Thomas & Deborah - Museums galore!

Saturday August 6

We woke up  to rain this morning, but fortunately have decent rain suits for riding. We suited up in the hotel room and made our way the 20 miles or so to Kalamazoo, MI. We visited the Air Zoo, an indoor air museum that was the nicest we'd ever seen. Deborah isn't much on war machines, but even she had a great time learning in such a beautiful environment. After a couple hours there, we rode the 15 miles up to the Gilmore Car museum in Hickory Corners. What an amazing collection in an awesome venue. We've seen many auto collections, but this was one of the best. The cars are displayed in several resstored barns. There's a recreated dealership and gas station as well. Highly recommend to anyone traveling in south-central Michigan.

Why the museums? Well, as mentioned before, Thomas is a high school English teacher, but prior to college he worked with his father for ten years running a small trucking business. He's very handy working on everything from computers to toilets. He spends much of the summer fixing up old cars or improving their home on 5 acres in the foothills.

Deborah is a retired school teacher. She chose to quit working full time when the first grandchild arrived seven years ago. She's an avid reader and philosopher who loves to learn. Her real passion in life at this time, however, is being closely involved in the lives of her children and grandchildren.

On to Chicago.