Going Down The Road With The Leu's

 

This afternoon Barbara, Dave and Dan made the hour drive from Petoskey, Michigan over to our campsite here in Aloha.  It was so great to see them.  They are our relatives from my brother, Don’s, wife’s side of the family.  Dan is Debbie’s father, Barbara is Debbie’s sister and Dave is Barbara’s husband and Debbie’s brother-in-law.  Dan is 96 years old and is still spry, sharp as a whip, and loves telling jokes and puns.  I want to be like him when I grow up!

 

It had been about three years since we all had been together.  It was during Debbie and Don’s daughter’s wedding.  Sarah, their youngest daughter, married John near Cherry, New Jersey and we all made the trip to attend.  It was a great wedding with all kinds of fun events planned over a three-day period.  Time sure flies by, doesn’t it?

 

We have such wonderful relatives as it seems no matter whom we see, they are all so warm, kind and friendly.  What a great extended family we both have.

 

Barbara had brought a fresh fruit plate with a Cool Whip and yogurt dip she had made along with chocolate covered nuts and pretzels to share.  We had prepared another fresh fruit salad but we all decided to dive into the fruit plate and chocolate.  Yum!

 

The afternoon just flew by and before we knew it, it was time for Barbara, Dave and Dan to leave.  After hugs and kisses all around, we waved our goodbyes.  What a great time we had and we returned to LeuC knowing that we both are very lucky to have such a great extended family.  Whoo Hoo!

 

Tomorrow we will just be taking it easy, resting up from the last two days that included a boating adventure with old friends and then this fun visit by relatives.  Then, on Saturday, we will be driving a few hours south as we start our southernly journey to Lansing Michigan.  We need to be there by mid-August so that we can attend my 50^th high school reunion.

 

Yesterday, we said our goodbyes to Interlochen State Park and drove 2 ½ hours north to Aloha State Park.  No, we are not in Hawaii but are near Cheboygan, Michigan.  Aloha State Park derives its name from the Township that it resides in.  The township gets its name from one of its residents who helped found it.  James Patterson back in the early 1900’s had returned from a trip to Hawaii and named the township Aloha.  Go figure!

The state park is not much of a park.  It is large but packs people in so much that we feel like we are sharing sites with three other campers.  It is more like a RV park than a state park.  The photos I have taken of our site underscores what I mean.  Fortunately, we are only here for 4 days before we move on to our next destination.

While we are here, we will have a chance to see family and friends that we have not see in years.  Specifically, today we spent the day with a high school buddy and his wife, who we had not seen in about 20 years.  Tomorrow, we will be visiting with my brother’s wife’s father, her sister, and her sister’s husband.  Whoo Hoo!

Steve and I grew up together in East Lansing, Michigan and he was the best man at our wedding.  His wife, Linda and Mary Margaret, have always gotten along very well and it showed again today as we all talked and talked and talked some more, catching up on the 20-year hiatus it has been since we last were together.

Steve and Linda love to go boating and today was no exception.  They have just returned from an exploration of Alaska and knowing that we would be up here, hooked up their 22-foot power boat and hauled it up to Iron River, a town that is nearby.  They came over this morning for breakfast, where Mary Margaret served up her delicious blueberry pancakes, all smothered with melting butter and blueberry syrup.  Yum!

We spent the morning catching up, hitting the high points of what has been going on in our respective lives for the last 20 years, and then headed over to Iron River, where Steve and Linda are staying in a motel and where they had left their boat.  Once there, the boat was hitched up and we drove over to the boat ramp on Burnt Lake where it was launched.  Soon, with big smiles on our faces and the wind blowing through our hair, we headed over to the entrance of Iron River.

Skipper At The Helm

Ladies On The Bow

Entering Iron River

Houses Lining The River Near Town

Steve and Linda were taking us down the Iron River towards Mullet Lake, which is where our state park is located.  It was so nice to be on the water again.  It was so nice to be with Steve and Linda again.  It was so nice to just enjoy the beauty that surrounds waterways and water bodies again.  We shared with Linda and Steve just how much we miss our sailing lifestyle and our wonderful sailboat, Leu Cat, on which we spend 10 years circumnavigating.  It was such a special treat to be on their boat and on the water again!

Nut Sedge Wetlands Surround The River Past Town

Of course, no good boating adventure can be complete without a little excitement.  As we were nearing Mullet Lake, Steve asked my opinion of some storm clouds that were forming and which we both had been keeping an eye on.  He then asked Linda what she thought we should do.  Linda immediately advised that we should turn back and return to Burnt Lake because the black clouds looked like they were hovering over the northern end of Mullet Lake.

Twenty minutes later, we were back at Burnt Lake but by now the sky was turning black down where the boat ramp was located and the wind was rising.  Mary Margaret and Linda both suggesting we make a run to the far side of the lake, where the sky was still blue and just hunker down to wait for the storm to pass by.  Steve opened up the throttle and the boat rose up on its plane, dancing across the waves that were building.  Soon the lake was covered with white, breaking waves, as the whitecaps raced by us.  At times the waves were large enough to crash against our speeding hull, throwing water up and into the boat.  Steve was drenched manning the helm in his attempt to quickly get us across the lake to safety.

Dripping wet, he spied a private dock that was empty and made a bee line for it.  As we approached, Mary Margaret, Linda and I readied the docking lines and I grabbed a dock post and leaped off the bucking boat and onto the stable dock.  Soon we had the boat secured but kept it well off of the dock to avoid it bashing it as the rough lake bounced the boat all over.

Susan, the elderly owner of the dock soon came out, offering to help.  She offered us some little fenders that she had in her garage.  Armed with these, we were able to bring the boat close to the dock so Mary Margaret, Linda and Steve could get off, on to the dock.  It was thundering and lightning and our thoughts were that we wanted to get off the water.  Susan suggested we retire to her house to wait out the storm in comfort.  Steve and I suggested that the ladies so do but that we should stay on the dock to fend off the boat as it oscillated back and forth and at times hitting the dock and little fenders very hard.

Dark Skies Mark The Storm

Fortunately, the storm was moving to the southeast and we were on its western edge.  Thus, the rain, thunder and lightning were a few miles away and appeared to be slowly moving away from us.

It took about an hour of manually fending the boat from the dock but finally the winds had shifted and the lake slowly laid down.  We decided that it was worth the chance to make the run over to the lake’s boat ramp where we could haul out and put an end to our adventure.

After hugs and kisses with our wonderful hostess, we hopped back into the boat and off we went.  All too soon we were hauling the boat onto its trailer and bringing it out of the water.  All is well that ends well and now we had another great adventure to talk about!

We ended our day with a great dinner at the Thirsty Sturgeon.  Armed with well earned drinks, we toasted to such a great time and thanked Linda and Steve for making the effort to come all the way up to Northern Michigan to share this time with us.

We will be getting together again soon as Mary Margaret and I will be driving down to East Lansing in a couple of weeks to attend my high school’s 50^th reunion.  Steve is on the coordinating committee responsible for setting it up and pulling it off.  It is going to be a hoot to see schoolmates and old friends that I have not seen in 50 years…

 

Late this morning, as I was getting ready to hop into our little Fiat to do some errands, I met a nice young lady walking by.  She was very friendly and offered how much she liked our RV.  We talked for awhile and during that time I learned that she was a substitute teacher and an artist.   Her husband is a maintenance supervisor/ironworker at a metals fabrication shop.  They and their two young sons live near Muskegon, Michigan.  Before she left, she had invited Mary Margaret and I to come over for brunch that she was able to serve her family.

 

Unfortunately, I had to decline due to the need to pick up a prescription and to run my errands but said that we would love to stop on by later in the day.  With that said, we said our goodbyes and went our merry ways.

 

When I returned from my errands a few hours later, Mary Margaret and I went for our walk through the park and met up with Elissa, Michael, and their two boys returning from fishing.  Alas, they had no luck, but had a fun time trying.  We returned with them to their camping site where over a local beer, we got to know each other a bit.  What we learned was pretty amazing! 

 

Michael, besides working at the fabrication plant, also has a talent for metal work and has designed and built some really neat stuff.  My favorite is his campfire grill, which is an extremely clever devise.  The photo of it is posted below, which shows that it is a collapsible tripod that easily raises and lowers a grill over a campfire so you can cook and grill your food to perfection.  He has different sizes of grills that can fit like a glove into whatever size of fire ring you have.  We have discovered that most state parks we have gone to, have metal fire rings on each campsite to contain camp fires.  However, Michaels grill can also be used with any campfire, whether a campfire ring or not is available. 

 

While we talked, we learned that Elissa loves art and creates beautiful and unique pyrography.  I had never heard of pyrography and discovered that it is an art form based on wood burning.  Michael showed us pictures on his smart phone of various pieces she has done.  Wow!  We were so impressed that we asked if she sells any of her pieces as we would love to buy some as gifts for friends and family, along with having some to hang in our house that someday we will be buying.

 

As it turns out, she does sell her work with most pieces going for about $40.  Based on the photo of one of her pieces that I have posted below, you can see how reasonable that price is and how unique and beautiful her work is.  On a number of her pieces, such as the one below, she adds color using oil based colored pencils.

 

If you are interested in seeing more examples of Elissa’s work, you can visit her blog at: www.drawabrunch.com .  If you are interested in Michael’s campfire grill, you can contact him at his Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/deucesironworks

 

Tomorrow, we will be bundling up LeuC and heading down the road again, this time our destination will be Aloha State Park.  It is about 2 or so hours north and east of here, near the city of Cheboygan,

 

 

 

Interlochen, the little community where our state park is located, is world famous for its arts education institution.  When we were kids growing up in Michigan, we had friends who were such good young musicians, that they were accepted to come up to Interlochen and attend its summer music camp.  Originally known as the National High School Orchestra Camp, it expanded into other arts such as dance, plays and vocals in the 1960s.   It now offers a year-round educational program for the arts including studies of music, theatre, visual arts, film, creative writing and dance.  It is located right across the road from our state park and is sited on a thin strand of land that separates Duck and Green Lakes, from which it derives its name.

 

One of the benefits of camping here is that we are able to attend the concerts and plays that the institute puts on.  This is exactly what we did today.  This afternoon we attended a concert by the Interlochen Philharmonic Symphony.  Neither of us had ever been on campus before and when we arrived, we discovered how beautiful it was nestled amongst tall pine trees and running along the shoreline of Green Lake.  Since it is now a year-round educational institute, it has a number of dorms, class rooms, and support buildings including a large library, open air amphitheater, concert hall and theater.

 

We enjoyed a program of three pieces: Overture to La gazza ladra by Rossini, Andante e rondo ongarese Op. 35 by Von Weber and Symphonic Dances from West Side Story by Bernstein.  All three pieces were very enjoyable but we were blown away by a seventeen-year-old soloist from Venezuela, playing bassoon, the featured instrument in Andante e rondo ongarese.

If you are interested in listening to this beautiful piece, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NlgQohBZ5A

 

I have posted a number of pictures of the campus to show you what a beautiful place it is.

Yesterday we were visited by our daughter’s husband’s parents, Peggy and Jim, along with their youngest son, Mark. We had last seen them in March, when we were exploring Mississippi. At that time, they were returning from a trip to Atlanta, Georgia, following a route that crossed the southern part of the US. They live in Tucson, Arizona. This time, they are returning from a wedding in Ohio (I mistakenly wrote yesterday the wedding was in Michigan) and are taking a route that cuts across the northern part of the US. On this trip alone, they will be driving over 7,000 miles! Between these two trips, they will have logged more miles than we have since we bought LeuC last September. We have only about 12,000 miles on LeuC so far.

They stopped by for lunch today, as they made their way from central Michigan to the Upper Peninsula. Mary Margaret had whipped up a great lunch of chicken pot pie, salad and a fresh mixed fruit medley. Ooooh, so good! It was paired with Vernors.

It you are not from Midwest, then you probably have never heard of Vernors. It is a regional ginger ale that was first produced back in the 1860’s. What made it unique was that it was aged in oak barrels for four years before being bottled. This gave it a smooth but full-bodied ginger taste. When we were kids, it was still produced by the Vernors family in the aging barrels but they have since sold their ownership. It is now owned by Dr. Pepper/Snapple. There is now a debate as to whether the beverage is aged in barrels and, if it still is, for how many years. The taste has changed a bit since the sale but it is still delicious. Having lived in Michigan, Peggy and Jim both love Vernors, as do I and Mary Margaret. It is a treat to find it so readily stocked in supermarkets here.

Over lunch and Vernors, the five of us caught up in what has been happening since we last saw each other in March. It was great to see them again, even if it was for just a few hours. We plan on spending much more time together this coming December, when Mary Margaret and I will be back in Tucson for the Christmas holidays.

Today, we chose to have a day of rest. We just hunkered down and spent the day and well into the evening watching the HBO series “Network” through Amazon Prime.

 

The weather these few last days have been less than stellar with periods of rain, sun playing hide and seek and cool temperatures.  Weather is weather and unless we are house bound, it typically does not bother us too much.  However, the weather has had a negative impact on something that I was really looking forward to doing: swimming.  The cool weather with little sun has failed to keep the surface waters of Higgins Lake warm.  After recently spending 10 years in the tropics, I have become spoiled when it comes to swimming.  I love warm, soothing waters and right now, Higgins Lake was not that.  With nighttime temperatures dipping down to the low 60s, my guess is that the lake temperature is around 72 degrees.  Mary Margaret and I did walk out a-ways into the lake but the thought of diving in and swimming was quite out of the question.  It would be an opportunity lost.

 

Today, it was time to say goodbye to Higgins Lake, the sight of such fond youthful memories.  It was time to head on down the road and continue our exploration of Michigan.  Our next destination is Interlochen State Park, just south of Travers city.  If you are not familiar with the Michigan geography, Travers City is located on Grand Traverse Bay.  If you hold your left hand in front of you, Traverse City would be located where your little finger and the ring finger meet.  Taking this a bit further, Higgins Lake would be where your middle finger knuckle is located.

 

Along the way we passed many little stands with signs stating “Washed, Fresh Cherries.”  Michigan is famous for its blueberries, apples and bing cherries and we are certainly in the heart of the cherry season.  Oooo, they are so good and sweet!

 

We arrived at our campground and nestled into our corner site.  Once set up, we then hopped into our cute little Fiat and drove into Traverse City to go shopping at Costco.  We wanted to get one of their delicious chicken pot pies because Christina’s husband’s parents will be stopping by tomorrow for lunch tomorrow.  Peggy and Jim, along with their youngest son, Mark, have driven from their home in Tucson, Arizona to Michigan to attend a wedding.  They begin their return home tomorrow and will be stopping here to visit us as they drive by.  We love spending time with Peggy and Jim and are so looking forward to their visit, even if it is just for a couple of hours.

 

 

Yesterday, we stayed hunkered down as the rain continued.  Today, we saw brief glimpses of sun trying to peek through the clouds that covered our horizon.  At least it was not raining so Mary Margaret and I welcomed the opportunity to stretch our legs and explore our park and Higgins Lake.

 

While neither one of us have been to this state park before, it strongly reminded me of the state park that is located along the south shore of this lake.  My mom and dad used to take us kids to Higgins Lake to go camping and swimming at that state park.  That was back in the 1950s and 1960s.  I still have memories of seeing a black bear that was hunted, gutted and hanging up by a rope from a branch of a tree in that park.  Back then, there was open bear hunting all year long and this was how the hunters prepared the bear before skinning it for its fur and, I guess, harvesting its meat.  However, I have been told that bear meat is very greasy tasting and not very good.

 

On a more pleasant note, I also well remember during one of our forays to Higgins Lake how my sister, Doti, dressed herself, my older Don and I up as Indians, and then taught us how to do Indian dances.  Doti loved the Indian culture all of her life and throughout her life read a lot about it and embraced many of the Lakota cultural norms.  We not only danced around our campfire but also walked along the road of the park, passed the many other campers and danced.  I was about 6 or 7 at the time and it made a lasting impression.

 

I also remember how we could wade far, far out onto the sandy bottom of Higgins Lake and still only be up to our chest in water.   Today, while during our walk around the park and the north shore of Higgins Lake we did not see any black bears hanging from trees nor did we see any kids doing Indian dances, we did see people could still wade far off the shore and still only be chest deep in water. 

Tomorrow, the rain is supposed to return before sunshine arrives in earnest on Wednesday.  Thus, we may have to wait another day before we get to go swimming and really enjoy Higgins Lake.

Today we drove 200 miles north to arrive at North Higgins Lake State Park.  The drive was very easy, despite periodic heavy rains, because Michigan has a number of wonderful freeways covering the state.  These freeways are the legacy of Governor G. Mennen Williams, the State’s governor back in the 1950s.  His nickname was “Soapy” Williams because it was his family that created the Mennen brand of men’s personal care products.  It is my opinion that he is Michigan’s greatest governor.  During World War II, he served four years in the United States Navy as an air combat intelligence officer in the South Pacific. He achieved the rank of lieutenant commander and earned ten battle stars.

 

In 1948, Williams was elected Governor of Michigan, defeating Governor Kim Sigler with the support of labor unions and dissident Republicans. He was subsequently elected to a record six two-year terms in that post.

 

In 1950, while visiting Marquette Branch Prison, Williams was attacked and briefly held hostage by a group of three inmates hoping to escape. The governor had a knife held to his throat, but his attackers were soon overpowered by his bodyguard and prison employees. One of his attackers was shot dead. Williams was unharmed and mostly unshaken, choosing to continue on with his tour of the Upper Peninsula.  Later in the same year, Williams gained prominence for his refusal to extradite Haywood Patterson, one of the black Scottsboro Boys, who had escaped from prison in Alabama in 1948 and hidden in Detroit for two years.

 

Also, during Williams’ twelve years in office, a farm-marketing program was sanctioned, teachers’ salaries, school facilities and educational programs were improved and there were also commissions formed to research problems related to aging, sex offenders and adolescence behavior.  Williams named the first woman judge in the state’s history as well as the first black.  At the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Democratic National Conventions he fought for insertion of a strong civil rights plank in the party platform.

 

Among his accomplishments was the construction of the Mackinac Bridge and he cajoled the state legislature to expand upon the federal government’s efforts in constructing coast to coast a freeway system.  The result was many of the state’s roads were constructed as four lane divided highways that, at the time, were the envy of the nation.  They still are in wonderful condition and make traveling throughout Michigan an enjoyable experience.

 

He later served as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs under President John F. Kennedy and then served as Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court.  That is a pretty remarkable resume!

 

Since it has been a rainy day and looks like tomorrow will be more of the same, we have not yet explored this state park or gone swimming in Higgins Lake.  Once the sun returns, we look forward to doing that.

 

 

 

Time flies when you are having fun and our time here along Lake Michigan just zoomed by.  We were having so much fun I simply forgot to write our blog.  Oops!

 

Up until today, the weather was great but the water got a bit too cold to go swimming.  The winds that piped up stirred the water up and brought into shore the deep cold water that sits under the thermocline.  Usually, a nice warm layer of water sits on top of the cold, deeper water.  It is nice and warm due to the sun and air warming it up during the summer months.  However, during the winter and during heavy winds in the summer, the warm layer gets jumbled up with the cold water and the thermocline disappears.  That is what has happened during the last couple of days.

 

Nevertheless, the return of the cold water did not prevent Mary Margaret and I enjoying the beach and the water views.  We miss being on the water so much that just being able to see it and even watch the various pleasure craft motoring or sailing by was so great.

 

We also returned to the blueberry farm to buy another 5 pounds of blueberries and more yellow squash and zucchini. We bagged and froze the blueberries so we will have lots of them whenever we want.

 

We also spent time at the Michigan Maritime Museum.  Located in South Haven, at the mouth of the Black River, it is set up at the former location of the US Coast Guard’s boatyard.  Not only is there an indoors museum but they also have a number of stored boats and an 1810 built merchant ship.   Friends Good Will was built in Michigan at River Rouge. In the summer of 1812, she was chartered by the federal government to take military supplies to Fort Dearborn, a small military and trading post at what is now Chicago.

 

She was returning with furs and skins when she was lured into the harbor of Mackinac Island. The British, having taken the island just days before, were flying false colors above the fort ramparts. The British confiscated the vessel, cargo, and crew, renaming her Little Belt. She was armed, taken into service, and fought with the Royal Navy until September of 1813, when she was recaptured by United States Commodore Oliver Perry at the Battle of Lake Erie. Within an hour after the great guns fell silent, Commodore Perry mentioned her in his now famous dispatch, “We have met the enemy and they are ours: Two Ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop.” That sloop was Friends Good Will.

 

Normally, the sloop would go out onto Lake Michigan twice a day during the summer, taking visitors to the Museum on a ride.  However, with small craft warnings still flying the ship was grounded.  However, we were invited on board to tour it.  We were its only visitors so we got a personal tour.  I am posting the various photos of Friends Good Will.

 

As we were onboard, we were notified of a tornado warning and, when we returned to the deck from down below, we saw black clouds racing overhead.  Gulp!  We returned to our little Fiat and drove in the opposite direction of the black clouds, which took us to Meijer’s, a great supermarket superstore.  Way back in the 1973, when we lived in Ann Arbor, we used to shop at one of the Meijer’s stores.  I believe Meijer’s was the first superstore in the US, predating what Walmart has become.

 

When we finished shopping, we were greeted with a deluge of rain.  Mary Margaret offered to brave the downpour to retrieve our car while I stood nice and dry with our provisions.  Once loaded, we returned to LeuC and our campground to finish sitting out the rain.  It rained all night and was still raining when it was time to bundled up LeuC and head off to our next campground, North Higgins Lake State Park, well up in Northern Michigan’s lower peninsula.

Today is Mary Margaret’s birthday day. Yea!  We wish to thank everyone who emailed, texted or called to wish her the very best on this special day.  We also wish to thank those who sent e-cards to celebrate her day. These efforts were so very kind and thoughtful.  It is really nice to be remembered on one’s birthday.

 

And, we also wish to extend a special thanks to those who contributed to her birthday fund, donating to the ACLU, in support of their legal efforts to reunite those immigrant kids who were taken from their parents.  We both found that action taken by the Trump Administration to be so unforgivable, cruel, unnecessary and against the values that made this country great.  It is one of the darker moments in American history and we are so appreciative of everyone supporting to stop it and reunite the kids with their parents.  Thanks to your generosity, she exceeded her goal of $500.  It will be well received and used by the ACLU.

 

To celebrate Mary Margaret’s birthday, we did two things that she loves to do and we miss doing so much since we stopped sailing.  We first went to the closest thing we could find to a farmers’ market and then went to the beach where she spent the afternoon swimming.  While during our sailing years, we discovered that many places we sailed to did not have supermarkets.  Instead, one bought fruits and vegetables at an open farmers market where scores of canvas-covered stalls offered fresh-from-the-garden goodies.  Mary Margaret loved to stop at each stall, talk to the vendors and inspect their goods.  I trundled behind, helping to carry the bags of fresh goodies she negotiated for.

 

While we did not find an open-air market like that today, we did find a roadside farmer’s market nestled amongst the blueberry farms that are so common in this part of Michigan.  We toyed with the idea of picking our own blueberries, something that we did when first married, but opted to just buy them already picked since they were so reasonably priced.  We ended up with a 5-pound box of fresh blueberries for just $13.  Whoo Hoo!  Mary Margaret also selected a handful of yellow squash and zucchini.

 

This afternoon we returned to the beautiful beach at our campground but this time came armed with our towels and bathing suits.  We discovered the wind was blowing a bit at the beach (15 or so knots) and the coast guard had issued small craft warnings.  Small craft warnings are supposed to be issued when winds are predicted to be above 22 knots within the next 12 hours.  Apparently, a storm was making its way toward us.

 

Also, the beach was flying a red no-swimming flag.  This blew our minds since the swells on Lake Michigan were just in the 1 to 3-range and the surf rolling in was about the same height.  It looked like a perfect day to go sailing to us and it made us think of how great it would be to have good ol’ Leu Cat here, dancing over the waves.

 

I guess everything is relative to what you are used to but what we saw looked just perfect to us for a good, long swim.  Apparently, it looked the same way to most of the beach goers as they too were enjoying the water.

 

This was the first time since living on Leu Cat, which we left about a year ago, that we went swimming in a body of water.  It was awesome!  The water was “almost warm” but once you got in, it was perfect!  Mary Margaret so enjoyed herself that her smile lasted the rest of the day and well into the night.

 

Whoo Hoo!  Happy Birthday, Mary Margaret!