Trippin' with Susan Straley

 Hello Friends and Family Members, Wish you were here!  " Now, how I wish I had someone to talk to. I' m in an awful way . " These lyrics from Another Saturday Night by Sam Cooke come to mind. Moments like these are bound to happen when traveling solo or living solo.   I think it is happening today for a few reasons.  I just came off of a whole bunch of time with my sister close by and her friends and my new friends and some old friends visiting and family visiting... Then I had a wonderful visit with my friend Diane in Marquette, MI.   I have some fun stories to tell about that experience, so hang on through this first part. The second reason I am probably feeling alone is that I arrived here at Petoskey State Park near the upscale town of Petoskey.  It is a beautiful area on the coast of Lake Michigan.  But the campground is so full of families and extended families and couples meeting up with other couples.  The air is filled with smoke from the many campfires, the

 Life flows on, sometimes we are starting something new, sometimes we are saying goodbye to a time or people or activity. I have a friend, Ron F. on Facebook is now unable to bike.  Biking was such a big part of his life (like mine).  He vacationed around biking, he belonged to several bicycle communities.   Now he is reaching out to me and others that are visiting trails and areas where he and his wife have biked.  He shares his experiences, and in that way hangs onto his identity.   I don't know why that came to mind when I start thinking about leaving Rhinelander this year.  I depart on Sunday, August 15th. It feels surreal to be leaving my sister and her husband and the people and activities I have connected with here.  I plan to return a little bit next year. Flowing on, I am so excited to meet up with friends that I know from Florida! I will be meeting up with Diane in Marquette, Michigan.  We will bike and camp together.  I was going to meet up with friends Tony and Colleen

  The rain is often an invitation to go out and dance. Unless it is cold.  It is hard to stay warm when you are wet. Yesterday I read that Inverness, Florida has had many days of rain. And I thought, boy am I lucky to be here, the weather has been great! It started raining today around 11:00 a.m.  Now it is three in the afternoon it looks like it is going to continue through the night. There is music in town this evening... outside.  I think I will stay inside. I have not moved forward on book three since I got the edits back from my beta readers.  Today would be the perfect day to get going on that. And I may start today.  Though I have the whiny girl on my chest stamping her feet and saying, "I don't wanna do that!"  What is that about? I read what other people have written and I feel unworthy to put my thoughts on paper.  What am I thinking to expose my crude thoughts and language to book readers?  I know I am not supposed to compare myself to others, but isn't tha