May 2003, Sept 2006 & July 2009 .............
Three Oaks: In far SW Michigan,about 4 miles E of I-94 on State Hwy 12 (exit 4A) is Drier Butcher Shop. It's listed on the National Reg. Of Historic Places, opened in 1875 and the fourth generation of Drier's still prepare meats in the 100 year old smokehouse. It's open 2 weeks before Easter until Dec 31. Their ham salad was really good. We went through there on our way to the Spartan Rally (for non RV people, Spartan makes the chassis our motor coach rides on), in Charlotte.In the fall of 2006 we returned to Drier's, it was still the same and the Ham Salad was still as good. They also offer some other items. This is definitely a stop worth making. 2009 - We made another stop at Drier's, they still have the wonderful ham salad.
May 2003 .............
 Charlotte: Spartan Rally - If you own a coach with a Spartan chassis this rally is a must. It's a yearly event and offers many classes on engine, transmission and chassis, some of which are not available at other rallies. We also took classes on CPR, stroke sense and Laurel took two sessions of Tai Chi. Dean felt the classes were some of the best he had ever taken. We also had out coach serviced and the engineers helped fix a problem with the fuel gauge. Spartan fed us breakfast every day and two catered dinners. We were parked on the infield of the horse track at the 4-H fairgrounds. The track is used for training trotters and pacers. Dean met Gene Miller, retired from GM and trains his own horses. Dean, who was raised on a farm and has driven work horses for many years, has always wanted to drive one of these horses. Bottom line, he ended up exercising several horses a day during the rally. He had a ball. Charlotte is on H-69, South of Lansing.
In 2006 we took the coach to the Spartan factory and told them to go over it and fix anything that needed to be done. They found very little and we were soon on our way. In 2009 we again went to Spartan and had them change all the fuel lines on the coach. They also put in a new radiator (because they dropped the fan and put a hole in the old one), and did some other work. This was a three day stay, plus back again for another two days. We are now at 130,000 miles and counting.
I can't pass up a photo of a beatuiful horse or a cute kitten!
May 2003 .............
Berrien Springs: Our caravan of 30 coaches arrived from Indiana for the Newmar International Rally. The rally had over 1000 coaches and fifth wheels in attendance. For this rally one must own a product made by Newmar. The rally features new coaches on display, educational classes about products and services, plus craft and safety classes. There were two buildings of vendors where one can purchase everything from cleaning products, auxiliary braking systems for your tow car (toad in RV lingo), inflatable boats, jewelry, make up, clothing, all types of gadgets, and campground memberships. Parts and service are available from Newmar as well as most of the companies that make anything for a coach or towable. We took a Newmar factory tour (Nappanee IN) and a tour of the Travel Supreme factory (considered SOB - "some other brand" by Newmar owners.) This rally is where we met Mike and Marsha Howell, new full-timers from Arkansas. Rallies are great for making new friends and visiting with old friends. Berrien Springs is on H-31n not very far North of the Indiana line.
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