Home sweet home

Left Menominee around 9 AM.  More severe weather was predicted for the area, but the Lord spared us and we were out of the area before it moved in.  We had some periods of rain, but nothing severe.  I had mapped our route out to go around Chicago on the way home.  NOMA likes to take  us on the Dan Ryan, past the Chicago skyline and through about $30.00 worth of tolls.  Although the route she uses is shorter in miles, it is actually longer time wise, due to all the traffic the toll booths cause.  I missed the Indiana tollway turn,  and before we knew it we were in the land of Chicago traffic and tolls.  Of course that is when Button decided he needed to get out of his crate, plus we were both a bit cranky because we hadn't stopped for lunch yet.  It wasn't pretty, but we made it through, and came out of it all in Gary Indiana.  Not far to the MI border from there.  Stopped for a potty break, then drove onto a Burger King for supper.  Got into MI about 7 or 8 PM, made our customary stop at the rest stop that is just across the border, the one with the cool light house at it.  After 10 CD's, found that our last book from Cracker Barrel was scratched so bad that we couldn't listen to the ending, so we were bummed about that. Had some pretty heavy rain between the border and Grand Rapids.  Dropped our book off at the Cracker Barrel near Traceys' house around 10 PM.  It was tempting to stop, but we knew we would see Tracey and the kids the next day, and really wanted to sleep in our own bed for the night, so we kept going. We found a weekly recap of Prime Time America on Northern Christian Radio, and a nice country gospel station, so the 90 miles to our house passed quickly.  We thought it would be best if we parked at the bottom of the driveway so we could scope it out before driving up it with Firefly.  We were glad we did, lots of rain while we were gone, so many gullies in the back driveway, which is the one we use for Firefly.  As I write this, Tony is out repairing the driveway so I can pull pull Firefly up and put her in her usual spot.  

We have driven nearly 6000 miles in the last 31 days.  We've seen beautiful country and had wonderful visits with many of our loved ones.  It worked out great to take Firefly,  we had our own place to stay and it was sure easier for Tony to use the bathroom in Firefly instead of finding his way around another strange bathroom each time we stopped.  Firefly is just the right size for the 2 of us and tows very well.  We had a few cool nights and found that our heat pump works well to warm things up inside.  we were very grateful for our air conditioning.  (especially in WA during the heat wave.)  We are more convinced than ever that we made the right choice in selling our 23 foot motor home and going with something smaller and easier. Gas prices were reasonable, our MPG never fell below 18.5.  God had his hand of provision and protection on us.  He provided for us so we could take this trip.  The experiences were nice,  and it was good to reconnect with those we loved, but there really is no place like home.  (I'll have to remind myself of that later when I am sorting through a months worth of mail!)  Thanks for reading our blog and following us on our grand adventure.  We hope to do some fall camping before putting Firefly in winter storage.  More posts to follow.