And yet another great place to visit here in the UP

[cody]

We just got back from a trip to the Deyoung Family Zoo in Wallace, Michigan, for those of you that don't know where Wallace is, it a few miles south of Powers Michigan lol, anyway it's on US41 in the southern UP on the western end and it's a great zoo run by an even greater family.  We arrived there with the grandkids late in the day, they close at 5PM, and asked about campgrounds in the area, the guy told me to forget about any campgrounds and park the bus over in the shade on the side of the parking lot, then he told us to enjoy the zoo for free for the rest of the day, there was about an hour left.  This little zoo has an amazing collection of animal including about 30 big cats and all the assorted monkeys, reptiles, bears and other zoo types of critters, after we had wondered around, making sure we were out before the closing time, later that evening he came and got us and gave us a personal tour and even made a bonfire for the grandkids so they could roast marshmellows, we talked and visited until way after dark, today we paid the admission, 10 bucks for adults and 6 bucks for kids and spent the entire day wandering around the zoo, we just got home from it, about 350 mile round trip for us but was fun.

[gumpy]

That's awesome, Cody.  What an experience. Thank you for sharing that.


One of these days...

[Busted Knuckle]

Cody,
Great to hear you and Alice are getting to enjoy the "iggle" and the grandkids both!

By the way the "old people" here keep asking me "how are Cody & Libby doing?", "How's Libby?", "Any word from Cody an Libby?", "When are they coming south again?"
  BK

[cody]

BK, there is nothing I think about more than running away and heading south, right now it's impossible for me to even find an empty chair to sit in, this house is full and no relief if sight yet, the grandkids will be heading back to penn the last week of august, that'll will help a lot, while they are here all their medical, food, clothes etc are on me, I don't mind cause this is the first stable home they've had, Danielle is here too, I'm trying to get her out of her marriage with that idiot, there are no legal services up here that help and extra money is going in that direction, she is still battling her own demons, thats a trial in it'self, libby is doing ok but still can't care for herself completely yet and jamie is in summer school getting ahead on some of her classes for med school, so we're running out fuel on short trips as escapes lol, libby did get her social security and now has medicaid, they denied her medicare, at least our getting divorced helped in that respect lol. I graduated well into stage 2 on my congestive heart failure and now use oxygen in the evenings but thanks to sonny and jim thats posssible cause libby has been weaned off it, it's my turn lol.  Things are somewhat inconvienent now for more than an over night or weekend trip but we're working around some of the more inconvienent things lol, and that why we're not traveling very far right now lol.  In my free time I do benefits for hunter and his family to make their life a little easier, we've still hopefull on him getting his surgury and we've recieved word that St Judes may be able to do it now so the light at the end of their tunnel no longer looks like an onrushing train lol.  That should bring your mom and dad up to speed for now lol, I am tucking away a couple of scheckles here and there for the annual BK rally tho lol.

[Busted Knuckle]

Good to hear things are going OK for ya'll.

I got mad at M & D for not calling you guys while they spent 3 days in June a mere 6 hrs away from you @ Houghton Lake!

Also your better off staying north until the weather settles! It is HOT, swampy and sticky here right now! Should get better around the end of August or beginning of September!
  BK 

[cody]

Next weekend is a local event called the Aura Jamboree, it's an ethnic music festival centered around a rural townhall and the grounds surrounding the town hall.  It started several years ago as a way to fund the upkeep of the old building and has grown into an event that draws musicians and visitors from all over the midwest, it'll be on the 16th and 17th, there are nonstop jams of all sorts going on all over the grounds and on the stage inside, the thing is centered in Aura Michigan, a small rural town that has mainly a Finnish heritage so the music ranges from finnish polkas (which are very different from what you might hear in Milwaukee) to bluegrass, in all ranges of expertice from beginners to professional musicians, we enjoy it and make more and more friends there every year.  It's just a good time and I think the grandkids will enjoy it.