Camping at Pettibone

Ever just NEED to get away? We did, and that hankering took us about 3.5 hours NW to LaCrosse, WI to the Pettibone Camping Resort. Yeah, I said "resort." It sctually a pretty nice little secluded spot out on a penninsula on the waters of the mighty Mississippi. Our first night we grilled chicken on the Q-Grill and ended up meeting another couple in the adjacent campsite. We had a nice chat with them after we helped each other get our wet firewood burning. It was a nice cool night and now we're refreshed and off to explore western Wisconsin. Giddyup.

A lazy day on the Lake

Our buddy Kevin got the bug to go out an buy a boat, a 22 ft. Crownline cuddy to be exact, and Nikki and I got invited to spend the afternoon cruising the chain 'o lakes. It was an awesome end to the day -- water fights with other boaters, waterside bars, Baggo, and Nikki with a little Captain in her.

The "Volvette"

What most purists would describe as an abomination, the owner od this creation calls the best of both worlds. This is the "Volvette," an amalgam of two donor cars, a late model Corvette and a late-60s Volvo 1800. Essentially its a Corvette subframe and drvetrain with a stretched Volvo body wrapped around it. Clearly a lot of fabrication went into this and the craftsmanship is unbelievable, even up close. Hey, if you've got a vision for your personal automotive masterpiece, who are we to judge? Fact is, this thing HAULS.

Vintage Volvo Car Show

After leaving Saugatuk, we headed down to Kalamazoo, MI for a vintage Volvo car show. We spent the night there and then the following morningheaded up to Hickory Corners, MI, home of one of the best automobile attractions in the county, the Gilmore Car Museum. This was the venue for the Great Lakes chapter of the Volvo Club of America annual car show. It was a terrific day of beautiful, rare cars and hangin out with other owners. Lots of other P1800's in the field and some excellent examples. There was even a vintage PV544 race car that does road-rally duty in Mexico. Nice...

Kick'in it in Saugatuk, MI

After leaving the Four Winds, Nikki and I made a spontaneous side trip to Saugatuk, MI. It's a little harbor town on Lake Michigan's eastern shore with lots of little shops and places to eat. I snapped Nikki doing her best impersonation of the statue from "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" in the this little park in the middle of town. If you're passing through the area, I'd really recommend stopping and looking around.

Who ever designed this machine had me in mind:

"Winning for Dummies"

Four Winds Casino, New Buffalo, MI

Nikki set us up with a night at the Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, MI on our trek to South-central Michigan for a car show. The bad news is they ran out of rooms when we got there, the good news is that we got a free upgrade to a junior suite complete with 2 plasma TVs and the biggest bathroom I've ever seen in a hotel. To a seasoned gambler, casinos are all about hitting the tables and putting cash on the line, to me, it's all about The Buffet. I had to snap a pic of the entrance to the buffet -- no less than nine huge trees gave their lives for this shine to mass consumption.