This is August 11th, have been spending the last few days with Bill's cousin, Suzanne and her husband Roland. Bill's Aunt Yvonne was also visiting, she is from Phoenix Arizona. We had a great time spending time talking about ancestors and visiting the cemetery where a lot of family history is there. We are back on the road now still working our way west. The weather was really crazy the last few days, one day we are wearing shorts and yesterday, Sunday, we all had on long pants and jackets. They say it was not the norm in August. We are working our way through the upper peninsula of Michigan. I understand that it is very beautiful so I will report on it later.

Wednesday, August 20th, we have been following Lake Huron on hwy 23. We have come across some beach areas and taking advantage of the nice weather and hanging out on the beach for the afternoon. The beach is real clean and white. There are people swimming in the lake but it is too cold for me. I am still getting fuel under 4.00 so far. I found that Ohio fuel has been the cheapest since New York. I was getting it there around 3.85. Drove across the Mackinac Bridge which links Michigan's Peninsulas. The bridge is all gritted but they are now starting to blacktop and it is much smoother. It was 10.00 for the motorhome and jeep to cross which isn't bad. The bridge is total 5 miles, 26,372 feet. The construction cost to build this bridge was 99,800,000 and construction began May 7, 1954 and opened to traffic November 1, 1957, the 100th millionth crossing was June 25, 1998. Talking to people in this area we found out that during labor day weekend they plan to let people walk across the bridge. I would participate but we will not be around here at that time. Tonight we are spending the night at Driftwood Shores Resort and RV Park in Thompson, Michigan. I understand that in the area of Manistique just 10 miles east of here are a lot of waterfalls to visit. I am going to check it out and maybe visit one or two.

August 27th, spent 3 days at Saginaw, Minnesota to visit Russ and his wife Barb. Super nice people, enjoyed our time with them very much. Got to know them a little better. Met some of the people from his office that use to fly out to Vegas where Bill worked and do an audit. Oh by the way, it is an auditing firm. I have been seeing at different restaurants advertising Pasties. I was curious as to what they are like. In Iron Mountain Michigan we tried them for the first time. What they consist of is a pastry dough stuffed with meat and potatoes and them baked. We were not impressed with them, they needed some seasonings. I came to the conclusion that all they are is a pot pie without the gravy. So when we were in Saginaw we decided to try them again and these were much better. Even had some carrots included. I understand that these were made for the miners to carry in their lunch box. Great idea but I think I will experiment myself in makiing them. If they are good I will put my recipe on the website.