Indian Summer...

is always special in Michigan. The calm before the storm. The last of shirtsleeve weather. Final days of mowing. Cold nights and warm days. Should we turn the heat on to take the chill off in the morning? Leaves beginning to change colors.

After a week and a half away the yard needed mowing. And we did that. Also cleaned up twigs and branches and picked up pine cones brought down by the early-week winds.

Then in the afternoon we went geocaching at Wolcott Mill Metropark. Trails were drying after the rains. Leaves changing. Two other cars in the parking lot. Found five of six caches and dropped the three travel bugs we picked up in Snoqualmie last Sunday.

And lots of ash trees cut down, dead from the Emerald Ash Borer introduced into southeast Michigan from Asia around 2002. In addition there will be more to cut--we saw several stands of dead ash on our walk. Now other trees will have room to flourish but that will take years to see.

All in all, a great day.

Cent bourne

Found our 100th cache yesterday.

It was hot and humid for a couple days and difficult to do physical work outside. (Among other jobs, we have 12 yards of red-dyed mulch that needs to be spread.) So yesterday afternoon Kathy put together a picnic lunch for a caching trip for the three of us (she and Brenda had a shopping trip earlier in the day--too hot to work, remember).

A drizzle began to fall and the temperatures fell somewhat so not too bad outside. On our way. The ninety-ninth was a micro off 30 Mile Road, and we could not find another near our McD. Let's eat We went to a little park off 33 Mile Road, had our picnic under a shelter, then found the hundredth in a nearby tree. To celebrate we had Skinny Cow brand ice cream treats.

Traveling the Great Northwest

On Wednesday we took the Amtrak train from Seattle, where the train station is being renovated, to Vancouver which has a fine train station adjoining a bus station.  No problem with immigration and customs in Canada (on the train we saw cars lined up at the border checkpoint).  Not far from the Vancouver station is their Skytrain light rail system that took us to downtown.  It's interesting that there are no turnstiles.  Buy your ticket from a machine and board the train.  Notices are posted that you must have a fare receipt and I suppose some people cheat, but they must figure the savings in personnel and construction must outweigh losses in revenue.  The train is underground in downtown and we exited our station to walk about four blocks to our hotel

Our room overlooked the harbor and we could see float planes take off, land, and taxi to their marina below us--they are used to taxi people about the region and for sightseeing tours.  And a cruise ship got underway while we watched, backing out of its slip, then heading off toward Alaska.  Fascinating.

We walked along the sea walk, past the float planes, and eventually reached a marina with some very large boats.  One in particular caught our attention and another visitor with his two daughters told us he worked for the owner who is a self-made billionaire and had been on the boat once for a meeting.  He said it is nicer inside than what it looks outside.  One hundred fifty feet, at least.  Some of the other boats we saw are for sale and prices ranged from about a half million to  about one and a half million--but that's Canadian dollars I am reminded.  Later we grabbed a quick snack and went to an IMAX movie.  Next day we walked to the Gastown section of the city, saw the famous steam clock toot noon, then toured a classic Chinese garden in Chinatown before our return train trip to Seattle.

Thr following morning we walked to Qwest Field to buy tickets for the Tigers-Mariners baseball game, had lunch, then entered the stadium in time to see the Tigers take batting practice.  We became some of those folks we notice standing in the first row watching their favorite players and snapping pictures.  A couple rows in front of our seats were a couple and their two boys who were Tiger fans.  We found out the dad was back from Iraq about a month after a 15 month tour.  We had a great time though the Tigers lost.

Saturday we picked up Brenda from the airport and, on our way to James' house, we visited the Museum of Flight.  Planes from all eras of flight, an old factory restored, and some space flight memorabilia.  The highlight was a walk aboard a Concorde and an Air Force One.

The next day we left for Lake Chelan located east of the Cascade Mountains just west of the Columbia River.  We drove a northern route on US 2 through Stevens Pass (we returned to Snoqualmie Ridge via I-90 through Snoqualmie Pass) pausing to walk a trail to a waterfall and stretch our legs in Leavenworth; some compare it to Frankenmuth but there are important differences like not having its main street through the center of town.  On to Wapato Point Resort and our condo for the week.  Amenities include outdoor pools, a great view, beaches, and many water recreations such as jet skis.

The lake is 55 miles long and we took the Lady of the Lake boat trip from Chelan on the southeast end to Stehekin, a town of about 80 with only water access, on the northwest.  Great scenery, relaxing ride.  When the boat arrived we took a narrated tour (aboard a school bus) to the 312 foot Rainbow Falls.  We left the tour bus on its way back to Stehekin to eat lunch at Stehekin Bakery Company.  After lunch we purchased some goodies to take back to our condo and walked the two miles back to the boat landing where we visited the shops and National Park center.  On returning to Chelan we had dinner and then to the condo.

Another day we rented a boat and  toured some of the lake and had a mid-lake picnic--very comfortable for nine of us.  A little chop in the water kept us from wandering too far toward Stehekin.

We swam, hiked, played Wii games, and played with the boys.  James grilled and we ate out.  The ladies took the boys into town to see the movie Wall-E and eat popcorn and drink soda pop. We found geocaches along the Columbia River on a day trip north from Chelan to see some of the small towns there, and on our way back to the Ridge.

Joey joined us for a couple days--drove over from Spokane the day after one of his bicycle races.  We talked, went to the local coffee shop (this is a resort, not camping), played with the boys.  We were all glad to see him.

On our way back to Snoqualmie Ridge we saw forest fires still burning along the Columbia and the black remnants were visible for miles along our route--something we do not see in Romeo. Then close to Snoqualmie Pass James gave us coordinates to his cache and we found it in a park where we walked past rapids and a waterfall.

Spent Sunday night at James' and the following morning with Amy and the boys (she took her folks and Brenda to the airport earlier in the morning) and walked to get our coffee and rolls at the local Starbucks. Kathy and I left for our flight home.

A great trip.  A week with the whole family--fantastic.

Christmas Week With Brenda

We had a great time at Brenda's. Christmas day, of course, we just lounged around, ate dinner, opened gifts, and watched some sports.

We traveled to Stones River National Battlefield. Reenactments of the battle were staged, cannon were fired, "soldiers" explained how they felt and what they thought. A tour of the site gives a sense of the enormity of the battle, the condition of the terrain, and difficulties posed by the cedar woods.




A short way from the encampment of tents, soldiers, cannon, rifles, and wagons is the Stones River National Cemetery which has the oldest Civil War monument--quite impressive. We found a William Reagan from Indiana and an Albert Corey from Illinois listed among the buried. This experience gives me pause to reflect on how much so many have sacrificed to build this nation into what we are today.



The Nashville Zoo was bustling with zoo-goers--infants, toddlers, and kids, young people and older, all out on a cool, cloudy day to see the animals. Impressive zoo. I especially liked the Bengal Tigers, Meerkats (shown below huddling together in the cold), Grant's Zebra and the Toco Toucan. On the grounds is also a carousel and the old homestead of Grassmere. Not yet finished, the plans look to make this an outstanding zoo.



We did some shopping with Brenda and helped select some new furniture and furnishings. We did some geocaching later one nice day but had time for only one find.

Saw Purdue beat Central Michigan and the Titans beat Indianapolis Colts to qualify for the playoffs. In addition Nashville hosted the Music City Bowl between Kentucky and Florida State and for several days bracketing the game we saw fans of both decked out in their colors.

The time went by so fast, but Brenda reminded me that I gained an hour going down so it shouldn't seem that bad.

Ten days in the northwest

After the Lions' victory over the Vikings we spent the night near the airport, rose at 3 am, shuttled to the airport at 4:30, and boarded our flight on Frontier Airlines to Denver. Changed planes for Seattle where Amy and Garrett picked us up.

The days were busy. We walked Spencer to school in the morning and home in the afternoon with Garrett accompanying us on his tricycle--up hill both ways!. Some days we stopped for morning coffee and a muffin or cinnamon roll on the way back. After school we all went to Spencer's soccer matches and Tae-kwon-do classes, then geared down with baths and showers, video games, and reading children's books together.

We took Garrett to Pacific Science Center in Seattle to see their dinosaur exhibit and an IMAX 3D about dinosaurs where Garrett sat with his feet straight out, munching his popcorn and sipping his drink, watching the tail of a dinosaur tail appear to swipe near our noses. Another day Garrett took us to Snoqualmie for a train ride and four train-related activities hosted by volunteers for the Northwest Railway Museum.

Our hike to Snoqualmie Falls was exciting--trees two hundred years old lying beside our trail, views of the valley through breaks in the trees, several varieties of slugs and beetles, benches to sit on and have our snack and hydration break with a view of the falls, and a return trip culminating in a challenging (for me) four hundred foot climb from the rail-trail up to their neighborhood playground.

We did find time to follow the Tigers' attempt to recover from their post-All Star game slide, Michigan's defeat of Penn State, MSU can of whoop-a__ they opened on ND, and the Lion debacle in the City of Brotherly Love (none shown for the Lions)

Landscape changes will be noticed--moved some things, trimmed others, and set many new plants (Kathy, mainly). Spencer and Garrett both love to play outdoors so we took them to parks and their backyard to swing and climb structures.

Learned about how to use a computer to help manage geogaching waypoint and cache information, and then used the info to grab a few caches (missed a few, too). And used a Skyscout to locate given stars and constellations, and, conversely, to identify them.

When we were ready to return, it was clear and sunny at the Reagan house but Amy returned from an errand to tell us she heard of flight delays out of Seatac airport. We checked and our flight was moved to an hour later. As we drove we could see the fog over Seattle that caused it. Mostly we had seen clouds in the mountains and clear below, but this was reversed. We did not mind because our layover in Denver was originally over three hours. (We purposely did that to accomodate everyone's schedule.) Smooth sailing home--not much traffic from Metro Airport to Romeo at 2:30 in the morning.

Great trip, had a ball. It's always good to be home.

Joey visited

for a couple days. We went to dinner both evenings, once for Mexican at Peppers, the other at a new Irish Tavern in Romeo that replaced the old Fifth Corner (Ida retired and the kids would not take over the business).

Saturday Joey and I walked part of the new Orchard Trail, a paved trail along an abandoned railroad bed. We walked from 32 Mile Road to 30 Mile Road and back. Found one cache along the stretch. Great day, sunny and cool with a stiff north wind.

Joey is visiting Paula's parents in Redford. He visited with Julius, Sylvia, and Abby for about four hours Friday on his way out to see us. Today he returned to Redford, will help Toivo (Paula's dad) find a car to buy, then will fly back to on Tuesday. A busy week for him.

It was good to have him here. Got some new insights into our childhood, the influence of our parents on us, some of my cousins, and my grandparents.

We hope to visit him on our next venture to the Pacific northwest.

Geocached

today and found two more by the Percy Priest Lake Dam. Great day with temps in high 40s to mid-50s, sunny, but at times a stiff breeze. Still one cache we cannot locate. Spent the better part of an hour searching. Understand it went missing just before our last search in December and had been replaced, but again no luck. Maybe next time.

Kathy with cache at Percy Priest Lake Dam

Seemed strange to us to hear Nashville weathercasters warning listeners that we are in for about four days "like the dead of winter". But when compared to their averages for January, our next few days will be much like them--lows near 30, highs near 50. Sunday night is to be near mid-20s. Checked Romeo and they are about 15 degrees colder and snow showers--Tigers game cancelled due to cold. I now realize why many people move to Tennessee.

Our first geocaching travel bug

We are geocachers. Some geocachers create a cache, hide it, determine its coordinate location, and post the coordinates and a short description on the internet. We try to find these hidden treasures using our GPS receiver to tell us our location and point us in the direction of the cache.

Various items are placed in caches for trading--small toys are popular with with kids. One such item is called a travel bug, an item that cachers are to move from one cache to another according to some goal defined by the owner of the travel bug.

Unite for Diabetes, an organization trying to raise awarness about diabetes, is supplying a special travel bug to interested Geocaching.com members--20,000 were/are being distributed. We think the effort of making people aware of diabetes is important since so many of our family and friends have it. The campaign is described at http://unite.geocaching.com.

We registered and received our tb named "Indergarh, India" and with tracking number TB1BWYT. (Use the name and number to track the tb at geocaching.com.) The goal of our tb is to reach Indergarh, India to make people there aware of diabetes. We placed it in a cache at Wolcott Mill Metropark near Romeo, MI. It was extracted from our placement within a couple weeks, and less than two weeks later has traveled to Washington state. Now to have someone grab it from there and take it onward toward Indergarh, India.