The week started off great.  The Blue Water RV'ers started pulling in Monday so when I got home from work it was time for happy hour and that is how the whole week went.  

On Friday after Bill and I got home from work about 20 of us loaded into cars and headed for Pesto's.  Many thanks to Rich and his crew for the wonderful meals and service.  Everyone said they would return to the restaurant again when they were in town.   

On Saturday, after our chapter meeting 10 of us got together and went to the Flint Farmers Market for A Taste of the Maket.  I think everyone had a good time because everyone came back with a bag.

By Friday night everyone was here.  A camper who was moving out donated his wood to Bill and Tony moved it over by the rug full and Bud and JR dispatched it into fire making fodder.

It was a great weekend spent with great friends, food and conversation.

G.L.A.S.S RALLY 2012

Before I get started I need to thank Gail Cooper for the pictures I have posted here. This was our second rally this season with the Blue Water RV'ers.  Last year it rained so bad at this rally that we had to be towed out.  This year it was HOT!The pictures above are of some of the rigs from our group. 

There are a lot of things to do at the rally.  Here we have ladies from our group at a craft session.  I believe they were working on scarves. 

We also have Happy Hour.  The hour lasts from 3 pm till 6 pm.  While we were at the rally shade was prime real estate. 

This is Tammy.  Isn't she cute!

We were able to celebrate Ella's 6th birthday with her.  Thanks to Aunt Liz for

supplying the party place.

Bill's Retirement Party!!

I only wish I had the camera on him when he came in the door.  He took two steps back before I told him this was HIS party.  His face was as red as his shirt.  A special thanks to Karla, Matt, Mark,Steve and Chef Luis Fernandes of Redwood Lodge for a wonderful party.  The food was beyond wonderful and the speakers, who were organized by our wonderful MC, were spot on.

Sorry I don't have more pictures but I was too busy chatting with people I had not

seen in forever. 

Thanks to all of you who attended for making this a very memorable evening!

                                                                                                                                                        

Past students found thanks to FaceBook!

                  

                And Chef Rober Irvine from Restauran Impossible stopped by to wish Bill a retirement and offer him a job.

 So as you can see we are staying busy as we count down the days to retirement. 

Keep in touch and always keep it between the lines!

Retirees In Training

Since October 2011 we have gone from a four bedroom home, to a one bedroom apartment, and finally to our RV.  Yes we became full timers on April 22^nd of this year.  Now the adventure really begins.

Our first stop was at Clearwater Campground in Ortonville, Michigan.  It is a very nice, family friendly place to stay.  The pictures are of the petting zoo they have.  It is early in the season and they are just getting the zoo stocked up. 

They have a beautiful lake with a path that goes all the way around.  As you walk through the path you go through the Forest of Faces.  You can see the faces carved in the trees.  We talked to the owner and he said he will have more carvings done this summer. 

Starting on the 23^rd of April we were joined at Clearwater by friends from the Blue Water RV group.  I really missed playing cards with these folks.  I can not wait to meet up with them again at the GLASS Rally in May.

 We also had a huge reason to celebrate on May 5^th. Our daughter Athena and her Uncle Steve got Associate degrees from Mott College. The day was even more special because her Grandpa McAllister was there to share in the excitement. 



Steve, Athena & Bill

Grandpa McAllister & Athena

We have now settled at Holiday Shores in Durand.  I have not had time to walk around and take pictures but this place is also beautiful. Enjoy the warm weather and watch for my next blog update.

Waiting for Spring

. We have been enjoying our last mild winter in Michigan. 

I believe we have finally mastered the art of the RV battery.  We would still like to unplug the RV from shore power and check the voltage on the batteries after it sets for a couple of days.  If we find a big drop in voltage we will then check the fuses to see which one is the power sucker.

We have done a few things this winter.  On Sunday, February 5^th we and about ten other couples renewed our wedding vows.  There were a lot of smiles and tears.  We also took a short honeymoon to Columbus, Ohio with the group.  We missed lunch with our RV Blue Water group and look forward to seeing them in March.

On February 13^th the American Culinary Federation Saginaw Valley Chapter held their Chef of the Year banquet at Mott Community College.  The event and food were wonderful.

We are getting closer to retirement as they have posted Bill’s job not once but twice.  Retirement is becoming more real to him now.  He has been helping plan classes for spring where he will be teaching and summer where he will not be teaching. 

Until the next update stay warm, safe and healthy.

Last Campout With The Blue Water Group

Again our RV group came through when our RV had problems. 

Bill got to Pine Ridge RV Park  in Frankenmuth before me and got things set up.  He called to tell me there was a funny smell in the RV and the alarm kept going off. 

And this is what we found.  The battery was smoking and when I hit it with the fire extinguisher it started to foam.  The guys got the problem under control and we take it down to Cummins on Wednesday to have the electrical checked out.

This is where we camped out for the weekend.  This is also where we will stay when Athena and Nate get married next year. 

I went for a walk in the woods the colors were beautiful.

We also had a great dinner.  They call it a haystack.  It is kind of like a taco salad.  And the sweets table was wonderful.

It was also the day of the Michigan - Michigan State game.  I love this flag.

Well now it is time to put the RV to sleep until April.  Then we take our next step to retirement.  We will be moving into the RV as our perminent home. 

Bill has a new email address:  chefbill12@gmail.com

Stay warm till spring!



We are on the MOVE!!

At our last camp out we got a phone call that our house has sold and we got the celebrate with some wonderful friends.  Needless to say we have been super busy since that last outing. 

Nate, our future son-in-law, helped Bill change the RV batteries.  He was a great help and made it look so easy.

I thought everyone would love to see the pictures of the move.  We sure pitched a lot of stuff but we still have a lot in storage for the kids.

So now we have moved to the apartment and things are slowly getting put where they belong.  We had a lot of cool things happen during this adventure.  We got the last moving truck and a free funiture dolly.  We had the best moving help in the world.  Thank you so much Athena and Nate.  Nate was like a one man moving crew.  He and Bill started at 8 am and we had all the big stuff at the apartment or in storage by 4pm and the best part is Bill and I had fun doing this.  My wonderful husband took a full day off work to clean and finish packing the house.  My job was to clean the carpets when I got out of work.  We are whipped but it was fun.  We are REALLY looking forward to our last campout.  We need some rest.

Here is our new mailing address:

             P.O. Box 252

             Fenton, MI  48430

We can only be reached on our cell phones.  Please email me if you need our numbers and I will email them to you.