Michigan Photo Album

Two good days of driving and we made it home from Iowa around 3 PM yesterday. We got unpacked and started an assault on the mountain of laundry that we brought home with us. We downloaded all of our photos and will now give you a highlight tour of our time with some of Jim's family in the Upper Peninsula. We drove there with Grandma and camped at Uncle Bob's former campground.

We crammed Grandma into the back seat and packed stuff in around her!

We had a great campsite with a view of North Manistique Lake.

Jeannie drove up from Tennessee and many of Jim's cousins and some of their children joined us for a week of good family fun. In addition to spending time around the camp and lake, we took 3 excursions away from the lake.

Our first trip was to the historic Log Flume in Grand Marias. Years ago, when the logging industry was booming in the U.P., harvested logs were pushed over the edge of this huge sand dune, down a flume, and into Lake Superior, where the logs were then collected and transported to a mill. The flume is no longer in place but the sand dune still provides a dramatic plunge to the lake and is a tourist attraction for hardy souls who like a good physical challenge.

The dune rises 300 feet above the lake, and the route down or up is a 500 foot trail, a really steep hike.

The technique for getting to the water is to do a controlled run, digging your heels into the sand, allowing yourself to slide down as you run. It was an amazing feeling to glissade down the sand slope with the expansive lake extending the view to the horizon.



Once down to the water, we walked along the shore looking for beautiful rocks.

However, putting pretty rocks in your pocket was a bad choice because then you had to carry them back up the dune! The climb up required using your hands and feet to get yourself up. It was hard work and took me about 10 minutes to get to the top.
What a great adventure this was! I know that Tucker and Corey would have loved it!

Our next excursion was to Taquamenon Falls State Park. We have been here before, but many, many years ago! There is an upper falls and a lower falls with a 4-5 mile trail between them. The water going down the river is rootbeer-colored from the tannin in the water.



Our last excursion away from camp was to Mackinac Island. Mackinac Island is a 90 minute car drive and 20 minute ferry ride from camp. We had a cool, fun, ride on the fast-speed ferry.

Pete and Mary rented a tandem for our 8 mile ride around the island.

Here is Jim riding along with Jeannie and Betina, also on a tandem.

A view of the famous Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

Biking with the cousins was a great activity, followed by lunch and shopping before taking the ferry back to our car.

Our time at camp was filled with family-time activities. A campfire, fireworks, a night-time pontoon boat ride, games and laughter and family dinners were some of the fun things we did.

Uncle Bob has had a large garden in previous years, but this summer just left the raspberry bushes standing and there was a bumper crop while we were there. Every morning Jim got up and walked to the garden and picked a bowl of raspberries for our breakfast cereal. What a treat!

Aunt Jackie hosted a family BBQ at her house and we were joined their by all of her children (more cousins!). The food and family were all fantastic!

Grandma led us on a hike to the school house she attended as a little girl.

On our last night, Pete cooked us dinner of raspberry pancakes with his homemade syrup. Both were delicious!

So that is the highlight reel for our Michigan trip. Tomorrow I will try to get a blog post from our RAGBRAI trip.

Hope all is well.

RAGBRAI - Day 4

I am sitting in the air-conditioned library in Charles City Iowa, in a comfortable seat and not having to pedal!



We have had 4 terrific days of riding, with good weather, OK winds, and wonderful scenery. The first day was hilly, the second day we added the Karras Loop to the 80 mile day to get to 100 miles and yesterday was a hot riding day as the temps rose into the 90's. We spent last night in Clear Lake, Iowa and the lake was a lifesaver. We stood in the water for a while, letting the water lap away the heat of the day. Many bikers just parked their bikes near the beach and jumped into the water in their biking clothes! There was a delightful breeze off the lake which kept us comfortable and we really missed it when we walked back to our campsite.



Today we had a short day, only 54 miles, and got an early start so we arrived in Charles City around 10:30 AM. Jim and I found a campsite in the shade and spread out our stuff to claim enough space for the other's in our small group to set up tents.



Last night we read of threats of a thunder storm and we hoped it would happen because when we climbed into the tent to try to sleep at 9:30 PM, it was still 85 degrees with 78 % humidity. Being in the tent was like being in a sweatbox! But we fell asleep because we had ridden 66 miles that day. Around 2:00 AM we awoke to rain hitting our tent, lightening illuminating the tent and thunder filling the silence of a sleeping campground. It rained hard for about an hour with an impressive sound and light show, then the storms moved on and we went back to sleep.



The roads were still wet when we started out this morning, but that did not pose a problem and dried out fairly quickly.



So far today my food intake has included a banana, cinammon/apple/nut french toast, gatorade, a fruit smoothie, a handful of almonds, a handful of raisens, a chicken kebob, pasta salad, and 2 shnickerdoodles. Tonight we will go to a local church that is having a Taco Bar for dinner. You can imagine how much I got to eat on my 100 mile day!!



Tomorrow we ride 82 miles to Waterloo, where there is a big water park. I am hoping we can play there during the afternoon!



I guess that is all for now. I have a time limit on this library computer.



Hope all is well.

My Stole

My pink cloud of a stole is completed and I am thrilled with how it looks. Check it out for yourself.

Today I started a secret knitting project so I cannot share any details. And, Corey, I have not forgotten your afghan, it is too darn hot to knit on that!

Yesterday I went on a bike ride with Sally and Pam down along the lake shore all the way over to Culver Road.
We looped around SeaBreeze, dropping down to the Irondequoit Bay Bridge and then up a new bike trail to Durand Blvd. As we were biking west on Pattonwood Drive, I felt like I was riding on a bumpy road and looked down to discover a flat tire~ on my rear wheel! So we stopped, found a place in the shade, and started the process to replace the tube. I got the wheel off, no problem, but then had quite a wrestling match trying to get the tire off the wheel. That tire had never been off the wheel and it was not coming off willingly. One guy who was riding by stopped to help and together we were able to get the tire irons under the edge of the tire enough to get it off the rim. By now the sweat it pouring off of me and I had to mop up with my bandana before I could continue to replace the tube. One good aspect of having this flat tire was that I got to try my new CO2 cartridge inflation system, which eliminates having to pump up the tire. Once we figured out how to use the cartridge, it was super fast~whooosh~and the tire was properly inflated! I like it! The only problem with this system is that I now have a useless CO2 cartridge. I have to see if the bike shops have a way to recycle the spent cartridges. Sally had a time deadline so could not stay around while I fixed my tire, which was fine, especially since 3 guys stopped to help us, and Pam and I were not even looking like damsels in distress! Pam and I continued on our ride, heading to Schallers for lunch. The sky was getting darker and darker as we approached Schallers and while we were eating our cheeseburgers on hard rolls, the rain came along with the thunder and lightening! And then it rained some more, so we sat in the restaurant. Sally had driven back to Schallers in her car to warn us of these storms and told us to sit tight because the rain should not last long. Well, an hour or more later, we called Pam's Jim and he came and rescued us! What a day on the bikes!

On Monday I picked up my Maxwell Creek Farm share and was thrilled to find more sugar snap peas and blueberries among other things. Here is a photo of our share.

Tonight we rode our bikes to Spencerport to have dinner with friends, Steve and Julie. We enjoyed the company and the food at The Taste of Texas BBQ.

Hope all is well.

I'm Back!

I know that it has been awhile since I have updated The Empty Nest blog, so this will be a overview of the past couple of weeks. I have lost some of my enthusiasm for doing this~Jim blames it on my activity on Facebook~ but maybe I can get back into the writing routine. Some people have told me that they do enjoy reading this and would miss it if I stopped so I will give it a go again.

I'll do this re-cap as a photo journal with captions. Here goes. Let me start with our Fourth of July trip to Jenny Lake. Gram and GrandDad were there (of course!) along with brother Jim, MaryAnne, and Zach. Corey joined us to, to fill the table on the porch!

Morning at Jenny Lake

Real men do dishes!

Jim caught fish every night we went out!

Niece HannahLyn came to town for the weekend. Here she is helping Corey and Grandma to make dinner. I was the brains behind the meal, they did all the work!

Abbotts, a Rochester classic!

Sunset at the beach.

Going canoeing on the canal.

Launching the boat.

Taking Grandma for a ride.

Dinner at the Villages.

Finished knitting my stole! This is a pre-blocked photo.

Soaking the stole.

Help blocking (stretching/shaping) the stole. Will be ready to model tomorrow!

Today I set a new personal best mark for bicycling. Jim and I went for a ride and we averaged 16.6 mph!!! That is fast, for me! We went 24.4 miles and were cruising. I am looking forward to RAGBRAI!

HannahLyn leaves tomorrow after a wonderful 4 day visit. We were thrilled to get to spend some time with her.

Hope all is well.

Top Ten Bike Ride

Now I have been on a lot of bike rides, hundreds, perhaps thousands and today I went on a ride that made my Top Ten list of bike rides.

After leaving school at 10:40 AM for the last time this school year, I headed east on the Thruway to Jenny Lake. I made a stop in Syracuse to go for a short ride with Corey. I told him that I had about an hour to ride and that I did not need to do all the hills in Syracuse in that hour. So he took me on a great ride that included 3 good hills, a bakery and a yarn store!! A bakery and a yarn store~ that boy earned major points for that ride. My cyclometer wasn't working but we think we went about 10 miles but they were great miles! So, thanks Corey for a great ride and thanks for waiting for me at the top of the hills! We also made a stop at the Clark Reservation State Park to look at a very pretty glacial formed lake. It was a great ride.

I got to Jenny Lake about 5;30 PM, arriving about an hour after Jim, Maryanne and Zach. I arrived in time for a great meatloaf dinner with fresh green beans from Maryanne's garden. And later tonight I will have some Adirondack Bear Paw ice-cream for a bedtime snack. That should allow for very sweet dreams.

Time to go for a walk.

Hope all is well.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Dad! A girl couldn't ask for a better Dad. You've been there for me and my family whenever we have needed you! Love You!

It's been a while since I have written, but mostly it's been a lot of work and things going on in the evening have prevented me from sitting at the computer at night.

Here is a photo of last weeks Maxwell Creek farm share.

The strawberries were again yummy, but the best treat was the super-fresh sugar snap peas~and we had enough for 2 dinners. The challenge this week was what to do with swiss chard. After an internet search I found a recipe where the swiss chard was an important ingredient in a sauce for pasta. So I made that tonight for dinner and it was a keeper recipe. Grandma and Corey joined us for dinner and it was well received by all.

Today we had an early start as Jim and Corey were running in the 5K race at Frontier Field and I was a volunteer who was supposed to report at 6:30 AM!! Jim and Corey ran well enough to win the Father/Son category once again. That is a Father's Day gift that means the most to Jim.

When we left the house this morning, Jim put my bike in the car and as soon as my volunteering responsibilities were over and I saw Jim and Corey cross the finish line I changed into my biking clothes and rode out of Frontier Field, in search of my 1, 000th biking mile of this year! Yesterday I rode 34 miles, heading west to Brockport. Today I left Frontier Field and headed south on the Genesee River trail to the Canal trail. From there I rode to Fairport and then home. Once Jim got home, he jumped on his bike (because the race was not enough exercise!) and rode on the Canal trail to meet me. Somewhere between Fairport and Pittsford I rode my 1,000th mile. I look forward to school being finished so I can ride more regularly.

Friday night we went to retirement party for a music teacher at Odyssey who was an important part of both boys' lives. The party was held at a gorgeous home on the lake in Irondequoit and we got to see many friends and other teachers from Odyssey. We didn't stay as long as we would have liked because I needed to be at the Redwings baseball game because my school was having a family night there and I was one of the organizers. Some of our students and parents held the big flag for the national anthem. It was a great night to be at the ballpark and a good time was had by all.

Saturday I recruited Jim and Corey to help pick strawberries and in no time we had picked 4 quarts and 3 pints.

This is my last week of school. We have the children for 3.5 days but we have 4.5 days left. I can hardly wait for summer vacation!

We talked to Tucker tonight and his garden is recovering from a big hail storm.

Hope all is well.

Fun with Produce!

Monday afternoon I picked up our second delivery of our CSA produce. Here is a photo of what we got this week.

From the top left, we have field greens, kale, rhubarb, garlic scapes, a head of lettuce, strawberries and asparagus.

We have eaten more asparagus in the past 2 weeks than in any other time in our lives! Corey helped us discover that when we grill the asparagus it tasted a bit like whatever we last cooked on the grill (burgers, steak, etc.)! Corey and Jim also discovered that asparagus can be very useful when trying to keep the baked beans from getting all over the rest of the food on the plate!

I had to do some research to see how I could use the kale and I came across a Four Cheese and Kale pizza recipe. This looked and sounded good so that is what I made for dinner tonight. I chopped up the last 3 spears of asparagus and a few of the garlic scapes and sauteed them with the kale. This went on top of the pizza crust along with a 6-cheese Italian mix from Sargento. It was delicious and a keeper of a recipe!

This weekend I will buy/pick some more local strawberries and make a Rhubarb and Strawberry Crisp. This CSA produce share has been a wonderful gift from Tucker and Corey.

While Corey was home he pulled out the horseshoes and played a bunch of games with his friends and Jim. This first photo documents that accuracy is important and the second one shows Corey in action.

Tomorrow is Field Day at school and I think we are ready. The weather is supposed to be good and we have a good number of volunteers scheduled to come in to help. This has been a crazy week at school preparing for Field Day, going in early and staying late.

Tomorrow (June 11) is my Mom's birthday.Happy Birthday, Mom! I am so glad that most of the year we live close so that we can be an active part of each other's life. Have a good day.

Hope all is well.