The Holiday Season

We enjoyed Christmas with most of the family together for several days. We spent the past couple weeks decorating, shopping, and cooking in preparation for the holidays and everyone had a good time. We have had lots of snow the past few weeks and have been getting lots of use of the snow blower. We finally got a break for Christmas and Friday and Saturday were beautiful sun shiny days.
Christmas morning started with all the kids opening their gifts and then a big brunch. We spent the afternoon visiting and enjoying the day, then had a wonderful roast beef dinner.
On Friday we took Ben to the Homestead resort for a snowboarding lesson and watched him learn how to snowboard on the bunny hill, then eventually on to the chairlift and down the ski run. He caught on fast and now will be looking forward to the next time he can go boarding. Saturday the temperature hit 42 degrees and we had clear blue skies. The kids built a snowman and an igloo and were sledding and playing outdoors most of the day. We ended the day with a hike to Pyramid Point and looked out over Lake Michigan. The sun was setting as we hiked back to the trucks.
Sunday Jenny left for home and then Amy and Mike, and the kds. Later Tom and Evey and us went to Leland and had a nice dinner with the Goodfallows. We also watched the Lions end their season in traditional style, a loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
We are driving down to Southeast Michigan for New Years and are looking forward to spending a few more days with the famly before heading to Florida later in January.
Happy New Year to all and we wish you all well in the coming year.

Snow on the deck on Wednesday morning.

The kids on Christmas Eve getting ready for bed.

Christmas morning under the tree!

The opening of the gifts

Christmas is also Ben's biirtday. Nine years old!

 

Here is Ben (in blue), on the bunny hill riding the "Magic carpet" to the top.

Snowboarding down the big hill later in the morning

At the top of Pyramid Point. Nancy, Kate and Natalie

Tom and Evey

Kate, Natalie and Evey, the snow angels

Mike and Amy

Winter Wonderland!!

I know it's been a long dry spell between updates, but I have had some issues with the blog lately and have not been able to add new posts. Finally today the problem is resolved.

We have been busy the past month with a visit to the Irish Hills area to visit with Rick and Jan Bolling and compare notes on winter travelling. We will meet with them in Florida at Everglades National Park for a couple of weeks. We also went to Manistee for a Christmas festival that they sponsor each year. It was c-c-c-cold standing outside and watching the parade in the 15 degree weather, but the street was very crowded and the mood was jovial. A nice parade with horses, bands, and Santa. We also picked up a Christmas tree and are getting everything decorated for the holiday.
We are expecting all of the Michigan kids and grandkids to be here for Christmas, but David and Elizabeth will not be able to make it.

The weather is much cooler than last year and we have not been much above twenty degrees since late November. The snow falls a little each day and we have had snow on the ground since before Thanksgiving. Right now we have close to 12 inches of accumulation.

Nancy and I both continue to work a few days here and there, but nowhere near as much as during the summer tourist season.

I hope everyone is well and enjoying the countdown to the Christmas holiday and the new year!

Early season snow. We have a foot on the ground now.

Manistee lighthouse on Saturday. We visited Manistee for the Christmas Festival.

Downtown before the parade.

Merry Christmas to all!

The Leland River in winter.

The sidewalks roll up early in town.

November, headed toward winter

Leaves are dropping in the north country. Our trees will be bare soon and the snow will start to fly. We have been getting things covered outside for the winter and trying to get outdoor projects done. We finally laid the pavers for the sidewalk from the garage to the deck and it looks pretty good if I do say so.
We had a great time with the kids on Halloween last week and enjoyed seeing everything decorated for the holiday on Tillson Street in Romeo. It seems that each year the folks on that block outdo themselves from the previous year. It is incredible how much fun the kids (and kids at heart), have seeing all of the scary houses on that block. The fun is also spreading to Pleasant Street where Mike and Amy put on a show of their own and have the traditional Halloween party that we all love.
We were put up most graciously by Barb and Bill Wright while we were in Romeo and also got a chance to visit with the Bozins at breakfast on Friday. It's so nice to have good friends to visit with.
We continue to work several days a week and it looks like that will continue until we are ready to head south to Florida for the winter months. Our plan is to leave here any time after January 10.
Hope everyone is well, and say Happy Birthday to Becky!!
Here are a few pictures from last week...

Tom and Sue Seefried visited us late in October and we had a couple of sunny afternoons to do some sightseeing with them and enjoy the fall color. On Saturday it was so clear we could see four islands in Lake Michigan.

At the top of Sleeping Bear Dunes

The cannery at Glen Haven

Hannah dressed up as an Indian princess for Halloween.

Natalie and Kate.

 

Cousins posing for the camera.

Mike and Amy's haunted house in Romeo.

The gang on Halloween.

Evey in her costume.

 

Southeast Michigan

We spent the weekend downstate with the kids. We met Jenny at the Outpost in Lansing where she is waitressing part-time and had a nice dinner with her.
Then we stayed at Becky and Dave's condo in Ann Arbor Township for two nights and became a little more familiar with the area. They are southwest of town right now, and their new house will be northeast. We tagged along on Kate's field trip to the apple orchard and cider mill on Thursday and enjoyed the tour. On Friday we went to Leslie Park and Laura and Sean met us and we all went out to dinner at the Blue Tractor in Downtown Ann Arbor.
Friday we drove over to the east side and met one of Nancy's former co-workers and good friend Vicki. We had a nice lunch and then visited with her at her home in Roseville. Later we went to Ashleigh's wedding (Brother Bob's grand daughter), and had a wonderful dinner at the reception at the Mirage on 18 Mile Rd and Garfield. We spent Friday night with Tom at his apartment and saw his new Ford Escape.
Saturday morning was breakfast in Romeo with Tom, Mike, Amy and the girls. We went to a new restaurant on Main Street. Later we all drove to Cranbrook and spent the afternoon at the Science Center before driving back up north on Saturday evening.
It was a great weekend and it was wonderful to see all the kids.

The Polish Mafia at Ashleigh's Wedding

Unfortunately we were missing Maria and Dennis!

  

We are hoping this weather sticks around!

We had a wonderful week of autumn weather with temperatures reaching into the seventies and crystal clear blue skies. The trees are turning color and peak should come very soon. So far only a little bit of red and orange here and there, but leaves are beginning to drop.
On Saturday I loaded the canoe and took some time to fish Narda Lake on M-22. I had the whole lake to myself, and the fish were biting. I caught a hefty largemouth bass and a pike that was close to three feet long. I didn't get a picture of the pike since I lost him off the stringer when putting him in the water. I also caught a couple of smaller bass and a few dinky perch.
I saw a couple of bald eagles high overhead and a hawk soaring over the woods. It was a beautiful day to be outdoors.
This week we are heading to southern Michigan to visit with the kids and to go to Ashleigh's wedding. (This is my great niece, Uncle Bob and Aunt Donna's grand daughter).
Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the fall days. Soon the snow will be flying and we will wish we had more of these glorious sunshine filled days.

A very nice bass. I brought him home and turned him into a couple of nice fillets!

Narda Lake. You can see just a little bit of color n the trees.

Tranquil setting for an old barn on the shoreline.

Summer's Over!

It's official, fall is here. Today is the first day of the fall season. The leaves are just starting to turn now, but I am guessing that full color is less than two weeks away. Grouse hunting is underway and the salmon are running in the rivers. Apples are everywhere and the corn fields are turning yellow.
Pretty soon the pumpkins will be out and frost in the mornings.

Today we loaded our bikes in the truck and took a ride to Frankfort. We rode the Betsie Valley bike trail (http://www.betsievalleytrail.org/index.html), from Frankfort to Beulah and back for a total of 19 miles. It's a far cry from the 100 mile bike tour that David rode last Sunday in Leelanau County, but for a couple of old pooters taking their first bike ride since spring, it wasn't bad. And at the end we could still walk! The trail runs along the Betsie River and then along the south shore of Crystal Lake. It's very scenic, and along the lake the summer homes were gorgeous. Beulah is a nice small town on the south east corner of Crystal Lake.

We had an early dinner at Dinghy's Restaurant and bar in down town Frankfort after our ride. Then we walked to the lake (Michigan), and along the river before starting back north toward home. On the way back we stopped at the Platte River. We took a ride through the campground and found that it was about a third full. Not bad for a late Sunday afternoon. The weekend warriors would have all left by that time. At the mouth of the Platte the fishermen were surf fishing for salmon, but we didn't see any being caught. At the weir the river was black with fish and they were jumping and splashing all over the place.

We headed home on M-22 and saw several deer on the way home. It was a nice autumn afternoon and we enjoyed the fresh air and exercise. The high temperature today was about 55 degrees and we had very little sun, but the wind was calm so it wasn't too bad out. (This past Thursday it was 83 degrees!)

Go lions, Detroit 27, Washington Redskins 20!!

Love to all

Last Thursday I walked along Lake Michigan in the warm afternoon. This is the beach below Pyramid Point

The south shore of Crystal Lake on Sunday's bike ride

Down town Frankfort

The harbor and light house at Frankfort beach

The yacht "Mitch-Mate III" was docked in Frankfort. It is 107 feet long

Platte River and Lake Michigan

The mouth of the Platte. Fisherman are wading and casting for salmon

The weir on the Platte. The bottom of the river was black with fish here. You can see individual fish close to shore

Salmon running in the Platte River

Checking In

We went to Wisconsin for Michelle Seefried's wedding this past weekend and had a cool weekend getaway.
We started off on Friday morning headed north. We drove through Traverse City and on to Kalkaska and took 131 north to Gaylord. We got onto I-75 and drove north over the Mighty Mac Bridge. From there it was west along the north shore of Lake Michigan on US2. We went through Manistique, Gladstone, Escanaba (no moonlight as it was still light out), and on to Menominee and Wisconsin. We drove south along the lakeshore and eventually arrived at Green Bay, Wisconsin. After checking into our hotel we drove to the waterfront in town (on the Fox River), and went to the Tall Ship Festival that they were having. We ate dinner at the Titletown Brewery and then walked along the river and looked at the tall ships that were tied along the sea wall. Afterwards we sat and listened to the piano man concert put on by two guys who were playing all of the old Billy Joel, Elton John, Jerry Lee Lewis and other rock  and roll songs from the sixties, seventies and more recent times. Even one from Lady Gaga!
Saturday we drove the last part of the trip to our motel near Milwaukee and went to the wedding in Grafton. At the reception, later, we all watched from the deck as the bride and groom arrived in a helicopter! Talk about a grand entrance!
Sunday we drove to Manitowoc to catch the Badger Ferry for our four hour cruise to Ludington and our return trip home.
Quite a weekend and beautiful weather and scenery. Wisconsin at this latitude is much like the Leelanau Peninsula.

Hope everyone is well.

The light house in Manistique, Michigan

Teepees at Manistique. Nancy was exploring how they tied on the canvas.

Tall ships in Green Bay

All in a row.

This one was giving rides on the river.

The Harbor at Port Washington in Wisconsin. This harbor was home to a big fleet of charter boats, and we saw a couple of them bring in their catch of salmon.

The Maritime Museum at Manitowoc. They built submarines for the navy here during world war two. 

Here is one of the subs that now is part of the museum.

This was the SS Cobia submarine.

The SS Badger car ferry. It runs from Manitowoc, Wisconsin to Ludington Michigan (a distance of sixty miles), in four hours. On Sunday it was carrying over a hundred cars. It can carry 620 passengers, 180 automobiles, also tour buses, RVs, motorcycles, and commercial trucks.