Sad day in Grand Rapids MI; tough luck for maven of presidential museums
Sunday, July 10, 2011 at 12:01AM 
On vacation with younger quartet of kids and spouse in the UP (Upper Peninsula MI) and we spent last night in Grand Rapids. Today we had a hot fun time in Meijer Topiary Garden (stunning collection), and then Vonne drops me and older trio for quick spin at Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, figuring it would be so seminal to do so the day after Betty Ford passed. Dumb me: place closed for preparations for her internment. Gerald is buried just to the right of the museum, which sits on the banks of the Grand River. Workers were already working over the grave site, which listed her name and birth year (1918) followed by a dash.
What are the odds?
Also odds defying is a bipolar local ex-con going on shooting rampage and killing seven - also in Grand Rapids Thursday-Friday. People in town are feeling a bit strange, to say the least.
So we signed the condolence book (nice) at the museum and continued our trek northward to the Mackinac Bridge, which I haven't gone over in over 30 years.
The mosquitoes up here are frightening large! But we have a nice vacation home on a big lake just off the Lake Superior shoreline. Older two kids are blazing their own paths elsewhere in the country - with plenty of texting.
It feels weird to be on vacation with 4 kids under 12!
Reader Comments (2)
Tom,
I was 5 years old (I'm now 67) the only time I was in the Mackinac area and I still remember the mosquitos.
Cheers,
Richard
The Mosquito is considered the State Bird in Michigan, Minnesota and Alaska . .