Rock hunting

Naomi showed up Wednesday at noon minutes after I returned from my morning ride. Fancy crepes in Bay Harbor it is.

We walked on the pier. Clear turquoise water

who does this boat belong to?

multimillion dollar mansions surrounded the bay, some with 2 yacht garages

all northern towns have flower baskets. These were big

We took the car to Charlevoix where I had ridden to and back that morning. These are the Earl Young mushroom houses, a self taught architect. There is probably 30 of these spread through the city

She wanted to go to an inland lake, preferably Torch Lake which we had ridden by on a bike ride when she was 13. Torch Lake is beautiful, the 2nd biggest lake

For dinner, we went to Short's brewery in Bellaire. She doesn't like beer so she could choose 2 ciders. 3 beers for me.

Naomi in Torch Lake

waterfall on my path to Harbor Springs the next morning

The trail runs from Harbor Springs to Charlevoix along the Bay. Nicely paved

The next day we headed north after I dropped my bike off in Harbor Springs (only 12.5 miles ). We stopped for breakfast in Good Hart, population 10

I liked the sun filtering through the leaves

Inside was an art gallery and a tea house, Outside was a crepe truck. You could eat on the patio or on little tables near the road

cute porch

me and my blueberry, almond, goat cheese and maple syrup crepe. Note new sunglasses

drove further north through the tunnel of trees to Cross Village which has a long, fairly deserted beach

lots of rocks and clear, cool water

Up on the bluff, is a Polish restaurant, Leg's Inn, chock full of carvings and gardens

One advantage with the school so far from town that there was little competing light for the stars. Someone else took this photo. And I was up on a higher level without any lights from the school. Only my trusty solar stake. I'd get up in the middle of the night and just stare at the skies

Naomi playing with focal lengths. Crepe

And the crepe sign

my Petoskey stones

Legs Inn gets its name from the stove legs that form a frieze along the middle. It gets very busy despite being in the middle of no where

after lunch, a stop at an art gallery in Cross Village featuring northern Michigan artists. Yes I got something

Naomi came up for a bit more than a day. I had some relatively free time so it was a good break and we had perfect weather. I had assumed her route had taken her along the Bay, which is quite spectacular. Nope no water but as we headed down the long hill from hell towards the Bay, suddenly it was in view. She wanted to take a picture immediately though I assured her we would be much closer later. She isn't a map reader and relies very heavily on her phone for directions. Some problems with that: no service between tiny towns up North and her battery was dying. I since got her a car charger.

I had gone downtown with my new friend the night before to try out different beers while overlooking the Bay. Good times.  She wanted to go to Torch Lake which the phone said it was 49 miles away. Well plenty to see in between. First stop, fancy recently built enclave of mansions complete with fancy stores though the pancake house was reasonable. My bike tour doesn't include lunches and wasn't going to  include dinner that night as we were in a 'restaurant town'. The Petoskey school had particularly nasty food which they doled out in very meager servings. Fine with me as I didn't want any of it but the man who hung around us wanted a bigger scoop of eggs (powdered...yeck) Nope, one serving per person. A woman nearby told her that he could have her eggs as she wasn't going to eat them. Nope, no bending the rules. So she took them and dumped them on his plate. We have a new ride director who needs some feed back if she wants return customers. 

We walked around the harbor looking at yachts and mansions before visiting Charlevoix. Steve and I have stayed there several times in the past few years so I know where most things are (though not the mystery rest stop that the bad map wouldn't show us the way there, had to google its location). Showed Naomi the mushroom houses. Of course they have a nice beach right there (though crowded) but she wanted Torch Lake.

We went through the cute town of Alden whose bakery makes the best cinnamon buns using a recipe of my hairdresser's aunt. But as they only make them on weekends. No a muffin won't do. I did get a cinnamon bun later on in Harbor Springs though this is a 'forbidden' food. Naomi was quite happy in Torch Lake which had clear, warm turquoise water. I had my beach chair to sit on the shore though I did go in for a while.  Instead of driving back to Petoskey right away, we went to the cute town of Bellaire which we had stayed in on the 2nd ride I did with her. Shorts Brewery now is a major destination place but we got there before it was crazy busy. We had a nice selection of ciders and beers and I had an artisanal pizza. I offered to share it with her but no, it was covered with cilantro which tastes like soap to her. There is a gene for that, which we obviously don't share.

Back to our campgrounds. I had gotten up very early (4 am) so off to sleep. She was out and about until it got dark. She tried to take a photo of the stars but needs a tripod and long exposure. She was still in the tent after I finished breakfast. One thing the ride still does right is hiring a coffee lady who makes sure there is gourmet coffee out by 5:30 am. I can overlook a lot of flaws as long as I have good coffee. I brought her some very diluted with cream and sugar. It was time to take down camp so she could help me take down the tent. I was just going to ride for an hour to the next town while she went to the park on Petoskey's long bay area. I locked the bike up and up through the tunnel of trees which she never been on. On one of our rides, we had gone from Mackinaw City to Petoskey but we took the inland route (which was very sandy, now gravely). Very pretty past interesting homes, trees, bluffs overlooking beautiful water. Jutting out the farthest west is Good Hart, a great place for breakfast.  On to the beach at Cross Village. Aside from going in the beautiful much cooler water, I looked for Petoskey stones which if fossilized coral left over when everything was an ocean. For some reason they are found along the coast of Northern Michigan. We did look for some closer to Petoskey at a roadside Park the day before with no luck. Naomi amassed a pile of potential skipping stones. Flat light weight ones work the best. From her years as a fast  softball pitcher, she can spin these things to amazing length and speeds. I tried to upload a video of her handiwork Sometimes they would skip 10 times

Then back up the hill for a good Polish lunch at the Legs Inn. I had the Polish plate full of homemade sauerkraut and mushrooms. Yum.  She found even more crepes. After our trip to the nearby art gallery, I was dropped off  at the school and she went home. but we had a very nice time.

Biking coast to coast

Lake Huron glimmered silver in the early morning sun

My new friend. Mackinaw Bridge is in the background but can't be seen with this camera

I posted this by mistake the other day. My watch uses GPS to keep track of where I go. I actually went further as the watch was off for a while. Starting in Cheybogan, we went up the coast (called the Sunrise coast to try to attract visitors...most people head for the West coast)to Mackinaw City. There under the bridge, you could have one foot in Lake Huron and one in Lake Michigan which Naomi and I did years ago. Then a long boring slog through gravel through very sparsely populated areas. We did stop at Pellston for lunch, usually the coldest reported spot in the lower peninsula. Finally we were on a paved path once the path turns west. Unfortunately we turned into massive headwinds. We were back into the heavy tourist district surrounding Petoskey. Slow as the wind made me, I was still going faster than the cars in the massive tourist jam beside me on the road. Then we had to turn north off the shoreline path up a 2 mile steep hill to the school. I would go up a few blocks until I was exhausted, turn on to the flat west streets to recover, tackle a few more blocks, on and on so I didn't walk. It was the only time I had the bike in the lower chain ring all week unlike last year which was every few miles.

I started very early the next morning to ride along the water to Charlevoix and back before Naomi met me

a nice paved path which going out, I had to myself 

art bike in Charlevoix

Had to wait 10 minutes for the drawbridge so rich people could go from Round Lake to Lake Michigan

in their yachts

Rest stop on Round Lake. These were actually stocked quite nicely with fruit, vegetables, peanut butter jelly sandwiches. cookies, candy, water, gatoraid. Usually they have a variety of Kind bars which I have trouble resisting but this year, just chocolate covered banana ones. Saved them for Naomi

train depot. Most of our trails were abandoned railroad lines

turquoise waters of Little Traverse Bay

In the past, we would have to take down and then put up our tents in a new location every day but they got the bright idea of staying in one place for 2 nights. When I got to our camp site Tuesday, my first job was to find my tent and luggage that had been carried on one of two trucks. I was hot and tired and pawed for a long time in one luggage pile with no luck. Backtracked to the school to see if someone knew where my truck's luggage would be. No signs, which would have been useful. Finally someone pointed on top of yet another hill. Way up there were my bags. My new friend, who rode on roads with a road bike, was there before me and helped me with the tent set up, tricky in high winds.The rain fly kept lofting, I thought it would carry the two of us away. Had to stake much more carefully. One advantage of being in the middle of no where is that there is no competing light sources so the sky was just covered with stars when I would get up at night. To find my tent, I bought a cheap solar light to place on the side of the tent as a beacon after crawling into someone else's tent last year as they all look the same.

This school had very bad food which was good in a way.. Wasn't tempted to eat much less overeat. As we were so far from town (yes we had bikes but going up that hill isn't fun and it was dangerous going down), we were shuttled by bus into town. Off to a brewery where I tried a variety of exotic and tasty beers..apricot? rhubarb?  The night before, I still had my car so I drove my old friend from last year and my new friend down for some chocolate cherry stout and their usual blood orange honey ale. Fun at night as lots of the riders end up at the bar and I made friends.

I got up extra early to ride to Charlevoix to be finished with the 44 miles before Naomi came. I made it with 5 minutes to spare (She was early)

On our way to Onaway

After the long ride to Cheybogan, I treated myself to a seafood salad and a Cheybogan Blood Orange Ale facing the river which empties about a half mile to the left into Lake Huron As I was by myself, the waiter kept 'forgetting' about me. Let the pity party begin!

this sign was in the bathroom

home for 2 nights

Early the next day (I missed the rain by 40 minutes by leaving early) we went by Aloha St. Park on Mullet Lake, one of the biggest lakes in Michigan

One of the giant heads of Onaway. I had to ask locals where it was as the ride organizers hadn't a clue

I like George's hair. His head is about 20 feet tall. I have seen his successor Gerald Ford's head in at least 3 places. Alas not here again

They did have a sculpture garden downtown

The world's largest steering wheel. The Moran metal works used to make bicycle rims and car steering wheels but no more. Not sure what they make now

Back in Cheybogan, I went to their art park which has some permanent sculptures such as this and temporary art such as the works of 2nd graders

My ride the next day: Cheybogan to Mackinaw City down to Petoskey, almost all of it gravel trails so yeah, it was hard as was the 54 mile loop to Onaway and back

I almost didn't get to do the ride. I was driving our 11 year old car up there that works fine in general but some computer that controls the air conditioner is out. $1500 is a lot to put into an old car so I drove with the windows open because it was 96 degrees when I left. I had it on cruise control going 80 (speed limit is 75 up there) at mile 120 or so. Suddenly I lost power and had to limp over 3 lanes to the shoulder where I was able to go 20 mph for 3 miles until I could exit and go to a gas station which  had no mechanic given that it was a Sunday. I turned everything off. The engine would not rev even if I pushed the accelerator. WTF? I assumed bad transmission..no fluid? I turned the car off and called Steve though what could he do (he knows absolutely nothing about cars) but to at least have him on standby if I needed a ride. But then I decided to urn the car back on and the orange wrench went away and alarms were no longer clanging. I got back to the freeway and the car seemed just fine though I was nervous this would repeat itself any minute. As near as we could figure out, the electronic module that controls the air conditioner must have something to do with the cruise control. More research needs to be done.

For you non-Michigan readers, our map is  our right hand palm up I live in the thumb pad in the palm, this near disaster happened right in the crease where the thumb meets the palm. I was heading towards the top of the first finger. On the ride we made it to the top of the fourth finger. 

I got there earlier than we were supposed to check in so off to dinner on the water before setting up camp. I did find the man I rode with last year a bit and we hung out quite a bit together. I like him a lot. He had his own mechanical failure story on the way there that nearly prevented him coming on the ride too. He had already set his tent up way away from my site.

I should have practiced setting up my tent. True I had it last year for the first time but I had help setting it up. A nice man whose name I forgot but I know his life story saw me struggling and decided to help though the tent still  wasn't right. I don't think I did it right until the last time. No instructions were provided. You were to go online but mainly they were just bragging how easy the set up was and not big on details plus it was hard to watch a video in the field.

I was hesitant to do this ride because I would be myself though that had some advantages in that I could leave and stop when I wanted. Plenty of people offered friendships so I was not alone much.

Although it was much cooler up there, it was still hot and in the beginning of the week, my poison ivy made sleep very hard despite all the steroids I had. Rain was predicted for the morning but it was still dry when I left camp. No rain on me that day. I was on the NEST trail which heads sout east to Alpena. Onaway would be half way. It is chockful of pea gravel that in some places was annoyingly and dangerously thick. I kept heading for the bald areas. My speed is only 2/3s what it would be on pavement and a lot more effort. Lots of falls by others. A man broke his hip and a woman, her wrist. I did get off to the main  highway to look for presidential giant heads. Wish I had stayed on the road longer. In the past, they would have a road option to encourage more riders but without warning, it was switched back to a trail only leaving a posse of disgruntled road bikers. A new ride director had been hired at the last minute who was not good at organizing. Lots of annoying hiccups all week. Bad food, bad maps, no info about the towns...on and on.

The sculptures were interesting. Back to Cheybogan. I always worry about forgetting things. Last year, some of my medications, which was much more serious than my eye make up I forgot this time. Fortunately it can be obtained. I went downtown in my car to find a store, which I never did, had to go to a Walmart on the edge of town for the missing make-up. But I did visit the downtown coffee shop I had been to numerous times before for an iced latte and met my new friend who has the same name as the friend who I am usually with, so good. I had a good friend for the rest of the week. Yay.

ten years of blogging

lots of zinnias

leopard lilies which really is an iris

tiger lilies and liatris just starting to bloom

hostas

josh and the girls

cleome  pretty but smelly

Ten years ago I enrolled in Wayne State's Summer Abroad program in Italy. Our workplace had closed down but they gave us a sizeable 'retraining' allowance which could be used at an 'accredited "institution.  I didn't think I would go back to work, though Steve did for a while. I decided to learn Italian in situ. I was hesitant to sign up. Six weeks without knowing anyone might make me go crazy. I once nearly had a psychotic break at a meeting in which I had felt totally isolated. This was before cell phones. But I was glad I went up in a very small hill town in the Apennines in Abruzzo staying in a monastery. I started the blog to keep contact with those at home. Sue in Italia.  I found out I had cancer shortly after I returned so thus. Sue in Cancerland which turned into Sue's escape from Cancerland..

I feel a bit hesitant to spend a whole week starting tomorrow alone though Naomi will be with me 2 days in the middle. Also many of the same people return year after year including one nice man I spent a lot of time with in bars. He also rides at my speed. But I can call people and I've brought books.

This is my third round of poison ivy and its way worst than the other 2 rounds. Fortunately I have drugs now which make it feel a bit better. I can almost ignore it during the day but nights are tough. I hope the worst is over. My contact was with a dry vine. Can't believe the reaction it set off two days later. Worse, I see lots of poison ivy that I missed. 

We are now in a drought though currently a few drops are finally falling. Its supposed to rain a lot downstate while I'm gone. I might get some rain Monday morning, the first day of riding. I have more than a thousand miles under my belt this year. I should be ready.

I am always stressed before leaving. Do I have everything? Most things are packed. I won't leave until noon. Also I was stressed out trying to use a companion certificate before it expires for Steve. Utah here we come this fall.

saving a mole

we took a walk in the arb the other day going to the river which was full of rafts and kayaks. The girls love the water but the sharp rocks were hard on Allie's feet. Then we went out to dinner

Hannah

yesterday morning my cabana cushion was covered with these muddy footprints. I guess the raccoon likes to relax there too

Maya as a mermaid holding her new kitten Nala

An artist down the street once a year opens up her extensive gardens and invites other artists there too. I bought this from a sculptor whose studio is in the other direction. I've bought stuff from his wife in the past, mainly tiles. I had fun filling my new planter with end of season annuals though he markets it as a strawberry pot

my spaghetti squash have developed corkscrew tendrils to fasten to my deer cage. I've been harvesting zucchini, crookneck squash and patty pans

I have huge balls of pink hydrangeas

phlox with evasive catnip though I did package up some for Nala

The same artist who made my  Fu Manchu strawberry pot made this life sized blue giraffe for ArtPrize a few years back which now is in his parking lot down the street from me. When I took this photo, I had no idea that I used to stay at the artist's farm. Small world

I threw a cheap box of wildflower seeds in a pot to see what would grow. Tickweed, bachelor's buttons, alyssum, poppies, baby's breath amongst a few other pretties I don't know the name of

I found this interesting skull at the art in the garden

This morning I heard frantic splashing in my pond. A mole was trying to get out. He was able to rest on my lily pads before trying yet again. Now I am not a fan of moles as they can quickly turn a yard into a maze of tunnels though on the positive side, they eat the grubs that turn into Japanese beetles, which I hate more. I did save him though with a shovel. I don't see any tunnels yet. I have fished out several of his brethren's dead bodies.

From hot and humid last week to hot and dry this week. The former is hard on people; the latter on plants so I've been watering much more, free except for the electricity for the pumps. We had one blessedly cool day so I could run for almost 90 minutes before the heat came back. Biking is much more tolerable in the heat so I've been doing that a lot. Next week is my big ride. Naomi will come up one or two of the nights as we are staying in cool lake cities. We will be criss-crossing the tip of the Mitten going from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan and back going about 60 miles a day.

Every year, the neighbor on the same lake as our little community is named opens her yard which is extensive with numerous gardens. She specializes in bird paintings. I did get one of hers of a house finch at a thrift store though I paid full price for one of a red bellied woodpecker. About 5 other artists show up with their wares too along with folk singers and a nice spread of food. I bought the above pictured strawberry pot which I had fun filling yesterday with various annuals. Maybe I will switch them out with sedums for when I bring it back into the house for winter.

We spent an afternoon with Josh's family with a walk in the Arb. Unfortunately the heat had started coming back. 

We no longer have our rodent guest Chewy as Shanna's kids missed him so much and wanted him home the minute they returned. He was certainly energic, running from one side of the house to the other in his ball. Instead we are probably on the hook for a cat guest as Don'tae gave Maya a kitten for her birthday, which carries a lot of expense for someone who can't afford it. Already the kitty ha been here and will spend some time next week when Naomi visits me.

Just as my poison ivy was finally clearing up, I expose myself to more. A huge vine was weaving its way to the lawn where Steve is liable to hit it with a weed whacker (very bad if you get that juice on you). I double gloved so I could remove the top pair of contaminated gloves with the ones below. However the long vine hit my bare arm while I was trying to fold it into a bag. The vine had not been injured so maybe I didn't get any oil on me. That was two days ago. Usually blisters form two days after exposure. I have one newish blister but it could have been from the last exposrure.

The Arb has lots of poison ivy so I tried to keep Allie on of it though I think kids need several exposures before they react. I know I was exposed quite a bit before I started reacting after Josh was born. If Steve knew what he was doing (he keeps forgetting what it looks like), I would have him on poison ivy duty.

Under the Lindens

Maya got her horse ride for her 8th birthday

two trips around the corral  She was very nervous and wanted to bail but was quite excited afterwards

three kids in a tub. I tried to convince the boys they didn't need swimshirts indoors and the glasses would get steamed up but they had fun while their parents went out for a rare night

the sun was just rising as I got to Whitmore Lake last Sunday, an hour away to do my 32 mile loop

Chewy, the aerobic hamster we have for the week

I am trying to remember the good mood I was in earlier in the week. Now on the 4th of July, I am hot, bored and somewhat depressed. Shanna and Josh's families are out on vacations, the latter bringing the mother-in-law with them to Lake Michigan. Maybe later this summer we'll have a vacation with you.

So yet another heat wave replete with tropical humidity. I left on a run before dawn but still could not escape the heat. And the warmer and more humid, the woods are full of biting deer flies so I am constantly slapping them. I decided to do part of the run at least on the big trunkline near our house that doesn't get traffic until 6:15 or so reducing my deerfly exposure to a half. Biking is more tolerable in the heat, which I don't really feel but I come back just dripping in sweat. I don't think we had hardly any days last year near 90 much less having 2 weeks of them.

Maya was very excited about her horse ride, which was supposed to be a pony ride but they had only horses in saddle. Eight year olds are allowed to take trail rides but she isn't ready for that yet. She is very immature and not eager to try new things but she does like horses. Her birthday was the other day but she spent it up north with her dad. So much has changed since she was born 8 years ago. She is very sweet and pretty but I do hope she can catch up to her age mates at some point.

We had our Mom's group outside the other night on one of those hot days. But in the shade and with the setting sun, it was tolerable. Since I've been getting up so early, I 've been going to sleep before dark thus missing the fireflies and the stars which were out in full force along with bats and hummingbirds. Although in spring, my rhubarb plants were in full glory, they start to die back in summer. I did one last harvest to make a pie for the group. It did taste like cherries. The lindens now are in full flower so the moist, warm air was redolent with its orange blossom aroma. I notice them on my rides through neighborhoods. In  the wetlands, I can smell sweet grass which smells even better.

Shanna's kids came to spend the night and play in the jacuzzi Saturday. As they get older, they are much easier to deal with. I was left with their hamster while they vacation in Canada.

I did spend part of Monday with my son who finally took me out for Mother's Day and in part to sort of make up for not letting me go to the beach house he is renting because his mother-in law and sister-in-law get first dibs. A nice lunch followed by bubble tea and then some shopping at the sports store. I need a new lighting system as I misplaced one of my flashers and left the other on so now it is too weak to be useful. I did ride with a headlamp the other morning.

Another night, I watched more A Handmaid's Tale with a friend. It is very well done but I am finding it more and more painful to watch. I read the book years ago when it first was written but now it is hitting too close to home with the fake Christianity ruling all while hideous things are done to people and the earth is so polluted (we don't need those business crushing regulations) that only a few can reproduce.  I listen to podcasts at night but hate to listen to the national news to learn what new edict that immature tyrant has cooked up. And he can do no wrong by so many people, which is even scarier than the fact he is president.

I thought since I had so many orioles in the spring that at least some of them would decide to nest nearby. After 4 orioleless days, finally one stopped by again yesterday.