Author: Mom

We participated in the county workshop for National Youth Science Day – Drone Discovery. We enjoyed learning about drones and all the legal aspects.

I thought it was neat how they have developed over the years but was a bit nervous with all the military and spying applications.

We talked about the principles of flight and did some outdoor activities.

Back inside we made gliders out of foam plates.

It was quite a good turnout for a school day!

Mom left town to go to 4H Rock Eagle Southeast Leadership Conference. We had fun with Dad while Mom played with snakes, went hiking and learned a LOT about being a 4-H club leader!

Back to diving. We are learning fall in dives and the first step is to learn to go backwards into the pool. They put us on tumble mats and tip us up slowly until we fall in. It was scary but so much fun!

We also participated in out club sock drive. We collided 74 pairs between Emmerson and I!

Wrapping up the buys week with 4-H Pinellas County Marine Clinic. We saw some cool samples, took a hike, played Marine Jeopardy and even got to go dip netting.

Mom also set up a mock contest. This was fun and challenging.

I led the activity and played Alex Trebek until Mom put me on a team to balance to contest a little.

Studying with friends.

As I mentioned, I am LOVING 4-H again! I am so glad that we made the club changes that we did.

 

 

We wasted no time getting back into life and new experiences upon arrival at home. We have started a diving program at the local pool. We are working on both 1 and 3 meter boards. I am terribly nervous but doing my best.

I am already diving head first off the low board.

We started our new 4-H group, Earth Explorers. I am the new Vice President. It is a smaller group and we are focused on marine and forest ecology.

We tried out a log rolling class.

I got some hair cut off and then temporarily painted red and blue.

Diving is a few times a week. I am really enjoying it.

I also started up my first high school level class. I am taking biology through FLVS.

Oh and I got to see the doctor and become a human pin cushion! I got all my 11 year old shots and my arms and so painful and swollen. The whole process was a nightmare for me and mom. It took several nurses, a doctor and Mom to get me through the process. I was NOT happy.

We also enjoyed some time at National Night Out. We got new bike helmets for free. Now we can have a set in the motorhome and a set at home!

 

 

We are enjoyed out time in Petosky collecting stones and exploring the town. Dad joined us for a Kilwins Factory tour before heading out to a week long work meeting.

We got to see how they make and mix the chocolate.

We even got to go onto the production floor and see things up close. Of course we had to wear safety hair nets and blue booties on our feet.

At the end we got free samples and then bought some taffy for later. We also had ice cream, it was yummy!

I am co-pilot when Dad is on work travel. I do such a good job of helping Mom know where to turn. Sometimes I fail to do my job. I failed most of the way to Nappanee! oops!

I woke up in time to pull into Newmar’s lot and help get the motorhome set up in the parking lot. After we were set up we headed out to Rocket Science Ice Cream. All that napping in the car sure made me hungry for ice cream!

We enjoyed the factory tour when Luna was in the service bay getting her new front windshield.

Back to Coopers Common to wander and kill some time. I LOVE this billiard ball clock.

Dad got back in town and we enjoyed the Apple Festival and this 7′ wide apple pie!

We toured Amish Acres next door to Newmar. I loved the buggy ride and learning about the Amish way of life. We even got to go see Fiddle on the Roof at the town playhouse! I t was AMAZING!

One more ice cream and we say good-bye.

Our epic travels come to a close as we head south in the morning. Hoping for a peaceful drive as we pass away the miles back towards Florida. Thanks for following our spring and summer travels!

We are in the home stretch of our amazing 4 + months on the road. We are in Petosky, Michigan on Lake Michigan. The area is famous for a hexagonal coral that is found washed up on the beaches. The coral shows that this area was once under the ocean of salty water.

We arrived to a wicked strong storm but it was beautiful. The storm kicked up huge waves, knocked out the towns power and brought many pretty stones to the beach.

We have spent several hours each day combing the beach and water looking for special stones. We have found many Petosky stones and quite a few other cool rocks that have fossils or are just cool looking.

We spend time spraying and examining them in the shade of the awning.

This is my favorite find!

Mom found 3 really nice stones and is working on sanding them by hand and then will polish them when we get home.

We took spray bottles to the upper beach areas that are dry and looked for stones there too. Our best luck was in between he trees growing at the waters edge.

 

We made it safely back into the USA and through customs at the boarder in Sault Saint Marie. We crossed the Mackinaw Bridge and it was quite scary.

We arrived at our lovely campground, Holiday Park, for the next 3 nights. We immediately headed out to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We had a blast running up and down the dunes. They were very impressive! It reminded us of the dunes in Death Valley last summer.

We made it all the way to the highest dune at 287feet.

I thought I was going to die climbing some of the dunes. They were really steep!

We worked on our Junior Ranger books and learned a lot about how the dunes were formed from the glaciers many many years ago. The dunes shift an average of 2.5 feet per year since they have been recording the data.

We hiked a few short trails. They were very hard hikes in the soft deep sand.

Trees do manage to survive in some areas even with the shifting dunes.

There was one part on the scenic drive that was insanely steep. There were lots of footprints but no people because of the storms.

We headed back to camp because of a bank robbery in town that closed everything down for the afternoon. The next day we did all the drives again and climbed the dunes several more times.

We stopped in at the blacksmiths shop and watched the blacksmith make a dinner bell. We were able to buy the bell! 

We earned our Junior Ranger badge and patch. We also got a cool book called “Look Around You” by a local artist for free for doing our books.

We stopped off at the Platte River State Fish Hatchery and saw how they raised Coho Salmon for stocking the rivers and lake.

The weir was pretty cool. They raise and lower it based on what fish is spawning.

Our last day we went out to eat at The Cherry Hut and had way too much cherry stuff. We took Dad to the dunes and he had a fun time climbing up with us.