This past week has been a typical boring week right after vacation. Not much went on, but we did at one point this weekend go to FW for something to do. We hit B&N and Red Robin, and the kids shopped at the mall, but that's about it. 

I've set up the camper in the driveway so it can dry out (especially the awning) a bit after our trip to Petoskey. It was still a little wet when we packed it all up. I also found a product that is supposed to take mildew stains out of RVs like a miracle. They call it "Miracle Mist," but it is basically bleach with some surfactants and detergents added. It does indeed make mildew stains vanish like magic. You're supposed to spray it on, wait a minute, then rinse with light water, but I'm still a little concerned about whether the bleach is going to damage the canvas. I rinsed as well as I could, and it did clean the canvas right up. I did all the flaps in the front bed of the camper, will get the rest when I have a better feeling about the stuff. It discolored the foam mattress that was on the bed so I cleaned that up and aired it out as best I could. Hopefully the bleach won't give Beth hives in the future.

The softball tournament started this week. We were playing a team that we destroyed a few weeks ago, and somehow in the interim they got good. At least as good as us, really...we'd score a few, they'd score a few. Last time we played they couldn't make a play, now they made them all flawlessly. Anyway, we finally won 14-11, so we continue in the winners' bracket. The tournament this year is a little different; they broke it down into divisions of divisions, so our tournament is with 4 teams total, the bottom 4 of the bottom half, as it were. But we'll take it. It's more fun to have a chance to win, after all...

 We've returned from a weeklong camping trip to Petoskey! This was the trip that I had such a hard time getting a reservation for (see 1/23/2022). We all really enjoyed Petoskey State Park. What a beautiful park. Nice facilities, mere steps to the beach from every loop, a great beach, good rock hunting, close to anything you need. We got there last Sunday around dinnertime and got everything all set up. Neill and Judy were just down the loop a short walk from us, so we spent a lot of time with them. We hit the shopping district Monday, including finding a place for some pretty good calzones (that's our thing), went on a trip to Pond Hill Farm (we saw it on the way back from Legs Inn last year and though hey, we should check that out sometime) which we thought was very overrated and not something we would want to spend a lot of time at, went to Legs Inn through the Tunnel of Trees northbound this time, hit the Indian crafts store and the fudge shops, and spent a lot of time on the beach looking for Petoskey stones (we found a ton of them, but didn't get any polished this time), Checked out a festival in Charlevoix where there was a big band playing one evening, went to Young State Park (down the road a bit where the Pinksters were staying because they couldn't get a spot at Petoskey) and visited with John and Steph for a day. I made a Dutch oven cheesy potato dish that was a big hit, but of course when the recipe starts with 'melt a pound of butter...' it's going to be a hit. I also did a lot of bike riding with Neill, down several bike trails and rail trails 3 different times for 12-15 miles (he was pretty proud of himself for keeping up, but he has an e-bike...though he did really well for an 81 year old). Went to see the sunset a bunch. I even ran into someone I know from work, which was unexpected. We packed up and hit the road by around lunch time today, and took around 6 hours to get home. We love Petoskey!

 A couple weeks ago I noticed that the truck’s brakes have been acting funny. When I stop at a traffic light for example, the brake pedal tends to keep sinking as I sit there, and if I’m not paying enough attention the truck may start to roll forward even if my foot stays on the brake. Ab & Tom’s was not able to get the truck in for a few weeks, so I took it to Boggs Automotive instead. I figured we’re towing the camper a few hundred miles (next week!) so I better get the brakes taken care of now. Anyway they said that the front calipers were seized and the rear rotors and pads all needed to be replaced. So I had them do all that….and when I picked it up at the end of the day it appeared to me that nothing had really changed after $1300+ worth of work. So I took it in the next day and asked them to check out what I was telling them it was doing. The manager agreed to have the lead mechanic test drive it, so I took it in at the end of the day and he did so. His test drive lasted less than a minute and he was back, saying as he came back in the door something like “it never should have left here in that condition.” OK, so bring it in tomorrow morning! They had it again the next day and replaced the master cylinder which appeared to be shot. Another $343.17 there. But at the end the truck has all new brakes for the trip up north tomorrow, and we should even be able to stop when we need to. 

I took a load of scrap metal to Lewis Salvage on Monday, mostly things that Beth has been bugging me to get rid of. An old patio chair that the webbing has ripped, an old table that was by the front door, my old bike that the shifter’s been broken for a year and I’ve taken parts off of, and some miscellaneous scrap from the garage. That all got me $3.68! I bought a drink and had some change left over.

Tuesday the softball game was cancelled, rather postponed, because the opposing team had too many players out due to the fair to field a team. The league manager tried to get another team on short notice but couldn’t, so she’s scheduled a doubleheader next week. When I’m out on vacation, dang it.

Another medical milestone for my journey to being old: my first cortisone shot. I finally went to see my family doctor last week hoping for a referral to an orthopedist about my shoulder. It’s been sore for about 6 months now, and chiropractic isn’t really helping. Dr. Dick said he thought it was “adhesive capsulitis” or frozen shoulder, and sent me over to Ortho Northeast. The same doctor that sees Beth about her knee and back saw me, took some x-rays, and told me he didn’t see anything on them so apparently Dr. Dick was right. He gave me a cortisone shot, which may help like flipping a switch, or not, and gave me some exercises to do. Apparently the shot and the exercises and icing should cure it but it may take some time. Well, it’s already been months. I need to get a resistance band.

The “new” Honda went into the shop at Boggs Automotive on Friday to take care of a few things before the big trip out west. Most notably, the oil drain plug that got stripped at Jiffy Lube about a week ago. They fixed that for free, and I had them check the belts and hoses while it was there and fix the alignment. They recommended replacing the serpentine belt so I had them do that. Hopefully it’ll be all set to take to Washington next month. 

The whole family went out to see the new “Thor: Love & Thunder” movie this weekend. Overall I liked it, but it wasn’t my favorite of all the MCU movies. I’d give it a 7/10. It was definitely the silliest of all the Marvel movies. And the whole bit at the beginning with the Guardians of the Galxy seemed…awkward. The last half hour was pretty awesome though.

 We never learn, it seems, so for July 4 weekend we tried to go to the beach at Warren Dunes. We set out on Sunday after church with all the beach fixins loaded into the van (and the GPS sent us all over the place on the way there…all through the sticks) and when we got to the entrance to the park, we found that the rangers had closed the entrance (because all the lots were full) and were turning people away. There was a line coming from the other direction (trying to turn right into the park) going for a long long way. We luckily could see what was going on so we didn’t stay, and headed for South Haven instead. When we got there, we found the beach as packed as we have ever seen it, including on a July 4^th, and we were unable to find a parking space anywhere around north beach. We finally found a place to park at south beach, far away enough that I had to drop the fam off at the beach and go park and hike back. Man the beach was packed. Seems that there was an art fair going on in South Haven that day, and there was a fireworks show in the evening, so nobody was leaving the beach in the late afternoon. We just stayed there, went swimming, sat under the canopy, and such until around 5 and then took off for home again. A much faster trip home than the outbound trip.

 The fireworks show in town was Saturday the 2^nd. We took the kids to the fairgrounds like usual and found a good place to park and watch, but this year it really seemed to be a lesser show than previous years. It just seemed shorter and less impressive.

 The “new” Honda has already had a misadventure. On Friday I took it in to Jiffy Lube to get the oil changed, and they told me that the drain plug was either cross-threaded or overtorqued when it was changed the last time, and the threads stripped when they took it out and it would not go back in. They installed a “pan saver” as a temporary fix but told me that I should take it back to where the oil was changed last and have them fix it since it was their fault. I wasn’t optimistic when I went back to Boggs to tell them. They sent me to their main shop, where they made an appointment for me to bring it back in next week. We’ll see what they say, I guess.

 Softball had a big win on Tuesday, we played the last-place team in the league and beat them down 17-4, but it wasn’t as close as the score would indicate. They were kind of like Charlie Brown’s team, or maybe they were having an off night, or maybe some of their good players weren’t there. But they weren’t doing much of anything right. Or maybe we’re getting better, but I kind of doubt it.

 Missy has returned from Europe! She came back Tuesday evening, the bus pulled in to the high school around 11:30 pm. She was very jet lagged, and very tired, and happy to be home even though she had a fantastic time! As when Alex went, it was unusually hot there the whole time, and they were always on the move, but she did and saw so many things and had such an amazing adventure. She took about a million pictures, too.