An Inflatable SURPISE!!!

7-30-2014
Sail #9

 Well we finally made it back to the boat last night after what seemed like forever! It was really just 10 days but felt like weeks. We both had missed the water and were so ready to get back out there. The winds though were not really cooperating. While we had a breeze for most of the day it had all but died by the time we got to the lake.
 Even though the wind was not blowing hard enough to sail I was not too bothered by it as I had other plans in store for tonight. While Cindy was out playing with her sister in Havasu her birthday surprise had been delivered to the hanger. I took advantage of her being gone to get it wrapped up and placed inside the Memory Maker Sunday afternoon. I had several little surprises waiting on her when she got home and after she found all of those I told her she had one more to find. She looked all over the house, a couple of times, but could not find anything. She even accused me of leading her on just to get a good laugh out her. I assured her there was one more surprise and that she would know when she saw it. Then I reminded her that it took her 3 days to see the paddles I had put up at the top of the gable on the front porch so I was sure she would eventually find this one too LOL!
 Arriving at the sailing association we found our Memory maker sitting patiently waiting on our return. I was glad to see that the surprise was still sitting inside her on the table. Helps being tall enough to peak in the windows. I unlocked the companionway then went about other task so that Cindy would be the one who opened the cabin to find her surprise. As you can see in this video, I think she liked it!

 All this past winter and spring when we would talk about our idea of how sailing would be we always seemed to return to the idea that in the evenings when we would anchor I could fish while Cindy would paddle her paddleboard around the cove. Well after unsuccessfully trying to find a way to carry Patsy, Cindy's rigid paddleboard, aboard the boat I knew exactly what I was getting her for her birthday. Patsy was a huge hit for her birthday last year and I was pretty sure a inflatable board to carry aboard the boat would be a huge hit as well. I am glad to say I was right!
 After Cindy calmed down and we got Patsy II, or P squared, to go with M squared, we finished up getting ready to launch and then headed over to the ramp. Cindy is continuing to learn how to back the trailer down the ramp and did a fine job of getting us in the water. We made quick work of the launch and I picked up my lil lady at the dock then headed out across the lake. The wind was still dead so we just motored along heading to our favorite cove on the south shore.
 Once anchored we set about getting Patsy II ready for her maiden voyage. I used the electric air pump I got to use with the inflatable boat we took to Michigan to inflate the board up as much as I could. The electric pump is only good for 1 psi and the board requires 15 psi so I had to switch to the hand pump to finish bringing the board up to pressure. It took just a few minutes of pumping and the board was rock hard. So far so good. We added a bungee cord to the front tie down rings so Cindy could carry a life preserver on it as Indiana considers paddleboards to be vessels and you have to have a pfd on board. We attached the rear fin to the board then tied a painter line to the front tie down ring so we could tie her off to the boat when she was in the water. After dropping the port lifeline we slide all 10 1/2' off her into the water and she floated for the first time!!!  After putting the paddle together and getting it adjusted for Cindy's height it was time for Cindy to give it a go. Sitting on the port side of the boat Cindy stepped onto P squared and away she went!

 Cindy paddled all over the cove we were anchored in. I watched her some with the binoculars and could see her looking down into the water for fish then looking up in the trees the whole time wearing a big smile on her face. While Cindy paddled I worked on one of our floaty chairs that had a leak in it. I found the two pin holes and repaired them then installed the new rubber bumpers that the pop top rest on when it is down.

 Our online buddy in Massachusetts who was the only other person I could find who owned a Hunter 20 like ours had bought new bumpers for their boat. He had enough left over for another boat so he kindly sent them to us. Many thanks Rob, they worked great! The old ones were so brittle they were breaking apart and falling off just leaving the screws in their place.
 Cindy came paddling her way back to the boat after a nice tour of the cove

 still wearing that same happy smile, and fortunately, she still had her bottoms on this time LOL!!! Unlike the night she paddleboarded with Libby at Grouse Ridge. Long story that she still refuses to share on the blog...
 We were both getting hungry so after sharing a beverage in the cockpit it was time to fire up the grill and cook some dinner. It was perfect evening to have dinner on the water as we practically had the lake to ourselves. The water was calm and although we both wished we could have sailed some it was still great fun to just motor out and play on the water. There is just something very calming about a relaxing evening on the water. Soon it was time to sit down and enjoy our dinner of corn on the cob and steak ka bobs. The sweet corn was maybe the best we had this season as it was so sweet and flavorful. I really think cooking it on the grill with the husk still on it helps seal in the flavor. It is like it gets steamed inside the husk.
 After dinner was done and dishes were washed and put away I asked Cindy if she would mind if I gave P squared a go. She was thrilled to see me try her out, I think half hoping I would fall off and she would get a great pic of me dripping wet. Well I did not fall off but she did get an awesome pic of me!

 Upon my return to the Memory Maker we dried off P Squared and deflated her which turned out to be really easy. We rolled her up, put her bag in her travel bag, and tucked her away under the cockpit seats then headed back to port. Cindy had not slept well the previous night thanks to the time zone change from playing out on the west coast and was about to fall asleep on me as we motored back across the lake. Cindy did an awesome job of lining the boat up on the trailer and she slid half way up the bunk boards making my task of winching the Memory Maker back onto the trailer much easier. We put our girl back to bed and then headed home to bed ourselves.
 Cindy was a very happy lil lady on the ride home. She had been talking about inflatable paddle boards all summer and really wanted one but I kept telling her they were too expensive. Luckily they have come down in price quite a bit and I looked and looked till I found a deal I could not pass up. After seeing Cindy's reaction when she unwrapped it and the happiness on her face as she paddled back to the boat it was worth every penny. Plus now next year when we go to MI on vacation with the gang we can take P squared along with us as she does not take up much room at all.
 After how much Cindy loved the paddleboard I got her for her birthday last year I was really sweating what to get her this year that she would like just as much. I am glad to say I hit it out of the park back to back years! Now I can start worrying about what to get her for next birthday!!!

Vacation Time!!! Day 5

7-14-2014

Time to head home...

 Monday morning in Empire MI found me sleeping in next to my beautiful lil lady instead of crawling out of bed at 5 am to go fishing. The 48 hour fishing licenses that Bill and I bought had expired and we deflated the boat yesterday. Time to sleep in and enjoy a lil R&R before heading south.
 We meet Bill and Libby downstairs for breakfast while Jerry and Amy loaded their things in their car. They stopped and sat with us a bit before heading off to have breakfast with the friend of theirs they ran into yesterday at Sleeping Bear Dunes while they were waiting on us to discover that lake Michigan was a long way off! After breakfast and saying our good byes we loaded up Pearl and settled up with Holly before we slowly pulled away from the Cottonwood.
 Our plan for the drive home was a simple one. Take our time and if we saw something that we wanted to stop and check out we were going to do just that. We told friends of ours that have a place at Bear Lake, that is just maybe 45 mins south of Empire, that we would stop by for a visit on our way back so that was the first real planned stop. Before leaving town we had to make one more pass by the beach and sink our feet in the sand one last time. We walked along the beach a ways but ran out of room between the tall grass and the water. Last year there was a wide area between the water and the grass. At first I was perplexed why the grass had grown so far out then it hit me. The grass had not grown, the lake had! With all the ice cover this past winter and run off from all the melting snow the lakes were up quite a bit. There would have been no way to ride a sand bike from Empire to Sleeping Bear Dunes this year like we did last year. Cindy picked up a souvenir rock and we headed south.
 Amy had asked us earlier if we saw the fly fishing shop in the small town south of Empire on the way up. I missed it so we were on the look out for it on the way back. We found it in Benzonia so we pulled in to check it out. It was called Backcast Fly shop and was rally a pretty neat little store. They had great prices on embroidered t shirts with fly fishing logos so I had to get one for myself and one for Dottie for taking care of boys while we were gone.
 Back on the road we soon arrived at Scott and Mary's for a quick visit. They have a neat lil vacation cabin on Bear Lake and were up for a week. If you follow our blog you might remember that they had us up last summer and Scott gave us our only "real" sailing lesson. While the lesson did not go as smoothly as I am sure he had hoped it would it did firmly plant the seed in us that we wanted a sailboat! Scott was not home as he was still sailing in Traverse Bay so we visited with Mary a bit before continuing on down the road. We hope to have them down to sail with us on the Memory Maker soon.
 Just east of Luddington MI we stopped at a really neat cabin furnishings store that we had seen last year but did not get to stop. What a cool store! I wanted one of everything! One of the things I saw that I really liked was a canoe being paddled by two raccoons.

 I have always had a soft spot for raccoons and after raising Remy the raccoon I am kinda attached to the lil buggers. It was a bit pricey, ok it was crazy expensive,  and  Cindy questioned my sanity for wanting to give that much for it. Sadly I left it behind, but I have their number!!! The store, like Sleeping Bear Dunes, was much larger than it appeared to be from the road as it just went on and on. We had to get out of there before our charge cards got overheated! Turns out that the store is also a showroom for custom wood stairways like you would see in million dollar log cabins. I should have taken a pic of the stairway I was standing on when I took this pic as it was a massive spiral stairway made from a the whole log of a tree. It was really something to see.
 After both of us got a bad case of the "got a have its" we continued our journey home. We had brought along our styro foam cooler that we had bought on return trip home last year so we could bring home more blueberries and cherries this year. So we had to stop to get some on the way back as we were all but out of blueberries. The cherries we bought last year barely made it home before they were all gone. We decided to stop at the same road side market we stopped at last year which is just north of Holland MI. Pulling in we saw that they had hickory bent wood double rocking chairs sitting out front. Now Cindy and I have been wanting a double snow shoe rocking chair for sometime but I have not been able to find a good deal on one so we were still looking for something like that. We want something we can pull right up in front of the fire and sit in together on cold winter nights. We bee lined it for the rockers and tried them out. Oh my they were so comfy!!! As we sat rocking in them we each took turns guessing how much they might want for them. I think we settled on 599 or more. We agreed if it was a reasonable price we needed it but we both felt it was going to way more than we wanted to give. We finally got up and got our produce we stopped for. While paying for the produce Cindy nonchalantly asked how much the double rockers were. I think we were both a bit shocked when the girl said 299!!! I finally found my voice as I was so excited( hey, it's the little things in life that get me) and told her that if it was ok to see if we could get it in our car we would take one. She said go for it so out we went to unload Pearl in the parking lot and see if we could get the chair to go inside her rear door. After several tries and maybe 15 minutes of trying this way then that way our chances of getting this rocker home were not looking good. I contemplated tying it down to the roof rack but it was such an odd shape I did not see anyway that was going to work either.  I could see that Cindy was clearly bummed we were not going to be able to get it so I said lets try it one more time. This time we turned it around, flipped it over and, turned it upside down as I did not think we had tried that combination yet. It went in a lot further but still stopped with about  1 1/2" of the runner catching at the top of the door opening. It was so close and I was not going to let a 1 1/2" keep me from getting a great deal on a double hickory rocker. If I could just get the part I was holding to drop down a bit more I think it would go. Then it hit me! I had to put the spare tire on the week before when we got the flat tire at the sailing association and I remembered that there is more room under the floor where the spare tire is kept. So we took it back out and removed the floor and tried it again.

IT WENT IN!!!!!! Now we just had to cram all our luggage, an inflatable boat, kayak paddle, and a cooler full of blueberries and cherries back in around the chair.

 It took a bit of shoving and squeezing but it all went in and the doors actually shut without any need of assistance from hydraulic rams so we were good to go!!! We were both excited at the great deal we got. I don't think that we were even out of the parking lot before Cindy said "You know what this means don't you?" I didn't but I was pretty sure I was about to find out. Cindy informed me that "Now the couch is going to have to get replaced". Why is it that one thing always leads to another, to another, etc? Now not only is the couch on the chopping block but our end tables are getting the axe to. I will give her that one as our end table is actually a piece of outside furniture that I brought inside to temporarily serve the purpose. So now I am making new end table to match the dining room table I made. the couch might have to wait just a bit longer though.
 It is already mid afternoon and we had not made it very far down the road. I don't think either of us really cared as we did not want to see our fun trip end any sooner than it absolutely had to. We soon found ourselves stopping again just another hour into the trip home because we can't let a chance to stop in South Have pass us by. We headed straight for the Black River tavern for a beverage and snacks. While there I had to take a pic looking out at the lighthouse and send it to gang to see if they could tell where were

 The lighthouse looks kinda small in the pic so they were unable to figure it out. Turns out they were all driving in a pouring rain storm in the Indianapolis area so we were glad we were not in a hurry to get back. If we timed it right we would get home after the storms passed. After our snack at the Black River Tavern we took another walk our to the lighthouse and back, then got Cindy a shirt see saw on the trip up that she wanted but did not get. Amy texted us and told us about an antique store a few blocks to our south that had a lot sailboat and camping items in it so south we went. We found the store but did not have much time to look around before they closed. Cindy was still able to find a few treasures that would be returning home with us ;-)
 By now it is 6 pm and we still have a good 5 hour drive in good traffic ahead of us. We both knew we should really get on the road and try to focus on getting home. Reality sucks. We tried our best to keep our eyes on the road so we would not see anything else we wanted to stop and check out. We did slow down going through Lapaz, IN which is where the shop was that had the wooden canoe we had stopped and looked at on the way up but luckily the shop was closed. Probably a good thing as the last thing I needed was another project.
 The hours ticked away as the miles behind us added up. Michigan got smaller and smaller in the rear view mirror and I was bummed to leave as it such an enjoyable trip. I had really enjoyed having Cindy by my side almost constantly for the past 5 days and I knew once we pulled in the driveway the vacation was over and it was back to the real world. Thanks to a rolling convoy of trucks hauling really long concrete stringers for the new over passes over I 65 on the south side of Indy our vacation was going to last just a bit longer as it took a while to get past the construction. But it was not long before we were turning onto our road and the reality that our fun trip was about to end. Edward and Wilson were thrilled to see us as tail were wagging at warp speed! Fortunately the rocker came out a whole lot easier than it went in and we were unpacked in fairly short order. It was a little past midnight when crawled into bed and I joked how once again we made the most of every minute in a 24 hour day.
 That is one of the really awesome things about Cindy and I. We don't have to be on vacation to make the most of every day we have together. I seems like I don't get much sleep anymore as we are always dragging in at some late hour from playing somewhere! It all kinda re-enforces the signature on my emails that says "Life is Good, Live it Large". While Life is good(really it awesome now that Cindy is in it) life is short. So we live it Large, and we live it NOW!!!!

Vacation Time!!!! Day 4

7-13-14
Day 4

 The alarm seemed to go off just as soon as I got to sleep this morning. In reality I had gotten more sleep last night than the previous night but my butt was dragging a bit due to the non stop fun and all the activities we were doing. I again woke up at five to meet Bill to go fishing. Stepping outside revealed it was not "dark" again this morning. In fact it was even brighter this morning than yesterday. Probably due to the full moon that was just stunning.
 We had left the boat in the barn so it just took a few minutes to tie it down and head to South Bar lake. We were on the water by 5:30 and although it was still technically dark we could see just fine. I am thinking I could get used to life up north in the summers with the days that don't end and views of the moon like this one!

 We had hoped for calmer winds today but we were starting to get the feeling that along the beach the wind is always blowing off Lake Michigan. We stayed close to the west shore this morning to keep from getting pushed by the wind as much as possible. With the cold front passing last night the fishing was a bit slower than the day before but we caught quite a few bluegills but none the size of the ones we were catching yesterday. Darn fickle fish.
 We fished till about 8 when we decided we better head in so as not to be late. We had another busy day planned today with a bike ride to Sleeping Baer Dunes and  Glenn Arbor on the books. We paddled back to the beach to get out and both of us had a severe case of stiff knees as we crawled out of the boat. Had the water been warmer I think Bill would have preferred to just roll out of the boat and crawl to shore! Once we were up on the sidewalk I looked up and saw two love birds sitting on the wall looking out over the lake as the enjoyed their coffee.

 I took a quick pic and sent it to their phones and just waited. It was not too long before I saw Amy look down at her phone and then slowly turn her head around to see me waving back at them. My, how technology has changed our lives today. You drive 8 hours north only to have your pic sent to you from across the parking lot as you enjoy your morning coffee.
 Back at the Cottonwood we carbed up on yummy homemade bread and blueberry muffins to help prepare us for the upcoming bike ride. I was having a bit of discomfort in my chest from where a pulled a muscle while kayaking on Friday. We managed to get stuck on a submerged log and while pushing us off it I pulled a chest muscle. Little did I know how much that was going to come into play today.
 Jerry and Amy had brought their bikes with them so they were getting all ready to head out after breakfast

while we had to drive into town to get our rentals. We all had a good laugh over Jerry's padded biking pants. The razing we gave him was all to disguise our jealousy for not having our own padded riding pants!
 Once we all got saddled up on our rented mounts we headed off up the Heritage Trail towards Sleeping Bear Dunes. We can't say enough good things about the trail. It is really, really nice and we can't wait for them to get it completed all the way to Traverse City. Hopefully it is done when we go back next year. Along the ride Amy snapped a great selfie with us all in it!

 Not to be outdone I had to try my hand at action video while we made our way down the trail

 The more we rode and the steeper the hills got the more the muscle issue in my chest was starting to really bother me. Each time I would take a really deep breath it felt like I was being stabbed in the chest! I was a fess with a brace on my left wrist from cracking my bone to a stabbing pain in my chest. Being a man and not wanting to seem like the weak leak I continued on, taking very quick shallow breaths.
 We arrived at the Sleeping Bear Dunes parking area and were greeted with the sight of one large pile of sand!!!

 A two dimensional pic just can't show how steep and tall the dunes really are. I don't think any of us did any real research on the dune trail as we all thought you just climbed up to the top that we could see from the parking lot and bam, there is lake Michigan. Well..... That is not the case! Had I just looked at the map that hung over the table that Holly served breakfast on every morning back at the Cottonwood I would have clearly seen it is quite a trek to the lake from the parking area. So with blissful ignorance Cindy and I take off up the dunes with Libby and Bill. Jerry and Amy stayed behind and took a few action shots along our climb

 Still clueless about the fact the lake was over a mile away we raced to the top wanting to be the first to see the lake

only to discover that one, you need to be able to take really deep breathes without having stabbing pains while climbing the dunes and two, that the lake is not over the first dune but is in fact another hour hike further west!!!
 We climbed a bluff a little ways down the trail that let us see Lake Michigan and Manitou island to the northwest and it gave us a great view of Lil Glenn and Glenn Lakes to the southeast.

 Bill and the girls with Lil Glenn Lake in the distance. Look how small the people coming up the trail look in the lower right corner of the pic. What story would be complete with a pic of me with my beautiful lil lady?

 Let's just say the walk back down was much easier than the hike up!!!

 The sand was really soft and you would sink half way up to your knees in most places. No wonder it is constantly shifting from the winds blowing across it. We made it back to Jerry and Amy and the bikes without me stroking out on everyone from taking such short breaths. The whole time I was just hoping I did not hyperventilate from my screwed up breathing pattern.
 While they waited on us Jerry and Amy ran into a friend theirs who has a house on Lil Glenn lake and was out for a bike ride. They also talked with a park ranger who told them about the life saving station museum to our north. So off we went in search of the museum on our way to Glenn Arbor.  
   The museum is actually at a little "town" called Glenn Haven. The town originally sat on the northwest part of Sleeping Bear Dune's beach but it was being buried with sand so they moved it to the southwest part of Sleeping Bear Bay. The life saving station was used to rescue boats that got into trouble out in the bay or the straights between SBD and Manitou island. According to the info there were a lot of ship wrecks there in the early days. They had a large row boat inside a boat house that sat on a special railroad type track that lead to the bay. When they needed to go help out a boat that was in distress they would open the doors to the boat house and roll the large row boat to the water where they would launch it. They also had a "cannon" type launcher that would launch a projectile with a 1200' rope tied to it out to boats in need. If they got lucky and got the rope close to the boat they could grab the rope, tie it off to the boat and get pulled in. While there we ventured down to the beach area. What a beautiful beach and if you did not know better, or get in the water, you would have thought you were at Cape Hatterus! Cindy and I had to at least get out feet wet, no matter how darn cold the water was!!!

 Guees which feet are mine!

 

 

The water in Sleeping Bear Bay was clear and blue and view across it was beautiful. Just a lil on the chilly side, like maybe mid 50's if you took the temp in a very shallow place!!! But there were people out swimming in it so either they liked cold water or they were training for the local Polar Bear plunge in July!!!

 We got back on the road and pedaled on into Glenn Arbor for lunch. After our trip up to Empire last year a friend of Cindy's who comes up to this area a lot told her we stopped 10 miles too soon and that we should have gone up to Glenn Arbor. Well, he was right. We found ourselves there everyday of our trip! Such a neat little town. Today we decided to eat lunch at the Boondocks restaurant on the corner of M22. We got lucky and they had a one table left outside on the deck! We all got a cold beverage with our lunch and enjoyed the wonderful weather.

 

 After lunch we strolled around the town and found the sister store to the shirt shop we had been at in Traverse City the day before. Again they had really cool shirts for very reasonable prices. Of course we had to buy some more and I got a sweatshirt for my daughter while Cindy got a shirt for her daughter and grandson. Like Sleeping Bear Dunes the town is a bit deceiving in size. It has a four way stop instead of a stop light and just driving through it on the main streets it seems quite small but once you start walking around you find it has several side streets with many shops little shops lining them. By the time 3 in the afternoon rolled around Bill and I were starting to feel the effects of getting up at 5 am every morning to fish

 

It just took a few minutes in a comfy chair for Bill to doze off LOL! We got him back on his feet and headed off to do some wine tasting on the edge of town. The wine there was a bit more on the dry side and being on bikes gave us a good excuse not to buy any. Before long it was time to head back to Empire as we wanted to make sure we got back in time to make it to the bluffs for the sunset tonight. We were hopeful that with the sunny skies we have had all day we would be treated to a beautiful sunset tonight.

  The ride back was defiantly more up hill than the ride to Glenn Arbor. There were a few places that were pretty steep and I was really struggling. I was fine as long as I did not have to completely fill my lungs. Once I got to where I needed to take a deep breathe I was really in pain. Such a fess! I wound up bringing up the rear of the pack on the steep hills but would take the lead again once I got my blood oxygen level back in the safe range and the fear of passing out had passed LOL!

  We made it back to Empire after a fun ride and returned our rentals. Back at the Cottonwood we had time for quick showers before it was time to, yep, you guessed it, eat again!!! I swear we consumed a lot of calories on this trip! We decided to give Joe's Friendly tavern in Empire a try tonight. Luckily we beat the rush and they sat us as soon as we walked in. Being a Sunday night I am not sure how big the rush might have been but we beat it anyway. We laughed so much over dinner I thought I was going to die with the stabbing pain in my chest! Who knew having such a good time could be this painful???

 After a yummy snack it was time to head back to the bluffs for the sunset we had been waiting the whole trip for. This time the hike to the bluffs was at a much more leisurely pace and we were not all winded when the lake came into view. There were several other people already there when we got there but they soon trickled out and we pretty much had our area to ourselves as posed for one last group shot

 

 Poor Jerry, we gave him such a hard time while he was trying to take our pic using his camera on a small table top tripod that he sat on the bench in front of us. He was pressing the button then running back through the sand to take his position next to Amy. The first attempt he clipped the bench and knocked the camera over. The second try was a failure as we had no idea when the camera was going to take the pic. The third try Amy was taking her glasses off. Well, you get the idea. Finally a young couple came walking up and she offered to take the pic for us. Good thing as Jerry was starting to look winded LOL!

 While we all waited for the Kodak moment I snapped one of Jerry and Amy

and of Bill and Libby waiting on the sunset

 and one of Cindy taking a selfie of herself

Before long it was time for the moment we had been waiting on since watching the sunset from this same spot a year before.

 

 All too quickly the sun slipped down below the horizon and was gone for another day. It is just such a beautiful place to watch the sun set. As Cindy and I watched the sun go to bed we talked about how cool it would be to be sailing out there and watching it from the helm of our boat. Maybe someday.

 Heading back to the cars we had hopes of sitting by a fire on the beach again but it seems Sunday night must be the night all the locals go hang out at the beach as all the fire rings were taken. We tried hovering around one in hopes they might get the hint but to no avail. We were all wore out and tomorrow was going to be a long day with the drive home so we gave up and headed back to the Cottonwood for some much needed sleep. On the drive from the beach we caught sight of the moon rising up over the hills to the east. It looked huge as it was still really low in the sky and we could scale it visually in respect to trees. I know Cindy, like me, was dreading the fact that this was our last night here. It is just such a wonderful area that makes you feel like you are stepping back in time to a simpler era. With no McDonalds and no WalMart it almost makes you wonder how we ever survived without places like that now that we have had them. But once you get away from them you learn to slow down, relax, and do a little better job of planning ahead.

 Sleep came easy once we climbed into bed. There is just something nice about being wore out when you go to bed. It makes for a short transition between being awake and being asleep. I was asleep in 3 short steps. All it took was spooning with my lady as I pulled her close, I gave Cindy one last kiss good night before I closed my eyes, and then it was lights out!

Vacation Time!!!! Day 3

7-12-2014
Day 3

 Saturday morning in Empire seemed to come all too quickly. It might have had something to do with the fact that we did not get back to the room till almost midnight and it might also had something to do with the fact that I was getting up at 5 am to meet Bill to go fishing!
 One thing I noticed while we were on the beach last night was that the sky really did not get dark. Even though it was midnight with cloud cover I could still see. It was not like high noon but it was not total darkness that I would have expected either. After meeting Bill downstairs we ventured out to the barn to get our car and go in search of a cup of coffee. Again I noticed how bright the night was. It was still an hour till sunrise but it was not dark. Being at 45 degrees north of the equator we were 7 degrees of latitude north of what we are used too and with it being so close to the summer solstice it must make a really noticeable difference in the amount of light at night from the sun being so far north.
 Bill and I wound up driving back to Glenn Arbor in search of some place open we could get a cup of coffee at but when the sun goes down around that area the stores shut down and don't open again till the sun comes back up. We gave up our search and headed back to the beach parking lot at Empire beach which is right between Lake MI and South Bar lake that we would be fishing. We got our inflatable boat out and used the 12 volt pump I got for it to air it up. Much better than blowing it up by mouth! While airing up the boat the park ranger stopped by to chat. He told us about how locals catch pike on Mett's spinners and what to ask for at the local bait shop. We told him we were fly fishing and he told us where the gills were probably hiding at and that there were dog fish in the lake. I had never heard of a dogfish before and he assured us we would know it we caught one. I jokingly said that he probably thought we were crazy with  an inflatable boat. He assured us we were fine as he had seen everything through the years.
 With our boat inflated

 

and 6 am past so our licensees were valid we hit the water in search of the big one! Actually we just wanted to catch something so our idea did not seem so crazy to the rest of the gang LOL. Bill struck first with this fine example of a baby blue gill

 

 

 

 

 

 

I landed a nice blue gill shortly there after

 

Removing our fear that we were not going to catch anything. We caught several more bluegills before heading over to the west side of the lake to try and find some place we  could fish that was out of the wind as we were getting blown all over the place on the east side. We were in a calm inlet that had wood walls that went down into the water along the edge and lilly pads covering most of the inlet. There was just enough open water in areas to cast our poppers. We were just a few cast into that area when Bill hooked what he thought was a bass but it immediately wrapped the line around a group of lilly pads. The line went slack and we both though the fish had gotten off the hook. Since it was closer to the back of the boat where I was I told him I would get his popper free for him. I pulled the boat over to the group of Lilly pads that his line was wrapped around and started working on getting him free. The water in South Bar lake was so clear we could easily see down close to eight feet so once I got the vegetation cleared back to where I could see I could tell that the fish was still on!!!! I told Bill it was still on the hook and I could see it and he was going "Get it, Get it!!!!" I rolled up my sleeve as far as I could and dove my arm deep. I got to the fish and slipped my left thumb in it's mouth and proceeded to put a death grip on it! While holding onto the fish I worked on getting the line free so I could brig him up. With Bill's constant encouragement I was able to get the line freed and handed him his fish. Bill was smilling from ear to ear and sounding like a teenage girl who just met her teen idol. He just kept saying "take my picture, take my picture!!" I went to take his pic but I could see every molar in his mouth so I had him tone it down just a bit but as you can see he had a lot to be smiling about!

 

 

 

 

 

A 22", 4 1/2 lb large  mouth taken on a 3/4 wt fly rod and reel with a popper design more blue gill than bass is definitely something worth smiling about!!! After we made sure the picture took and was good we released this fine catch back into South Bar lake. He just floated beside our boat for a second or two before slowly diving down below the lilly pads where he came from. Now who are the crazy ones for taking a 40 dollar inflatable boat fishing in MI????

 We would have stayed and fished all day after that but we told the girls we would be back for breakfast so we paddled back to the beach to get out. I was too cheap to pay the 20 extra dollars they wanted for the actual oars that went with the boat so I just brought one kayak paddle and broke it down into two paddles. Not ideal but it worked.

 We got everything loaded up and the boat tied on the roof of Pearl for the short trip back to the house. I let Bill tell the others about his catch at breakfast then I proceeded to give him a hard time. It was my idea to fish, I got the boat, I took him to get the license, then he thanks me by catching the whopper!!! I was just thrilled we caught something, the big bass was just the icing on the cake! Plus we could go out and try it again the next morning too since we had a 48 hour license.

 After breakfast we all met back downstairs and headed off to Traverse City to take in the Cherry Festival. In my head I had the image of this semi hootie tootie wine tasting affair so I wore cargo pants and nice shirt. First mistake, as we were outside most of the time and while it was not hot it was a bit muggy and we had to walk a lot. So I got a bit warm after a bit. We had no idea that Traverse City swells to 10 times it's normal population on parade weekend either. So instead of 40,000, there are close to 400,000 there! We could not find parking so after stopping in a Mc Donalds to regroup a nice parking lot attendant told us about a free shuttle service from the college back to town. So off we go to the college parking lot on the east side of town. While the brochure he gave us said buses ran every 30 mins we had to wait close to an hour due to the buses shuttling the marathon runners around as well. So now we have a Cherry Festival, a parade(not just a parade but a 3 1/2 hour parade!), and a marathon! Holy smokes no wonder the place is packed!

Cindy and I made the best of it and sat in the back of Pearl and finished off the wine we had left over from the night before. I know what you are thinking, left over wine? Did I mention we ate way too much the night before???

 We finally got a ride downtown and started making our way through all the shops. It was probably a really neat lilt town during normal population levels but on parade day it was insane. Luckily most people came to see the parade so the stores, the ones that were open during the parade, were not too crowded. We found Cindy a really cute lil stand up paddling shirt at the first shop we went to. We went into the Orvis fly fishing store but everything in there was for a different class of fly fisherman than myself. I like to catch fish on fly rod but I have no clue how to "fly fish" so I did not need anything they had to offer. We found a nice shirt shop with awesome prices on all their clothes. I think we made 3 trips there and bought something each time we went in. I mean 3 pre shrunk shirts for 18 bucks with neat designs on them. What a deal!

 We meet the others for lunch at the Traverse City Brew pub and enjoyed a nice snack because God knows we were all having a calorie deficiency!!!! I told the others on the way back to Indiana that my body was in total shock as I had not eaten three times a day with snacks for four days  in a row since I had been living in the dorms at college!!!

 At the end of our visit we decided to just walk back to the car thinking that we closer to the cars than we were the place where they said they could pick us back up. I think that was fuzzy math as it was quite a hike to the cars. Luckily one of my purchases was a short sleeve shirt so I changed on the way and was much cooler.

 On the way back to Empire Cindy and I detoured through the harbor at Traverse City. After telling Cindy about my  idea of us going to sailing school at Traverse City Marina she really wanted to check it out. We went to the public Marina and talked to them as the place that puts on the lessons is a private club. Plus, we were hoping we might run into Capt Scott who was up in the bay sailing somewhere. Scott was healed over at the time as he was sailing further north in the bay and was unable to answer his phone when we called him. So we just strolled up and down the slips looking at the sailboats and getting paint scheme ideas for the Memory Maker. One really nice thing about being best friends with the one you love is that something as simple as just walking and looking at boats is fun. I am not sure we are any closer to nailing down our paint scheme but it was neat to look at all the boats. I still fear that if we were to do the sailing school and spend 4 days on a 30 foot sailboat I would never get her back on our lil 20 footer! There will have to be a written, signed, witnessed and recorded agreement prior to sailing school stating we will not be getting a bigger boat!!!

 After getting back to the Cottonwood and taking a lil nap we met back up with the others for dinner back in Glenn Arbor at Art's Tavern. Amy said they are known for their tator tots. On the way there I am thinking what can be special about tator tots? I had in my head that thy were handmade right there on site or something special like that. Nope, just big brown paper bags full of frozen tator tots!!!! It kinda cracked me up. It had been a long time, since I was eating lunch in grade school, that I had seen tator tots come in brown paper bags! Cindy and I were still full from our last big meal so we just split a platter or tots. Wow, they sure give you more than enough tator tots! We ate till we were stuffed then kept picking away at the ones that were left over. We laughed so hard during dinner several time I was fearful of loosing my tots!

 It was late when we left Art's so the others headed back to  the inn but Cindy and I headed to beach to sit by a fire for a bit. Sure enough, there was a open fire pit with a fire already lit just waiting on us. We just got sat down when something hit Cindy's leg. She was trying to figure what it was when I heard several more hits in the fire followed by the sizzles. The rain was upon us so we high tailed it back to Pearl.

 It had been another long but very fun day and we were tired so we just idled back to the Cottonwood and cuddled in bed while we watch a lil tv. I am sure I did not last very long before I was out like a light. Who knew having this much fun vacationing was so exhausting???



Vacation Time!!! Day two

7-12-2014
Day 2

 We woke up Friday morning in Paw Paw MI after a good nights sleep. Excited to get the rest of our journey to Empire MI started we all elected to skip the free breakfast and head north in hopes of finding some neat place to eat along the way.
 As we drove north towards Holland MI Cindy searched for restaurants on her phone. A local place called the Biscuit got 5 stars and sounded like some place we needed to give a try. After running it past the rest of the gang all GPS's were guiding us to the Biscuit. I have no idea how many navigational aides we had running between three cars but I don't think any of them picked the same route! I was in the lead so the others just followed me. Our route took us through a residential area making me wonder if we had the right address programmed in. Finally I could see a grouping of larger buildings and a round a bout ahead. If there is one thing I love to find while driving is a good round a bout! My record is 13 laps around a round about!!! I took the gang on a lap of the round a bout and they must have all thought I was lost as they followed me around! We soon found parking spots and headed into the Biscuit.
 The Biscuit was a really neat place to eat. We described it as eclectic urban somewhat "upscale" local dining. While there were a few items on the menu I was not familiar with they had plenty of the "standard" breakfast items to meet my needs. I elected to go with the Farmer's special which had just about one of everything on the menu! Everything was delicious and I had to let Libby try my blueberry pancakes. It seems Libby is always trying whatever I order. It got started with her wanting to "learn" to like salmon. Since I usually get salmon or some sort of fish wherever we go she is always sampling my salmon!
 Breakfast was filled with large amounts of laughter. So much so I was a bit fearful we might be disturbing the others dining there. It seems the "Gang" can't go anywhere or do anything without large amounts of laughter. We all get along great and we always seem to have a great time when we all get together. Amy had us all in tears when she broke out her legal pad full of trip notes! Seems she had been doing a lot researching for activities and neat places to see on our trip. She said she had already had to strike off several things as we have either passed them up or found other things along the way. I thought I was into doing research LOL.
 After thoroughly stuffing ourselves at the Biscuit, that we all gave 5 stars, we got back on the road with Jerry leading us to Fox Barn winery. One thing we love to do is try out different wineries during our travels and it is not uncommon for a trip to take Cindy and I twice as long as it should if we find several wineries along the way! Arriving at Fox Barn winery we were met with great weather and beautiful scenery. The barn the winery is in is really cool and we even got to see another wooden barn being built on our drive in. We all looked around the gift shop and saw a lot of neat items we had not seen elsewhere. Cindy and I found a wine stopper with a sailboat on it that we had to have. Making our way to the tasting bar and introducing the girls behind the bar to our rowdy bunch we got down to business and started tasting their wines. We were impressed from the start with how good their wines were. We are all pretty much sweet wine drinkers. Some of can choke down a semi sweet when needed but we all lean towards the sweeter wines. They started us out with a semi sweet red that was really yummy and it just got sweeter and better the more we tried. We all had a favorite picked out by the time we got to the "specialty wines". One of the their signature wines is a asparagus wine. Yes, I said asparagus wine! Not being a real big asparagus eater to begin with I was a bit hesitant but we all paid our two bucks for a taste. Now when the lady at the tasting bar tells you not to smell something before you drink it that should tell you something. After a well timed joke by Bill that had us all laughing we made a toast, held our breath(myself not good enough), and took a taste. Well, all I can say is that it tasted pretty much like I thought it would and I did not care for it at all. Libby and I both described it as nasty and much worse that the "fuel oil" wine we had in Madison. I tried, unsuccessfully, to get one of my two dollars back that I gave them for the tasting as I only choked down about half of my sample!
 Bill bought a bottle for us all to share on the patio so a toast to a great vacation was necessary

 After our wine on the patio we headed north up through the country as we made our way back to highway 31. It was during this "off the planned route" excursion that we came along Silver Lake. As we came up over a hill heading north we could see the sand dunes in front of us and Siler lake at the end of the road. One of the really neat things about the dunes at Silver lake is that it is a state park that allows you to drive on the dunes. There are places that rent dune buggies, four wheelers, and other all terrain type of vehicles for you to drive the dunes with. Cindy and I marked that as a must do on a later trip!
 We made our way back to 31 and continued on northward till we arrived at the Cottonwood Inn in Empire MI which is where we would all be staying for the next three days. We all found our rooms, dropped off our luggage, and changed into kayaking clothes as we were headed to kayak the Crystal river just up the road in Glenn Arbor. Again, MI and what they call a river cracks us up!
 We found our way to Glenn Arbor and located Crystal River Kayak rentals. After the usually paperwork and trip briefing we loaded into a van to head to the put in location. While it was not as sunny or as warm as we would have liked it to been the weather was still very pleasant. Arriving at the put in spot we carried our kayaks to the water and loaded up what little gear we needed. Of course I had to take a few pics at the start.

Here we are waiting our turn to take off.

 Here is Jerry and Amy in their Otter heading out.

 and here comes Bill and Libby heading out into the mighty Crystal river. Ok, that was a stretch. The river, while clear(thanks to the sand bottom) and beautiful, is far from mighty, or deep. Most places were barely a foot deep with plenty of places so shallow we would drag floating over them. The river was not very wide either, maybe averaging 50-60 feet in most places. But it had a current to help keep us moving along which was nice. We had to pass under several fallen trees along the way which we used as practice for the tube shootin we would be doing a little late in the journey down the river.

 Just one of the obstacles we had to maneuver around and under.

 Here is the rest of the gang making their way under the trees. With all this hard paddling we were all soon in need of some liquid refreshments and Amy came through with a delicious bottle of cold blackberry wine that she got back when we all went xc skiing in Angola IN last January. I was just amazed she could keep a bottle of wine for that long. They never make it that long around our house!!!

 Here we are all sharing a yummy treat on the water. Good thing too as the tube was just ahead and we would need all the liquid courage we could get to survive Shootin the Tube!!!
  Cindy and I were in the lead when it came time to shoot the tube as I told the others I would video them coming out once we got through to the other side. My plan was to hold the video camera while Cindy guided us into the tube and film our journey through it. As you can see in the video all went as planned and Cindy did an awesome job directing us right into the tube which is not real easy trying to drive a tandem kayak from the front seat.

 

 As you can see we all handle the tube with ease as it was not near as hard as they tried to make it out to be. Luckily the water was pretty low or Jerry might have a lost a hair or two as he passed through the tube!

 We all had a good laugh just pass the tube as we came along a couple sitting in metal lawn chairs in the river sharing a glass of wine. We all said hello as we passed by them but one of us had to ask what kind of wine they were enjoying. The man very snootily responded back" Bordeaux" in the most pretentious of ways. We all had a good chuckles as we each did our best impersonations of him once we rounded the next bend in the river.

 As we made our way back to the take out the current really started to die out on us so we actually had to paddle a little to keep going. With water so clear we could see all the bottom we kept looking for fish but with the exception of the occasional minnow we saw very few and none of any real size. We had one last portage to make across a road before the last short run to the livery. The slope on the side of the road where we put back in at was pretty steep so getting a great idea I had Cindy get in the kayak up front then I gave the kayak a healthy shove down the incline sending her sliding towards the water. About the time I gave it a big shove Cindy questioned my idea asking "Do you think this is a good ideaaaaaaa?!?!?" as she slid down the hill into the water. The nose dove down into the water as the wave came up over the bow. Cindy made it look easy but continued on down stream a bit without me. The water was not very deep there, maybe knee deep, but still plenty chilly thanks to the slow warm up this season. Luckily she loves me an back paddled back up to get me.

 Our kayaking trip soon came to a end as we reached the livery on the edge of the "river". After returning our equipment and thanking the workers we headed back into Glenn Arbor to see what we could find for dinner. We all decided to give the Good Harbor Grill a go for dinner. After a brief wait we all went about making our dinner selections. I of course went for salmon, which Libby had to sample. They served the salads in a large bowl for the whole table and we all commented on how good the ranch dressing was. We thought it must have been homemade. The food was really pretty good and it appeared the restaurant did a good business as it was packed the whole time we were there.

 After dinner we hurried back to the Cottonwood Inn to change into something a bit warmer before we headed off to Empire Bluffs to watch the sunset. It had been mostly cloudy the whole day but we were hopeful that the skies would clear and we would get to see the sunset. Unfortunately we were running a bit late and had to run through parts of the trail in order to get to the bluffs before dark but as it turned out it really did not matter as the skies never cleared so we got to watch the clouds go from grey to black instead. We still posed for seflie  just for our own memories

 

 Not nearly as nice of  backdrop as we had last year on trip there but still pretty none the less. Any pic with Cindy in it is a pretty pic! We all held out hope that we would get another chance for sunset pics before we left. We took a more leisurely paced stroll back to the cars on our return trip from the bluffs then headed down to the beach to sit around a fire pit. One of the things we like most about Empire are the open fires they have on the beach at night. We still have no clue who starts them, wither it be guest or the town, but we have just been able to walk up, find a open fire, and sit down and enjoy it. This time I did take a bundle of wood with us so we could keep it going a bit longer.
 Sure enough we walked down onto the beach and right to an already lit fire. We all pulled our folding camp chairs and proceeded to snack on smores and Jiffy Pop. Amy got a good laugh when she heard the Jiffy Pop starting to pop. Seems it had been some time since she had last seen it.
 While we enjoyed our snacks and a bottle of wine from Fox Barn winery with the sounds of the waves from Lake Michigan washing on shore I talked with Bill about what time we wanted to get up to go fishing in the morning. Amy had a great laugh about our inflatable boat idea and fishing from it. Before long everyone had joined in and had a good belly laugh over it! Let's just say Bill and I would be the ones with the last laugh the next morning!
 We ended the second day of our 2014 Michigan vacation curled up the way we end everyday, curled up in each other's arms. We relived the day and shared our hopes for a fun tomorrow before our eye lids slowly fell over eyes bringing a great day to very happy ending...

Vacation time! Day one

7-10-14

 Vacation time had finally arrived! Those of you who follow our blog are probably thinking why would two people who have so much fun everyday need a vacation? Well, I can kinda understand that line of thinking see how I see my life today with Cindy as a constant vacation! We look forward to getting out and exploring, seeing and trying new things, tasting wine from different areas, and just having fun so vacationing we shall go!
 This year we planned to return to the Empire MI area that we visited last summer. We fell in love with that area and the sensation that we were stepping back in time. Empire seems far removed from the hustle and bustle that you will find n most vacation towns today. It is a small town with just a few streets, one flashing lights, only a few choices for dining and lodging, but a it has an irresistible atmosphere to us. The beach is beautiful and watching the sunset from the bluffs south of town are breath taking. It is one of the few beaches we can think of that not only allows you to have a fire at night but almost encourages it! We still have not figured out if the town starts the fires in the fire rings or other visitors do but most times we can just walk up to a fire and sit down. With such few options for lodging most people day visit so once the sun goes down the town rolls up the rugs and shuts down leaving it to the few visitors lucky enough to find a place to stay and the locals. Basically it just shuts downs and you have the place to yourself! Leaving there on our way home last year both of us could not wait to get back! So this year we are returning and bringing two other couples with us to share in the fun.
 Vacationing for me tends be quite stressful as with my work schedule determined by the weather I am always struggling to get everything flown so I can take off. This year I really lucked out and was able to get everything shot a few days before we were scheduled to leave. That never happens! I hesitantly suggested to Cindy that if nothing called in that maybe we could leave early on Thursday and drive up to South Haven and play all day before meeting the gang at the hotel in Paw Paw MI that evening. We all had different schedules for getting out of town so we decided to all drive separately. I feared I might jinx our chances if I mentioned it but I took the chances and suggested it anyway. Cindy was really excited at the idea and each day she would ask me as soon as I got home if anything had called in yet. Wednesday came and while we did have a job call in it would not be ready in time for me to fly so I told the office I was bailing out of town a day early!
 Thursday came and we could not wait to get Pearl all loaded up and hit the road. We said good by to the boys and left them each with a new bone to chew on. They new something was up. I needed to make a quick stop by Walmart in town and purchase a inflatable boat for Bill and I to fish out of, (more about that later) a quick stop by the drive through at Mc Donald's for breakfast and a coke for the road. Then it was northbound with the hammer down!
 We had a good chuckle as the very first thing we saw pulling onto I65 was a Ford explorer from Kentucky with a bike strapped to the back glass of the rear hatch. A picture can do a much better job of describing it than I can

 Now I know it does not look that funny but what you can't see in the pic is that they tied the ropes around the tailpipe!!! Plus it would take a giant to reach the them as they had used a rack that was designed to go on a hatch back car, not the back hatch of a SUV! We just found it quite funny.
 It was beautiful day for driving as it was fairly cool since we are having anything but a typical July. The sky went from clear to cloudy as we headed north but it was still a pleasant weather day. On the north side of Indy we made a quick stop by a very nice fly fishing shop called Fly Masters. We were greeted by the shop dog, Seth, a beautiful golden retriever who was more interested in the treat inside his Kong than he was us, but he did at least acknowledge our arrival before returning to getting his treats out of the kong. I needed to pick up some more snaps for my fly rod and I knew they would have them. Cindy headed for the clothing section and found a really nice long sleeve shirt she just had to get for me. Who was I to say no to a new fly fishing shirt??? While shopping we overheard a lady who was buying a starter outfit as she wanted to learn how to fly fish. We both thought that was really cool. Guess that means that Dottie is not the only fly fishing lady out there.
 We were soon back on the road to the land up north. One nice thing I like about going to Empire is that we spend a lot of time on non interstate type roads. I don't mind driving on interstates but there is nothing more aggravating to me than getting stuck in traffic on one. Once we got of 465 at Indy and hit 31 north the rest of trip would be almost entirely state roads the rest of the way. Not only do I find that more enjoyable it also allows us to stop and look at things along the way.  Point proven when passing through the small town of Lapaz, IN when we spied a wooden canoe outside a antique store. U turn time!!! We looked around the small shop and talked with the lady about the canoe before returning to our travels. As we continued north we discussed our options on the canoe and how much cash we might have left on our return trip. Luckily we did not set any plans in stone as our cash on hand was probably a bit less on our return trip than we had forecasted LOL.
 It was a around noon that we crossed the state line into Michigan and almost as if by magic the skies cleared

  and we heard angles singing. OK, the angels were a stretch, but I know I heard something! We had all been watching the forecast for the past few weeks as we tried to get an idea on what to expect weather wise. According to the forecast we should have good weather for Thursday and Friday with rain moving in for the rest of the trip. So far they are batting a 1000 as today is picture perfect in Michigan! It was funny as we could see the clouds just to our east as we headed north up 31 towards South Haven. They were sitting about 10-15 miles inland from the shoreline. Must be the cold water over the lake. After one missed turn, thank you GPS, we finally arrived at South Haven!!! If you have never been there you really should stop by if you are ever in the area. It is just such a neat lil town right on the lake with a river that runs through it that they have built a harbor around.

 
 It is full of neat little shops, antique stores, restaurants, and bars! We made our way to Weiner Winery, say that 3 times fast, to partake of our first Michigan wines of the trip. It was there that we discovered that we are "non traditional" wine drinkers. I guess since we prefer to actually "drink" our wine, instead of sipping it as we act like we love the taste of vinegar(i.e. dry wine), it makes us "non traditional". Call us what you want, we like to drink, and sometimes guzzle, our wine! Their wines were really pretty good according to our palate and the young man working the counter was very nice. He gave us some dining suggestions for good food in town. We left the tasting room headed to the restaurant he suggested but we were soon side tracked by a sign just a few doors down for 5 dollar Long Island iced teas! Did I mention we are suckers for cheap Long Islands? Plus they had outside dining. Seriously, how can you go wrong with outside dining and 5 dollar Long Islands???
 Cindy and I sat in the sunshine and talked while we enjoyed a few of the Long Island specials. I guess now would be a good time to mention that if you have never had a Long Island or watched one being made they are pretty much all alcohol but if made properly you really don't taste it. Must be why we love them! Not only were these a deal at 5 bucks they were really really good! We still wanted to do some shopping and go see the beach so we decided we better skip the third round and head out. Good call as when I stood up I could tell they did not skimp on the alcohol when they made them. Time to walk it off LOL!
 We headed off towards the surf shop we stopped in last year on our quick visit to South Haven. Not sure what we were looking for but I soon spied a super cute lil blue dress that was beggin to be huggin Cindy' curves! After a lil coaxing, the Long Island's helped, Cindy was headed to the dressing room to try it on. I offered to help her out in the changing room but my she declined my assistance( should have had another round). Cindy came out and did a little spin for me. Can we say "SOLD"? The dress was coming with us! Off to see more shops. It must have been the light breakfast we had but we were feeling no pain as we made our way in and out of the shops. It was a gorgeous day so we headed down the hill to the lighthouse that sits at the mouth of their harbor. It is quite deceptive as it looks like it is just a few blocks out to it but I bet it is close a mile out there. Cindy still can't get over the fact that there is no rail along the edge. You could just jump in the water if you wanted to, it is posted that it is illegal to do so, but there is no physical barrier stopping you from doing so. No trip to a lighthouse would be complete without a selfie!

 Walking back to town we had the sun to our backs and realized we had company walking back with us

 They were going the same direction we were and seemed to be mocking our every move(did I mention they were really good Long Islands!!!)!
 Making our way back to own we stumbled across a really neat shop with a very large cat sitting in the door way looking out. We had to go in to check it out as the window display of neat clothes were like candy to Cindy. It was called Davana G and if you get to South Haven you have to stop by and say hello to Dan and Patricia, the shop owners, and their kitty cats and puppy. Cindy soon found a dress she liked and headed off to the changing room to try it on while Dan offered me a seat in a large "man chair". I thanked him for the offer and said I was good but jokingly said I would take a beer if he had one. To which he replied "what kind would you like?" Now this is my kind of store! While Dan and I talked over a couple of cold Bud Lights Cindy tried on several dresses. She looked awesome in all of them but finally got down to two choices. A ivory lace dress that I thought she looked stunning in and a pretty lil lavender number that she really liked. Being a woman she had a hard time choosing so I made the problem go away by saying we would take them both so long as I got a private fashion show when we got to the hotel room! Problem solved!
 We continued to walk around South Have for a bit more just enjoying the sights. Such a pretty little town. What is about towns on the water that embrace their water front? There is just something laid back about them that I like. Granted it is probably a tourist trap but everyone seems very friendly and the views are awesome so all is good. Again, we highly recommend you stop in South Haven and check it out for yourself if you are ever in the area. We think you will probably agree with us that is a fun little town.
 The time came for us to head down the road a few miles to Paw Paw MI where we had a room reserved for the night. Due to having to walk off our beverages we were not going to make there in time to check out the two wineries in town. Weiner winery that we visited in South Haven has a tasting room built on a "river" that runs through town and it sits right next to St Julian winery, the oldest winery in Michigan. Just a FYI about the term "river" in Michigan. They are very liberal in what they call a river. I am to the point that I think if you can't jump across it they call it a river. It got comical after a while to see a river sign and look to see how small it really was. I know we crossed a few "rivers" that we would struggle to call a ditch in Indiana!
 Checked in and un packed at hotel room I held Cindy to the promise she made me back in South have of the private fashion show. Lets just say I can really get into private fashion shows!!! All three dresses I got her were like the perfect frame wrapped around a beautiful painting. Something tells me I would get kicked out of a real fashion show ;-)  Exhausted from the fashion show we settled in for some tv time while we waited for the others to arrive. We are like two kids at Christmas when we stay some place that has cable or satellite as we do not have it at the lodge. We are so busy that we barely have time to watch the news on tv and I have a real issue with satellite tv installers and the way they run their wires. Just look up satellite tv installations on youtube if you want to see why I have issues. There are some real geniuses out there when it comes to running wires. Since they won't send me the equipment and let me install it we have gone without it.  I digress. It was not long before Libby and Bill knocked on our door. They stopped to say hello on their way to their room but said they would be back in a bit. After settling in they returned to visit a bit and talk about our plans for the next day. I noticed something odd about Bill's smile and then realized he had a dark spot on his front tooth. It looked like Stiffler's tooth when he ate the dog turd truffle on American Pie's wedding movie! Not wanting to be rude I did not say anything thinking maybe he had a snack back in their room but then the laughter started. It finally hit me as what it really was. The goof ball had put a dark brown lipstick on his lips and when he laughed he looked like the Joker!!!! It was a hoot and we all had a good belly laugh over that one. Seems Libby stopped to get some make up on the way up and got the lipstick for free. She did not want it but Bill was like "give me that, I have an idea". It was a great one and we told him he would have to wear it for Jerry and Amy when they got there.
 It was a hilarious end to our first day on vacation. We turned in after that and slept like a couple hibernating bears all night long. As we laid there nuddling before falling to sleep we talked about how nice it was to finally get away and just take a break. The first day had been so much fun we could not wait to see what they next few days had in store for us!!!