The U.P. Adventure

We have said that we were going to keep our camping trips closer to home. Not sure why. Then we started thinking of going somewhere with cooler weather in August. Having been to Maine three times, we decided on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Gene thought we should go by car and save on fuel, but when I looked at the cost of decent lodging, it was cheaper to take the camper. We would also save on meals and lodging, but spend on fuel.
So we made arrangements for mail and someone to water the plants and off we went on Monday, August 3rd. We left late morning as we were just going as far as Shelbyville, TN to stay with our Flagship friend, Blake Butler. We were just north of metro Atlanta when we blew a tire on the trailer. I guess there was some good to it in that it was on the side away from the interstate traffic and there was an exit lane as an additional buffer. The other good thing is it was on the same side where the previous owner had blown one and that damage to the aluminum skin was never repaired. It was difficult as the jack was not great for the task at hand but Gene is a great innovator. A very nice man stopped and offered to help and really would not take no for an answer and did help some. He said he started to blow by but thought that could be my parents out there. Did we look THAT old??
We stopped at the next town and bought two tires, a replacement for the blown one and its mate as being driven under inflated is the likely cause and whatever happened to one had happened to the other. This had to be before we owned it.
This delayed us four hours so the visit with Blake was cut short. Blake and the founder of the Flagship organization, George Dennis bought a piece of gorgeous land south of town, built a grass runway and subdivided it into lots which they sold. Blake built a wonderful home on a hill and George built a log home as a weekend place that the Flagship people call The Double Wide. Between the two houses they have eight bedrooms in which to put pilots when they are in town for training.
Blake met us down by the hanger where he so happened to have an RV plug in. Gene had to inspect his workshop where there were new metal working machines.
Blake had built an oil fired generator last year from a Diesel engine after seeing one another FSD pilot built in Jupiter, FL. This year he built another to run an air compressor.
Blake and Gene had a good visit, telling stories and laughing a lot.