Long Haul to Michigan for Kristina's Uncle's Wedding (June 21-26th, 2001)

The family (Kristina, Mom, Casey, Anthony and Abbie) decided that it would be less expensive if we drove up to Uncle Chuck's wedding. Chris would have to fly, due to a class he would be in until late Friday.

So, here is a day by day peak into some of our adventures.

Schedule:
Thursday June 21st - drive from Cary, North Carolina to Toledo, Ohio and spend the night.
Friday June 22nd - spend some time in Middlebury, Indiana and then drive to Michigan.
Saturday June 23rd - Kristina picked up Chris at the Toledo Airport. Uncle Chuck's wedding that afternoon.
Sunday June 24th - Visit Grandma and Grandpa on the way out of Adrian. Drive to Kalamazoo, and see Plainwell.
Monday June 25th - see as many Lighthouses as possible. Drive back to Toledo, Ohio to spend the night.
Tuesday June 26th - drop Chris off at the Toledo Airport, and drive back to Cary, North Carolina.

Click on the image for a larger version.


Friday 6/22 - Kristina and Casey in front of the Eby Pines Campground sign, in Northern Indiana, where they used to camp as kids.

If you've never eaten an family-style Amish meal here, you're missing out! The Das Dutchman Essenhaus is located in Middlebury, Indiana.

The clan gets their family-style dinner on in a cut-off Amish buggy.

Here is a real (non-cut-off) horse and buggy that was at the Kase Haus.

Kristina's favorite cheese factory is in Middlebury, the Kase Haus. Cojack anyone?

We decided to drive down to Nappanee, Indiana, and visit the Amish Acres.

Saturday 6/23 - Mom, Grandma and Granpa and the wedding reception that Saturday evening.

The wedding party of Uncle Chuck and Jerry's wedding.

Abbie and 'Leaves' aka. Alicia dancing the night away.

Casey, Mom, Kristina, Tony, Abbie, and Alicia are getting down to 'Staying Alive'..ah, ah, ah, ah... Staying Alive.

Sunday 6/24 - Abbie getting a little 'Leaves' time the morning after the wedding.

We stopped be Grandma's on the way out of town, so we had a good photo op. Tony, Mom, Chris, Kristina, Grandpa Bill, Grandma Cochran, Casey and Abbie in Grandma's front yard.

Grandpa, Tony, Grandma and Abbie.

Casey, Grandpa, Grandma and Kristina.

Casey, Grandma and Kristina.

We stopped off in Battle Creek, Michigan. This is Kellogg's Cereal City - they were just about to close, so we missed the tour.

This is the entrance sign to the city of Battle Creek. Casey and Kristina used to have swim meets here when we were little.

This is Bronson Hospital, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Mom says we were both born here, although Casey and Kristina say they were born at different hospitals. But mom would know best!

This is the Dairy Queen located on the campus of Western Michigan Unerversity (you can see the WMU sign in back), where mom used to work while she went to school there.

This is the Colonial Kitchen in Kalamazoo. Needless to say that since dad was a really big 'breakfast-food' man, we spent a lot of our growing up years eating here.

This is our old house in Plainwell, Michigan. It looks similar, but the color is now white (it used to be yellow), and it is a lot more overgrown than when we were there. The neighbors said that one of Kristina's old teachers now lives there.

This is our old neighbor, Bob Schanz. He has not changed a bit! What a great guy!

These are our old neighbors on the other side of our house, the Newcomb's. On the left is Mr. Newcomb, Kristina, Mom, Tony, Sue Newcomb, Abbie, Casey, Nathan Newcomb's wife and daughter.

This is the old middle school that Casey and Kristina attended, Plainwell Middle School.

This is Plainwell High School, only Casey went there, because we moved to California before Kristina got there.

This is Starr Elementary School, Casey and Kristina both went here. The Elementary, Middle, and High Schools are located on the same campus.

This is Dean's Homemade Ice Cream. I think that this was Casey and Kristina's first word that they learned how to spell. Mom and Dad would say, "Let's go to D...E...A...N...s," and we knew exactly what they were talking about!

This is Merson Church, in Allegan, Michigan. To this day, we still sing the songs we learned here.

Monday 6/25 - Tony, Casey, Chris, Kristina, Mom, and Abbie in front of the Holland, Michigan harbor, on the way out to the lighthouse.

This is the Holland Lighthouse. It is located on the right side of the harbor channel, and therefore is painted red.

Chris walked out to the end of the breakwater to get the Holland Light from a different angle.

Mom and Abbie having fun. Mom said that she must not be afraid of hights, cuz it's a long drop from there - that's why mom has her arm around her.

Tony is standing between the two beams of the structure leading to the lighthouse in South Haven, Michigan.

This is the South Haven Lighthouse. We used to frequent this light, as it was the closest one to our house in Plainwell.

Kristina took the picture for Chris. His Dad is originally from Benton Harbor. And we wanted to show him we were actually there.

This is Casey and Kristina in front of the Saint Joseph Lighthouse. Casey and Kristina would come to St. Joe for swim meets when we were little.

Mom in front of the light at St.Joe.

There must still be some relatives hanging around here.... = )

We stopped off in Middlebury, Indiana for dinner, on our way back to Toledo, Ohio. This is a pretty good buggy shot.

Casey and Tony having a great time in the buggy.