Trains, Local Market and Lake

Saturday, September 6

What a glorious day we awoke to today.  The skies are blue with fluffy white clouds, the humidity is gone, and the temperatures are hovering right around 70 degrees.  The windows are open and fresh air is flowing through our motorhome as I write today.

Gary, Judy, Ken and I had a delightful morning checking out the Roscommon Model Train layouts in a building appropriately right next to the railroad.

Gary's hobby for many years has included setting up his own train layout, buying, selling, and collecting model trains and all the items that go with them.  So when we discovered that this was nearby we made a bee line for the place.  Judy collects, buys and sells miniatures so she too is always interested in not only seeing what Gary loves but checking out antique stores, flea markets, and other types of shops that might have items she would be interested in so she too was pleased to check out this small town and see what it had to offer especially when we discovered that right by the train station there was a small farmer's marked with lots of other flea market and other such items.

I loved this halloween and fall display that even included birch trees with their yellow leaves.  On our drive to the place we actually passed a few trees with red and yellow leaves.  One maple was fully red while others had color in their tops and along exposed areas near the road. Fall is definitely coming!!

This Hogwarts train and town were fun to see.  It definitely caught our eye since so many of our grandchildren have enjoyed the Harry Potter series of books and last year we even helped our granddaughter create a Harry Potter bedroom.

This layout is of the area here including some of the businesses that men in the railroad club are involved in either as present or retired workers. 

The winter set up even included a ski slope with skiers moving up and down the hill and hockey players playing on a frozen pond.

A block away was the old train station with a small farmer's market and flea market out in front. Next to it was a garden train layout

and a large train set up that offered rides except it was having an electrical problem so the guys "supervised" and kibitzed with the men

while Judy and I had fun checking out the offerings at the market.  She found a beautiful necklace and I found some great handmade greeting cards as well as lots of veggies to take home and enjoy over the next couple of days.

On our way back to the campground we stopped at a brand new park right on Houghton Lake - so new that they were setting up for a dedication ceremony that was to happen in a couple of hours.  We enjoyed the view of the water,

the little gardens

 (note the monarch butterfly that flew into my picture at just the right time)

and informative nature signs, and the background info signs

and mural.

The rest of our day was devoted to doing small errands, washing clothes, making soup, relaxing and just enjoying our view and the beauty of the day, and then sharing our Northern Europe pictures with Gary and Judy.  This really is a very nice quiet campground with lots of trees and very green grass.