Some days are Sunny, others are a B*tch

30 day Blogging-Nov 15, 2021

Prompt for November 15, 2021
You and your two best friends are going on a month-long road trip. Where are you going? What three items must be in your luggage for this trip to be a great experience for you.


Paula, Lynn and I have wanted to take a RV and travel the roads of our personal history for years. To be able to share major highlights of each of our lives will be great fun. We are retired now. Girls traveling together is fun and though some memories will be bittersweet, we will do more laughing than crying.

We would fly to Michigan, then rent an RV, fully equipped so we can sleep, eat, and drive. We started our lives in 3 different states. Of course this has been planned around important milestones. Hospitals where we were born, homes where we lived, family cemeteries, schools, major landmarks and occasional visits with old friends.

So the trip takes us from Grand Rapids, MI where my family is originally from. We visit Butterworth where I was born, the homes my parents and Grandparents lived in.

We have agreed on one special place to just relax and I choose Machinaw Island which is known for the movie “Somewhere in Time”. The Grand Hotel is a treat to spend the night, have tea, sweets and finger sandwiches served while a small quartet plays and sit on the longest hotel veranda in rocking chairs. The view is spectacular. The sunsets over the beauty that is Lake Michigan are gorgeous. A Surrey ride is fun and a great way to see the island where automobiles aren’t allowed.

Next stop is Charleston, South Carolina where Paula comes from. Her Mom is still living in the family home close to the Battery. Then going to the market in downtown is a treat. It is huge and you can bargain for merchandise from all over the world plus local goods. I have never seen the schools she went to, their family cemetery, and visit with a friend she grew up with. We have to eat at a famous barbecue place there and also Rainbow Row where stately old pastel washed homes are. Charleston is such a historical town, a tour is in store.

Lastly, we go to Birmingham , Alabama where Lynn is from. She grew up and married there in a large church wedding so more of her life was spent there. She had her only child there, a daughter. She taught for the Head Start program and went to the University of Alabama, I have never seen it. I believe we are going to go to a game. We would probably see the plantations but also the Civil Rights monuments and museum. It is a lovely place with many restaurants that specialize in local southern Cuisine. Lynn has a surprise planned. I can't wait.

I have to travel with a really good camera, not just an iPhone, my laptop which has all my writing, music, old photos and information on it.

Sounds like fun and I am ready to go! One month long slumber party!