We survived our torture in good ol’ Red Bay, Alabama to the tune of about 18 days. The temps in and around August tend to be in the large number range and this time they did not disappoint. Plus, we got to enjoy some pretty intense humidity just to enhance the pleasure of our stay in Hades. We got the fixes done to Rosie that we needed, and then got the added enjoyment of doing some of our own fixes after the Tiffin gremlins went to work on us. I actually got to tear apart and repair our front toilet for a serious water leak, being the expert that I am in plumbing repair (LOL, very much in the NOT category!) It was a $hitty job, but I persevered…(insert lots of loud moans here).
Our home at Red Bay, AL 
We have yet to fall prey to the enticements of Swamp John’s restaurant in Red Bay… 
Yup, these guys were out in force, bring your earplugs…
Next up on the agenda was to head towards Indiana for a visit with my cousin Bev & her family. We happily put Red Bay in our rearview mirrors and made our way to a return stay for a couple of days at the Good Ole RV Resort in Goodlettsville, TN (Nashville area). There we got some big box shopping done (Costco) before we headed north. We barely had time to do much in town, but at least the RV park still puts on live music nightly, so we got to see some old-timers do some pickin’ & grinnin’…
A little pickin’ & a-grinnin’, at Grand Ole RV Resort
Bill Monroe’s Music Campground in beautiful downtown Bean Blossom, IN, was our choice for home for a couple of days to visit cousin Bev. This is a very large, rustic campground that puts on the Southern Indiana Blues Festival, the Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival, and the Hippy Hill Fest 2022. The festivals tend to draw large crowds, we were lucky we were there at a non-festival time. The park office also houses what they call the Bill Monroe Bluegrass Hall of Fame Museum which is free to wander through and gawk at all the memorabilia. I will forewarn all you RVers wanting to check this park out…DO NOT RELY ON YOUR GPS DEVICES TO GET THERE!!! Rosie (the MH) has a trucker’s version GPS and it still led us on a tour of half-lane, overgrown with trees, heavily traveled back-roads along Lake Lemon. #%$&@^%#*!&&!!!! But we survived…
We took a little time to check out downtown Nashville, Indiana. It appeared to be a huge tourist attraction, geared more toward bikers, and it was certainly busy the day we were there. We walked the main drag checking out the shops, then stopped off to quench our thirst at Big Woods Pizza/Quaff On Brewery. Not much to write home about on the suds…On the way home we found a covered bridge, Indiana style. The poor ol’ thing had it’s share of graffiti…
Welcome to the Bean Blossom Bridge, circa 1880 
Nice graffiti…NOT! 
This guy was just going for a swim under the bridge. He looks suspiciously like a baby Copperhead…Let’s all go swimming! 
Jeanne does a little “bridgin'”
We got to have a very nice visit with Cousin Bev, her daughter’s family Leila, Jay, and their little ones, and Bev’s son Luke. Regrettably, we missed out on Bev’s hubby Greg, he was away on a job. Leila put on a great brunch spread and we thoroughly enjoyed the eats and the family time, a big thank you to all.
Since we were in this part of the world, and with a small break in the action vis-a-vis the China-virus-hysteria, I had my sights set on a visit to one of my favorite breweries…Founder’s Brewery in Grand Rapids, MI. We headed northward and landed at Steamboat Park & Campground in Georgetown Township, MI along the Grand River. We used our time for some errands/chores but the highlight for me was checking out Founder’s Brewery. It’s a large one, as far as crafties go. We had a nice lunch there & sampled some of their wares that I had not sampled before.
Our home at Steamboat, looking out at the Grand River 
A frontroom view out the windshield… 
Not too jam-packed 
One of the kid playgrounds and the pool area 
The pool 
Even the pool folks get a view of the river 
The Grand Lady paddlewheel tour boat, docked at the office. Like always, click on pic to get full view… 
Here’s a future dugout canoe heading downriver, just needs to be dug out…
Being caught up on the blog posting is a good feeling. Until next post…