Whether we’re in our motorhome or our van, whenever time allows, we always prefer to travel the two lane back roads wherever we are going. A Denny’s or a Flying J truck stop are pretty much the same, whether they are at an interstate highway exit in Arizona or Tennessee.

But on the back roads you see the real America; the small towns, the neat farmsteads, the old courthouses with their Civil War statues, the fields of corn, and the roadside produce stands. You can’t travel as fast on the back roads as you can on the super highways, but why would you want to, anyway? There’s too much to see along the way.

Yesterday we drove back up to Allegan, Michigan to pick up the new issue of the Gypsy Journal from our printer. Our route took us up State Route 40, through the small towns of Marcellus, with its handsome old houses and storefronts; and Lawton, where the beautiful old stone railroad depot is now home to an American Legion post.

We passed a lot of farm fields, those roadside produce stands I mentioned above, and several lakes. I’d like to get our kayaks wet up here, and I bet there is some good fishing in these waters too!

I always like driving through the busy little town of Paw Paw, just for the name if nothing else. Paw Paw is the home of the St. Julian Winery, which offers free tours and wine tasting.

The Paw Paw Police (as opposed to the cantaloupe cops), have a neat old 1950s-era police car that we had hoped to get a picture of, but it wasn’t in its usual parking place, so we’ll have to try again one of these days.

We enjoyed the ride up to Allegan so much that, once we loaded the new issue into the van, we drove right back to Elkhart along the same route. (Of course, it’s the shortest and easiest route, so that helped too.

How would you like to spend the morning driving through all that pretty scenery I just showed you, and come back to find this parked next to you? No, the Beverly Hillbillies didn’t get a motorhome and hit the road, that’s my buddy Greg White’s American Eagle. Greg managed to scrape up his bay doors on a boulder or a panhandler, I forget which, so he took them off and our pal Michele Henry at Phoenix Commercial Paint is fixing them like new again. In the meantime, I just had to pick on Greg, because you know what they say, you can take the redneck out of the trailer park, but you can’t take the trailer park out of the redneck.

I was feeling a bit droopy by the time we got back to Elkhart Campground, so I laid down for a little nap, and woke up when my friend Orv Hazelton called to tell me he and his lovely wife Nancy had arrived and were parked next to us. We went over to check our their beautiful new Allegro four-slide diesel pusher, I fussed over their little mutt Duffy, who is almost acceptable for a wannabe dog, and then the four of us went out to dinner. We haven’t seen Orv and Nancy in quite a while, and it was nice to have some time to visit and catch up.

When we got back to the campground, I wanted to take a little walk, and then go inside and get caught up on e-mail from the day. But before I could, a series of folks stopped by to introduce themselves, say hello, ask about the rally, and to  talk about my Bad Nick Blog posts. I’m afraid I can’t remember everybody’s name, but they included Phyllis Schell,  and subscribers Gary and Elaine Regelman. My apologies to those whose names I missed, but my brain capacity is a bit exceeded right now.

I finally managed to get in a couple of laps around the campground, stopped to visit with some folks along the way, and got back to the Winnebago in time to check out the new series Hardcore Pawn on True TV. We managed about 20 minutes of the half hour episode and changed channels. It’s obviously an attempt to cash in on the popularity of A&E’s Pawn Stars, but we both felt that it pretty much sucked. We won’t waste any time on it.

Thought For The Day – If you can’t be a good example, then you’ll just have to serve as a horrible warning.

If the Peanuts cartoon character would have been with us yesterday, he’d have believed that there really is a Great Pumpkin!

After dropping off the new issue of the Gypsy Journal at our printer in Allegan, Michigan Monday afternoon, we drove 60 miles further to Muskegon to visit with Rocky and Berni Frees, two of our favorite people in the world. We didn’t have much time, but we managed to have a nice dinner, and then go back to their apartment for a spirited game of Mexican Train that lasted until midnight.

Yesterday morning, after a quick visit with Berni, we started back to Elkhart and our waiting motorhome. For a person who doesn’t live in a house anyplace, I sure do miss my home when we spend a night away from it!

In Grand Haven, Michigan we stopped at the Green Acres Farm Market, which had the largest display of pumpkins I have ever seen. These are just a few of what they had to offer!

Who knew there were so many kinds of pumpkins in the world? There were huge pumpkins that must have weighed over a hundred pounds, pumpkins that were three times larger than a bowling ball, tiny pumpkins smaller than a baseball, and everything in between!

I’m not a big pumpkin fan. I’ll eat a half dozen slices of pumpkin pie in season, just to be polite, but I stay away from the whole jack o’lantern thing. Think about it – me with a carving knife and a candle. You just know that’s going to turn out bad! I’d probably cut my thumb off, and then knock over the darned candle and set fire to the motorhome while I was looking for a band aid!

But I have to say that I was impressed with the variety of pumpkins on display at Green Acres, and how many they had to offer. Sure, we’ve all seen the typical big orange pumpkin, but have you ever seen a Long Island Cheese pumpkin? They look like a roll of cheese, and their inside is a deep orange. According to the folks at the farm market, they make excellent pies, and can be kept in storage for up to a year!

Or how about these miniature varieties? The are called Circus Minis, because they look like a circus tent, and they fit into your hand. They are used more for decoration than eating.

The farm market had lots of other goodies too, including apples, fruit, pies, and cider. We didn’t buy any pumpkins, but we did get some cider and apples. Yummy!

Back in Elkhart, my pal Butch Williams stopped by to visit for a while, and then Jim Beletti from the Heartland Owners RV Club came by. Jim talked to the company, and has arranged for them to have a few Heartland fifth wheel units on display at our Eastern Gypsy Gathering rally here at Elkhart Campground next year.

After Jim left, I wrote today’s blog post while Miss Terry logged in some orders that came in the mail, and then Bad Nick posted a new Bad Nick Blog called Close This! Then we watched TV and relaxed until it was time for bed.

Today we have a lot of chores to do, as well as winterizing our bus conversion for winter storage. Tomorrow we’re headed back to our printer’s to pick up the new issue of the paper and start getting it ready to mail out.

Thought For The Day – My idea of a well balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.

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