Day: 8

Date: 12 May 2001 (Saturday)

Start:

End: Saugatuck/Holland MI (0 miles)

Still at my brother John’s house outside Holland, Michigan.

Breakfast inside at John and Nancy’s on cinammon buns bought last night and other goodies.

John & I went to the Sand Bar. Bill had arranged that Owen Smith visit so I could see him for the first time in 43 years since we bowled together as kids. Owen’s recovering from surgery to remove 3 aneurisms. We agreed to go bowling on the return trip.

The other two guys on our teenage team have died. Wayne Dirkse went in a car wreck about 1965 and Jim Botsis died of throat cancer last year.

We did alright for a bunch of kids. We averaged well over 900 and games above 1,000 were routine. On a good day we could stomp anybody. We had a lot of fun travelling all over Western Michigan bowling matches against anyone who would bowl us.

Then it was time to grow up. I went into the Navy, then Dirkse entered the Coast Guard, then Botsis joined the Navy. Bill went into the Army band and Owen went to work locally.

Bob Alexander dropped in at the Sand Bar about that time, so we chatted a while longer.

After that, we all convened at Mom’s, then out to China Buffet for lunch on Mom. We had lots of talk and laughs. Then back to Mom’s. John figured out the problem with her car’s trunk lid latch. I hung a US map on her basement wall so she can picture better where we are on our trip.

The four of us went back to John’s and eventually ordered pizza. Bill came along and joined in. Then Nancy got us into a game of Bullshine, a crazy thing I won’t even try to describe here.

We hit the road again tomorrow.