right in Roscoe Village near his daughter. We didn’t learn until we arrived that this was a third-story walk-up, and there was no elevator! To top it off, we were about five walk-ups away from the EL. So that was fun! LOL! Bobby was able to spend time with his three grandsons and eldest daughter. It was special to me to see their interaction.
Then to Wisconsin, spending a couple nights with his friends Tim and Stella. On the way out of town, we had a flat. We lost about four hours, but again we kind of took that in stride and counted ourselves lucky that’s all it was.
After that, it was up and across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan along Hwy 2 and Lake Michigan. It’s a long but beautiful drive to the boonies of the eastern UP for a stop at the “Red Rough Inn” in Goetzville for a few days. Working there was a bit more challenging due to the sparse cell coverage, but we made it work and enjoyed spending time with John and Sherry.
We finally headed south across the Mackinac Bridge to our final destination in Gaylord. We unpacked, got ourselves settled, and went out on the deck to enjoy the beautiful view, grateful for completing our amazing road trip safely. We then spent the following days and weeks talking about everyone we saw, everywhere we went, and how fortunate we were to have such wonderful friends and family.
