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In Muskegon Michigan, a dinner with Al's sibs at a restaurant where Al's nephew Jack is head chef . . .
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"Muskegon: Together Rising" - symbol of a revitalized downtown Muskegon
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We interrupted dessert to go outside for a small parade, featuring the Budweiser Clydesdales
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We also liked these folks promoting next spring's Irish Festival
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On July 4th, Al's family renuion. 165 folks on his mother's side
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A beautiful day and a perfect setting . . .
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Some of the cousins cooked a whole pig. We only ate some of it.
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Al's mom was the oldest of 12, and this poster shows her branch of the tree . . .
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Al's uncle Lee Wilson held court. Sadly, he succumbed to pancreatic cancer 3 weeks after the reunion.
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Another uncle, Larry Trygstad, from Los Angeles
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Lee enjoyed the day
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Lots of gatherings to share stories
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Al's the oldest of the cousins, David is the youngest. In between, 50+ others and close to 40 years
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On July 5, we went to the Meijer Sculpture Park & Gardens outside Grand Rapids
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It's a marvelous garden filled with impressive sculptures, like this one
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We'd been here twice before; this is a favorite of Judy's
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This one's called "Neuron"
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Some are amorphous
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Some are slightly disturbing
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Some are whimsical
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Some are classical
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"Woman and Bird", by famous sculptor Joan Miro. (We couldn't see it either)
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That's just wierd
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But that's kind of cool
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Some of the "sculptures" are very natural looking
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It's called "Aria" for you musical types
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"Tools In Their Places". Somewhat troubling . . .
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"Large Parrot Screams Color". Sure does
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Abstract
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Fun
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Thought provoking
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The American Horse. Most impressive.
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Smaller versions - one life sized, the smallest for sight-impared folks to "see" by touch
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Some were just plain cute
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Fun . .
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Unexpected
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The grounds were wonderfully kept . .
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"Warts and All". Yup . .
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Some interesting things in an indoor gallery as well . . .
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Most summer Sundays there's a gathering at Al's sister Vicki's place
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In the summer, the pool and hot tub get a lot of action
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Al's niece Beth and husband Mike were there . . .
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Brother-in-Law John was grillmaster
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Sister Sue's youngest, Chris, and his girlfriend Dallas
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Sue's a grandmother now - that's little Wyatt and proud mother Sarah
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It was family reunion part 2
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Proud pappa Joe and Wyatt. Wyatt got a LOT of attention
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Puppies and kids make a good afternoon
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Wyatt loves his BBQ
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Would you believe he'd never seen a camera before? Didn't think so . . .
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Two birthdays that weekend - John and nephew Mike's daughter Maisie
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Lots of prezzies
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Proud parents - Mike with the bow and wife Charity with the camera.
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Last night in town, another sibs gathering for dinner.
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The mandatory "We're Still Here" picture, taken by the waitress. Maybe we should have tipped better . . .
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In Dearborn MI, a most wonderful museum complex
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The clock tower is a replica of Independence Hall in Philadelphia
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The home Henry Ford grew up in . .
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Henry Ford's first "motorcar" - the 1896 Quadracycle
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TV crews working on a new CBS series
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Personality Mo Rocca will host the show, airing on CBS this fall
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Judy found a harp inside Stephen Foster's home . . .
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Robert Frost lived here when Poet in Residence at the University of Michigan in the 1920s
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Noah Webster built this in New Haven, CT, as a retirement home in 1823 - and then did his first dictionary in 1828. Some retirement
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The Cotswold Cottage was built in the early 1600s in Chedworth, Gloucestershire, England
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The Farris Windmill is said to the oldest windmill in the US - built around 1650 on Cape Cod
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The Ackley Covered Bridge was built in 1832 in Southwestern Pennsylvania
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Spots of serenity . . .
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Thomas Edison's actual workshop from Fort Meyer FL. The one there now is the bigger one Ford built for Edison.
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Sarah Jordan's Boarding House from Menlo Park NJ was the first building Edison electrified
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Logan County IL courthouse from 1840. Abraham Lincoln practiced law here . .
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Heard of the McGuffey Reader? That's where McGuffey was born . . .
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Makes you wonder what year it really is . . .
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One of the reasons motorcars became so popular
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Luther Burbank was born here in 1849. Developed the Idaho Potato. It's probably his fries you get with that
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Took a break for a performance of Gershwin in an old town music hall.
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Sir John Bennet's Clock Shop was originally built in London England around 1875.
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Henry Ford built a complete replica of Edison's Menlo Park facility - the original was long gone.
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Edison said the replica was "99.9% perfect" - the original wasn't nearly as clean
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Somebody gave Edison an organ, which he played in the lab from time to time
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The old machinery is fascinating
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We never did see this guy actually ride that thing.
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We wonder why American carousels go counter-clockwise, while British ones go clockwise. This one's from 1913
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Rides on the steam trains were very popular, lots of fun, and quite smelly if you sat up front
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We sat nearer the back
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This was Harvey Firestone's family farm, transplanted from Ohio
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It's called "venting steam". Loud and impressive . . . .
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The train ride is about a mile around the perimeter of Greenfield Village
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We spotted another steam engine being fired up
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It was then maneuvered onto a turntable
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Which one guy proceeded to rotate
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He was moving somewhere around 100 tons of stuff, and still smiling . .
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Model T rides were very popular. Even with a dozen cars running, we waited almost an hour
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There we go!
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In a craft village, glass blowers at work
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The pottery had some HUGE pots out front. They were made elsewhere a long time ago
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They make things to sell in the various shops around the village
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Another picturesque scene
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Inside the Museum, a display of presidential limousines
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This is the 1961 Continental that JFK was killed in. It was refitted and returned to service and used through the Carter administration
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Not really a limo, but Teddy Roosevelt's presidential Brougham, built in 1902
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You like trains? They got trains.
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It's a 1941 Allegheny-class - at over 600 tons, one of the largest steam locomotives ever built
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Canadians know how to move snow, eh?
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That's an awesome toy train layout . . .
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A replica of the DeWitt Clinton, one of the earliest commercial steam trains
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That's the original Holiday Inn sign, along with a 57 DeSoto Fireflite
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A "tourist cabin" from around 1936 - no plumbing inside - just a chamber pot
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Lots of people were introduced to motorized camping by the 1959 VW Westfalia - the first van camper
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The early Airstreams were revolutionary in their day, and orginally sold as kits or plans
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Sweet . . .
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This 1903 Packard was only the second car to cross the US . . . San Francisco to New York, 61 days
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1962 Mustang prototype . . .
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In 1965, the four-engined Goldenrod went 409mph at the salt flats, a record for wheel-driven cars that stood until 1991 . . .
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The fastest NASCAR racer ever. 212.809mph in 1987. NASCAR said "too fast" and mandated engine restrictions thereafter
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The very first Blue Bird bus.
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The last motorhome used by Charles Kuralt - never lived in, just used as a mobile studio.
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It's a "duesy" - a 1931 Duesenberg Victoria convertible, to be precise
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And we really liked this 1931 Bugatti Royale
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First rear engine car to win the Indy 500 (1965). No front-engine car ever won after that.
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The 1980 "Commuta-car", all electric. 4000 were sold. Then gas prices came back down . . . .
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The Tesla of its day - an 1896 Riker Electric Tricycle
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Admiral Byrd flew this to the North Pole. After Edsel Ford sponsored the trip, Fokker made sure nobody would think it was a Ford Tri-motor
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That's a Ford Tri-Motor . . .
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Yet another replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer.
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Quick - which way is it going?
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A special exhibit on racial tensions was sobering
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That's the actual bus that Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of - December 1, 1955
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There was another exhibit on the sufferage movement . . . easy to see why many women became activists
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Bet we've all used at least one of these . . .
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If you ever wondered what's inside a Model T . .
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We liked some of the classic furniture
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That's just fun!
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A beautiful New Hampshire chest from 1800, with spectacular Satinwood veneer.
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That's the mold used to make the Eames chair shown in blue
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Furniture with a past - Mark Twain's dropleaf table, Edgar Allen Poe's portable writing desk
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Outside the Women Who Rock traveling exhibit, which we saw in Phoenix
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Buckminster Fuller designed the Dymaxion House - the home of the future. Only two were ever built in 1945. This is the only survivor
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The whole house was supported by a central mast. That's the whole foundation.
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Pretty spiffy inside, if you like round.
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Gotta love the Weinermobile
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Back in 2005, these young folks found this one in a motel parking lot in Idaho.
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In case you've never seen one, that's a tomato harvester.
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This musem has something for everybody . . .
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The doll houses were fascinating, and very well done
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We liked the silver display
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The three spoons on the left are by Paul Revere
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Edison used a spade once used by Luther Burbank to break ground for the museum in 1928
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A photo op . . .
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Then there were the really big machines
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Some of these were placed and then the building built around them
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An 1865 stationary steam engine. Note the Gothic arches. These were works of art in those days
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Corning developed this automatic light-bulb producing machine in 1928. It made 700 bulbs an hour.
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This was on the second floor of this huge engine. Ford had nine of them driving generators to power his factory.
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Another replica, this one built for the movie that starred Jimmy Stewart
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This DC-3 flew over 12 million miles before retiring to the museum in 1975 - the most ever flown by any airplane up 'til then.
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The aerobatic displays were imaginative
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That's the very first Sikorsky helecopter. In 1940, it wouldn't fly forward. By 1941, they figured that part out
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The autogyro was also a popular rotary-wing aircaft in the 1930s
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A racing plane. Wonder how the pilot saw where he/she was going?
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And as we were leaving the RV park, a gathering of these vintage GMC motorhomes was checking in. They were expecting several dozen. And we'll end now (finally).