My Weekend Task

This weekend's chore was installing crown molding on my parent's kitchen cabinets. Of course, that was in addition to adding another cabinet above their refrigerator (there wasn't one there, although we all thought the builders should have done so). After talking with Jerry (insert URL to Jerry's blog if he ever gets one), and doing some research on the web, I was able to determine the angle of the corner cuts. The only problem is I did such a good job, my wife said I now have to do the cabinets in OUR kitchen!!

SCORE!!!

Found this at a garage sale this weekend (thanks to Christine and her community-wide garage sale). It is in EXCELLENT condition, and Dannie was able to "talk" her down to just $30. Abbie had train pieces on it within minutes of setting it up!!

Welcome To Georgia!!

If you thought the Yeard Sale was bad, check out this ...

A Milestone Reached ...

Follow the Lights … Days 7 & 8

Well, our vacation is now over, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do one last blog for everyone to enjoy. First of all, the trip was AMAZING!! We had the best time up in Northern Michigan. They say it’s God’s country up there, and I’m beginning to believe it. We must start off by thanking my parents and Dannie’s parents for watching the girls ALL WEEK LONG!!! That was quite an ordeal, but I think (in the long run) the grandparents and the girls both had tons of fun. We thought we would use this last blog to share our favorite things with you all.

First of all, the specifics about the trip:
Total lights seen (both lighthouses and range lights): 38
Total towers climbed: 6
Total miles driven: 1855.3
Total pounds gained: HA!! (no calories when on vacation, right??)

We’d like to start out by sharing a story we read about the origin of the Sleeping Bear Dunes (which we visited on Day 4). The dunes lie on the Michigan side of Lake Michigan, and over look two islands (South Manitou Island and North Manitou Island). It’s said that long ago, along the Wisconsin shoreline, a momma bear and her two cubs were driven into Lake Michigan by a raging forest fire. The bears swam for many hours, be eventually the cubs tired and lagged behind. Mother bear reached the shore and climbed to the top of a high bluff to watch and wait for her cubs. Too tired to continue, the cubs drowned within sight of the shore. The Great Spirit Manitou created two islands to mark the spot where the cubs disappeared and then created a solitary dune to represent the faithful mother bear. The dunes got its name because supposedly, from the air it used to look like a sleeping bear.

By the way, for those who are wondering, I DID GET MY T-SHIRT!!!! Here's a pic:

We’d also like to share the most popular quote from our trip … “THIS IS A LAKE”. It was sometimes used as a question, and sometimes used as a statement. We couldn’t believe, because of the size, and water color of both Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, that they weren’t oceans. We kept looking out expecting to see dolphins jumping!!!

We visited small town after small town on the way to/from the lights. The drives were beautiful and even breathtaking at times. From the coastlines to tree-lined roads, we enjoyed just about every mile we drove. One minute you felt like you were in the mountains, and the next minute you were driving down the coastline of the ocean, err I mean lake. We ate delicious sandwiches, fudge, pizza, fresh fruit, and of course tasted wine!! Thanks again to Margo her sister Marcia for some local delicious suggestions within Traverse City.

Dannie’s favorite saying was “Can you imagine?!?!” She loved being “transformed” back to the time when the lighthouse keepers lived. She said it was very humbling to see the way they lived and to think of all the modern conveniences we have today but take for granted. Then we saw a couple old schoolhouses and we learned that ONE teacher would teach grades kindergarten through 8th…all in one room. The grades each took turns going to the front of the classroom to get their lesson while the others sat in the back near a wood burning stove to do their assignment until it was their turn to be taught. Today, we stress so much over education and which school is best for our kids…we are lucky to even have the choices that we do!!

Oh, and in case you wondered, here’s a picture of our condo:

And last-but-not-least, the Lighthouse of the Trip!!! Dannie’s favorite would have to be Big Sable Lighthouse on the eastern coast of Lake Michigan. She says that the entire experience made it special. The hike to the light (in the wind and rain) was one element that made it special. Talking with the volunteer keepers, climbing the tower, the beautiful views it gave us, and being able to tour the rest of the keeper’s quarters make it the most special for her. Not to mention the pure beauty of the light itself. I, personally, would have to agree with her. We’ve never had such an “ordeal” in getting to a lighthouse. Plus, the one-on-one attention the volunteer keepers gave us was special to me. We were the only ones there that day, and we had so much fun talking with them, and seeing parts of the dwelling that most of the public will never see.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these blogs as much as we’ve enjoyed writing them for you. We sure do miss our girls, and can’t wait to wrap our arms around them. Good night from Michigan!!!

Follow the Lights ... Day 6

Starting Tripometer Reading: 1137.8
Ending Tripometer Reading: 1553.9
Lighthouses Viewed: 8

Well, Day 6 wasn't as long or as bad as we thought it might have been. We did head east to the north-western coast of Lake Huron, and worked our way south. We saw 8 more lights (6 light houses, and 2 range lights), climbed two more towers, and continued to eat our way around Michigan!! We even ended up seeing two couples at the first lighthouse that we had seen on our lighthouse cruise yesterday. The picture below was taken 113 feet high on the catwalk of the New Presque Isle lighthouse. It happens to be the same height as one we climbed the second day (the one we hiked to in the wind and rain), but we couldn't go out onto the catwalk that day because of the windy conditions. And yes, I have my Red Sox hoodie on AGAIN ... it was the warmest thing I brought!!!

Here's another view from the top (DON'T LOOK WILLIE!!!!)

After visiting the above lighthouse, and the other three lights in the immediate area, we decided to grab another sandwich at a local hole-in-the-wall deli. I ordered my sub, and as the lady went to make it, we said "wait, she [Dannie] would like one too". She seemed surprised, and we didn't know why. However, when they brought the subs out, we understood why she had that look. We couldn't believe the size of these sandwiches!!!! Needless to say, they were delicious (at least the parts we ate of them).

After visiting the last light, we headed back to Traverse City, and had delicious pizza from the Bay View Bar & Grill (recommended by Margo and her sister, Marcia). As for the Lighthouse of the Day, we need your help. We couldn't decide a winner, so it's up to you. Here are three of the best lighthouses from the day. Be sure to post a comment as to which one you like best??

1) Forty Mile Point:

2) New Presque Isle:

3) Tawas Point:

That last lighthouse (Tawas Point) might be the last one we see on this trip. Tomorrow is going to be a real easy day for us. We're going to sleep in, do a little more shopping in downtown, pack (ugh), and get ready for the return trip. There's a chance we might get to see some lights around Detroit before we head to the airport on Saturday afternoon ... yup, you guessed it ... you'll have to check back to see if we do or not!!

Follow the Lights ... Day 5

Starting Tripometer Reading: 873.0
Ending Tripometer Reading: 1137.8
Lighthouses Viewed: 14

Although Day 5 was a VERY LONG DAY, it was one of the best days we've had so far. As you can see from above, we saw plenty of lighthouses today (although some were distant views). We started out heading up towards Mackinac Point lighthouse (pictured below) with every intention of crossing the bridge, and heading up into the Upper Peninsula ... the U.P. Along the way, we stopped off to see the Charlevoix lighthouse, and the Petosky light.

After touring, and climbing, the Mackinac Point light, we made a sudden decision to take a lighthouse ferry tour, instead of heading north into the U.P. It was the very last trip of the season for the ferry company, and it was leaving in just two hours. We thought it was fate that we were there on a Wednesday, since it only ran one day a week during the off-season. In order to kill those two hours, we headed down to Cheboygan to catch four more lights. Before we left, we grabbed some delicious sandwiches to go from a local pizza place, and ended up talking to the owners for almost 20 minutes!!! Man, I love small-town America. On the way to Cheybogan, we surpassed the 1,000 mile mark on our trip. The rental car company must love people like us!! We returned in plenty of time to catch the ferry, and were able to take some great pictures of off-shore lights, the Mackinac Bridge, and even a passing freighter.

After returning to shore, we did a little more shopping, had dinner, and the started the return trip to the condo. Along the way, we were luckily enough to catch up with some family friends that have known my parents for many, many years. They live up in Michigan for 4.5 months, and then return to FLA for the rest of the year.

The lighthouse of the Day would have to be the White Shoal Light. This light is located 20 miles west of the Mackinac Bridge in the middle of the Mackinac Straights. The 121-foot light marks a hazardous area in this part of Lake Michigan. The light was built in 1910 to replace Lightship No. 56 that had marked the shoal since 1891. Lightship No. 56 was one of the first three lightship stations in Great Lakes. The nearby Waugoshance Shoal Light (which we also saw) was abandoned in 1912 after White Shoal Light became operational.

Tomorrow is our last day of lighthouse viewing since we decided we needed Friday to just relax, pack, and tour around Traverse City a little more. We have another long day ahead of us, but hopefully it won't be as long as today. We'll be heading east to visit approximately 7 more lights on the west coast of Lake Huron. Good night.