Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011 was not white but it was a good Christmas.  All our family was able to get here for the Christmas Holiday and that was the best present we could have.  All had safe travels and that is another thing to be thankful for.

We had a great time with everyone here.  We had some of the traditional activities which included the frosting of the Christmas cookies.  That can be quite interesting, just saying there are usually some unusual creations.  Here are some of the creators at work.

The underlying theme for this year was the Sasquatch.  It has been rumored to have been spotted in our area.  I believe there was even some evidence of his passing.  A large footprint was found in the trees east of the house along with some areas where he had bedded down under the trees and even evidence of his sanitary cleanliness.

Here is a picture of Alyssa all dressed up for our Sasquatch walk.

On Christmas Day we had the Meston side of the family here for Christmas dinner.  There was lots of good food and conversation.  Grandma Powers was also able to come, here is a picture of her and Quinn.

We had lots of presents to open with Quinn getting things started.

Cole seemed happy with this present.

Since we open presents in age order Seri was next.

Next was Matt’s turn.

 

Alyssa was next.

Then it was Jennifer’s turn.

Next is Brian.

The lovely Miss Marcia.

Next is yours truly. 

I got some cast iron skillet ware that I really liked but this picture is actually from last year so it does not show. 

We had a great Christmas enjoying our family.  They all departed on Tuesday and the house seemed to get very quiet.  It was so good to have everyone home, it made for a wonderful Christmas.

Hope everyone has a great 2012.

Quinn’s # 4

This entry will try to catch up with what has been happening this fall.  We have been busy with fall chores and visiting family.

Here is a photo of one of Marcia’s flower gardens in full fall colors.

We made a journey to Whitewater River Campground in October.  It is a nice campground and the best part is it is only about ten miles from Brian & Jennifer’s.

Here is part of the crew on a trail along the river.

Brian, Dewey, Cole & Quinn

Marcia, Jennifer & Alyssa

After this trip the Melton’s came up to the farm so the boys could pick out their pumpkins.

Cole & Quinn in the pumpkin patch

Then we went back to Noblesville to attend Cole’s school’s grandparents day.  We had a great time.  We stayed overnight because the next day was Quinn’s 4th birthday celebration. 

The cake is ready and Quinn looks excited.

The candles were lit and Quinn got them all in one shot.

  Quinn got lots of presents and we had a great time watching him open them. 

This is a rocket he got which blasts off when you jump on the air bladder which shoots it up into the air a long way.

A great shot of Quinn, Cole and Dad working on one of Quinn’s presents.

We had a great time with the boys and Brian, Jennifer and Alyssa.  We enjoy the time we get to spend with them.

Brimley State Park & MATT

We moved across the bridge into the UP(ah it feels like home) and on to Brimley State Park.  Brimley is just a few miles from Sault Ste Marie, MI which is why we decided to stay there.  We had never stayed at this park before but the attraction on this particular occasion was MATT.  Matt was travelling through on his way from Toronto to Minnesota and this was a stopping point for him.  We had made plans to meet up for a couple of days.  It was really good to see him.  We had a nice time visiting and just catching up.

The trees were just beginning to show their colors.  There was one in the campground that was still green except for the ends of all of the branches and they were bright red.

We took a walk along the beach and you can see the Sault from the campground.

Matt had some major news for us.  He and Seri both have gotten jobs in Houghton at Michigan Tech.  Seri has a research position at Tech and Matt will be working for the Forest Service on a project for them.   We are so happy for them both finding jobs in the same place.

We went into the Sault for some sight seeing and had a nice time.  We saw some ships in the locks and toured the historical museum.  Here is Matt with Mom.

Here is one of Matt and Dad.

We really enjoyed our time with Matt.  We were sorry that Seri was not able to join us.  But now that they will both be in Houghton we will have a reason to visit the UP more often.  That sounds like a win-win deal.  We get to see the kids and the UP both.

Sleeping Bear and Petosky State Parks

We got to Sleeping Bear on a Thursday around noon expecting to get a site for a few days, but it was not to be.  The park was full because it had recently been voted as the most beautiful National Park by Good Morning America viewers.  We were able to find a private campground just outside the park so we could easily visit several historic and scenic sites.  It is a truly beautiful park. 

This is view looking across the dunes from the highest point above Lake Michigan 450 feet above the water.  This is just one of the views along the must see Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. 

At this stop on the Scenic Drive you can walk out on a 1.5 mile trail through the dunes exploring the dune formations and plant life.

The highlight of the dunes walk is reaching this overlook high above the lake.  Sleeping Bear is a beautiful park we would recommend to everyone.

This is the view from our side window in the campground at Petosky State Park.  What else can I say?  (A picture is worth at least one thousand of my words.)

I love this picture of the sun reflecting off the waves.

The sun had just dropped below the horizon giving this colorful combination of water, sunlight and clouds.  Petosky is another of Michigan’s great parks.

Ludington State Park

Leaving Hoffmaster we meandered up the coast of Lake Michigan.  We had a relatively easy drive to Ludington State Park.  The town of Ludington is an old town with lots of ties to the timber and shipping industries.  They also mined sand from the dunes and it looks like there is still some kind of activity in the area of the dunes next to the park.

The park has three campgrounds and was fairly busy for this time of year.  There is a lot of fishing here so many of the campers were fishermen.  The first picture is of our campsite.

I mentioned earlier that there is a lot of fishing here.  The marina’s in Ludington were full of charter boats as well as some pretty nice yachts.  We went into town one night for dinner and enjoyed a good meal at an old Italian restaurant right down town.  I believe the name of the restaurant was Luciano’s.  I neglected to take my camera so I don’t have any photos of the downtown.

The other part of the fishing is the salmon which come to the river in the fall and swim upstream.  They were just starting their journey when we were there.  There were some fishermen in the mouth of the river where it enters Lake Michigan.  It did not look like they were catching many but we did see a couple with fish.  The biggest obstacle for the fish is about a mile upstream near our campground.

 

The fish cannot jump this dam and there is not a fish ladder for them.  We saw a whole school of them right below the sign in the bottom of the picture.  They were just maintaining their positions in the water.  We did not get to see any of them trying to jump the dam.  The young lady in the camp store said it was a bit too warm yet for them to really start their run.

The next day we went for a walk along the river and then up on what was termed “Ridgeline Trail”.  It was definitely on a ridge.  The views were great.

 

This as the view towards Ludington.  You can just barely see the lighthouse in the distance on the end of the jetty.  Maybe this one will show it better.

Looking the opposite direction this is the view.

Moving on down the trail to the lowlands along the river we encountered this deer.

Moving a little further along the trail I encountered this dear.

Ludington was not our favorite Michigan park but it was still very nice.

P J Hoffmaster State Park

Hoffmaster State Park near Muskegon, Michigan. The campground was partially full when we arrived on Sunday but we still had a good choice of sites to pick from. By Sunday night it looked more like the photo below. Just the way we like it.

We took a trail from the campground which followed this little stream. It meandered through the park and the dunes. It was a nice hike.

Eventually the stream ends up at Lake Michigan. This is where it flows into the lake. It would be a perfect place for Cole & Quinn to play.

The beach runs for a long way in either direction from where the little stream empties into the lake.

This is the walk down to the lake. It does not look very steep but my old legs could feel the effects of walking up it in the sand.

This shot is from the beach looking up at the dunes.

The sun is sinking low in the sky and makes for a nice picture shining across the lake.

Here is another shot of the campground as we were walking back to our site from the beach.

We have stayed at this campgound before and like to come back from time to time. It is a comfortable place to stay. Muskegon is only a few miles away if we need something. We stayed here when we came up here to look at 5th wheels a little over four years ago. The dealer where we purchased the Dancer is in Muskegon and we usually make a stop there when we are here. This was not our first visit here and probably not our last.

Barn Project Almost Complete

We have been very busy working on the barn.  Marcia has been working hard at the landscaping and patching.  She has been seeding grass, putting in sidewalk blocks and patching and tuck pointing the old concrete.  While she has been doing this I have worked on the wiring, building a door for the east end of the barn, and just trying to get everything finished.

Here are a few photos to show our progress.  The first is the old barn with siding removed.

This is the beginning of Timmie's new barn.

As we continued to put the barn back together.

Next we put two coats of paint on all of the new siding and touched up the trim boards.  We had put the trim boards up already painted because it is really really high up at the peak.  The door company got the overhead door put in last week.

Here is another view from a different angle.

Mom and I have worked very hard on this project but we really like the outcome.  The Dancer is safely put into its new home waiting for our next outing.  Timmie loves his new home as well.  We have just a few things to finish up yet this fall and some fence to move next summer and it will be done.

I have one more picture for Cole and Quinn.  They have been pretty concerned about their pumpkins so here is a picture of the pumpkin patch.

Hope you all enjoyed the update.  I will try to get some pictures from our fall trip up north for the next issue.