And We’re Off! What a Pickle!

Walmart Super Centre, Marion, IN

A cool 3C/37F morning it was on Sunday, Oct. 22^nd when we woke and got up at 6:30. CanAm’s front lot was empty save for us and I’ve never, never seen it like that before. We were the only trailer parked, occupied or not. 😊 Thank you again to Andy for his hospitality that allowed us to stay comfortably and safely.

Last night, someone was tired right out again.
This is on my lap downstairs for a while.

This one was upstairs with Daddy.
Could he be more relaxed? ♥
We did tell him he had a big day today so
I guess he is preparing!

We were hooked up under cloudy skies by 7:40 and in the exit lane a couple of minutes later after checking lights and setting our gps. Gibbs had his distraction collar on plus his little warm coat and immediately settled quietly in the back seat. ♥ Bless his sweet heart. 

We had a good 4 nights here of privacy

My GPS took us on to the 402, direct 99-mile route to Port Huron. Bill’s updated truck GPS wanted to take us to Fort Erie – EAST. LOL We ignored her, for obvious reasons.

There were still a few nice colourful
pictures along the way

This one is in Michigan at the Welcome Centre.
(out of order)

At a few minutes before 9, we crossed the Blue Water Bridge into Michigan. No line and our questions were brief (cash? food? Destination?). 

The St. Clair River

I don't even think about how these bridges are built.
It's beyond my comprehension!
There was no one in the line ahead of us which is why
we cross on Sunday morning.

The Michigan Welcome Centre was 1.5 miles in so we stopped for a nature call and stayed on I-69W. The wind has picked up, what was a calm morning at CanAm was not the case here. We are truly On Our Way now. 😊

This was at the Rest Area

A quiet rest area

We had 15 minutes of light rain when we first left and then that ended. Clear then cloudy skies the whole way. It was real smooth driving on I-69 until we got into those bouncy patches where they’d repaired parts of the pavement. We could all do without those but at least they aren’t potholes.

We had a lovely day for driving

We’re not sure who this little doggie is in the back seat. At home, wherever we take him, he pants and whines but since we left London, he’s as quiet as a mouse. Mind you, it is steady driving with no slowdowns on the interstates so he doesn’t have to help Daddy with directions. The blinkers always get his attention. 😊 We stopped at Turkeyville Rest Area to eat our sandwiches and have a short break at 11:30.

We have a good little traveller again.

Next stop, not far down the road was for fuel at a BP. For those interested and memory’s sake, we paid $4.39/gal which was lower than the TA and Love’s at $4.69. By now the sun was once more poking through the white fluffy clouds as we headed off. Already, we changed today’s destination as the first one we chose would have us stopping too soon. Adding an extra 1 ½ hours was agreeable to all of us. Somehow we both missed the Welcome to Indiana sign but we’re here.

So, at 2:45 we arrived at the Walmart in Marion, IN. We pulled into a perfect spot along the curb as far from the store as possible. We knew it was okay to stay so Bill began putting the slides out.  Our bedroom slide, the one that was just fixed will only extend about 4”. Across the hall from the closet/slide is the bathroom door, which opens out. With the teeny space between the door handle and the slide, there is no squeezing through. ☹ Now, we’re in a pickle.

One of the first unobstructed water towers
we've seen today.

We are euchred. What to do, what to do? We both went in to use the bathroom at Walmart and tried a few different things with the slide but nothing worked. We brought it in those few inches because we don’t want it to open and then not close as we would be in an even worse position. Things were going too good since we left the Ridge and now here we are. I thought and hoped that our troubles were over after a summer filled with issues. I was wrong.

Our turn off of I-69W for our nightly stop

It is Sunday so we’ll be here overnight and try calling around in the morning. This sucks and I’m sorry that I’m whining. For supper, we’ll have heated chili and apple crisp with whipped cream, maybe that will make us feel better. Bill has written a short post as well, you can check it out here. 

Looking upstairs. The bathroom is on the right
and the bedroom is on the other side of the slide.
We'll be sleeping on the pull out couch with our arms as pillows. 

The night will be spent quietly as we won’t set up the StarLink in this parking lot. I hope you’ve had a better ending to your day!

A pretty street here in Marion

At least it is warm and sunny.
Good night!

Thank you for checking in.