The Browns

After waiting to get the Busse Bus’s full wall slide fixed we were able to leave the Hockstra’s around 3pm. It took us some time to load up and say our goodbyes. We had about a three hour drive down to Niles, MI to meet up with Stan and Lynne Brown who were waiting patiently for our arrival. We had meet the Brown’s years ago while traveling and even traveled with them for a few weeks back in 2020. We stayed at Spaulding Lake Campground in buddy sites (meaning both of our doors faced each other). An older campground that had three little ponds tucked in the back of the property, hardly a “lake”. The people were very nice however. After we got set up we headed out for dinner at the Prime Table Restaurant, where family dining was at its best:

The next day we were able to play some pickleball at the local courts. Beautiful new pickleball courts next to tennis courts that had weeds growing through the cracks.

I guess that that shows you where these two sports are going. We played some nice games and then headed over to a distillery named Iron Shoe.

The special of the month was a:

that I needed to try.

In my opinion it was awful! Our server was kind enough to replace my drink with another of my liking. I asked to taste their bourbon.

Again, not to my liking. Luckily they also had some off the shelf brands that sated my tastes. We had a wonderful lunch there and then headed back to the coaches. Since Katrina and I had recently returned from Europe our internal time clocks were still not adjusted to local time so we relaxed and perhaps slept a bit during the afternoon.

That evening we had dinner in and then played some games. It was so nice to eat in after weeks of going out to restaurants.

The next day after Katrina and Stan played pickleball (Lynne and I enjoyed some down time) we packed up the truck and drove up to see the Fernwood Botanical Gardens.

We started with lunch in their cafe which was surprisingly good. We then entered the gardens and walked around. One of our first stops was LGB Train exhibit:

Very fun seeing how they they installed the track and kept it hidden with environmentally elements. We continued to walk through the grounds:

Very nice gardens and we were happy that we made the decision to check them out.

After getting recommendations from Katrina’s family on a restaurant in South Bend, IN we decided on Parisi’s Ristorante for Italian cuisine.

Stan insisted that we get dessert after reading the options:

Guess which one we got?

I’m sure glad that he did! Yep, the Giant Ass Chocolate Cake! Yummy!

Katrina and Stan played more pickleball the next morning. Lynne and I puttered around while we waited there returned. I was actually able to catch up on some work that I had been ignoring for some time so that was good. Once they returned we all headed over to the River St. Joe Brewing Company.

What a cool place! The brewery was part of the Flatwater Farms and the menu items included fresh produce from their farm. They even grew their own hops! The main building was very unique:

Besides the seating on the inside they had outdoor dining, activities, and a vegetable cart:

They even had a beer tap on the outside of the vegetable cart which I took advantage of:

We headed back to Spaulding for a homemade dinner, games and a fire.

Lynne is actually looking for the Starlink deployment, not sleeping. Apparently when Starlink deploys their satellites you can see the trail of them moving into position (either that or UFO’s).

On our last day together, Katrina and Stan went to play some higher level pickleball with some people they had met. While they were gone, a local news reporter asked Lynne and I if we would be willing to answer some questions for the 5 o’clock news regarding how the economy is affecting camping. I agreed, but when Katrina pulled up, I gladly turned over the interview responsibilities to her. Check these out: