After departing Wyandotte, we saw something that we hadn’t seen much since leaving Santa Cruz county… a “W” on our on-board compass. We’ve gone as far east as we expect to on this trip. I was very excited about our next stop… Whole Foods in Ann Arbor. The opportunity to buy bulk granola and freshly roasted coffee is something we used to take for granted. No more. En route to our next planned destination, we continued the “Laura Heritage Tour”, biking around Sturgis, Michigan through the cemetery where Laura learned to drive a dump truck, riding by the church of her first wedding and the family home. Traveling along Highway 12, we stopped in New Buffalo, hoping to test ride an electric bike that I’d been reading about for months. We parked the rig in a large lot and set off on foot, taking time to walk down to Lake Michigan and stick our feet in it before finding that the bike shop was closed on Wednesdays. Next came a brief detour through Kouts, Indiana to go by an even earlier childhood home.

On Thursday afternoon, we arrived at the farm of Carl Curby, the brother of Joanne who worked with Laura for the past 22 years. For months, we had tried to coordinate schedules so that we could rendezvous here while Joanne was visiting from California. At different times over the years, most of Joanne’s family have come through Santa Cruz and Laura has met them as they visited the Center. We have the honor of being the first of Joanne’s California “family” (except for her husband, Pete) to make the trek the other direction. Joanne, like Laura, is the sibling that went away. Her brother and sisters all live very near Fannie (mom) and care for one another in a way that is very special. Generous and gentle folk.

Our first afternoon here included a couple of things to the “who knew” category: Who knew that there are stoves that burn corn using the same concept as a pellet stove? Who knew that you could burn corn as a fuel source to run a boiler system to heat an entire farmhouse? All that’s left is ash, rich in potassium and phosphorus, which goes right back out to the garden as fertilizer. Pretty cool for a guy that raises and harvests hundreds of acres of corn each year.

The dogs must think they’re in heaven. They have had more freedom here than at any time since we left the mountain. It’s great to see Noche romp and play the way that we used to before his encounter with the Mercedes, and Dottie is in her element. You can really see what a farm dog is all about as soon as you let her go. She patrols every nook and cranny of every out building, in search of rodents that she is just certain are there. I was a little worried that Grayson might like it here a little too much and wander away, but he is sticking pretty close to home after encountering Abbie (the resident dog) on his first foray out of the trailer.

One more thing. The weather. It has been perfect. Daytime highs in the 80s, with nighttime temperatures in the low 60s, allowing us to enjoy the fresh, clean air and quiet, rather than perpetually running fans and air conditioning.

The visit with Joanne was cut short as she got hard news from California that her husband is sick. Joanne has incredible family support in Illinois but it felt significant and right that we were here when she got the news, a link between the two worlds that are both so important to her. Joanne flew home this morning. We’ll keep a candle burning.

We have some catching up to do. It’s been quite a while since the last post. We are currently at Canyon Lake. We’ve been for just over a week. Our campsite is on the shore. The views are spectacular and this is one of the most nicely laid out campgrounds that either of us have ever seen. Our first day here, Laura said “I like it here. I feel like I’m on vacation!” The weather has been hot and windy most of the time. The past couple of days were windy enough that we felt it necessary to stow the satellite dish, which is rated for 40 mph winds. Mornings have been for walking and biking. In the heat of the day, we hunker down inside and do computer-related stuff with the air conditioner running. When we’ve had enough of that, it’s off to the water (all of about 50 feet from our door) to play fetch in the water with the dogs, swim, drift on the floaty-thing, and/or take the canoe out.

We’re so proud. Dottie has had a breakthrough. All of her siblings take to the water quite naturally. She never did…until now. Something changed a few days ago. Maybe it’s the heat. Maybe it’s the warm water. Whatever. Now she can’t get enough. She doesn’t even wait for you to throw the stick, she heads out into the lake anticipating that you will throw it. The swimming is good physical therapy for Noche, and Grayson and Ginger are very content with our location too. The surrounding area is a mecca for “Americana” music, the genre that we have been listening to for years. We can find good concerts more readily than we can a decent grocery store, and closer, too. We like it enough here that we’ve been looking at real estate.

Now, let’s go back in time and fill in the gaps since the last entry. We worked our way through New Mexico, with designs on visiting Taos, since Westi and Mike have such a fondness for it. Unfortunately, fate intervened and we found our path blocked by a road closure due to snow that they hoped to have cleared within the next week. The sign suggested “seek alternative route”. We did, but not to Taos. That would have been about a 75 mile detour. With fuel prices continuing to escalate, we decided that Taos could wait for another trip. Instead, we spent a couple of days on Santa Cruz Lake, a small reservoir about 30 miles outside of Santa Fe. A lesson learned: the designation of “state highway” in New Mexico does not mean anything. After we turned onto route 503, the road went into a neighborhood and a sign warned “no middle line next one mile”. That meant it was a single lane, no shoulder, and hairpin turns. More than one expletive escaped my lips as I had to find a way to let cars pass coming from the other direction. Next, a stop in Santa Fe where we planned to restock at Trader Joe’s, where we could count on access to some of our favorite foods that we hadn’t found since beginning the Journey. We found that Santa Fe wasn’t designed with travel trailer parking in mind. It wasn’t exactly the most fun we’ve had on the trip. Nightfall found us camped at Santa Rosa Lake.

We crossed into Texas the next day where we had an unexpectedly pleasant evening at the Waylon Jennings Municipal RV Park in Littlefield. Waylon was definitely the biggest thing that ever happened to Littlefield. He was born, raised, and dropped out of high school there. The community provides free RV camping (with hookups) at no cost for up to 4 days. Next stop: South Llano River State Park outside of Junction, Texas. Amazing birding, warm river water, a little canoing, a little swimming. The thought of spending time here as campground hosts someday. Moving on to Kerrville. We got to town in time to attend McKenzie’s First Communion. We enjoyed the gracious hospitality of Richard and Barbara Dill, who allowed us to park in their driveway for a couple of nights. Laura met with their son, Rian about the website that he has been waiting for her to redesign for his quilting loom business (Jasmine Heirlooms).

Then, off to Rockport. The first week was about visiting with my brother Dennis and his wife, Nancy, and getting an education in fishing. Another lesson: parking too close to salt spray will cause rust and corrosion at an amazing rate. Oh, and another: fire ants are evil. Laura and the dogs learned that one on our first night at Goose Island State Park. Dennis and Nancy took us to a spectacular birding spot in Port Aransas. Nicole joined us in Rockport the next week and liked it enough that she rented a little bungalow and will be moving there mid-June.

After Nicole went back to California to prepare for her move, we spent three nights in Port Aransas, the first one on the beach (you would have though we learned the lesson about salt spray at Goose Island), the next two in a wind-protected campground just off the beach and then headed for the hills, visiting Cabela’s in Buda before overnighting at Camping World in New Braunfels. Two nights at Guadalupe River State Park, complete with fireflies over the river, and we’re up to date.