MOUSE!

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

We woke up to find that a MOUSE HAD BEEN IN THE PANTRY OVERNIGHT!  Oh, you vile little creature, you. When I opened the pantry door to get breakfast ready, I found a bit of white fluff floating around. As I wondered what that was, I started pulling things out. Then … I noticed that the roll of paper towels had been gnawed on. Now I knew for certain – a mouse had gotten in! Musta crawled up a tire and then into the van somehow.

Oh, gross.

And it wasn’t just bedding he was looking for. He found an unopened package of pistachios that he chewed his way into. And apparently he was pretty hungry.

As I unpacked the pantry (cursing the evil rodent the entire time, mind you), I kept finding evidence of him on both pantry shelves. Aaaarrrrgggghhhh.

I then went over in to the bathroom storage compartment to get the Pine-Sol and my dustpan and brush. When I pulled them out, I found that a roll of toilet paper had also been gnawed through about a third of the way. Egads – he’d made it to the other side of the van, getting to know his way around.

I was not happy.

Mouse 1 : Chris 0

I did a bit of personal business and made a few phone calls. (This included making a call to a CampingWorld in Minneapolis who CAN take my van early next week when I am there. My wastewater pipe will finally be fixed. Hooray!)

On my way out of the campground, I stopped at the office to check in on a few things. I mentioned the mouse to the lady upfront, and she told me about these plant-based sachets that you can get that disorient mice. I figured it was worth a try, so on my way in to Ann Arbor that afternoon, I stopped at a close-by RV place and got a package of three sachets of balsam fir oil. According to the product display, this was a botanical solution that actually short-circuits a mouse’s important sense of smell (they can only see eight inches in front of them; smell is their primary sense). The mouse realizes it can no longer tell where it is, or if danger is close, so it leaves.

Not wanting to kill anything that was just trying to survive (even if it was not invited into my camper), I bought some.

Then Auggie and I headed in to Ann Arbor to do a little walking around. We saw the original Borders store  - it’s an Ann Arbor business! (sadly, now, boasting its going-out-of-business signs). 

Also some cool old theaters. And you know you are in Wolverine territory when storefronts show nothing but blue and gold Michigan wear!

On Main Street, Ann Arbor, I also saw the “Cherry Republic” store, full of local Michigan specialties.

Shevon joined us after work and showed us one of the twelve “fairy doors” that are hidden around town. (There is also apparently a fairy village, but we didn’t see that.) 

We also walked over to the Kerrytown section of town to see the (world-famous?) Zingerman’s delicatessen. Since I don’t eat meat or cheese, and Auggie was with us, we didn’t go inside. But it looks yummy! 

We walked back to Main Street to have dinner at the Jolly Pumpkin, one of the many local breweries. We sat outside with Auggz, and eventually got rained on. (Thanks, Shevon, for having a sense of humor about eating while wet.) I thought it an interesting coincidence that the menus were made to look like mousetraps. Beer was good, food was good, and the rain cooled us off from a very hot day.

We drove Shevon home and saw her cute new house. Then we did some quick shopping and headed back to camp. Before going to sleep, we put the pistachios in a plastic baggie, set one mouse-chasing sachet in the pantry, one in the bathroom storage compartment and one at the front of the van. Good night. 

Ann Arbor, MI

Monday, August 1

My friend Shevon, who was a colleague back in my SPA days in the mid-90s, has lived in Michigan for nine years. I miss her very much, and our visit reminded me why. It was great to see my friend again.

Shevon had been out in Seattle all last week, visiting family. She had flown home overnight on a redeye. She came out to my campground Monday to take a look at my “rig,” and we had a nice long chat under the awning of the Champagne Chevy.

For all of you who have reminded me that I have not yet posted any photos of me or the van for whom this blog is named, you all can thank Shevon for these photos. She took them that afternoon.

We talked for hours, noshed on a few snacks, then realized that it was already late afternoon. We then headed in to Ann Arbor for some dinner and a tour around the University of Michigan campus, where Shevon works.

It struck me how nice it was to be in a university town again. It took me back to college times in Harvard Square, which was just a quick ride from Tufts.

UM is a beautiful campus. 44,000 students! Gulp – that’s an entire city.  J  Not too many students around, though, since it was summer. We had a nice walk around campus.

Then Shevon took us back to our campsite and headed home to get some much-needed sleep.

I built my first campfire that night. And I have to say … it was a bit of a dud. We were staying at more of a grassy campground, not woody. I couldn’t find enough small and medium-sized wood for the big logs I had, so the big ones didn’t ignite. We went to sleep instead. 

Our First Traffic “Incident”

Sunday, July 31

I used the WiFi again this morning and got my fill before heading out on the road. Before we left the Cleveland campground, we said good-bye to our little friend the pot-bellied pig that we’d met while we were there.  J

The drive to Ann Arbor was about 3.5 hours. I learned that the state of Ohio is very flat.

While we were driving, I decided to go and make a quick visit to Detroit. My friend in Ann Arbor, Shevon, had mentioned a few things to do in Detroit if we had the time. One of them was an outdoor park on Belle Isle, which both Auggie and I could do without a visit to daycare involved, and it was a nice, sunny day. At a rest stop, I rerouted our path on my phone and we set off. 

You know you are in Michigan when you pass a massive Ford factory on your way – this is car country here!

We were at a red light, following our driving instructions. When it turned green, I turned left … into three lanes of oncoming traffic. Luckily, though, the oncoming traffic was stopped at a red light and I quickly stopped the van about ten feet in, recognizing what I’d done.

As luck would have it, so did the cop who was behind me.

Whooosh … he zoomed by me, put his flashers on and ran his siren so that traffic wouldn’t come at me. I quickly put my window down as he got out and barely got two words out of my mouth before he yelled at me “TURN AROUND!"  “TURN AROUND AND PULL OVER UP THERE!” (all-caps on because he really was yelling J)

Yes, officer, I sure will.

I looked at Auggie and said,” Auggz, I think I might have my first ticket.” And then, that sick feeling came into my stomach as you know you’ve got an unfriendly cop on the way to tell you all the ways you are a hazard on the road.  I thought to myself, “Oh, geez. I really didn’t try to goof up. Do I think he’ll buy that?”

I pulled in to the gas station he indicated, rolled down my window and started locating my driver's license and registration. In the rearview mirror, I could see him getting out of his car and checking out my license plate. “See – Maryland – I’m not from here …,” I thought.

And then, as the cop approached, I took hold of Auggie (he has growled/barked at men in uniform before …) and put my window down, preparing my most contrite voice and apology.

Almost simultaneously, we said:

CK: I went the wrong way, didn't I? 

Cop: Were you a little confused back there?

CK: Yes, officer, I was. I’ve got a dog in here.

Cop: Is it just you and the dog?

CK: Yes, sir. It is.

Cop: You pulled the wrong way into traffic.

CK: Yes, sir. I know that now. I was confused about how to get onto Jefferson.

Cop: What is that on top of your van? With the grill on it? Is that an air conditioner?

CK: Yes, sir.

Cop: That’s a pretty nice-looking van you’ve got.

CK: Thank you. We like it.

Cop: Which way you headed?

CK: Down Jefferson, the other way.

Cop: Drive safely out there. Let me pull out of your way first.

Meanwhile, the other cop had been looking in the passenger window the whole time, which I’d only just then noticed. Checking to see if I had any stowaways? Checking out the van?

In any event, whew. 

I pulled through the gas station and pulled back to the spot I was before the “altercation” happened. This time I pulled properly onto Jefferson and went along my merry way.

I finally made it to Belle Isle. As it was a sparkling sunny Sunday afternoon, there were tons of people out, having picnics and chilling on the island. We stopped close to the beach that faces the city of Detroit. Here’s a view of the city skyline; unfortunately, it doesn’t show how beautiful and blue-green the water was.

We walked a bit near the beach, till some employee told me I couldn’t be there with the dog, that it was a safety area for kids and we had to cross the street. We crossed the street, then, and sat by the van, checking messages and a few emails. I actually thought it was good to be by the van, since it felt very conspicuous and “shiny”, sticking out a bit like a sore thumb.

All of a sudden, some guy came around the corner of the van and was sorta startled to see us there. We were a bit startled to see him, too. Auggie started curling his lip, quickly got up and took a step toward him and got a low rumble going.

I quickly grabbed Auggie’s collar, but didn’t tell him “no.” I didn’t know who this guy was, and if he thinks I have a vicious dog, good.

The guy asked me about the van (I tell you, this van was certainly a conversation piece today!). I answered his question or two, then he left.

I honestly think that guy was surprised we were there with the van. And he was intimidated by my dog. Good boy, Auggie. My dog is on alert – I like it.

Since we weren’t going to have a picnic and there wasn’t much more for us to do on Belle Isle, we left. Had a very quick drive through the city – here is a picture of the sparkly GM world headquarters, which I snapped quickly while stopped at a red light.

Then we drove off to our campsite at Haas Lake Park north of Ann Arbor and settled in for the night. 

Quiet Day in Cleveland

Saturday, July 30

Needed a quiet day, so I extended by one more night at this campsite outside of Cleveland. Didn’t do too much, besides finally (!) getting this blog started, lots of back posts done and looking through my cookbook to plan for some meals this week.

Spent a lot of time on the phone, too. The warranty people are now working on my wastewater pipe issue, and are having the same issue I had – RV places are booked in summer.

I guess that really shouldn’t be a surprise – it’s busy season. But I’m still a bit surprised. When you are off on vacation in a vehicle that’s meant to be mobile, how can you expect to just sit around for two weeks to wait for an appointment?

Spent some time in conversation with “Nikita” from the warranty place today. I wondered whether I was in good hands, though, when I told her I was going to be in Minneapolis and she was looking for RV places in Indianapolis.

No, sweetheart, that’s the wrong state.

Do I ask too much??? It is times like these that I really do see my value to an employer. J

One big accomplishment from the morning was to finish Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, book 1 of the series. John & Ellen, I’ll post this one back to you now and get started on book 2. Thanks! 

Auggie Gets His Traveling Mojo

Friday, July 29

And now a few words to Auggie. He has, despite a rough few “dry run” camping weekends in DC before we left, settled in nicely to this journey so far. His spot in the van is rapidly becoming the co-pilot’s seat. Despite the fact that he hates bucket seats because he is too big for them, he is making it work. He likes to look out. He likes to be with me. He likes to see what’s going on around him. 

When it gets too tiresome to be in the co-pilot’s seat, he goes back to the bed (I leave it set up now), and he lays down to look out the back window and see where he’s been.

He really is a fantastic friend and a fantastic traveling buddy now, too. As I type this, he is completely sacked out on the bed next to me, exhausted from his day in daycare. He was sure I was abandoning him today when I left the daycare facility to head to the museum. You could see it in his face – an ever-so-slight element of fear and indignation that I really was leaving him with these strangers and these other dogs. When will he understand that I always come back???

However, my little man earned himself a DIPLOMA today. Ha! He’s never earned a diploma before for making it through a day at daycare. But today he did, and I’m sure I must find a spot for it on our wall at home. My dog is ed-u-ma-cated now! Word.

Off tomorrow to try and find out if my broken wastewater pipe can be fixed any time soon. And if I can finally get a reliable WiFi connection to get a whole lotta web surfing done.  

Cleveland

Friday, July 29

Every day I write this, I have to check the previous entry to make sure I know what the date is. I’ve been OK at remembering the day of the week, but the date is no longer important to me. Wow – I used to run my life according to my Microsoft Outlook calendar!

Went to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame today. But first, I had to drop Auggie off at a local doggie daycare for the day. He spent the day at “Inn the Doghouse”, which I found from a Google search.

Dropped him off and then drove to the R&R Hall of Fame. What a cool place! I could have spent another couple of days in there. 

From footage of Elvis, to Lady Gaga’s infamous Meat Dress (which was made of REAL meat - they have cured and preserved it – and the shoes, too!), to a section on Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” to a current exhibit of “Women Who Rock”, it was an awesome six hours. (They forbid you from taking photos (one man got caught and had to check his camera). Very few photos from inside the exhibits for that reason. L)

(Re the hanging hotdog above, I just did a quick Google search, and turns out the hotdog is in reference to Phish's song "Meatstick". You can read the Wikipedia reference here.) 

I don’t consider myself a music aficionado by any stretch of the imagination. But watching the films of the inductees to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I felt like I did know the music even if I didn’t know what Eric Clapton looked like. It was a really good day. Makes you want to go out of there and just sing!  J