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Tower View
Right in the shadow of Ypsilanti’s famous water tower is the Tower View Stay & Go. Tower View is centrally located to all the great things to see and do in eastern Washtenaw County— just seconds away Eastern Michigan University and only a few minutes away from Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan. It is easy walking distance from EMU, Downtown, and historic Depot Town.
Kitchen & Dinning
Entrance
Joe
Tower View Stay & Go is similar to a B&B, except it’s a lot more fun with a lot more options! Want to have a special meal or gathering, ask Joe. Want a ride to the Big House? No problem! Maybe you’re coming to town for a sporting event. Joe specializes in entertaining groups. Stay here and invite your friends to a gathering. Most folks would rather eat at Joe’s than go out! It’s clean, the food is good, and you’ll feel right at home!
Kitchen
Kitchen
Kitchen
The basic package is pet friendly, has WiFi, and off street parking; includes rides to special events, and there is plenty of room to relax. Your visit and having fun while here are what is important! So if you need any special arrangements, meal plans, or entertainment ideas, let Joe know.
TV Room
Access to and from all major roads and expressways. And if you are attending an event at EMU, it’s just across the street. Tower View Stay & Go is also conveniently located to the many area hospitals. So whatever the reason you are visiting Ypsilanti or Ann Arbor, tell Joe what you need— and you’ll see why we can’t just call this a bed and breakfast!
Window Bench
Bedroom
Smokey made a bad, bad noise!
Fueled up and ready to go
0430 Monday 07.05.10
Woke and got ready to leave Knoxville. O’ Smokey is fully fueled, fluids and air all checked, and everything packed but my toothbrush and laptop.
0445
Underway
0600 Jelico Mountain, TN
O’ Smokey running good. Didn’t even need to downshift on the steepest grade. Engine temp nominal. Just starting to get light.
0730 Berea, KY
O’ Smokey made a bad bad noise! Losing power. Something must have let go. Luckily, I’m right at an exit. Coast down the ramp and into a gas station.
0745
Checked oil. Oil gone! Filled oil. It’s not leaking out. Doesn’t want to start. Decide to have breakfast at restaurant next door.
0845
Started diesel. Still not leaking. Bad noise is gone. Decide to try going again.
0900
Didn’t get far. Bad bad noise is back! Made it from gas station across the street to the Days Inn motel.
Broke down right at an exit
0915
Called Joe Golder. Joe says sit tight and he’ll drive down and tow me to Ypsi with his van. Needs to take care of a couple things first.
0930
Forecast is for record heat around 100°, Decide to rent a motel room at Dasy Inn and keep cool. Also has complimentary WiFi.
1100
Joe called. Oil change guy says he has the wrong tire on the back left. Got to go back to Sears.
1300 Sears is glad tire mistake was caught and no one got hurt! Put the right tire on the left rear and gave Joe a coupon for a free oil change for his inconvenience.
1500
Joe and his 3 dogs are on the road. Estimates it’s a 6 hour drive. It’s hot out. I’m glad to be in a room with an air conditioner.
Joe & dogs & cramped motel room
2100
Joe called. Was passing a truck. Sears didn’t tighten the lug nuts and the wheel with the new tire came off just north of Lexington, KY, about 40 miles north. Brakes and hub are wrecked bad. Joe & dogs shaken but OK. KY Dept of Safety vehicle found the tire— actually caught it on video bouncing south on the northbound lane. Joe is Having van towed to Sears in Lexington.
2110
Joe called and wants to know if motel is pet friendly.
2120
I called Joe and told him motel is pet friendly. Ky Dept of Safety vehicle is bringing Joe and 3 dogs to the motel.
2200
Joe and 3 dogs arrive thanks to some assistance from Michael Martin of the KY Dept. of Transportation. It’s cozy: Me & Joe, 3 dogs, and 1 bed. AC works good.
Axle fixed with temporary wheel
0800
Sears has 3 managers working on Joe’s van: manager in A2 is expediting the insurance claim, 1 manager is ordering parts from the Lexington store, another is on the repair work. Sears tells Joe to keep all receipts for towing, motel, meals, taxis, etc.
0830 Tues 07.06.10 Days Inn, Berea, KY
Motel has complimentary breakfast.
1130
Decide we need a room for the day. Move to room with 2 beds.
1300
Sears has the parts.
1630
Walked to a nice restaurant for dinner. Good food. Dry county.
1700
Sears called. Van is ready. Can’t match rim. Will use a temporary rim and get new rims back in A2.
O'Smokey hooked up and ready to be towed to MI
1800
Joe took a taxi to Lexington Sears to get van.
1930
Joe is back. I have the tow bar ready on the front of my little pick up. We’re hooked up and ready to roll. Van doesn’t have AC. We are going to wait until dark to travel so the dogs won’t be too hot.
2050 I-75 Northbound
Cool enough to drive. On the road in Joe’s van with O’ Smokey in tow.
0100 Wed 07.07.10 Cincinnati, OH
Unbelievable middle of the night stop and stop traffic jam!
0200 North of Cincinnati
Looked like traffic was moving again— then a couple minutes later it’s jammed up again. Dang. Could have gotten on an alternate route.
0300 Dayton, OH
Traffic finally moving again. Longest traffic jam I can remember— and in the middle of the night. Nothing bad— just miles and miles of construction. Obama buck at work!
Been thinking I should bike more. Careful what you wish for!
0500 Ypsilanti, MI
Arrived safe and sound at Joe’s place.
1100 Fri 07.09.10 Ann Arbor, MI
Sears reimbursed Joe for all his expenses related to the wheel coming off. They also ordered some rims to replace his custom rim that can’t replaced.
1800 07.25.10 Ypsilanti, MI
Joe’s rims arrived and Sears has installed them. Joe likes them better then the ones he had before. A story with a happy ending. Ain’t that nice? Interesting to have dealt with a corporation that didn’t make you hire a lawyer to get them to do what’s right. Good for Sears.
A couple weeks after Joe's misadventure, Sears replaced the busted wheel with 4 new rims.
09.26.09
Music
I went back to the Hayloft Thursday. There was another bass player. I was only asked to play back up for a really bad harmonica player. Another musician put on the spot was a blues guitarist. Neither one of us could follow the harmonica man. It was brutal.
The good news from the Hayloft is that when the harmonica player tried to do Summertime, the guitar player and me had a couple moments where we ‘clicked’. We decided to try a sidebar next week and perhaps perform together. I’ve been listening to some blues to see if I can pick up a couple more riffs to use between now and then.
Bucky
Bucky looking pretty gray
Bucky has graduated to intravenous chemo every week— in addition to all the other meds. Vet said she was so good that she didn’t need to be sedated when they put the IV port in her leg. Stuff seems to be making her feel a lot better.
Bucky is feeling good and is happy. The article I read said that the results of the protocol are spectacular— and then later the failure of the medicines is just as spectacular when the cancer mutates and no longer responds. The best success is with multiple drugs, but Bucky can’t use some because of the congenital heart condition all Boxers have.
Be easier on me if she just died in her sleep or something, but I don’t think I’m going to get that lucky…
Computer
Still haven’t figured out what went wrong with my G4 laptop, but I ordered a better high gain antenna and am using it to get online with my good laptop. Sure beats driving all the way to the library every time I need to get on line. I’m also getting phone messages again. Now I need to sort out my phone problems.
Rick and Ron finally got the boat back and back in the water yesterday. They caught a couple salmon this morning.
Weather
Starting to cool off now in northern MI. Very rainy and windy the past few days. Most of Sept was nice. Am hoping for more of that and some nice fall colors before I leave TC.
Bucky gets daily oral medication and once each week gets a dose of IV chemo. Vet said she was really good about it and didn’t even need to be sedated when the put in the IV port.
09.21.09
Weather
Still in TC. Colors are coming on slowly. Northern Michigan has finally had some nice weather for about 3 weeks— nicest weather of the summer claim the locals. We are finally enjoying the best sweet corn of the year and lots of tomatoes.
The cherries came so late that half (42%) were thrown away! Can you imagine? Seems like such a waste. Part of the problem was a bumper crop of earlier Washington cherries, but they never taste as good.
Joe Golder is up from Ypsi. He brought his dogs and a bike. We have been riding. We also took a beautiful drive out to Good Harbor and let the dogs run and swim.
Bucky
Bucky is getting chemo for lymphoma. I probably shouldn’t be spending the $, but she’s feeling so much better and acting happy that I can’t help myself. The vet warned me that some of the treatments for Bucky might cause a heart attack. Jeez, I’m thinking, sounds better than wasting away from cancer or having to put her down. Meanwhile she’s feeling good and back to being happy so I won’t have to worry about it until a little later I guess…
Little Gem
1970 Litte Gem
Bought a 1970 Little Gem trailer to fix up. It’s about 19′. The running gear is in good shape, it has dual axles, and it even has electric brakes. The coach is in pretty good shape, but the inside is a mess. Different people did different things to it, so it’s no longer vintage. I’m going to gut it and change the lay out. The head is in the back and the galley is in the front. I’m going to put my bed in the front so I can have a big one, move the galley mid ship so it will be close to the plumbing in the back.
Looking forward
Looking forward
Writing
Have been getting lots of writing done. Presently, I’m re conceiving the story The Hill Beautiful. I’m practicing with the techniques and structures that I’m planning to use for the Pitcairn project to get a feel for how it goes. Since the short story is a much small piece, I can see the work flow from start to finish in a (hopefully) short amount of time.
Looking aft
09.15.09
Music
Tim and Diana Glasson came up to TC for a couple days. They drove up in their RV. Tim was hoping to go fishing, but Ron busted the out drive on his boat.
Tim and I played music though. Last Thursday we played a famous local open mic at a place called the Hay Loft on M-72. We did a good job. After we performed, a local radio personality invited us to play a live set on his Friday public radio station program. Kinda thrilling to be celebrities. The radio performance went well too and was an adventure for us both. I am surprised to see how many people heard us.
The station burned a copy of our performance on a CD. As I listen to it, I have to smile when I think of how far Tim and I have come since first singing together.
Showed Tim and Di a few of the sights, but they only had a couple days before Tim had to go back to NC. I was a little sad watching them drive away. I know we had fun touring the area, but I would have been happy just playing and singing for the entire visit.
Bucky
Bucky is still feeling better. She seems to tire quickly, but when not tired, she dances and runs around. Best thing is that she’s obviously feeling happy. Still don’t know how much treatment she’s going to get.
Computer
Had my old G4 laptop set up for getting the internet. Pretty convenient. Saturday it died. My new computer isn’t set up for the high gain antenna, and the software for it is back in NC. So now I’ve to drive into town to get my eMail and check eBay or anything else I need to do on the net. Time consuming and inconvenient. Until I figure out a fix, I won’t be getting phone messages or anything else as regularly as I was. Replies will be delayed.