Our Trip to the UP, Part 2

We had a great time in our camper, too. We found that we could use a little more space, but it will serve us fine for now. Earlier this summer we discovered a gas leak, and had that repaired during our 2 weeks at home at the end of July. Above, Jasmin is hanging out with the kids during our only campfire in Escanaba. We actually stayed at campgrounds, instead of at the fair grounds. It gave the kids a place to explore and play while we were working the show. Trust me, they did spend plenty of time at the fair, though. We picked one day at each fair and got them and Jasmin armbands so they could ride the rides. That was always a highlight of their week. Back to the campfire...we didn't do campfires, because at night Sam and I were always at the show, and Jasmin was tucking in the kids - trying to get them to bed at a decent hour. So campfires didn't really fit in there. But on tear down day at Escanaba, the fair closed at 6:00. We actually got to tear down in the daylight and were out of there by 7:30. So Sam and I went to eat afterwards and then headed back to camp with the truck. Since it was only like 8:30, we picked up some firewood and got out our smore stuff and had a nice campfire. It was kind of like a celebration...Escanaba will probably be the last fair for the Giant Octopus, because we are working on some new ideas for next year. On the way home, we did take the opportunity to stop and play on the beach along Highway 2. It was a lot colder, windy and the weather had been rainy in the morning, so there was hardly anyone there. We pulled off at a little roadside park that had real bathrooms (thank goodness!) and a walkway down to the beach. Jasmin was all about building a sandcastle with the boys and their new buckets from Big Boy (in Manistique - where we had stopped to eat a little earlier). Savannah told us she only wanted to wade in the water, but she ended up totally going swimming in her clothes! (Sound familiar, mom?) It was no big deal, though, because we had dry ones up in the camper. We stayed down on the beach for a while, enjoying the beautiful weather and watching the kids play in the sand and then we headed back up the hill to where we parked our car. As we were getting ready to load up, a family came over to us to ask us about the octopus show. I had seen the mom in the bathroom and had told her a little about it...anyway, Sam ended up getting Oswald out, so they could see him and he showed them all the parts and even let them touch him. It was pretty cool and they were very fascinated. It was fun to share Oswald with someone one last time. We hooked them up with some informational postcards about the Giant Pacific Octopus and then we were on our way, after washing up our hands really good. Headed back over the bridge (this time at 20 mph under a high wind advisory) and down to Indian River where we stayed a couple of days at a really cool campground. On Tuesday we left and after spending the afternoon in Grayling (fixing the radiator hose on the octopus truck) we ended up at Sam's mom's house to spend the night. We all slept great and the boys went to get haircuts in the morning while Penny gave me a wonderful massage that was so appreciated after spending 3 weeks sleeping on the bed in the camper! This is a picture that Jasmin took of me and Sam on the beach. It looks more to me like I am holding a giant purple ball in front of me...but really that's my belly! Only ten more weeks to go! Can you believe it?