Michigan--again!

Yep, when we saw this sign, Glen and I were taken aback for just a moment.  For those of you who have never visited Atlanta, this sign is pretty common there, as 75 north runs right through town!  Of course, it does continue north from there.

We spent a few days in Michigan last year on our way to Canada, but this time we were in for a longer stay.  We like it when we can take some time in between moves, but this time that meant a couple of weeks in motels---not fun for any of us!

After visiting with a couple of quilt guilds in the southern part of the state, we headed north to Mt. Pleasant, where I was scheduled to give a talk.The timing was pretty darned good though, as Vince Gill was in town the same week--are we lucky or what?  I thoroughly enjoyed the concert, and when Bob Seger appeared on stage for the encore--well, it just doesn't get any better than that!  It took only one night of fun to erase the irritation of motel living.

In Clare, the quilt trail is quite different, as their blocks are printed rather than painted.  You just gotta love Cops-n-Doughnuts!  The story here is sweet (pun intended). The local bakery was going out of business, and the cops--all nine of them--on the local force pitched in to buy the place.  Now it's something of a tourist destination, and we can report that the doughnuts are first rate.

I had to head up to Osceola County--Elsie Vredenburg, who headed up the quilt trail there, has been an online friend for years.  I finally got to spend a day with her, and though the weather wasn't great, the barn quilts were lovely.  This one has a tree for each member in the family, who have a total of four farms with four barn quilts. 

After a visit to a quilt guild in Lansing, we headed to Vicksburg to visit with Hugh and Kitch, who took us in last year when Ruby caught on fire. After a couple of weeks in motels, we were more than ready for another stay in their lovely lakefront home.  And I rode a wave runner for the first time--woo hoo!  It was fun. 

Glen and I have been trying to ride our bikes more often--it's a great way to see things up close, like this gorgeous patch of trillium along the roadside.

 

Kitch and I headed to Holland, MI on a sunny day to visit the windmill. This is an actual working windmill that was brought over from Holland (the other Holland) and assembled in working order!

Tulip festival had been celebrated the week before our visit, and thousands of blooms filled every inch of the park.

When we returned to Vicksburg, Kitch and I stopped by to see the Wedding Ring quilt block created to honor four couples--including our hosts, of course.  Really a lovely quilt for some special folks.

After a wonderful couple of days' relaxation, we left our friends behind and headed back to Indiana to pick up Ruby and head on down the road.