All good things must come to an end. So must our time at Buttonwood Bay for this season. It took us a week to get things cleaned, stowed, and packed up ready for the 1400 mile journey home. It was difficult, as I was kicking and screaming the whole time! "I don't want to go home" became my mantra. Usually while going for my daily golf cart ride, or bobbing in the pool talking to all the wonderful friends and acquaintances I have there. My last Friday at Mah Jongg I know I said it at least 10 times! Alas, go home we did. Insert heavy sigh here.

Sunday, May something or other (remember in BB it doesn't matter what the day, or date is) we had our last supper with our very good friends Mary & Clair. They just bought a new toy, so flew their son Kevin down to ride it back home. He is the youngin in the picture. I admit, I wanted them to buy the motorcycle for purely selfish reasons. I knew I'd get to ride it for one, and I knew I'd get to meet Kevin for two. What a great 'kid' he is! I should have expected it as his parents are top notch people. I saw a lot of both of them in Kevin, but I saw a really neat person to be around too. He was polite and funny and intelligent. Just my kind of guy! Anyway, we enjoyed a lovely meal at the Olive Garden the night before we left.

We decided to pack food to eat at picnic areas on the way home. I don't like fast food and it's expensive. I made lovely egg salad and homemade cookies and other stuff, some even healthy, for our lunches. I prepared beef stroganoff and cheesy potatoes for our dinners. It worked out famously. Here's Den enjoying lunch.

We had a bit of a cooler debacle the evening before leaving. I have a large, 5 day cooler. I'd planned to put all the frozen food from the freezer in that and also all the condiments, etc. from the fridge in there. I was going to duct tape it closed and figured all would be fine when we reached Houghton Lake. I bought a smaller 5 day cooler to pack all the food we planned to eat on the trip home in. It has a handle and wheels and would be easy to get to the picnic tables and to the hotel rooms at night. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans! I had a bit more freezer fare than I thought and it totally filled the larger cooler! I was then forced to put the fridge stuff in the smaller one and even had to throw a few things away. That left us cooler-less for the food for the trip home! What to do at 9PM the night before you're leaving? Dial our friends at the other end of the street that's what! Did they have a largish cooler they weren't taking home with them? Of course they did. Could we borrow it until September? Of course we could. You'll notice the cooler in the picture next to Den has their name on it. They might let us use stuff, but they don't trust me to remember who I got it from! Good thinking guys, I can't remember my own name most days!!!

We took 3 days to get home. Spent 2 nights along the route. Den found something worth coming home for!

I'm not so sure!

Is it September yet?