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.