Snowmobiling Feb 09

My Cute Kids Mother's Day 09 Portland

Fall 09 U.P. Flying

Kayaking Summer 09

Dec 12 09 ski and snowmobile

Hello Mr. Bear... no doubt caught and stuffed from this area!
















Do you see the beaver in the tree watching the
buffalo buried in the snow winking at you?? I did!!

Fall 09 Hike

U.P. Lakeshore Trail Fall 09

Fall 09 Hike-Yikes Tree Roots!

First Ski of the Season

Well it is December 12 and we just had our first x-c ski of the season...yippee!!
There is two feet of snow in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the trees are
covered with the snow from this week. The trail we skied was groomed( tracked) to perfection and the whole time we skied we only passed two people in 90 minutes! So nice without the after Christmas numbers.

We also took the snowmobiles out for a run of about 30 miles. The weather was so nice about 20 degrees and no wind and the snow was pretty fresh on the trails. There were a few trails that need more snow but we were just happy they are open and usable. For the most part they are ready to go. We let a few groups of about 6 pass us as they sped off at 50 MPH as it was a Saturday prime time trail time. We know to just stop and let 'em go as we are never in a rush just out for the fresh air and fun. It is fun to crank it up every once in awhile when the trail is open and clear ahead but usually 30mph is fine with me( for a bit of fast fun). We stopped to take a few pictures but wouldn't you know those two groups of 6 passed us right then and two sleds actually had to drive between tow of our parked sleds as could not slow down fast enough to stay on the trail to the other side- Foolish and dangerous! This is why we choose less busy trails at less busy times. Plus we only snowmobile during the day as safer and prettier!!Why miss the scenery.

It is not very busy up in the UP yet perhaps after Christmas is when most people make their way up here for winter fun. That is fine with us. It is never very crowded. We are getting spoiled- for sure!

Oh one funny local thing to add. I picked up a local paper at the gas station. It is called the Mining Journal and I think is published in Marquette although has news for all the UP. The back page was a fun page of Christmas tree prints with only one store name as a sponsor. I said to Dave- "Wow Ben Franklin must spend a lot of money on advertising to take a whole page with Christmas decorations and no real ad info??" Then i looked on the bottom of the page and it said:"This wrapping paper courtesy of B...F...." . HA!- they must save the last page of this local newspaper for wrapping paper designs in December. How unique is that? Not only is it making the paper "people recyclable" but also its fun!! Love ...love...love... local stores in small towns!!

Well gotta go....Have a nice Christmas holiday!!

A Midwest Trek in Late Fall

I had the fun of taking a late Fall drive across northern Illinois to visit with a friend of mine.
The weather was a bit misty with rain and the sun would peak in and out at me in the three hour drive. I drove through some beautiful Midwest farmland and rolling hills before reaching the town of Dubuque, Iowa ,a Mississippi River port town with alot of history.

I really enjoyed the short journey listening to christian radio and cd's all the way.I find quiet time like that is a treasure for me, as i am such a talker. But with nobody to talk to, my mind races with ideas for stories and just awe with the beauty of nature that unfolds around me. Some people may not think of late Fall as a pretty time to take a drive on country roads,when all the colored leaves are now fallen ,but they are wrong. I guess it is in the eye of the beholder. The tree trunks now exposed were beautiful shapes. Even when I was a child, I would see the interesting tree trunk images- some looked like dancers , two trees talking together , some bending down or to one side as if looking over its shoulder of sorts, or the beautiful tree lined country roads that form a "covered bridge effect" as their tops almost reach in the center of the small winding roads. One section of woods had a lot of Silver Maples with grey tree trunks and against the burnt orange drying leaves well...it was a beautiful contrast of subdued natural colors. The cornfields were all now an off white color and are also a lovely contrast to to the trees and drying grasses.Then add to that the rust orange and golden wetland plants and grasses with patches of water between them... well it is a soft pallet of a country scene! I love how wetlands look all year long. It is I believe God's way to save some of the land from being over-developed by farming and housing ,as it is the natural plain for water run off and cannot be built on.

After about two hours of driving the hills began to take hold,beginning the slow natural flow down to the winding Mississippi River that lay ahead.The historic towns like Elisabeth,Illinois,which is over 100 years old , have some of their original downtown brick buildings, little stores of necessity and of course one or two family owned town diners( most with great Midwest homemade pie i may add!). When i was young and we would take a Fall drive into the country (from Milwaukee where we lived) to go hiking, my dad would always have us stop at one of those town diners . He called it a "pie stop", and to this day i love my pie stops on trips! Thanks dad for creating this family tradition!!

Galena, Illinois is a beautiful small town located on the Rock River and is about fifteen minutes from the Mississippi River. It is known for its lovely historic downtown of red brick buildings and the former home of President Grant ,who was also head of the union army in Lincoln's era. There are lots of antiques stores, restaurants , horse riding stables and even golf courses ... now a bit of tourist area now especially in summer months.And then 15 minutes away is the Midwest blue collar town of Dubuque ,Iowa. Dubuque is less touristy and more of a working man's town but nicely on the Mississippi River with its marinas , promise of catfish in local restaurants. and even a Casino to liven things up a bit for some.

My friend Mary was working in Galena at a horse stables and living now in Dubuque. We met 15 years ago, when she was living on Washington Island. She recently retired from teaching at the Washington Island K-12 School and after at a bit of try at starting an internet island cafe business , decided to retire off island to be closer to her married daughter and grandchildren that live in Plattville, Wisconsin (just 15 min the other way from Dubuque). I had a nice visit with Mary: seeing the horse stables where she works, spending a little time with he daughter and two grand kids, having a nice dinner and quick once around the Casino next to it( at Mary's request who had never been in a Casino before), a long evening discussion on world politics and the environment, a quick sleep, breakfast at McDonald's and then off for home (as Mary headed to work the next day). On my way home I also met my friend Jan for lunch at a small town diner in Marengo where she lives. So all in all ,it was a whirlwind two days with , six hours of driving but alot of fun. It was a Fall adventure of sorts..gotta love that about the Midwest...so much to explore and so close to home !

Another Walk In The Woods

Is still late Fall in Michigan and we are still going strong! It's November 7th and it is a glorious day of 50 degrees, sunny and no wind. Dave and I have decided to dedicate the whole afternoon to hiking again ,as the weather surprised us this late in the seaon and gave us another wonderful Fall day for walking in the woods. The leaves have all fallen covering the forest floor and they rustle as we walk. They still create color as now a dried burnt orange against the many silver Maple , white Birch , green Pine tree trunks, and green ferns- it is still beautiful! There are a million tiny white moths flittering to and fro around all the leaves that have fallen. I have never seen that before! The forest in a symphony of things for the eye to behold. Thank you Lord for another day of peaceful pleasure.

We have decided to hike to a waterfall and beach and then along part of the Lake Superior Lakeshore trail above Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore to another beach and then a short hike back through the woods to our start. It is a bit ambitious as 10 miles total, but I have the energy to try it today and so talked Dave into the longer route. The first part of hike took us on a wide rather flat trail through the Maple and Birch trees to Chapel Waterfall and beach. The leaves rustled under our feet and moths entertained us along the way. Green ferns still stood among the leaves as though it was just spring or summer yet. The only thing that was a bit tricky today were the hidden pockets of water under the leaves that get a bit muddy if you hit them just right(wrong I should say), the occasional hidden "wooden plank bridge" over the known wet spots and the many many many hidden tree roots that can catch your foot and send you flying if you are not careful. For the most part it is dry and easy walking but we did almost get our feet caught in one of the few "water troughs" made by the park service to aid in draining the trail- just two little 2x4's set parallel to the trail in spots where the water is worse. It would not be a problem but the leaves are covering these spots now that would normally be visible in summer hiking. I wonder if the park service thought about that?? Anyway no sprained ankles today!! Thanks goodness for that, as the trail is pretty deserted now- only saw one family at the beach after the waterfall and a few backpackers later on the Lakeshore trail.

The waterfall was a beauty,falling in many tiers down the rocky hillside. You could hear the sound of rushing water as we approached the waterfall and the park service had two platforms , one on either side, to view it and take photos. We brought our 35mm camera today as it's so fun to take long view scenery shots and also close ups of beautiful natural things all around us. I have to remind myself to pause and appreciate the small things we see close up, like tiny moss and ferns pushing through the leaves on the ground, bright green ferns popped in all along the trail, tree trunks intermingled with each other as if dancing or chatting a bit, and of course our little moth friends today.

Then on to Chapel Beach- it was beautiful and started with a rock formation called Chapel Rock. It was one huge grey and white sculpted rock with one enormous pine tree on top of it. The giant tree roots reached across thin air to the ground to the right as if trying to hold on. The roots were exposed and looked like giant snakes bridging the gap. It was awesome. Just below was the mouth of a rushing river that flowed onto the rock and sand beach. The water just off shore was cold and clean (as always in Lake Superior) and actually had a rust color from the minerals in the rocks it flowed over, with a white spray as each wave curled to reach the shore. The water was calm except for the final curls of wave as the water depth changed and shallowed by the beach. The sand on the beach was very fine and almost white. It looked beautiful as it curved around the bay.

Just to the right you could see the huge curve of high rock cliffs called Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore that we would be following as we walked along on the top to the cliffs on the Lakeshore Trail. Chapel Rock is one of the cliff formations you can see by water on the PRNL boat cruise that leaves from the town of Munising on Michigan's Lake Superior coastline.
The four miles of Lakeshore trail took us in and out of the woods very close to the coastline but now on top of the cliffs called Pictured Rocks. There were dozens of viewing paths off the main path to give you continual glimpses and opportunities for photos ops of Lake Superior and the cliff formations as you hiked along the trail. Sometimes you could actually walk out and along the rock cliffs. One was like a wide strip of beach(sand coverd rock) but on TOP of the cliffs ..it was amazing and gave us great views of the cliffs and the depths to the water below. This one I had to sit down and just gaze at the awesome beauty of God! You felt like an ant on a giant ant hill. Just one speck in the world of nature.

The Lakeshore trail continued and we got glimpses of quite a few of the Pictured Rocks cliff formations including: Chapel Rock Battleship Row( three giant outcropping of rocks that look like the pointed fronts of three giant battleships of war), the Indian face, and Grand Portal( a huge rock arch that you can actually kayak through) . It is really a breath taking hike that i would recommend to all( except perhaps small children due to the access to and the heights of the rock cliffs on this part of the trail).

We continued along the Lakeshore trail until we came to Mosquito River and beach where we woulod pick up the last section of trail. Again it was a lovely little river that flowed right into Lake Superior with a lovely sand beach at its mouth. It was as if Chapel Beach and Mosquito Beach(by the way NO mosquitos were present) were the two bookends of this section of the lake shore trail. We took some great photos and headed back into the woods for the last section of trail back to our car. It had been sunny and pleasant all along the Lakeshore trail but now it got a bit damp and dark as we headed into the heart of woods.This last part of the trial would take us about 2 hours with a lot of roots and muddy spots to circumnavigate, but all went well. A young couple were hiking right behond on on this section of trail so made us keep up a good pace for this last stretch. All in all ,we hiked for about 5 hours and 10 miles and although we hiked at a very good pace , sometimes even cross country ski pace with wide steps , the careful stepping over roots and wet spots made us average 2 MPH. We did have stops for photos and cliff gazing a bit, but no stops to just sit and rest. We had a minimum of water and snacks with us which we used sparingly. But all in all except for some sore feet/toes( from all the up and down and strange "wet-stepping" we did), we were no worse for wear but surely were tired and ready for dinner! What a great afternoon of fresh air ,exercise and exploring in the woods!

What a treat! What an unusual day for November in Upper Michigan! We could not have asked for greater walking weather or sights to behold. It was a privilege to be sure. We had missed so many October weekends as too cold and rainy and so even though it has been a full month between our two 10 mile hikes of the fall season...i do believe we got two of the most spectacular weekends of Fall weather for being outside and enjoying all the God offers us in nature. I will never take this privilege for granted. Thank you Lord!

PS to Red Light Green Light...

Goodness gracious... it actually snowed today! Yup the upper peninsula of Michigan got its first and i believe the earliest snowfall of the year. Oct 10th and a bit of a flurry and about 30 degrees. Of course it was short and didn't stay on the ground for long as melted away with the sunshine. Well i guess Fall came and went and we are in winter now???? I love winter too so i really don't care as i got my walk in the woods...just in time.

RED LIGHT GREEN LIGHT

Well I am officially still a kid when it comes to being in total awe of the Fall colors in the Midwest. It is as if God took his paint brush and did a lovely mosaic in the woods- yellow,orange, red, purple and every shade of green. So lovely! So amazing! Such a joy to behold! Dave and I went to upper Michigan for the peak of the color this weekend and wow.... what a feast for the eyes!!

We flew in over the vast peninsula of miles and miles of colorful trees. We got great photos of all this!! We also took a four hour/10 mile hike into the woods past numerous small lakes and rivers..it was beautiful! I must admit though that it was not the normal length hike for us as usually we hike about 2 hours...so "ouch" our feet were talking to us a bit after hiking all afternoon. I did find however that with every mile I hiked my breathing got better as it was a bit aerobic with the ups and downs as part of a x-c ski trail .So all in all we had a great work out too!

The colors were unbelievable! I do not think , for all the years of Fall hiking i have done , have i seen so many shades of color in one day. They went from multiple pastels to deep rich colors of red and even purple.Yellow has always been my favorite( not the usual red), as it just looks as though someone has turned on the lights in the woods. It is so very cheerful and bright!But you know it is not until the color is contrasted with the usual greens do you really see how pretty the bright colors really are.

We took oh so many photographs and of course I collected colored leaves. Now although i am
not a child... I still love doing this! When i was a little girl my mom and I would take the colored leaves we had collected from our Fall hikes and press them between pieces of wax paper and hang them in the windows at home to see the real leaf colors shine through. Then, when my girls were little I also did this with them to carry through on the family tradition I had learned from my mom. So today since my girls live many states away and it has been years since we did this together , I thought i would press some leaves for both of them and send them off in the mail. This way they can still capture the feel of the Fall season of the Midwest. Liz lives in Portland and she says they have mostly pines there so not much color and Katie who lives in Colorado lives close to the Rockies but is working so many hours she may miss out on this too( it actuallu snowed ther this past week with snow that covered the ground and about 17 degrees!!). I am also sending some leaves to my sponsored children overseas, including them in my Fall letters. It is hard to describe this beauty so i think if they see it themselves it will be more fun for them. Anyway it is a good excuse for enjoying a Fall family tradition. (After spending a few hours on this project today i did decide however using contact paper may make more sense as more durable and it would show more of the true leave colors and last alot longer...oh well for hindsight.)

Anyway we enjoyed a beautiful day in the woods even though drizzling a bit of rain, the canopy of the forest kept us relatively dry and the soft path helped our tired feet. It was a bit of heaven i believe! Just the peace and quiet was such a treat! You know I do my best praying out of doors when walking as i am finally quiet( those of you who know me can appreciate this...hehe). And with Dave a bit ahead or behind me,well there is always that lovely quiet in between us to fill with prayer. I think about my deceased dad and brother Dale as well, when in the woods. Dale and my dad knew alot about nature study and really LOVED a good walk in the woods. Dad could name so many trees and flowers and Dale would just breathe in every bit of beauty, peace and quiet the woods would offer. Thanks Dad and Dale for making me love a nice walk in the woods and all it has to offer. This too is a family tradition i guess.

"By the Shores of Giche Gumee"...

Excuse me as I borrow the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, from this famous poem-"The Song of Hiawatha", for the title of this story. Here is a bit of trivia for you...Jane Johnson of Ojibwa and Irish descent , was the wife of Henry Schoolcraft who was a geographer, geologist and ethnologist . The Ojibwa indians were one of the tribes that lived in the Lake Superior area. Jane shared Ojibwa legends with her husband ,whose research and writings were in turn used by HWL in the writing of his poem "Hiawatha". Jane was the first Native American literary writer and poet, so very much an author of note in her own right.

We have heard about it in tales of Indians and canoes.. but today i enjoyed Lake Superior by kayak. I had the fun of kayaking along the shores of Pictured Rocks National Lake shore. Dave and I discovered this area 35 years ago on our honeymoon around the Great Lakes and loved it then! But,I had never been this close to the beautiful rocky outcrops and nature painted cliffs. They were spectacular!! Here it is Sept 27 and the weather is still nice enough to kayak on Lake Superior! You just have to have a south breeze and that keeps the waves away from the beach where we put the kayaks in the Lake. The shoreline is a combination of rocky cliffs and sand beaches but mostly rock cliffs in this area.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore was a real treasure to behold! The lake was a beautiful emerald green color and the water was so cold and so clean that you could see some of the sandstone rocks on the bottom of the lake , even though the water is quite deep in this area near the cliffs. The "painted" rocks are colorful with orange ,yellow, brown, grey,black, white and sometimes even green stains from the gently dripping ground waters, rich with minerals like iron and copper, that have dripped over them through the many, many years. Some of the cliffs have a steady dripping over them like a gentle wee waterfall ,while others are dry but still colorful. Some of the rock formations can look like castle tops. One section of the cliffs is called "Battleship Row", as it has three large outcrops in a row looking like a dock of famous battleships from war. White Seagulls and black Cormerans can be seen perched on the sharp ridges of the rock and flying to and fro.The rocky cliffs that tower above the water of the Lake are from "50 to 200 feet above the water and are made up of 500 million year old sandstone! The National Park area extends to 73,000 acres and became a National Lakeshore in 1966, according to a park brochure.

There was one section of the cliffs that looked like a wall of stripes, as if some magnificent piece of fabric or Indian blanket was thrown over the cliffs. There was another section ,when seen very close up, that looked like a three dimensional carving of a house perhaps on the cliffs of Scotland, or so i thought. I also saw a distinct face with two holes for eyes , a protruding nose and carved mouth, perhaps just nature's wear and tear, but he was certainly smiling at me! There are rock arches , wave like formations like ripples in the rock walls ,and even caves, on this rocky coastline. The waves sneak in and under the bottom of the cliffs ,and then often come crashing out in small spurts that sound like muffled thunder- it showcases the power of these huge bodies of water that make up the Great Lakes, all in ONE sound! The surface water sparkled in the sun and when I stopped paddling my kayak for a moment, I could just sit, close my eyes, and let the gentle wind and waves drift me on, I could picture being a Native American paddling by these same shores so many, many years ago. It was as if I was stilled in time with the awe and beauty of these cliffs. It was so very peaceful as I paused to really breathe in this vast feast for the eyes.

We kayaked about 90 minutes, but as the wind was starting up a bit, we had to head back.
On the way back in the distance, I could see a sightseeing boat coming from Munising harbor. The trees are just beginning to show their Fall colors ,and this is a spectacular view from the water ,especially in Fall. However the color and formation in the cliffs is ever present, and can be seen by boat from about May till Oct. It is always an amazing sight.

I guess i was one of the lucky ones today....enjoying another great natural beauty of God's creation and nature's artwork- a beautiful symphony of natural composition. I thought of
my son in law Andy ,who paints , and how he would have marveled at the natural color and beauty of these cliffs. Hopefully someday i can take him to see this by water , to get some of this same magnificent experience for himself. What a glorious Fall experience!!

Great Lakes Update Sept 09

There is an interesting website for any of you who want to find out information about the current issues related to the Great Lakes. It is GLIN or the Great Lakes Information Network. I got the following updates recently while scrolling through their latest news blips....

** Bay Shipbuilding Co located in Green Bay filed a notice with the State of Wisconsin that it anticipates laying off as many as 405 people this Fall due to the economy...The port of Greenbay
had an economic impact of $75 million on the area last year but is anticipating a dramatic fall off this year.( This is sad news for Door County to be sure.)

** Microbes of "eco friendly bacteria" that kills invasive mussels is currently being tested in Canada to continue to search for solutions to the intense problem of zebra and other mussels being brought in by large Great Lakes vessels as they move from one lake to another. (These mussels greatly interfere with water and other intake valves in the Great Lakes. You can see piles and piles of white zebra mussel shells on the coastlines of islands in Lake Michigan. There is a also a severe decrease in fish species due to the mussels eating the plant matter that the small fish usually eat ,thus depleting both the small and large fish populations in Lake Michigan, so this is greatly affecting commercial and sport fishermen.)

** there are 228 World War II planes on the bottom of Lake Michigan( We all know there are lots of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes but i didn't think about war planes that have gone down).

A "Krazy Kamping" Adventure on Rock Island

It was a beautiful summer weekend and the whole family was on Washington Island for the week.Dave usually took his week of summer vacation the week the girls and i worked VBS( vacation bible school) at church. We would do VBS mornings and spend the afternoons in family fun. This week the girls brought up Katie's best friend Sharon to help with VBS too and the three of them decided they would like to try camping on Rock Island Saturday eve.

On Saturday we took a lovely boat ride along the coast of Lake Michigan down the Door County coast and stopped for an early supper of hamburgers in one of the little towns along the way. Then we boated over to Rock Island to drop off the girls for their camping adventure. We had loaded up the boat with a tent and sleeping bags and a little cooler of drinks and snacks for the girls to use camping. They would not have to cook any meals as it was just for over night and we had already eaten supper and would pick them up in the morning so could catch a late breakfast with us when we got back.The girls had never camped alone so they though this was great fun. I think they were in their mid or early teens if i recall correctly?I was sure they would have a fun time.

We arrived at the dock at Rock Island and walked the girls with their camping stuff to a camping site and helped them put up the tent(as it was our tent from before we had kids and they had never set it up before). I think Dave set up a camp fire they could light after dark as well.
Then we left them to their fun.

The next morning we went to pick the girls up. It had rained overnight so i hope they hadn't gotten too wet as they just had one change of clothes along with them.We were surprised that they met us at the boat dock and we didn't even have to help take down the tent or carry anything back to the boat. But as we got closert to the cdock we noticed their sober expersssions.Maybe it hadn't been the fun they thought they were going to have?

The girls then began to tell the tale of what had unfolded that night on Rock Island. First of all they had a camp fire and Sharon managed to get too close and got a cinder in her eye-(which she was covering up as we approached the dock. Then they told of the torrential rain that had fallen and how the tent leaked and Liz had slept in a puddle all night.The mosquitos were also terrible , getting about 20 plus in the tent everytime they unzipped the door. They also said that a bird sat on top their tent and squacked all night long !! In the morning the Mayflies were out of control and covered the entire top of the tent after the rain storm ( harmless but creepy for them i guess). Katie was the only one that did not have a sad story to tell., although she looked like she was worn out from the stress they expereinced all night. None of them had slept well that is for sure.

I looked at Sharon and knew i should take her into the clinic on the island to check out that eye before we headed home the next day,as I wanted to return her to her parents in the best shape we could. Then I looked at Liz and knew she would also have to go to the clinic to check out her sun issue. Liz with her fair skin and freckles gets sunburn very easily and she knew to cover up while on the boat. But i thought she would choose a hat and sunscreen...instead she chose to wear long pants- jeans and put a towel over her arms..so the only thing that was showing were her hands and feet. It was also a very bumpy ride so perhaps she did not drink enough fluids while boating. Well the combination of the two surely made her dehydrated and then the sun took its toll. The next day Liz got Cortisone pills as she DID have sun poisoning!

So much for camping FUN??!! In just a matter of 17 hrs,these girls had experienced a little bit of everything bad that could happen!! Needless to say they were not keen on the camping concept for awhile after that.

I am happy to report however that Liz and her husband Andy put camping equipment on their wedding registry a few years ago( as did Dave and I 36 yrs ago) and recently experienced their first family camping outing with their little Bulldog Polly, off the coast ot Oregon, where they now live. They had a great time and look forward to doing it again soon. So camping was not ruined for her at least. I don't know if Sharon camps and i am not sure if Katie has camped since, but perhaps and hopefully it is just that the opportunity did not present itself.

OH that human nature can sure mess up opportunities given to us by mother nature..he he.
This was a Krazy Kamping adventure to be sure!!

BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY

Several years ago , Liz was working as a waitress on Washington Island for her summer job the summer after she graduated from high school. We would see her on weekends when we came up to Wisconsin to recreate for the weekend. It was a hard job and she worked really hard all summer and came hone dead tired at the end of each day. This incident happened during one of the week nights while she was staying in our house after working a long hard day of waitressing.

One of best friends on the island was our church pastor- Dale. He was a gentle, low key, happy guy who was easy to talk to and be around. We spent lot of time with Dale , his wife Pam and their children., over many years. They moved to the island to work at our church the year we bought our summer house on the island..so i guess our newness brought us closer together too. It was a blessing to have them in our lives. I knew if Liz had any problems she could always call Dale or Pam for help during the week ,when we were not around as they just lived down Main Road a few blocks.

Well one night Liz came home from the restaurant where she worked, sat down to relax but soon found that she was not alone........ a small black bat was flying around in the house!! YIKES!! Washington Island has a large Bat population and sometimes we would even get them down our wood stove pipe and they would fly out when you opened the door to light the fire in the wood stove but usually you might just find one dead in the ashes (as they could not get out once they made their way in). But we never had one in the house before. Yikes....what to do???? Liz was tired, upset and alone and all she could think of was to call Pastor Dale.

Of course the nice guy that he is, and the father of two daughters of similar ages, he came right over to rescue our Liz. Dale and his daughter Susie came along to help. They entered the house holding two tennis racquets??!! Yup- that was his plan for the ousting of one small black bat... the tennis racquet was his weapon of choice. So, according to Liz who told us this tale later, they proceeded to chase that poor little bat all over the house with the tennis racquet until ...BONG..... yep one dead bat. Well i am sure Liz was forever grateful but they must have all had a bit of a laugh after that Bat attack! Oh i wish i could have been there to see Pastor Dale, an avid tennis player in his day i may add, swinging that racquet at that poor little bat. It was surely beyond the call of a duty for a local pastor to make house calls to kill bats!!

A BONUS FALL WEEKEND

What a bonus two weekends in a row of perfect weather in Wisconsin on Washington Island- warm in the sun, cool in the shade and no rain. Dave said it was an unusual stall of high pressure causing this warm, no wind, no rain weather. It was glorious on the island now for the first two weekends in September- no cooling off yet this Fall. I thought my swimming was over but i had two great days of swimming- Friday late afternoon I swam in Washington Harbor- no boats and no wind so no waves at all-WOW!The water was now 70 degrees- having warmed up 6 degrees in 6 days of warm weather- surely the warmest of the season! I swam from Schoolhouse Beach to the end of the harbor and half way across the bay, and then Dave and Mike picked me up with the boat to go fishing. We only caught a few little guys, as Salmon season is really over now ,so t we threw them back in for the Seagulls to eat.

Then Saturday we spent the whole afternoon on the boat, boating to the Michigan coast near Fairport .As we approached the shoreline we saw a Bald Eagle fly off shore and out into the Lake- WOW!! I had a lovely swim from the boat along the shoreline, as Dave and Mike had anchored the boat off shore and took the rubber raft onto the shore to hunt the shoreline by foot looking for treasure. It was a beautiful spot with high limestone cliffs and one area of cliffs that had actually fallen to the beach making a huge pile of stone - looking like a large jig saw puzzle or a giant game of Jenga- hehe. We took lots of photos. After swimming for about 30 minutes I joined them on shore. We only saw one boat the entire afternoon probably heading on its way from Escanaba to farther up the coast.We had the Lake to ourselves- where was everybody on this perfect day on Lake Michigan??

Then Sunday we took the kayaks to Jackson Harbor and kayaked over to Rock Island State Park where we hiked to the beach and cliffs on the east side after beaching the kayaks.
We saw the lovely Indian cliff sculptures. There are three :one of an Indian warrior, one of an Indian paddling a canoe and one of an angel face. The are carved onto some cliffs that are on shore so you hike to them. You do have to really look closely to find them but they really are something. The beach on Rock island is beautiful, as you can see no civilization at all except a bit of the campground in the woods behind it. You can take a passenger ferry from Washington Island or boat across. There is a nice hike to the lighthouse, nice picnic area, historic boathouse and nature center and nice walk-in camping sites.Many visitors do annual camping trips once they discover the beauty of Rock Island. You just have to choose your weekend as Black flies , Mayflies and Mosquitoes can be a problem and cool rainy weather can occur. There are no services at all ,except for campfire wood to purchase and a water well ,and no inside areas open 24 hrs on Rock Island, so you have to carry in any food and supplies and carry out any garbage. This is a real rustic camping experience. There is a shoal between Washington and Rock Island, and in years when the water level has been low in Lake Michigan, hikers and campers have actually walked across the shoal to reach Rock Island in waist high water to get across to camp, picnic, or get back for supplies. But the ferry is always available from Memorial Day to Columbus Day (late May to mid- Oct). Many people just ride the ferry over for the day of hiking and picnicking.

After kayaking back we drove back to the house and loaded the car up to go home. It is the time of year I had to empty out the food from the cupboards and refrigerator to prepare to take it to Michigan at the end of Sept, when we change shores to Lake Superior for the colorful Fall and wonderful Winter months. It was three full days of sun and lake Michigan.... a glorious Fall bonus weekend. Perhaps this was our belated summer as it was truly the best week of the summer weather wise!! We hated to head for home.......but back to the rest of our life for now.

A SWIM IN THE BLUE.....

Well i had my last swim in Lake Michigan and Lake Superior for this year.
It was cold and clean and relaxing!! It is so very wonderful to swim in the cold, clean water of the Great Lakes off the tip of Wisconsin and Michigan.I swam in Washington Harbor on Washington Island just before we went Salmon fishing. This is the bay i usually swim in ,as it has a quick drop off so deep enough for swimming, unlike alot of the shallow bays around Lake Michigan. You have to walk out in water shoes though ,as the beach is all smooth round stones no sand here, even into the water. I usually just keep my flip flops with me putting my hands in them on my kickboard so i can have them to get out of the water when done swimming.Looks a little funny but works for me.

Once i swam passed a beautiful Loon in Lake Michigan! I had no idea they were that so huge!! The Loon dove underwater and came back up after quite a few minutes on the other side of the bay. I had no idea they could swim underwater! I must admit i was a little afraid that it was going to come up right under me!! I didn't know if it had the temperment of a Swan (that can be quite nasty when disturbed by human activity as i have had Swans chase me while biking and kayaking!!What an interesting and beautiful bird the Loon is ,with their pretty black and white polka dot bodies, like a painting by God to behold!!

I missed going up north all of August this year , when the swimming is best, as this year i was busy with family visits and volunteer work. But next year ,i will plan my calendar better to clear the August weekends for swimming if at all possible. A bit selfish yes, but it is truly my greatest love of the Great Lakes!!After swimming in Lake Michigan ,we caught our last Salmon of the season , a 8.5 pounder, kinda small ,but a keeper just the same. Only 2 boats were out there fishing ,as Salmon season is all but over now. But the sunset and moolight was breath taking and worth the trip even if we had caught no Salmon!! We followed the full moon's light all the way in to the dock after fishing. It was as if it guided us all that way, shining from Rock Island to Jackson Harbor with its beautiful sparkle on the dark water.

My swim in Lake Superior was a REAL treat as i only get one or two a year ,if we happen to visit the right weekend and the south breezes are blowing to keep the water calm on the beach we go to. I always take my kickboard and fins as i swim alone- no other takers for the cold water plunge. It felt cold at first but i warmed up pretty fast. I just had to stay away from the river delta as it got VERY VERY cold near that area. I swam a bit farther out in deeper water that was actually warmer as farther away from the mouth of the river. I swam down the beach to the left and around the rock cliffs to see "Miners Castle" from the water for the first time. This is a rock formation that is part of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore-- so beautiful and tall from my waterview. The sun was hitting it just right to get my best view of it. Dave and Mike took the kayaks out the same way i swam and then when i got back i kayaked a bit the other direction down the beach. As i swam however,boaters passed and waved and a few peole were even watching me in the telescope on the park's viewing platform above ,that stood out above the water's edge with a wooden boardwalk and platform.I guess most people thought the water to be too cold so were suprised to see anyone swimming. But it was just swimmable by my standards. The water temperature in Lake Michigan on our "fish finder" was 64 degrees well below the seasonal norm for this time of year- usually it can be as high as in the 70's in late August!!Lake Michigan was a bit warmer than Lake Superior but i expected that.

Swimming in the Great Lakes is so very peaceful. I just lean on my kickboard with my arms outstreched and kick away with my feet enjoying the view and quiet. Sometimes i turn over and rest the kickboard on my stomach while i kick away for a little variety. I think i swam for a full 40 minutes in Lake Superior, a record for me, that is alot in the cold water of Lake Superior ,but it felt great. Anyway i had my refreshing Great Lakes "Dips"for another year. Now i will just have to wait till next August to swim again-- a short but glorious season for swimming to be sure!

Salmon Fishing on Lake Michigan

Ahhhh it is that time of year again.....for Salmon fishing on Lake Michigan. The season is short, only July 1- Aug 30,but,there is nothing like the thrill of pulling in a 15# salmon on the end of your line. Dave and I have not really been into fishing all that much....at least the first 33 years of our marriage. We love boating but seldom have taken the time to actually fish on Lake Michigan. Now we are "hooked"....he he, as almost every time we go out we catch three huge fish, clean them, smoke them, eat them and give them away to friends. It has added a new dimension to our boating on beautiful Lake Michigan!!

The best thing about Salmon fishing, although a very short season near Washington Island, Wisconsin, is that the fishing is best at sunrise or sunset. Now i am not a fan of rising at 5am and sitting in the dew to catch a fish but...sunset....well is a joy to behold on Lake Michigan!! It is the time of calm waters, soft warm breezes, quiet and beautiful color, as the sun begins to drop below the clouds. Occasionally we will see a huge Great Lakes tanker ship pass us just a short distance away on its way to Michigan or perhaps coming back. We see beautiful sunsets and have taken many many photos of this glorious experience. Sometimes we don't even care if
we catch any fish , as it is just a blessing to be out on the water at that time of day. The lake sparkles in the bits of days end sunlight and you are transported to a calmer, more serene time, only passing a handful of boats while fishing. While we are waiting for the fish to bite we may enjoy a light beer , some summer sausage or some chips and just listen to the satellite radio and chat a bit. Ohhhhhhhhhhhh to pause and enjoy some of God's gifts he has offered to us if we just slow down long enough to enjoy them!!

We often fish with our friend, Mike, who also has a house on the island and also lives near us in Illinois. He is a great buddy for Dave(and me) and helps work on the boat and fishing equipment. He is low key, kind and easy going, so a joy to be around. We are lucky to have such a great friend.(He also waters my flowers around the yard on the island on weekends we don't come up...it is how my flowers survive despite me!!) Mike and Dave watched a fishing video Dave sent for after watching a fishing show on TV about fishing for Salmon on Lake Michigan . He then purchased the equipment we needed and he and Mike installed "down riggers", "fish finders", "trolling" equipment, and rod holders on our boat. It was not a huge investment as Dave used "eBay" to get a lot of the equipment second hand. But it was great for Dave to have the company of Mike to help install all of it. Mike also offered to share some of the costs even though it was all installed on our boat. I guess he knew he would be our main fishing buddy! I call us the
"three musketeers"(of fishing that is....)!!

When fishing for Salmon we use "down riggers" which are in essence a small apparatus that holds the fishing pole line to a line with a weight on it ,so you can lower the line down into the water at different depths to fish, usually anywhere from 50-120 feet). Then you watch the lines to see if the pole tip snaps, which means a fish is biting and the line releases from the down rigger so you can reel it in by hand. Reeling in is quite a thrill and sometimes a 15 minute test of strength. Dave had to buy me a fishing belt with a "pole holder" on it, as it helped me handle the reel in better. I have had a few hip bruises in the past before wearing the belt as I rested the pole on my hip to manage the reel in. We did learn to sometimes when possible, to turn off the motor rather than leave in on low to help release the line a bit to make it easier to pull it in but this can also tangle up the rest of the lines and you can miss catching other fish. You can ask my daughters how difficult it is to reel in a big fish..it is surprising how much strength it can take! Sometimes the lines tangle a bit in the waves or when turning the boat while trolling a low speeds but usually this works fine and you can even "stack" the down rigger with two lines each on a calm day to give you more lines out to fish. Dave and Mike know how to attach the lours called "flashers"to the lines and the lines to the down riggers and then lower them in to specific depths , i just drive the boat a low speeds while they set up the lines( i am fine with this definition of duties as driving is the easiest job for sure!!).Sometimes we do not use down riggers and just run lines on the top of the water with different lours called "Yellow Birds" or "Dipsey Divers"that float or bob on the top of the water but the down riggers work best for us i think.

We have been fishing for about three summers now but this summer i missed most of the season, as busy with family events and volunteers work. Dave however got to the island to fish a few more times than me ,once with his brother John from Milwaukee, with some co-workers from Illinois and Mike of course. Next summer I AM going to make it an effort to get up to the island to fish more as i really missed that relaxing time on the Lake. I wish we would have logged all the fish we have caught each summer , that would have been fun. I think our biggest fish was caught was this year at 18#. They can get much bigger than that, but boy oh boy, that size is huge to me and fills up the length our cooler on the boat, making for annice number of salmon fillets when cleaned.

The funniest experience we ever had Salmon fishing or series of mishaps i should say, was one day when we were coming in to park the boat at the town pier over night at Jackson Harbor. Sometimes we park it at the pier if we will be doing multiple days of fishing to save us launching it each day. It is relatively inexpensive to do so, although not that big a deal to take it out and drive the 5 min back to the house either. We were pulling up to the pier and Dave asked me to jump out and catch the pier to tie up. I have done this hundreds of times but usually at the launch pier with is much lower. Well i took a leap up but realized it was much higher from the boat to the pier and difficult to get around the down rigger and fell back towards the water grabbing onto a fishing pole in the pole holder on that side of the boat. It broke off the pole and in the water i went. Now this was very very lucky as the pier is cement and i could have easily hit it with my arm or head when falling in...as this all happened in seconds. Luckily there were not too many people around to watch my "circus act"...he he ...and i was fine, just laughing with embarrassment. Unfortunately however, I had broken off the pole tip with an expensive fishing lour. The water was too murky from the boats motor stirring it up as we parked but later that day we came back and Dave decided he would try to dive for the lour as the water by the pier was not very deep and we could actually see it sitting on the bottom of the lake right next to the boat. However when Dave dove for it, he scratched his arm on the submerged part of the pier on the way up after retrieving the lour and the pier had a host of "Zebra Muscles" with razor sharp shells attached to it. So Dave ended up with a very nasty, bleeding, 8 inch cut on his arm. To this day he has a scar to show off this escapade. I managed to put some butterfly-like bandages on it but he probably should have had some stitches in hind site. Oh well one of those goofy things that can happen so fast when boating.

Dave and I have a strong respect for the power of Lake Michigan and always check the weather radio before deciding to go out to fish. Storms can come up quickly and dangerous height waves can make boating even a short distance difficult. Fishing isn't all that good in the waves anyway as it is difficult to watch your lines and pull in a fish.We have had a few experiences where a dark purple storm sky was on the far horizon across the Lake, but managed to reach us in about 15 minutes, where we just made it back in to the closest pier in the nick of time!!You have to respect the Lake to have safe boating experience on Lake Michigan and constant monitor any questionable weather on the boat weather radio. Most of our fishing is only 10-15 min off shore from the launch so we are pretty protected, but we still always listen to the lake forecast before deciding to fish or not and in questionable weather conditions arise while boating.

The most glorious experience we ever had fishing was when we were fishing off Rock Island, one of our favorite spots to fish. We had caught a few large Salmon when we pulled up a much smaller one and decided to throw it back into the Lake. So Dave threw it out behind the boat up into the air a bit and lo and behold an EAGLE flew off the shore of Rock island and managed to swoop down just in tome to catch it and fly back to shore with it. We could hardly believe our eyes as it all happened so fast and none of us had seen the Eagle on the shoreline. I knew that one or two Eagles are spotted on Rock Island now and then but had never seen one up close or in action like that. The amazing beauty of nature.....what a blessing to catch a glimpse of this.

Salmon fishing on Lake Michigan is one of the most relaxing and enjoyable ways we spend time on the Lake now and it has added greatly to our enjoyment of the summer on Washington Island.

A KAYAK JOURNEY TO REMEMBER

I had always wanted to kayak from Washington Island to Rock island and sleep on the beach on Rock Island.....so after talking Liz into going with me ,i guess this was the weekend it would happen. It did not go just as i had imagined it but....it was certainly a little adventure neither of us will ever forget.

It was summer, and Liz and I were up on the W. Island again to help with our church's week of VBS(Vacation Bible School). This was nothing new as we had been doing it for years now..it had become the week we put aside for family vacation on the island. Sometimes Katie and /or Liz would come to help with VBS as well( if not working or at camp themselves) and Dave would work around the house on odd projects waiting us for us to finish our mornings at church then off we would go on the boat or other family adventures. I had become a VBS co-coordinator and teacher in the program over the years and the girls helped out wherever they needed help- acting in the skit, assisting with the songs, teaching and Liz even babysat the pastor's youngest
child one year as his wife ran the program . It was fun and we all looked forward to it.

So anyway we had gotten to the island the weekend before VBS as usual to help set up the classrooms and meet with the staff for last minute details. But that Sunday before VBS started( the M-F schedule)I asked Liz if she wanted to kayak with me to Rock island for an overnight camp out on the beach.(Dave and Katie were not along at this time but would come up later in the week.) She probably thought it sounded like a fun adventure so she agreed.We packed up some simple things like: 2 sleeping bags, 2 flashlights,swimsuits under our clothes, 2 sweatshirts and a small cooler with juice boxes and granola bars and we were ready to go . We loaded the kayaks , paddles and life vests in the car and away we went. Jackson harbor was only 10 min from our house on the island on the far north end just across form rock island in the distance.

The paddle from Jackson Harbor to Rock Island was not a very long one, as you could see Rock Island from the coast but... depending on the winds it could be a little work out.Every year they rescue some goofy kayakers who think they can defy the lake and paddle straight across on a windy day vs paddling along the shoreline of WI and then across by way of the shallows (as i always do). If a strong wind comes up, there is no land to stop you till you get to Michigan if blown out into the lake( and yes the winds can test anyone's strength!).I had paddled this many times with Dave to take the hike on the island to the lighthouse and then kayak back the same day but this would be my first time sleeping on the beach and then returning in the morning( to teach at VBS).The evening was beautiful and as we put the kayaks in the water i knew we were in for a mom- daughter adventure....yeah for that!! I always enjoy spending time with my girls one on one- it was such a different experience than when we were all together as a family.

The paddle across was pretty relaxing as the winds had died down lot from the much windier afternoon. We came to a place on the coast of Rock island that we had to portage over a stony point to get past to the sandy beach beyond where i had planned for us to sleep. So as we portaged the boats a few feet across the stones i managed to rock my kayak and get a bit of water into it- no big deal but my shorts were now wet and i had planned on sleeping in them- oh well . Somehow as i fell to the side in the portage i knocked Liz's back pack onto the stones. No big deal either except apparently she had tied her favorite finger ring onto the side of the pack and it had now disappeared into the stones. Liz was MAD at me now !! As it was getting dark and we needed to be making our way to the beach for the night ,we could not look any longer for her ring. (A small thing to some but not a teenager with a favorite piece of jewelry.) Oh well chalk one up to... "oops!" So we got back into our kayaks and paddled on ..me with soggy shorts and Liz with a frown on her face.We had lost a bit of the fun with that portage!

The beach was just a short paddle away now and as we reached the sandy section of the shoreline we pulled our kayaks up onto the beach . After we secured the kayaks on shore for the night we rolled out our sleeping bags and crawled in them( after i removed my wet shorts to a rock nearby as i wanted to keep my sleeping bag dry for the night),and it was already dark. After a few minutes we remembered to look up. OH MY GOSH!!! Our bad attitudes melted away with the unbelievable STAR SHOW we were being given in the night sky above us!! We were on a section of secluded beach with no man made lights in sight and so with this complete darkness the sky was illuminated with layers and layers and layers of stars! It was awesome and beautiful!! Liz and i sat back in our sleeping bags just amazed at the beauty that had unfolded in the sky above us in a few short hours of twilight.Funny how the beauty of God can just draw you in and wash away the world and worries around you. It was more beautiful than i could have ever imagined.What a gift and the silver lining to our camp out!

We tried to be quiet on the beach as there was an actual campground and campers on the island above us on the cliff and i knew full well the park office probably did not allow camping on the beach- but hey...we were without a tent so i considered it "sleeping" vs "camping" on the beach. We would only leave our footprints (and kayak marks) on that stretch of beach.After we settled in a bit we did look around to notice the campfires and lanterns of a few others on the cliff campsites behind us in the campground, but none very close to us that was for sure. We had managed to pick a nice quiet section of beach for our sleeping place. We had a little snack of a juice box and granola bar and fooled around a bit with our falshlights before nodding off that night. Liz played a back and forth flashlight game with another camper who spoted her light and they sent copied light flashes back and forth a bit for fun( my guesswas it was probably a child looking for some fun).I was glad we had come - I knew this would be a special memory for us both.It was a beautiful,peaceful night and the freshness of the air was amazing, we would have no trouble sleeping here!

Well don't speak too soon!! I was suddenly woke up the next morning very early with dark clouds,lightning and sounds of thunder across the bay over Washington Island!! Oh NO...we better get going fast... as that storm may be moving our way! And with storms come wind!! So i quickly woke up Liz( it was only about 5am) and when she saw the dark storm clouds and lightnening over W.I. well i saw a bit of fear come over her face. We packed up quickly and slid the kayaks back into the water and paddled toward the stony point we had crossed the night before.A quick portage and then back into the kayaks. Now going out into the bay the wind was certainly picking up and it was ten times the job of paddling from the night before. It was the kind of wind that if you stop paddling to rest your hands a bit, well your kayak blew back a bit too. So there was no relaxing with this kind of non-stop paddling all while viewing the dark clouds and lightening ahead over W.I. Liz started to cry a bit as feeling the stress now and she was afraid she may not be strong enough to paddle through it, so i tried to reassure her that she was doing fine but also reversed the order of the kayaks getting mine to the outside of the bay and behind her ,as if corralling a baby horse. I was hoping it would make her feel safer but she would still have to paddle like the dickens! I knew she was strong enough but the fear of the moment had paralyzed her a bit as the dark clouds and lightning were very pronounced now.We both paddled hard and reach the inlet to the bay at W.I., thank goodness. Now I knew we would be OK as no rain or lightening was by us yet.

The thing about WI is that you can see storm clouds on the other side of the island but feel no rain although it may indeed be raining somewhere on the island. It is kind of like the effect weather in the mountains. I have seen many storms simply pass over part of the island and then go off into Lake Michigan without feeling a drop. I have been golfing where it was raining on one hole but not another, or pedaling on my bike as fast as i could to out chase a storm cloud that suddenly appeared but never got wet after all!! So i knew we had a good chance to get back to shore before the rain hit and that would greatly reduce Liz's anxiety. In the middle of all this craziness we did get to experience the most glorious FULL RAINBOW over the entire harbor as we paddled into the bay at W.I. It was tremendous!!I think it calmed me a bit by its beauty and perhaps Liz too! It was a spectacular sight i will never forget as long as i live!

We paddled hard and made it to shore just as the rain started. We pulled the kayaks up and i ran to get the car. As i saw the car i reached down but then discovered than in my haste to leave Rock island i had also left my wet shorts with car keys in the pocket on the rock on the beach!! What?? Now what?? I wanted to get Liz out of the rain and we both had to get back in time for VBS later that morning?! Now i was mad at myself for not thinking through all this- or at least listening to the marine forecast the day before. Oh well- should haves, would haves, or could haves were not going to help me now! But i WAS very thankful that at least we were back and safe!! Thank you Jesus!!

AHAAAAAAAAAAA... a light bulb moment!! There was a phone booth near the harbor(as it is by the town dock where visiting boats often dock overnight) and since our pastor was also our best friend on the island i felt i could call him for help. This phone booth( in the island way) did not require coins for local calls-i do not know how they managed that but i was again thankful!So i called Pastor Dale and he offered to not only come to pick us up but gave me his car for the morning if i just dropped him off at his house(as he was going to be busy with VBS anyway and they lived just next door to church where VBS was held).So we left the kayaks and i just grabbed our backpacks and life vests and away we went. After dropping pastor of at his house we went home and Liz jumped into a hot shower as she was wet,cold and tired. After we changed clothes i offered to take her out for breakfast before VBS as a bit of an apology to this crazy ordeal i unknowingly put her through.Then we were off to VBS.

I had planned to take the passenger ferry back over to Rock Island to retrieve my keys later that afternoon when VBS was over for the day but after talking with pastor he said i could just call the park office on Rock Island and they could look for my keys and send them back by ferry. I thought that a bit presumptuous on my part and when i called later they said they had not found my keys and i would have to come look for them. So after VBS i did take the ferry but I only had to walk up to the park office near the dock to inquire about my keys and YES! they had them found them for me afer all! Wasn't that nice!! You gotta love small town friendliness!. I wasn't even sure how to explain where on the beach we had been( and of course there was no mention of sleeping on the beach that night before just a simple i had left my keys in my shorts on the beach!) I then took the ferry back to WI and loaded up the kayaks to take them home. I don't remember how i got the pastor's car back to him , perhaps they just gave me a ride to the ferry dock after VBS.

Oh well here in ends this crazy tale of kayaks,wind and water, stars and rainbows, fear and delight and a mom-daughter adventure that we will never forget!! I don't think Liz ever liked kayaking after that but i am happy to say she went on some great canoe camping adventures with her high school and later even co -led a canoe camp at a camp she worked at in Alaska many many years later ,so..... maybe from all that crazy kayak ordeal there lingered a bit of awe and adventure and some good memories after all!!

A WINTER BOAT RIDE ON LAKE MICHIGAN ?

This is a tale of taking my friend Melinda, to Washington Island from Illinois for the weekend. What is unusual about this story as it occurred in the dead of winter when the car ferry only ran once a day and only with a reservation you must place in advance of the date of travel.. I was excited to show her how beautiful Lake Michigan was in winter- crossing the frozen lake in a boat equipped to break the ice as we went and then the serene quiet of the island in winter when few weekend travelers can be seen, rather just hearty wintering island residents .It is a tale of mishap and friendship to be sure!

Well we were on our way and charged up for the journey. I had made this winter trip many times before with my girls but it was Melinda's first time in winter. Now when you actually say it out loud..."i am going across lake Michigan in a boat in winter" ...well it sounds crazy and dangerous! And yet this car ferry which has been running for generations knows exactly how to navigate the icy waters with its ice breaker design , small capacity, experienced captains and yet heavy weight to plow through the ice. Sometimes the ice is not fully frozen all the way, as the daily boat crossings maintain an open water channel from cutting its daily path to the island by the once a day trips in January, February, March and April. Actually the worst times are not the coldest days, as the ice just stays frozen and there is predictability of ice depths , but rather it is the days when things warm up a bit in winter, and winter ice sheets on the lake begin to break up and flow into the bays, stacking them up like dominos depending on the winds and steadiness of the temps. This creates a multi layer of ice that then freezes when the temps drop back down at night or in following days when the temps return to normal or below normal. It is then the ice breaker ferries have hard times cutting through the thick uneven ice.

We have been on the ferry multiple times when we had to wait for the large coast guard boat to come from Sturgeon Bay( an hour away) to cut us out of the ice so we could again begin to move along on our journey. Once we were on the ferry for 6 hours when the journey usually took one hour! But there is a small warming cabin on board and of course your car for shelter from the wind as well (but if you can brave the cold of it as they do not let you run your car motor for the heater to work as the fumes are a hazard for the rest of the passengers and crew and of course a bit dangerous if you are on the main deck in your car as accessible to the fumes as well). Anyway there have been many adventures by islanders on this "winter ferry", tales that tell of being rescued by snowmobiles when stuck in the ice or having to wait for hours for the coast guard boat. Most of the islanders come prepared, dressed warmly, with a cooler of food and a deck of cards to pass the time. Once we saw a Snowy Owl perched out on the ice that our ferry captain pointed out to us, as we watited patiently for the caost guard boat to come to cut the ice around us so we could be on our way for the rest of the journey to the island. But most of the time the winter ferry just runs like clockwork -just don't miss your once a day ferry!!

Yup you guessed it!
Well after a long ride up the coast of Wisconsin on our way to the ferry (5 hours) and with an overnight say at a hotel in Sturgeon Bay( as the ferry only ran at 10 am each day in winter- too far to get to from home that morning), and a bit of breakfast on the way the next morning-well we got to the ferry dock... just as the boat was pulling out!
WHAT?? OH NO ,WE MISSED OUR FERRY! WHAT?! RATS!!

I was feeling pretty stupid now as the hostess of this trip- i misjudged our breakfast and travel time to the ferry dock from Sturgeon Bay and we just missed our ferry!! Now what??????
Well i knew my friend had to be home on Sunday (as she was involved in local politics and was on a village board that met on Monday) soooooooooooo being that it was already Saturday and we had planned to just stay one night on the island well... i guess i had to come up with another plan.

Hmmmmmmmmm what to do?? Well there was a lovely coastal state park a short distance away that had cross country ski trails... so off we went. Luckily i had the skis in the car not on the island ,so we were all equipped to have a fun day in the snow any way. We enjoyed a lovely ski along the lake and then headed back to town and another hotel for the night. We had a nice girlfriend supper out and swim time in the hotel pool and then the next morning(Sunday)
home again, home again jiggity jog!!

No winter island this trip this time but still a beautiful Wisconsin winter weekend just the same. Heck- fun is fun!! We just laughed about it on our way home to Illinois!!Ahhhh human error can certainly trip us up... Melinda would just have to come again another time to ride that winter ferry on Lake Michigan to get the full island experience in winter..

Island Flowers Flowers Everywhere!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh it is that time of year when i must plant my flowers on Washington Island. I have two porch planters, 3 half barrels in the yard and of course the large septic garden. The last one sounds less than fun by its name, but actually it is a garden we have made around our three septic covers for our new septic system that was installed when we remodeled the house.It is really is pretty and a labor of love ,as we found small stones to surround it and built it up with some wood borders behind the stone so is now a little spot of color in the yard when the flowers bloom.It looks like it has always been there - which is a sign that we did good! In the side yard are beautiful wildflower Trillium's in white and pink. They are a delicate endangered wildflower that is prevalent in Wisconsin and Michigan. They are flowering around our Michigan property as well...beautiful so beautiful!

The remodel is a whole other story- the remodeling we did a few years ago I mean .It was the typical we started with... we need a: second wheelchair accessible bathroom , laundry room , siding , porch and new roof and we ended up with... the unexpected add-ons of :getting a new septic system due to the additional bathrooms ,replacing all the windows and doors (when they did the siding),building up a second story on the 2nd bathroom+laundry room+new dining room( enlarged the room a bit to do all three) to build on a master bath and closet area upstairs. So we ended up with practically a new house but it was for our retirement so a good investment!! The house is over 100 years old so needed some updates. The builder we used for the remodel found a math school book from 1933 in one of the walls we repalced- i call that treasure! Somebody must have not wanted to complete their homework...what do you think?!

Anyway back to my flowers... I made a vow to plant as few annuals as possible as it is such a waste of money and has to redone every year. So i was on my hunt for Perennials this year. I did cheat a bit however as i did buy 2 flats of petunias as they do so well in the damp island climate and splash so much color to into the yard-- you can even see them from Main Road in front of our house so that is fun. And most importantly, they take on a lot of neglect from me( much better than my former geraniums and marigolds) as we are only up for weekends and so they go without watering during the week. They spread out and create their own ground cover and i think that is why they thrive here.We do have an amazing friend Mike however, who helps me out with watering them on weeks we cannot come up due to a wedding or bad weather etc... I always say they grow despite me!!! I do NOT enjoy gardening... just enjoy the color those flowers produce. My dad was a real "green thumb" planter but i call myself "the pirate of planting"- the "black thumb" of the family.I always say "i do kids and animals NOT plants"- you won't find an indoor live plant at my house! I once was given a small potted plant from a neighborhood friend Todd, for my office when i was working, and I did not realize it was real until it died( as it had a cute little stuffed bird on a wire in it)!! Get the picture now!

Well i planted all the areas and now they look so pretty with yellow,orange, red, white, and light and dark purple. I have Mums, Daisy Mums, Petunias, Tickle seed(love that name) and Salvia for the most part ,plus the perennials i planted last year that came up in the septic garden like some bright yellow Tiger Lilies that will bloom later, i hope. So just my porch planters have annuals in them. I did accomplish making the barrels and 3/4 of the septic garden perennials! Yeah for that- less waste and spending next year!!! I will learn enough about perennials next year to hopefully eliminate the petunias as annuals eventually and go with flowering perennials to replace them. But i was a good girl and my job is done.I started at about 3pm and ended at 8pm- yup 5 hours by the time i prepared the soil , planted and mulched them all!! (I will be stiff tomorrow i thought to myself!)It just statred to rain as i put away my garden tools in the garage. Wasn't that polite of God to put off the rain for little ol'me!! Now i just hope they continue to grow despite me!!he he

My brother Gary gave me a tomato planter this year. It is made to hang up outside and you plant the tomato plants into the holes he cut on the sides and then water it from the top which is covered with a removable wood cover with a spout in it. The tomatoes actually grow downwards from the planter so as to avoid any "animal tasters". This should be interesting. I no doubt will forget to water them but will try my hardest to keep up with them. I am planting little yellow plum tomatoes - my favorite!! I used to eat these from my Grandma Florence's garden ,so they bring lots of good childhood memories back of tasty summer treats! Grandma and Teddy( my step grandpa) were "master gardeners" so we will see if mine hold up to theirs?!

Happy Spring to you all.....even if the temps are still in the 60's!!

P.S. I am planting no annuals at home, however, my beautiful perennial bushes of Peonies are blooming at present so i have a pink and white polka dot side yard at present!!They smell just like roses! They grow without any help from me!!Thank goodness...