
The first indication of a less-than-perfect anniversary day was that both of our phones were dead and wouldn't take a charge. It is a tradition among our kids that every anniversary, birthday, or Mothers/Fathers Day, whoever calls early starts out with "Do I get the house?" No house winners yesterday. More importantly, the only time we really care about having a working phone is when we are camping or on the road.
So after breakfast we bundled in the truck and headed to a phone store. Now the rain got down to business. After some wandering, we found a store and watched the young man who waited on us try to hide his expression of "Why would anyone have phones this old?"
I guess it's significant when they have to open a package to get a charger because none of the ones they have out will work for those phones. He pulled the battery from Butch's phone, blew on it, shook it a little, and put it back. It worked. No such luck with mine. And they can't tell if the battery is done or not. What's with that? And they don't sell batteries. Anyway, next to the battery store, where $43 later, I also had a working phone that apparently predates the last invasion of England.
We stopped at a Wendy's--usually my favorite in the fast food genre--for a quick bite. A half hour later, we had our 'quick bite' and headed back to the campground, the wipers on the truck doing their best to keep up.
By the time we got back it was midafternoon so we got in a little rest before getting ready for supper at the nearby Pere Marquette Lodge. That part of the day was a lovely experience--good food, fast service and reasonable prices--all in a restored 1930s CCC building. The lobby features a life size chess set and a fifty-foot fireplace.
Once back at our camper, we settled down to watch the debate, but the rain became so heavy and persistent on the roof, that we couldn't hear anything. Maybe just as well. But it's not for nothing that campers are sometimes referred to as Tin Can Tourists. The name really hit when about 12:30 we were awakened by hail--lots of it.
So today, the rain is supposed to be out of here, and, although the high temp will be 30 degrees below the high on Monday when we arrived, the sun should be back out and we will try out the bike trail that runs along the river.