Fulltime RVing, Leelanau, Michigan

A Fun-filled Summer!

18 Comments

September 19, 2023 – Leelanau County, MI – Written by Jim

To say that this summer has been filled to the brim would be an understatement! When we last posted, we had just had our new sofa and recliners delivered, along with a new mattress for the guest room. We had emptied our storage room in Grand Rapids and had everything we owned here at home…the first time that had happened since September, 2014. We figured out early on that our plan of landscaping and moving in would be whittled down to just moving in, as we wanted to enjoy our place and not be constantly working.

It wasn’t long before our guests started arriving!

We’ve hosted several groups of friends and family over the summer, which has been very special for us. Just like I have said about full-time RVing: it’s not about the places…it’s about the people.

Smiling faces who make our lives complete.

Every one of them bring joy to our lives!

Rarely a week went by without getting together with someone.

We even have a few of our great nephew’s small handprints on the refrigerator door that we can never wash off. 😊

I even delayed this post to visit with a dear friend from college. Apologies to those who we failed to get photos of! We enjoyed seeing each and every one of you!

We also made six trips downstate! We’ve had birthday, graduation and anniversary celebrations, doctor appointments, memorials and a very special afternoon in Detroit. You may recall a past post about my great-grandfather being the general contractor on Old Mackinac Lighthouse in 1892. That post can be seen here. Well, nine years before that, he was the general contractor on the bell tower at St Joseph Shrine in Detroit. Completion of that tower made the building the tallest in Detroit at that time. There had been a family story about the largest bell being dropped by the crew, which ended up in the basement of the vestibule. When the crew couldn’t find my great-grandfather, they feared he was below the wreckage. They ran two blocks to my great-grandmother’s house to tell her, only to find him there for some reason. Anyone with first-hand knowledge of the event had long passed on, so it pretty much was just a story in my generation’s minds. It turns out that the story actually is true!

This year is the 150th anniversary of the church. I saw a post on a Detroit historical architecture Facebook group Diana and I belong to where a member of the church was looking for information on the early families from the parish. He is doing a Ken Burns-style documentary on them. I provided him all the information I had and asked if there was any way that Diana and I could personally see the bells. We arranged a time and met with Joe and Julie, who gave us an extensive tour of the church!

My great-grandparents and grandparents were married here, and my mom was baptized here.

The climb to the bells themselves was an adventure! The church had recently been sandblasted, so there was sand everywhere. Bat guano and pigeon poop too! Rickety stairs led us to the top.

The bells themselves were massive! All of them have an 1883 date on them, except for Anton, the 5000 pound bell. It was cast in Baltimore in 1885 to replace the 4000 pound bell that was dropped. It is named for Anton Pulte, who made the largest donation for the bells. Many of you will recognize the Pulte name, as they are one of America’s largest home builders. This was where they went to church back then. It turns out there was a push to get the bells installed for Christmas in 1883, as the bishop was coming to bless them. The bell was dropped on Christmas Eve. The entire set is still mounted on the hardwood beams my great-grandfather’s crew installed.

©️2023 Julie Parthum

They even got permission for us to ring them!

Julie then stayed behind and sent us to the street to listen to her ring them, so we could hear them better. With seven bells, she had to be running around the room like a crazy woman! To hear these bells ring was a gift.

Our last piece of news for the summer is that we have decided to spend the winter in Michigan! We want to enjoy our home in addition to getting in some snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. Those of you who have been to our place may be wondering about the combination of our steep driveway and snow.

We purchased a back blade from a 1953 Ford Jubilee tractor. A little John Deere green and we are ready to go! That and the front bucket on the tractor should take care of any snow we have.

That’s about it for now. Until next time, safe and happy travels to all!

18 thoughts on “A Fun-filled Summer!”

  2. Great to hear from you guys! Seems you had a great summer in your newly completed home! Best of luck with your upcoming snow filled winter! Just curious – are you going to lose your FL site now that you are skipping a year?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. Well I got ridiculously emotional over that pic of you pulling on the bell rope! Such incredible family history in that beautiful church and an amazing gift to visit, see, touch and hear it. Thanks so much for sharing. Wonderful to see that giant deck filled with furniture, fun and friends – it really is just the perfect spot. I’m not surprised you’re spending the winter there – we did the same thing our first summer after getting the house 🙂 But how will they know it’s launch day in Florida???

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. Thats a lot of guests you had there! The bells, architecture and history of the church is fascinating and lucky you getting to ring the bells!

    As you know, we are kinda bummed that you decided to stay in Michigan this winter, we were looking forward to seeing you guys.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. What a wonderful summer in your beautiful new home, shared with so many friends! Your story of ringing the bell in the church where you have so much family history is delightful. I’m looking forward to your winter tales and photos. :-))

    Like

    Reply

  9. So nice to hear you spent time enjoying your new home and welcomed so many friends. You put so much sweat into it, you needed to kick back and enjoy that beautiful home. One of my favorite author’s sets his books in and around your area of Michigan. He and his husband live there in the summer months. His name is Wade Rouse but writes under his grandmother’s name Viola Shipman. I’d like to return to Michigan again one summer to see the places he writes about that we haven’t visited. One novel was set in the Glen Haven area and included the Cherry Republic. I knew exactly where everything was.

    Your family has such an interesting history. What a great story about the church bells and your special visit to see and hear them. Thanks for sharing.

    I don’t blame you for wanting to stay for the winter. You may discover that you enjoy the change of seasons and the winter activities. We discovered our way to enjoy the hot summers here and don’t find a need to leave except for short trips.

    We’ll be looking forward to enjoying winter with you.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I’ll have to read some of Wade’s (Viola’s) work. Glen Haven was where we volunteered for Sleeping Bear. They are currently in the middle of renovating the historic inn there. I hope you guys come back here so we can get together! We are really looking forward to winter and to see Leelanau in a different light. 🙂

      Like

      Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.