A trip we will remeber forever!!! Day three, New Year's Eve

 I finally cracked my eyes open sometime after 8 am local time. We were all snuggly warm in our sleeping bag with the quilt over us. My core temperature had finally returned to a more normal level and Cindy was sleeping soundly curled up tightly next to me with her head on my shoulder. All was right in the world again. I could see outside although it was far from bright. The low clouds were still overhead which blocked out the morning light. The cabin was cooler than it was the night before but still warmer than we keep the lodge back home.
 I finally forced myself to get up and get things going for the day while I let Cindy sleep a bit longer. I started off by getting a fire going back in the nuclear oven, aka, wood stove. I was going to do things a bit differently today in hopes of avoiding another naked cool down outside at 1 am. Today I was going to leave the door open while we were there so the stove would not build up so much heat. Might use a bit more wood that way but it would be much cooler in the cabin. The park provides the wood for the stove and most of it was white bark birch. I had seen a video on youtube about extracting the oil from birch bark so I knew the bark would probably burn very well. I was right as I took some bark someone had already peeled off the tree and brought in to dry and placed it on the hot coals left over from last night's run away reactor episode. With just a few puffs of breath on the coals the bark ignited and burned very well. A few pieces of split kindling and then some more wood and we were back in business.
 After fire starting 101, I got ready to make our breakfast of apple cinnamon muffins, peeled oranges, and oj with coffee, white hot chocolate with butterscotch schnapps for the lil lady who was still sleeping soundly. You have to understand that although we are staying in rustic cabin with no electricity and outside potty we were far from ruffing it. I knew in order to make this trip something that Cindy would enjoy I would need to step up my game a bit which was the biggest reason it took us four sled loads to get everything back to the cabin. Not only did we haul in all 10 bottles of wine but we had a 24 qt cooler, a single burner gas stove, a collapsible oven, and numerous other cooking devices along with everything else. We were far from ruffing it.
 I was very excited to finally get to try out the Coleman Camp oven I had bought for our trip.

 All the reviews I had read and videos I had watched made me feel reasonably sure it would work. After I got it all put together which takes just a minute or two I sat it on the stove and started preheating it. By now Cindy was up and getting ready to run to the potty. Did I mention it was hovering just above 0 and the wind was still howling? So Cindy was bundling up for the 100 foot trek to the outside facilities. While Cindy was out I set off the smoke alarm as the shipping oil cooked off the oven. Maybe I should have heated it up once before we left home. Oh well. With the muffin mix in the muffin pan and the oven preheated I slid the pan in the oven and shut the door. The one suggestion I might make to Coleman on the oven would be that a viewing window would be really sweet.

 I went off the suggested time and by the time the muffins were done Cindy was back inside warming up by the stove and the table was ready for our first breakfast on the shores of lake Superior.

 Breakfast was really yummy and I could have eaten 6 more muffins. 16 miles the day before left me with quite the appetite. I started cleaning up after we were finished while someone crawled back in bed for just a quick lil nap. Cindy was out like a light as soon as her head hit the pillow. I piddled around the cabin and kept the fire going while my lady rested up for another day on the trails.
 It was really nice to just be able to sit and stare out the window. Very seldom do I get "free" time at home as there is always something I need to be doing and usually stay busy till I crash at night. This day I just sat and watched Cindy sleep, I love to do that, and read the cabin's journal.

 Most people who stay in the cabin had written a journal entry and it was fun to read about everyone's experiences. I had to laugh at one guy who thought he was really something for carrying in a small cooler as I looked around at the grocery and liqueur store we carried in! My new motto was "Have pulks, will not suffer" as we were quite comfy in the cabin with everything we brought in. I took a few minutes to make a entry in the journal about our first day in the cabin and warned others to go easy with the stove in hopes of helping the people after us avoid having a night like I did.
 Cindy finally started to stir around noon or so. The wind was still howling along the lake but we bundled up and headed off on our skis anyway. After our experience yesterday with the groomed trails we decided to stick to the non groomed trails in hopes of having better snow. We headed up our trail to the t intersection then went west on the Deer Yard Trail towards the hemlocks. The hemlocks are a stand of virgin timber that for some reason were spared the wrath of the saw when the area was logged off. In some of the pamphlets people left in the cabin I had seen a pic of this area after the logging was done. It looked like a nuclear bomb had been set off as there was not a tree left standing from the shoreline in for several miles. The caption said that a wood pecker would have to pack his lunch if he was going to fly to the lake for a drink! But for some reason a grove of hemlocks was left and you could definitely tell when you reached them as they were large evergreen trees reaching far above all the other trees around them.

                                                              Deep in the hemlocks

 It was sad to see so many of them were starting to die and succumb to gravities constant pull on them as there were several laying on the ground. the trail through them was very pretty though and the wind while still howling above us barely moved the low hanging branches above us. I made the point of telling Cindy that this is where I wanted to ring in the new year at that night at midnight, standing in these beautiful hemlock trees. I think Cindy answered without giving much thought it when she said "Sounds great" .
 We continued along the trail to the up hill portion by the road. From where we parked Pearl to our cabin was about a 165' feet drop to the cabin spread out over a mile. Well if you went west on the trail the climb back up to the road was even higher as the road went up hill just west of where we parked Pearl. The trail was packed ice and very slick so the climb was a bit a challenge but we finally made it up to the road crossing on the trail. The road is closed to everyone but skiers and snowmobilers just west of where we parked Pearl and as we got to the road several sleds did go racing past us heading down into Silver City. After they passed we crossed the road and headed east down to the ski chalet. The wind that had been howling had all but died and we had a really nice ski down to the ski chalet. Again, we were surprised how much more snow there was us just a couple hundred feet from the lake vertically and south of the lake a mile or less. The area right along the lake shoreline definitely receives less of the snow than the inland areas.
 We had a nice break at the chalet and each enjoyed a slice of pizza and carbonated beverage.

While we warmed up by the fire we let Cindy's phone charge up. We had very limited cell coverage but oddly enough we did have one bar in our cabin. So we would turn Cindy's phone on from time to time to get caught up on all her texts. Turned out we could receive texts a lot better than we could send them. After the phone and watch were charged back up we headed down the snow/ice covered drive back to Pearl as we needed to get a few things we left in her. Our skis really got a humming going down the snow packed drive to the Chalet as it was a pretty good hill. Cindy had a bit of an issue there but I was in front and totally missed it.
 Back at Pearl we swapped our waxless skis for antique wood Asnes skis. I had really been looking forward to skiing on them again as we have only had them out once before but we really enjoyed how well they glide versus the new waxless skis. They are probably close to 40 years old but they are super pretty and I updated the bindings so we can use our new ski boots with them. We decided to ski up the road back to the trail that we had so much trouble climbing up on the way to the Chalet. We really should have stopped to think about that before we did it. If it was that steep coming up it, it was going to be really fast going down it and now we had the rocket skis on our feet. Oh well, lesson learned. Cindy was the first to go down the trail once we got to the trail head. She did not go far before she was going faster than she felt comfortable with and seeing how she was rapidly approaching a large hemlock she wisely took a dive. I waited for her to get back up then I started down. To keep from hitting Cindy I had to take a dive before I got to the large hemlock in the turn that got Cindy. It was about now that Cindy started asking me what the trail was rated. Going off my memory, I said easy. Which technically was correct as the first part was rated easy. But the second part, that we were on now, turned out to be rated more difficult and it was suggested to be one way. I think I know why.

 We finally made it down the hill and we skied along very nicely on our old wood skis. There is just something really cool about these skis and we really enjoy skiing on them. We meet a older lady on the trail and chatted a bit with her. She told us the lantern ski was still on for that night which was good news. She said about the only reason they ever cancel it is due to lack of snow. We skied back to the cabin and fed the stove a few more pieces of birch then headed back out to ski the Superior Loop so we would have an idea of what the trail was like before we skied it that night in the dark.
 All along the Superior Loop we saw the blue Dietz lanterns that they would light that night for the lantern ski.

                                                          Superior Loop Lanterns

 As we approached the warming hut we saw a park employee that I recognized to be the park interrupter Bob Wild. I had been emailing back and forth with Bob before our trip checking snow conditions and getting tips on what to bring. We stopped and introduced ourselves and Bob seemed like a super nice guy. We skied on around the loop a little further before turning back due to darkness quickly approaching. It was time to head back to the cabin and wait for the lantern ski to start at 6 pm.
 Back at the cabin we hung up our wet items on the clothesline and played some rummy. I am just learning and Cindy was having a field day cleaning my clock. We shared a nice bottle of wine as we played and just enjoyed being together. I was really thinking that now that Cindy was starting to loose her fear of freezing to death in this cabin in the middle of no where and that she was really starting to relax and enjoy the whole experience. I could tell she was still tired but being the trooper she is she was powering on.
 Shortly after 6 we put our ski gear back on to go do the lantern ski. I had put our thermoses full of warm spiced wine in our packs so we would have a nice warm adult beverage to enjoy around the fire. As we skied out from our cabin under a starlit night sky the moon was providing great illumination. It was the first time we had seen the sky since we arrived in the Porkies and it made for a beautiful night ski. If it was not for the uneven terrain on the trail we could have skied without our headlamps on. As we turned onto the Dear Yard trail we could see the lanterns twinkling in the distance through the woods and it was not long before our trail intersected the Superior loop. It was very neat to ski in the dark with the trail being lit by the lanterns. At one point I had a little issue getting too far off the packed trail trying to ski next to Cindy. Wound up spitting snow for a bit. We both had issues going down the only steep part of the trail where it dropped down to lake level. It was a bit  hard to read the trail with our lamps on their dimmest settings. Again, lesson learned. We finally arrived at the warming hut and joined the others around the fire. We enjoyed a warm cup of wine while talking with others and sharing where everyone was from. There was a single mom with three young kids there and they too were staying in a rustic cabin up on the road. There cabin is the only one you can drive right to. I awarded her the title of being the bravest one there. Rustic cabin with three young kids on your own, think about it LOL! We snapped a pic of Bob

and he returned the favor and snapped on of us while we enjoyed the fire. Cindy looks a bit cold.

We finished off our wine and headed back out to finish the loop then return back to the cabin for dinner.
 Arriving back at the cabin Cindy was wiped out. I did not have to tell her twice to stretch out and take a break while I cooked dinner. Again, she was out like a light. I quietly cooked dinner while Cindy slept which was good as it took a while to get everything prepared. We had picked up steaks and a small shrimp cocktail for our New Year's Eve dinner when we stopped in WI. I used the oven and made some biscuits to go with it. I really need to work on my biscuit recipe as they are like bricks. Would like them better if they were a bit lighter and fluffier. I had set the table and had everything ready to eat before I woke Cindy up. I think her nose woke up first as she was sniffing the air as she opened her eyes. We enjoyed a nice dinner and glass of wine or two. Again, I am really liking the simplicity of life in the woods. No tv, no internet, although by now I had figured out the issue with our radio and we did have some music to go with dinner. It was just very enjoyable and relaxing. I will admit, I was missing our boys. We did not have room for them anyway by the time we loaded up all our gear in Pearl and I am pretty sure Cindy knew getting me to leave to go back to the brown wasteland we live in called Indiana would be much harder had I had the boys with me.
 With dinner done I told Cindy I would clean up. Again, no arguments from her as she laid back down on our bed. I spent the rest of the evening cleaning up, feeding the fire, and reading some more of the journal and other info people had left in the cabin.
 Remember back a few paragraphs where I told Cindy I wanted to ring in the new year standing in the Hemlocks? Well the time had arrived to wake up my beautiful lil lady and see if I could coax her out of her slumber to get all geared up to go back out to ski one more time in 2014? I gently woke her up and reminded her about going to the hemlocks. She did not hit me so I took that as a positive sign. But it was about then that a large gust of wind howled across the cabin. She looked at me asked if that was a wolf? Sadly, I had to reply no, just the wind. Cindy asked if it was going to be blowing the whole time we were out and I assured her it would not be blowing in the hemlocks and we would be fine. Cindy went ahead and got up and quietly got all her ski clothes back on. I knew I was really pushing it at this point but I wanted to give her a trip to remember and what neater way to ring in the new year than doing it in a way that no one else is doing? Sounded good to me. We headed outside to get our skis on with the wind howling and the snow falling down around us. Cindy lead the way out our trail, again, not a peep out of her. As she will tell you, I get nervous when she is quite. I knew I had already asked a lot of out of her taking this trip with me as she was the only one out of the six in our ski group that would even come with me. I feared maybe I was about to cross the line of asking too much. It was a bit blustery but soon I could make out the outline of the large hemlocks even in the total darkness that surrounds you in the north woods. As we entered the hemlocks the wind did in fact die down as not even it cannot penetrate the fluffy bows of the hemlocks. Cindy came to a stop on the trail and quietly said she saw lights up ahead. I told her that was strange and to go check them out. She cautiously skied on and came to a stop in a semicircle of battery operated tea lights that were placed around the trail. I skied past her just far enough to turn around and came back to stand beside her. She had the most surprised look on her face that I had ever seen. I wasn't sure if she was still waking up or was having a hard time processing the situation. I took her hands and wanted to say to her that "I know I had asked a lot of you going on this trip with me but I want to ask you to take one more great adventure with me." but the words got a bit mixed up on the way out. I think my tongue froze to my lips on the way there. I tried to gracefully drop to one knee, still on skis, which was anything but graceful, then reached into my coat and pulled out a ring box as I looked up to a still very stunned Cindy and it was then that I asked her something I should have asked her long before now. With the giant hemlocks as my witness, I asked Cindy to marry me as I opened the ring box, upside down. She did not hesitate to say yes, sigh of relief from me as I feared it might go either way on the ski to the hemlocks. Nearly falling over on my way back up to my feet I discovered the upside down ring box and was very glad it did not fall out. With happy tears flowing down Cindy's cheeks I slid the ring on her finger. I held her close to me in the soft glow of tea lights under the bows of the hemlocks. Just then the fireworks signaling the arrival of the new year started going off up the Keweenaw peninsula. The timing was impeccable!
 Do not feel bad if you did not know I was going to ask as no one knew. I had been planning this moment for well over a year and was really starting to stress when they did not have snow a week before our departure date. I wanted to make this a trip that both of us would remember forever and I think I may have succeeded. To say that Cindy was a lot more livelier and talkative on the ski back to the cabin than on the way to the hemlocks is an understatement. I think it really started to sink in that I had finally asked her on the way back.
  It was some time before Cindy finally wound down enough to go to sleep. With the windows cracked and the fire not on run away mode like the night before it was much more comfortable in the cabin. Cindy was back where she belonged, in my arms with her head on my chest, instead of on the edge of a twin bed trying to escape the heat radiating off of me. All snug in our little cabin we drifted off to sleep for the first time as fiancés with the sound of the wind howling and the waves of lake Superior crashing outside...

A trip we will remember forever!!! Day two

 After a great nights sleep I was up early looking out the window checking to see how much snow we had gotten overnight. With the way the wind was howling it was hard to tell. Heck it was hard to see across the parking lot. It had snowed but who knew how much.
 We made our way down to breakfast and found the coolest waffle maker I had ever seen. There was a batter dispenser where you filled a small cup with batter. Then you poured you batter into the waffle iron and shut the lid. Once the lid was shut you rotated the handle 180 degree to turn the whole iron over. The timer started counting down as soon as the lid was shut. In 2 minutes you opened it up and got your waffle. And a very tasty waffle at that. I wish I had one of those machines here at the lodge.
 After breakfast we took a pic looking out the north side windows to show how close the hotel sits to the lake.

 Cindy was surprised to see the lake right out side the hotel as she was concerned about flooding. The lake happens to be at an almost all time high this season thanks to the ice cover it had last winter that stretched into the summer. As I was taking our things to the car I had to take a pic of all the sleds outside warming up.

 Their owners had come out and fired them up so they could be warming up while they got their gear on inside. We had heard something out our window about 11 the night before. Turns out the sleds got in a bit late. I heard something about a bar crawl in Bergland down the road LOL!
 From the hotel we headed down to the park office to see when we could get our cabin. Someone was a bit anxious to get to the cabin, guilty.  We were a bit early as we could not get in till 3. Bummer. Not a problem though as there were ski trails that started in the back of the parking lot so we just got our gear and headed off. Cindy snapped a pic of me getting ready to go

 Get used to that look on me as that will be what you see for the next few days! As we were gearing up there was a young couple, turned out to be brother and sister, getting ready to leave. We chatted with them a bit and found out they had just spent one night in a yurt then the next night in a cabin. All they had was a large back pack each. Cindy commented there would be no way she could get enough stuff in a back pack to make it one night, much less two! Before long we headed off down a trail into the woods. We were skiing!!!! Finally! Cindy lost her balance in a dip right as we entered the woods and went down. I really thought she had hit her chest on a cut off log so I stopped in a hurry to make sure she was ok. Cindy was fine but in the process I managed to break the two rear feet off my ski pole basket. Wow, 50 feet in and I had already broke something. I was hoping that was not a omen of what might happen later on this trip. I lucked out and was able to still use the pole just fine so all was good.
 As we made our way down the connector trail we saw another couple coming out with a Golden Doodle dog. Harry, the dog, came right up to me so I was scratching his ear. He must have liked it as he just laid down across my skies and took a break. We talked with his parents and it turned out they were also the parents of the two kids we met in the parking lot. They had been taking a family trip to the Porkies for the last 8 or 9 years. Cindy and I thought it was really cool that they could still get their grown kids to still come and hang out with mom and dad in a remote cabin. After talking for a bit Harry finally got up and we all skied on.
 The snow on the ski out was really nice. They had not groomed the trails yet but someone had already skied out so we had tracks to ski in. The woods was so pretty with the snow clinging onto the trees. The trees really blocked the wind so even though it was only about  10 degrees we were nice and warm in our ski gear. Here is the first pic of Cindy skiing in the Porkies

 It was interesting to see that the depth of snow was increasing as we went higher up the hill on our way to the east vista overlook. We had to stop over a small stream and take a selfie on skis, the first of several

 We were using our new Go Pro and I was not aware of how wide the view was as I wound up getting my had in almost every pic I took with it. The whole time we were skiing up there was a light snow falling on us and by the time we got to the east vista we both had a pretty good covering of snow on our heads and gear

Ok, truth be known, some of the snow on me probably came from me falling down shortly before we took this pic. I don't know why it is but it always seems that I manage to fall down just standing still. It is like I forget I am on skis and the next thing I know I am on my back like a turtle! The view from the vista was a obscured by low clouds so we could not see very far but it was still very pretty. But the wind was howling up that high in the opening of the vista so we did not stay there long.
 As we made the turn to go to the vista off the main trail we had passed the ski trail grooming machine coming down the trail. We both thought we would have a great ski on the way down the hill with freshly groomed trails. Boy were we wrong. Instead of smooth fast tracks to ski in we spent most of our time dodging the mud holes!!! Since the temps had been in the 50's less that a week before the ground was not frozen when the snow finally came. So when the groomer drove over the trail the tracks sank through the snow and pulled up the mud in the really wet places. I know they were packing the snow for a base but it still made a awful mess for us to ski through. Not only was it muddy but the grooming also screwed up my mental notes on what trail to take back to the car. So needless to say we missed our turn. Looking back on it we actually stopped to talk to another couple with a dog at the fork in the trail we should have taken. Turned out that while we had to ski through more mud the wrong turn was actually a very good thing as we wound up coming out in the parking lot of the downhill ski chalet! We skied right to the door and went inside to check it out and take advantage of the flushing potties one more time before we headed into the rustic cabin. The chalet turned out to be an awesome find as not only did they have running water but they also had hot food and drinks, and two very large fireplaces with electric outlets to charge Cindy's phone and GPS watch.

 All warmed up  and charged up again we headed off to ski back to the car as it was almost time to get our cabin!! We skied the road back to the car instead of going back on the trails to avoid the mud. The road ran right along the shoreline of lake Superior so we had to take a pic of it

 Behind us in the pic you can see the ground curving out into the lake, that is where our cabin is located at. Once back at the visitors center Cindy used the potty one last time before we headed off to the parking area for our cabin. They time had come to put the pulks to the test!
 Things got pretty busy once we got parked and we started getting everything loaded up. The wind was blowing pretty hard and had we been in Indiana I am sure it would have been called a blizzard. I laid the pulk sleds out and then put the tarps in them that we would use to wrap up everything we were carrying to one keep it in the pulk, and two to help keep the snow out of it. It did not take long and we had our first loads ready to head out. With Cindy in the lead with the lighter load off we went into the woods headed for our cabin. It did not take long for me to realize that a woman's body had the advantage when it came to pulling a pulk. With my scrawny hips my belt that the pulk tracer poles were hooked to started sliding down. I pulled it back up several times but to no avail. It just kept falling down. It finally slid down to my knees so I had to stop and fix my belt. Cindy either did not hear me or was too upset with me for conning her into coming on this insane idea of a fun time. Either way she did not stop, instead she just skied on. I had to make double time, pulling a pulk with 10 bottles of wine and a ton of other stuff in it, to catch up with Cindy but I finally did.
 We finally reached the point where our trail to the Whitetail cabin turned off to the north from the Deer Yard trail. Cindy made the right turn with her pulk in tow and we headed down to our cabin. It was probably another 1/8 of a mile before we started seeing snow covered roof tops coming into view. Turned out it was our potty roof that we saw first, then the wood shed across from that. Finally we could see our cabin sitting in the distance with a nice covering of snow on it's roof.

 The little cabin sitting in the pines and birch trees with the lake in the back ground, I was in heaven! Cindy, quite tired already from a day full of skiing, was hiding her excitement incredibly well. We dropped our pulk belts and went inside to check out our digs. It was not quite the Ritz but it was very cozy. I felt the warmth of the cabin when we walked in as it retains heat quite well and people had been in it the night before. It was a bit dark as it was already starting to get dark outside so we hurried up and unloaded our pulks and headed back out for the second load. As we skied back to Pearl for load #2 Cindy was already starting to worry about being able to stay warm enough in the cabin. I assured her we would be fine.
 Once back to Pearl I had Cindy stay hooked up to her pulk while I loaded her sled. When it is that cold out the less you take your gloves off the better you are and I wanted to keep her warm. So I stuffed my ski gloves in my jacket to keep them warm and put on my thinner gloves so I could feel what I was doing. I loaded Cindy's sled and was doing the burrito wrap with the tarp and fasting the tie downs when two older couples pulled up in a Buick. They had driven up from the Detroit area to visit family and wanted to snowshoe in for the lantern lit ski that was to be held the next night, New Year's eve. The one gentleman asked us if they were still going to have it as he heard they might not due to the cold temps. We told him we thought they were but were not sure. Then he asked if I was familiar with Buckshot as he used to hunt up in that area? I knew that Buckshot was a town that taken over by the park when the established it but I told him we were not from the area and it was our first visit. I then told him we were there to stay in a rustic cabin on the lake for the next two days. His eye brows raised and with a very surprised voice said "SERIOUSLY?" I chuckled and said yes to which he said good luck and they drove away, probably laughing their butts off at us. Cindy and I have several good laughs over "SERIOUSLY?".
By the time I had my pulk loaded and secured it was almost dark. We skied back to the cabin one last time and arrived just as darkness swallowed us up. Once inside I got some lights on for Cindy and lit the fire as she was fearful we would freeze at any moment. Then it was time to unload the pulks and set up house. While the fire got going we chose our bed, there were eight bunks to choose from. Cindy picked the one closest to the woodstove on the bottom bunk. I tried it out and it was a bit firm to say the least so we stole another mattress pad off another bunk and stacked it on the first one. Much better. WE brought sheets, pillows, a double sleeping bag that we share, and a heavy quilt. My last fear was freezing. Little did I know how right I was to fear that the least.
 The cabin already had two clotheslines hung up by the woodstove so we hung up our wet ski gear and put our coats on the hooks next to it.

One nice thing was there were wood pegs to hang things up all over the walls. As the woodstove continued to heat up I got started making supper while Cindy played a game of solitaire. I opened a bottle of wine, now down to nine, and we shared a toast to our adventure. As supper cooked we could hear the wind howl and waves crash on the shoreline below the cabin. We filled our bellies with chicken and pasta in alfredo sauce which was pretty darn tasty. I ate all I could but we still had leftovers. I used canned chicken breast that I browned with spices and then used Bear Creek alfredo and pasta. Was really easy and very tasty.
 After the dishes were done I got out my NOAA weather radio so we could check out the temp and forecast. The automated female voice just kept reading off warning after warning. Lets see, there was a gale warning with winds of 40 knots, a wind chill warning with wind chills below -20, a large wave warning with waves of 20'+ along the western shore of the Keweenaw peninsula, a freezing spray warning, and few others I forget now. We just started laughing as what else could we do? The wind just kept howling outside as we set in our cabin all warm and cozy playing rummy.
 It had been a long day and we were getting tired. We did the math and between the map and Cindy's GPS watch we added up that we had skied about 16 miles. Two of those miles were pulling a loaded pulk, all be it down hill, to the cabin. I guess it was about 10 or so local time that I stoked the stove and shut it down hoping to get a five hour run out of it before I had to get up and feed it again. We crawled into bed and covered up all nice and snug. We laid awake for a bit and talk about our trip so far and what fun things we still had to do. Before long sleep overcame us and we were out like lights.
 It was just a bit past midnight when I woke up unable to breath properly. At first I was perplexed as to why then it hit me, like a blow torch! It was so dam hot in the cabin I was on fire! I have never been so hot in my whole life. I was laying on the side of the bed closest to the woodstove and although I had unzipped the sleeping bag and was laying on top of it, the radiant heat off the stove had cooked me from the inside out! I got up and grabbed my led headlight and found my backpack I wear when we ski. I have a thermometer on it that I use to check the temp of snow so I know what wax to use on our skis. The pack was on the bunk above us and I really wish I had taken a pic of it as it read 105 degrees!!!!  So much for being worried about staying warm. Cindy was still sleeping, or at least trying. I asked her if she was hot, and she said a bit warm. I was well beyond a bit warm. Heck, even my belly button had popped out like a temperature sensor they put in turkeys to tell you when they are done. Seems I had been blocking all the radiant heat from getting to her. I was so hot I had to go stand outside, naked, in the wind and snow with the temp down close to 0 to cool off. I really thought about making a snow angle but figured I would just melt through the snow to the bare ground I was so hot. I finally came back inside the kiln and opened two windows to get some airflow across the cabin. Now one would think that with the temp outside at 0 it would not take long to cool off the cabin. Well, we slept till 5 am with the windows open before I even thought about closing them. As I laid back down in bed I was still roasting. I really hoped that I would get an occasional cool breeze across me to help cool me down but what breezes I did get felt like the heat off a blast furnace by the time it got to me. Normally Cindy and I sleep like two lego blocks but not this night. Even though it was only a twin size mattress she found a way to get away from me. I commented about that and she said I was just too hot to lay next to. Gee thanks. I told her that if that is what a hot flash feels like to women going through men o pause I feel very sorry for them. I finally cooled off enough to get back to sleep. I woke up about 5 and pulled the quilt over us and zipped the sleeping bag as it had finally cooled off enough we needed the covers to stay warm. Cindy asked if I was going to feed the fire. All I said was "are you crazy?" and went back to sleep...

A trip we will remember forever!!! Day one

 I know it has been a while since we have posted but things have been crazy hectic and we have been busy doing a lot of "unfun" things around the house. I had been looking forward to Dec 28th as for over the past year I have been planning a trip to the UP for us. At times it felt like it would never get here but  as Christmas came and went it was soon time to load up Pearl with all our gear and head north!
 Cindy has been trying her best to keep me positive over the past few months by telling me that they will have snow by the time we got there. Last year by the first of December they had 2 plus feet on the ground and lake Superior was already frozen over. This year things were a bit different as after a initial cold blast and 2 to 6 feet of snow in early November the weather turned warm again and all the snow had pretty much melted. Just a week before we were to leave they had no snow and temps in the 50's!!! I was really starting to sweat it but at last a cold front was heading their way and it looked like there was a chance that snow would return in time for us to go. On Friday the 26th of December, the Porkies received 8-10" of snow and temps were below freezing. Our trip was a go, we were headed to the Porkies!!!!
 We spent most of Sunday the 28th practice loading our pulks to make sure we knew how we were going to pack things for our ski into the Whitetail cabin. We then loaded everything into Pearl and parked her in the garage. All that was left to do was wait for the alarm to go off at 4 am on the Monday the 29th so we could take off. Needless to say I did not sleep much the night before. I have wanted to take a trip like this for as long as I could remember and as I laid awake in bed thinking over all the details trying to make sure I had not forgotten anything I thought about the real reason I was getting to take this trip. Without Cindy's willingness and encouragement I probably would never have gotten to go. Then Cindy and I found each other and now not only did I have someone to share fun things with but I also had someone who encouraged me to do things like this. I know this trip was really my dream trip, not Cindy's. I was going to have a great time just being there so my biggest goal of the trip was to do whatever I could to make sure Cindy had a trip she would always remember.
 The alarm finally went off and I sprang from my slumber to get ready to roll. The boys and I went outside and brought Pearl up to the house before I went in to wake up my sleeping beauty. Cindy was not quite as excited as I was but as I learned the night before at the Robert's annual Christmas party, we were traveling at a very un gentlemanly time of day. After packing up a last few items and giving the boys a hug and treat before we left it was time to point north and head off. At 5:02am we were heading down the drive off on our first UP winter adventure.

We are on our way!!!!

 The drive north up 65 went well and just south of the state line with IL we saw a billboard that warned of taxes increasing 20 miles ahead and to shop now as IL has higher sales tax. I heeded the warning and we stopped for McDonalds and gassed up. A few hours later and we were crossing into Wisconsin as we continued north and still no sign of snow. Finally, after 8 hours of driving north, we finally saw our first snow pile in a parking lot. I would have stopped and took a picture of it but a few hours prior my cell phone of the last 3 1/2 years decided to die on me. While it was a bit sad, kinda like loosing a good friend, the time had come to move on and upgrade. I would deal with that later. For now I was focused on finding snow!!!
 Once north of Oshkosk WI we finally started to see snow on the ground. By the time we reached Three Lakes WI there was a good ground cover of 6-8". We had to make a stop in Three Lakes as that happens to be the home of Three Lakes Winery!

 It was a really nice winery and we tasted several types wines we had not sampled before. We picked up two bottles of their red raspberry wine as it was really good.  After the winery stop we paid a visit to local antique shop and Cindy got a few small things. They had a great price on a nice pair of touring snowshoes but I resisted the urge. The fact we barely had any room left in Pearl helped me control me desire to get them.
 We continued north up 45 to Eagle River where we stopped at Trigg grocery store. What a neat grocery store. It was a one stop shop with food, booze, and all the essentials. We picked up what we needed for our New Years Eve dinner and our mimosas for breakfast. It was about Eagle River that the scenery really started to become breath taking. The snow they had gotten a few days earlier was wet and heavy and stuck to all the pine trees like powdered sugar.

 The roads were snow covered now and if you know me very well you know that I love to drive on snow covered roads! I grew up with a dad who probably missed his calling in life. I really think my dad should have been a snow covered road driving instructor. I spent many a mile listening to him instruct the person in front of us how to drive from our car LOL! I digress. Darkness was falling fast as it was about 4:30 local time and we were 600 miles north of Seymour. As we worked our way up 45 into the UP we made a stop for gas along with several snowmobiles, or sleds as the locals call them. They were everywhere. Just before dark we entered the southern edge of the Porkies and it was so pretty!!! There was a snowmobile trail along the side of the road and several passed us as they worked there way back to Ontonagon.

 It was about 20 miles out of Silver City that we came down a steep hill with a right hand turn at the bottom. As we rounded the curve we were looking down the hill at Rockland MI and what a pretty sight it was. It was a sleepy little town that made us feel like we just went back to the 1950's! They still had there Christmas lights up but unfortunately we could not get a good pic of it with Cindy's phone. We did not know it then but we would be paying another visit to Rockland a few days later.
 We continued on from Rockland and soon we were in Ontonagon and heading west along the shoreline of lake Superior to the Americinn at Silver City. We pulled in to more sleds parked in a line in front of the hotel. Sleds get all the good parking spaces. After checking in we unpacked and headed down to the bar to see what smelled so good when we came in. While the bar was a bit dated I felt right at home and of course we had to have a beverage or two!

 The food was really good and the drinks were cold and wet. Prices were very reasonable as well. There was a mix of skiers, snowmobilers, and locals and it seemed that everyone was getting along. After filling our tanks we headed off to our room so I could work out something with Verizon to get a phone. After a hour on the phone with a very helpful Verizon rep I  had finally arranged for a new phone to be dropped shipped to Tonya's house. Tonya owned the Lake of Clouds resort which is where we would be staying the 1st and 2nd after we left the rustic cabin in the park. She was kind enough to allow me to have my shipped to her while we were in the park. By now I to was getting sleepy after the 12 hour drive. Cindy had succumbed to sleep long before so I snuggled up to my little cuddle buddy and drifted off to sleep in my happy place, with my BFF by my side in the north country ;-)

End of the season

10-31-2014

 Well the end of the sailing season has arrived and with sadness we went over to the lake Monday evening and prepped the boat for the long journey home. We had till Nov 1st to move our boat or pay winter storage fees. We were going to do it the day before when we had all afternoon to work but the weather was so nice that someone, not me, did not want to waste it going to get the boat so we went to our favorite winery then to Grouse Ridge lake, AKA Bikini Bottom, for a relaxing float with friends.
 I got off a lil early Monday so I could get all the tools I would need loaded up in the Four Runner. I double checked everything I had to make sure I could handle almost any problem we might run into.
With Cindy still in her immobilization boot from breaking for ankle on a walnut running we had to come up with a different approach for dropping the mast down but I thought I had come up with a workable solution. AS luck would have it the wind was blowing nicely when we arrived at the lake and for just a moment we had a fleeting thought of just one more sail. But knowing anything and everything can go wrong bringing the boat home we elected not to and started preparing her for the ride home.
 I loosened up the standing rigging then positioned Cindy in the cockpit with one of our dock likes ran forward to the forestay hoop. I ran the line through the forestay anchor hoop and then attached it to the forestay cable. Plan was for Cindy to help control the descent of the mast by slowly letting the line out. Cindy, my lady of lil faith in my ideas, was quite concerned about the rope burning through her hands and the mast crashing down onto the rear pulpit. With the forestay cable attaching to the mast close to the top the amount of force she could put on the mast was going to far greater than what I could hold down low so I was confident it would work fine. So after re assuring my lil lady one more time I undid the mast base's front pin and we slowly let the mast down onto the crutch easier that we have ever been able to before. Now guess who the hero was???
 With the mast down and all the lines tied off I jacked up the trailer and checked the bearing both hubs had a li water in them that I purged out with grease from the grease zerks I installed in the hubs back in the spring. After about 45 mins of work it was time to  say good bye to the sailing site one last time for this season and take our Memory Maker home.
 All was going well getting to 446 so we decided to stop at the Scenic View for fish tacos on the way home. We had a yummy dinner with Cindy and her sister each enjoying a few adult beverages as we sat outside enjoying what is probably going to be our last 80 degree day of the season. With tummies full and thirst quenched it was time to finish our journey. All went well and we had a uneventful trip home. Have to love the uneventful trips home pulling a boat.
 We parked our girl in the driveway till we could get time to take the mast and pulpits off and back her into the garage so we can start her winter make over. The plan is to redo the exterior from the keel up. Being 32 years old our old boat is starting to show her age with a dull gel coat and a house exterior latex painted bottom starting to peel off. With a few leaks here and there she just needs some TLC to bring her back in line with how she sails. It is going to be a long winter with a lot of long hours to be put in prepping her for paint, removing the keel and blasting it before repainting it, and then painting the boat.  But we both really enjoy our lil boat and we just want her to look as good as she really is.
 We had put in for the buoy drawing again this year in hopes of getting a coveted buoy at Paynetown state dnr site. Not only was it a bit cheaper than at the sailing site, it was much closer which meant we could sail longer. Well the drawing was last weekend and we elected not to go, someone wanted to sleep in. After calling and finding out we were drawn 7th we felt pretty good about our chances till we found out that they had decided to go with the names drawn last year as they did not award any buoys last year due to a condemned dock. Once we found out we were now 17th on the list instead of 7th Cindy was just sure we would not get one again this year even after the DNR rep told me we were in a better position with last year's number than this years. He said we should hear something by the first of the year. So the waiting game begins.
 Yesterday morning I got a call from the Paynetown office asking if we were still interested in keeping our boat there. I said yes and she asked if we wanted a buoy or a slip. I was like what? A buoy or a slip? She said yes, they had both open. While I was pretty sure I knew the answer I told her I would call her right back as soon as I verified with my partner which they preferred. A quick text and email to Cindy and in a few short minutes I was calling them back saying we wanted a slip!!! Guess the guy was right. We were better off with last year's number!
 Taking the boat apart last night to put her in the garage while bitter sweet, was still done with a lil more enthusiasm with the knowledge that next sailing season would be spent sailing out of a slip 20 mins closer to home than what we had to travel this year to launch her each  time! It is our hope to make it over to sail much more often now since we just have to jump on her and go!
The good news just kept coming yesterday as while I laid in bed before drifting off to sleep I checked the weather in the UP and they were forecasted to get snow!!!!! Can it get any better? Well yes, we could get a early snowfall here at home but right now I just want to make sure we have snow on the ground for our ski trip to the Porkies!
 So while our summer sailing adventures are over for now, our winter skiing adventures are just getting cranked up! I see a very busy winter in store for us with the boat repairs, ski trips, and what ever other adventures we can squeeze in. Now we just need to get Cindy's foot healed up and get the all clear from the doc so we can start packing for the UP!!!!

A "Thank you" sail

9-20-2014
Sail #12

 We finally got to get back on the water in our Memory Maker after almost a month's lapse. Wow, where does the time go? Between work and no wind or bad weather the days turned into weeks and the weeks almost turned into a month. Cindy and I were both so ready to get back on the water!!!
 We had been hopeful all summer long that our "sailing mentors" Scott and Mary, would be able to make it down to Monroe to sail with us and after several emails back and forth we were finally able to set a date. All week long we all watched the weather forecast in hopes the wind would blow and rain would hold off. Our luck held out and although it was overcast the rain was still well off to our northwest. Since it had been a while since we had rigged the boat I thought it best that we head over a bit early and get her all ready and launched and then pick Mary and Scott up at the dock. That way if there were any issues we could hopefully get them resolved before they arrived. Since they were driving two hours to come sail with us I really wanted things to go smoothly.
 We arrived at the sailing site to see our girl sitting patiently for our return. You can't help but feel sorry for some of the boats that just sit and sit at the site longing to get on the water but no one ever comes and takes them out. Heck we feel bad each time we have to go off and leave our girl at the end of the day. Luckily all was well and after a quick shot of air in her trailer tires we were headed for the launch ramp. The launch went smoothly as Cindy continues to hone her skills on backing the trailer down the ramp. That is just something that is so hard to teach and seeing how she only gets a few seconds each launch to actually back the trailer I think she is doing great. We thought we had a little extra time before they would arrive so after picking Cindy up we went for a quick sail to dust off the cobwebs. We had no sooner reached the south shore of the lake and tacked back to the Northwest when Capt Scott called to let us know that they had arrived. They had made great time and were a bit earlier than we thought they would be.
 After high tailing back across the lake, which under sail is a oxymoron, we tossed lines to Scott so we could tie up at the dock. Quick potty break, as Cindy never passes up a chance LOL, and we were all loaded up and headed off. The clouds had broken up a bit and the wind was blowing steady out of the southwest at maybe 10-12. It was a perfect day to sail! We were all relieved when the raising of the sails went much smoother than the last time Scott, myself, and Cindy were all on board a sailboat together. Many laughs have been shared about our "first" sailing lesson with Scott and I am sure we will continue to relive that fateful moment for years to come. Who knew release the cleat meant release it and then let go of the rope?? Well now I do LOL! Scott was just so glad we did not give up sailing forever after that little incident. Instead it taught us many lessons like you can really screw up and still not sink a boat and how to respect the power of the wind. Most importantly it taught me that if it can go wrong it will go wrong, and usually OUT THERE!
 It was not long into our first leg that Capt Scott had assumed control of the tiller to see "how she sailed". It was really nice to get to return the favor to Scott and Mary by having them down to sail with us. Cindy and I have fallen in love with sailing and have so much to thank them for. Scott really seemed to enjoy sailing her and said several times how nicely she sailed. While Scott manned the tiller I went below to get beverages for everyone. After reaching the south shore we tacked back to the Northeast heading towards the causeway, wing on wing, so we could sail past John Mellencamp's house. Since we are all from the same "Small town" we thought we show Scott and Mary his house on the lake. It was just such a perfect day and we all agreed that we got very lucky to get such nice weather to finally get to sail in. It was just a very relaxing sail. There is just something so special about a sailboat, especially when you have friends aboard. You are able to move along with the wind for free, carry on a conversation with out yelling at the top of your lungs so you can be heard over a screaming motor, plus you can have snacks and beverages the whole time!
 After sailing past Mellencamp's house we decided to work our way back to our favorite cove so we could anchor and get the paddleboard out for the girls to play with. While that sounded simple enough with the way the wind was blowing it was going to take several tacks back and forth to get back down the lake. For some reason once you get to the causeway the wind gets confused and it takes a lil effort to get far enough away from it to get back into good wind. We finally broke away from the swirling wind area and were clipping right along. Cindy was on the tiller and Scott was very impressed by how much she had learned. He even noticed her feathering the tiller as she fell off the wind to fill the sails back up as the wind shifted a bit. He just looked back at me smiling as he said "Nice".
 I felt bad for Scott a time or two as Mary kept saying how nice our boat was and if his was that nice she would go sailing with him. Our boat really isn't that nice as she has a long way to go till she is where we want her but we do have the inside set up the way we want and it is isn't too shabby for an cheap old sailboat. Mary really liked our cushions and wood work. Scott almost always sails by himself as Mary just isn't into sailing. I can't imagine sailing with out Cindy. We are a team and work well together. While I have no doubt I could sail the boat solo I think to myself what fun would that be. We got this boat because we wanted to be together and sail. Scott loves to sail, you can just see it in him. The smile he would get when he would take over the tiller. His eagerness to help with the jib sheets when we would tack. It just shows. Plus he sails at home on lake Freeman, which from what he says is an awful lake to sail on, just because he wants to sail. While Mary told him several times to not hog the tiller Cindy and I actually enjoyed getting to just enjoy the ride for a while. I found a comfy way to lean back against the rear pulpit support and Cindy was enjoying her beverage in the sun so all was good.
 Once we finally had worked our way far enough down the lake to make it into our cove I had Cindy on the tiller as we sailed in to drop anchor. As we reached the point I wanted to be at I had Cindy spin us into the wind and dropped anchor. The water was pretty calm so no need to let out a bunch of anchor rode as I did not want it to get wrapped around the keel which would  result in me taking a swim in chilly water. I got out P2 and aired her up so Cindy could paddle to shore for a quick potty break. Mary was reluctant to give paddle boarding a try as she did not bring a change of clothes and was fearful she might wind up wet. So we stayed on the boat eating more chips and dip and had some good laughs watching Cindy try to get to shore without getting wet.
 Once safely back onboard and P2 put away I suggested we sail off anchor instead of starting the motor as we had good wind. Scott was excited to try it as I don't think he gets to do that sailing solo. As the boat drifted abeam to the wind I raised the main sail and then the anchor. We were moving forward before the anchor was even back on board. I raised the jib them scampered back down into the cockpit as we were trying to decided if we needed to tack or if we had enough draft to clear the top of the peninsula we anchored behind. It was going to be close and Scott asked if I thought we were good. I suggested a heading a bit more to port and just as he made the turn we heard the keel moving gravel ever so slightly below us. Just about then a nice breeze picked up and we healed over to starboard which tilted the keel to port helping it clear the bottom. It just a few seconds we were safely clear the tip and in open water. Scott was smiling as I think we impressed the Captain!
 It had been a great day of sailing and we really enjoyed having the chance to express our gratitude to Scott and Mary for introducing us to sailing. Although we could have sailed a bit longer they had to get back to take care of their dog so we headed back across to the dock so we could load up and head off to get something to eat before they headed back north. Cindy dropped everyone off at the dock and then I ran over to pick her and Memory Maker up. Retrieval went well and it was not long before we were all headed down Swartz Ridge road to the Scenic View for fish tacos. Well it seems that everyone else in the area had the same idea as they had a 40 minute wait. Unable to wait that long we ran back up the road to Trails Head pizza. We had never eaten there before but they had beer and pizza, what more could you ask for. Fortunately the pizza turned out to be pretty tasty and the prices were vey reasonable so it was a win win. I still wish we could have had the fish tacos at the Scenic View as they are really tasty but every one seemed happy with our back up plan.
 It was really nice of Scott and Mary to drive all the way to Bloomington just to sail with us. We hope we can all get together again and do it again. They have opened up a whole new world to us and expanded our horizons and play options in the summer. Like we need more play options LOL!
 Cindy and I went motoring aboard Memory Maker yesterday as there was no wind. We motored around the corner and anchored in a new cove just for a change of scenery. Cindy paddled about as I fished and cleaned the boat up a bit. After she returned we cuddled up in the v birth and took a nice afternoon nap just because we could. After coming to, I grilled us some dinner as Cindy struggled to wake up. After dinner I gave fly fishing on a paddle board a try. Talk about a multitasking workout! Even though I had several strikes but no catches it was still a lot of fun to do. We motored back to dock as night feel down upon us. Even though we could not sail we still enjoyed just being on the water together.  Had it not been for Capt Scott and Mary having us up to go sail with them in Michigan back in 2013 we might never have gotten to experience all the fun times we have had aboard our Memory Maker this summer! Thanks again Scott and Mary for infecting us with this disease that we hope the only cure for is more sailing!!!!

Taking a moment to reflect.

 While this has been a super fun year for us it has been an especially ruff year for me when it comes to loosing friends. So far this year I have lost 4 good friends to various different causes from cancer to accidents.
 Yesterday I just had to say good by to a co worker and friend who this coming October fourth would have been our twentieth year working together. Day in and day out we worked in the same office, shared stories, laughs, worked through issues, and became good friends through it all. I would usually hear him pull up outside the hanger walk through door on days that were suitable for riding his motorcycle to work and I would open the door so he could wheel it inside. This past Monday the weather was nice and I kept listening for him, but he just never showed up. About the time he would usually arrive I noticed a police Suburban racing around the corner. It was not till a couple of hours later we received a call to the office and I heard a distressed voice say "Oh my God!". Our friend and co worker never made it to work that morning because he had been in an accident with a semi tractor trailer just down the street about 3 blocks away, less than a mile from his house. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
 It was just a few weeks ago that Cindy wrote in her blog entry how you never know how a phone call is going to change your life. Sometimes I wonder if she has the ability to predict the future as she was never more correct than Monday morning. It has been a crazy week at work trying to pick up the pieces and move on while trying to deal with the loss we are feeling. Yesterday at the funeral it was especially hard. I guess with the passing of each person I know I do a internal assessment of my own life and what if that was me.
 Cindy and I truly do try and make the most out of every minute we have together. Till Cindy and I got together I was not in a situation that made me want to make the most of each minute. I just spent most of my time running and hiding from the problems I faced at home. That meant I spent a lot of time working. I was always doing something. Today work seems to be something that is harder and harder for me to get excited about. I enjoy my time with Cindy so much and we have so much fun together how can I be blamed for that. I still work hard and there are still many late nights at home that are spent working on projects but when the weekends come and I do not have to fly there is no where I would rather be than with the Cindy. She has opened my eyes to the importance of having fun and making memories, the good kind that you want to remember instead of the kind you hope you can eventually forget.
 I can honestly say I never saw myself sailing on our own sailboat or having a jeep. I always wanted a boat and thought I would like a jeep, just never saw myself in a position of being with  someone I could enjoy them with. Today we have one whole bay in our garage we call the toy box as it holds our jeep, kayaks, Patsy the paddleboard, fishing gear and such. We have skies stashed in the basement, pulks ready to haul our gear into a remote cabin in Michigan. While some people dread the end of summer and the coming winter we will be sad to see the sailing season come to an end but yet we are looking forward to evenings in front of our fireplace while we await the snow to start falling so we can go outside and play! Cindy says quite often how lucky we are to have fun things to do in all four seasons and that is so true.
 Do you know what the what the significance of the number 86400 is to you? That is how many seconds you have to work with in each 24 hour day. I know people who are just miserable in their life and I feel so badly for them as I have been there myself. Each day that you continue down the same path of unhappiness and misery is another 86400 seconds of your life you just wasted and will never get back. While 86400 seems like a lot, just pause for a second and think how fast they pass you by. As I continue to age I feel as if the clock is speeding up and each second is passing me by faster than the previous one. Once they are gone they are gone forever and you have no idea of how many more you are going to get before your number is called. 
 I sincerely hope that as you read this you are finding yourself in a similar place in life as I am in today and you have a special someone to enjoy your life with you. That you are truly enjoying every second of it that you possibly can. If you are not, I hope the words I have shared with you make you stop, if just for a few seconds, and do a personal life assessment. Cindy and I sometimes wonder what the world would be like if everyone had something as special as what we share between us.
  As I write this I am wishing I was somewhere else. Yes, with Cindy, doing anything but this. But instead I just landed and I am taking a few minutes before I go into the lab to develop film to finish this. I really hope my unlucky string of loosing friends is over for a long time. It is very saddening to scroll through my contact list and see the names of those who I have lost. I won't have to loose many more before the ones gone out number the ones who are not. I have always believed that in the end all we have left are our memories. Fortunately I still have a good memory and each time I scroll through my contact list in search of someone and I see the name of one of friends who has passed I always  have a thought of them. I guess that might be why I have not removed there names. I miss them all and wish they were still with us but know that cannot be.
 So instead of living in the past I chose to live for the future. Today I find myself doing something I thought I would never do. I am making plans for things to do not just today, and not just tomorrow, but I am making plans as far out as the summer of 2016 already! While that may not sound like something that far out there to some of you I just never thought I would do that. that I would ever be in a situation where I would even want to. But today I can't want for the next adventure and opportunity to make new memories.
 I am going to go develop the film now then get out of here and go make the most of the rest of the 86400 seconds I have left in this day. Then tomorrow I am going to do the same! I hope everyone reading this can go do the same!!!

Rainy night aboard.

8-16-2014
Sail #11

 Even though the weather was not forecasted to be the best for Saturday my daughter wanted to go sail with us before she headed off to her freshman year at college. So we headed over to the boat mid afternoon to give it a try as she left the upcoming Thrusday. The weather was overcast but there was a breeze, not much, but enough to move the boat across the water.
 We arrived and found our girl eager to get on the water again. Cindy and I got busy rigging the sails and getting everything loaded while Bre and her friend Olivia waited patiently. They decided to hop on board and check things out but I needed them to hop out so I could hook the trailer to the hitch. All I heard was a roar of laughter from my daughter as it seems Olivia slipped and busted her butt on her landing when she jumped down out of the boat. Gotta hate it when you miss a good wipeout!
 After a quick potty break we headed to the ramp and had Cindy back her down into the water. After a few attempts I could sense Cindy's frustration building so we swapped places and I backed our girl down into the water. After a quick launch I motored over to the ramp to pick up the girls. Once everyone was on board it was time to go sailing!
 I raised the sails once clear of the buoy field and in no time the motor was off and raised and we were sailing closed hauled in a nice lil breeze. After tacking at the opposite shore of the lake I got out my hand held GPS and checked our speed. We managed to hit 5 mph at one point which really surprised me as we did not have but maybe 5-7 mph of wind. After sailing for maybe 45 mins the weather was starting to look more like rain so we headed to a cove that was closer to the sailing association just in case we had to make a quick run for it. Once in the cove we got P2 out and inflated her. Bre hopped on her and away she went. Bre and I had paddled boarded in Lake Michigan on a business trip I took to Cheboygan WI back in 2011. I had never heard of SUP's till then and while we originally went in to shop to rent a kayak for the afternoon once we saw the SUP's we had to try it. I think we failed to hear the guy mention the lake water was chilly, like 54 degrees chilly. But we paddled around and had a ball with the board. So Bre had some experience with a SUP and she did fine. We tried our best to get Olivia to give it a go but it seems she has this aversion to swimming in lakes. Go figure.
 While Bre was out paddling as I got dinner started. We had brought along a couple of nice rib eye steaks so once they were done we all dove in and made pigs of ourselves. For some reason food just taste better on a boat. Maybe it is the surroundings or just the thought that you cooked it on board your boat. Either way they were very tasty. As we ate dinner the skies began to darken so once we finished cleaning up dishes we headed back to the dock so Bre and Olivia could head home. They wanted to leave before dark anyway as it was Bre's first time there and she wanted to make sure she did not get lost in the dark. As we rounded the corner from the cove we were in it was apparent that the wind had started blowing. Go figure, time for the girls to head home and the wind picks up. We dropped the girls off at the dark and after a quick bathroom break Cindy and headed back out to sail some more.
 The wind had picked up nicely and was blowing maybe 10-12 out of the west. We sailed back and forth across the lake several times as darkness encroached upon us. We were the only sailboat on the lake and with the exception of few bass boats heading back in for the day we had the lake to ourselves. It was great sailing and we were clipping right along. Too bad I did not think to get the GPS out then and see what our speed was. Cindy had me man the tiller while she assumed her happy place leaning back into me as we sailed along.
 It was almost 9:30 and right on the edge of darkness when we made it into our favorite cove. I went forward and dropped the jib and we sailed in under main only. Cindy spun us around into the wind and I dropped anchor. I wanted back off the anchor and get some slope on the anchor rode in case we had to ride out some wind so we traded places so I could run the motor. I asked Cindy to hold tension on the anchor line till I started backing up then release the line so it could go out off the holder. Somewhere in those instructions something got crossed as when I start backing the boat up Cindy was trying to hold tension on the line instead of just letting it out. Next thing I know Cindy is laying on the bow with arms stretched out into the water trying to get the anchor line holder back! I stopped the boat and went forward to help and that was when I discovered she was trying to hold the line tight. I think there may have been a break down in communication. No harm done and she was able to recover the holder so all was good. We finished putting the boat to bed before getting our bed ready in the v birth. Note to self, next tie the halyards off to the pulpits as they started banging on the mast later in the night, which I found annoying. Cindy could barely hear it LOL.
 Once we finished our chores we cuddled up in the v birth and watched a movie on our laptop. It rained off and on during the movie and we really enjoyed listening to the rain on the cabin top. It was very soothing and relaxing. Fortunately it was a nice temperature and there was a breeze blowing so we were cool and there were no bugs. Cindy has officially declared this the summer of the sweatshirt! Just this week we are having more seasonable temps but there has just been a few days this summer that I would call muggy. Normally we have more than you can count!
 After the movie was over we popped our heads out to see what was going on. Now it was almost midnight and it was a steady drizzle so we were quite surprised to see two men on a bass boat fishing in the dark about a 150 feet north of our stern!!! Talk about diehards! Cindy had a very comical incident trying to do a prop check in the dark by using her paddle board that we had tied up to the stern. Needless to say she got a bit wetter than what she was hoping for and I got a great laugh. Not sure how far the guys on the bass boat could see into the darkness but they might have gotten a free show if they could see her.
 We slept well with the rain pattering on the roof top that night. I woke up a time or two to adjust the hatch opening. Seems there is a crack in it that I will need to repair when paint her this winter. With the hatch up the water runs in the crack and then dripped on us. That was a bit annoying. Then about 6 am the next morning we had a good down pour and I discovered how we kept getting water in the cabin floor when it would rain. The fasteners for the pop top struts go through the top of the pop top from below which puts the nuts for them on the cabin top. I think they all leaked so that was added to the list of repairs. I was surprised how much water they let in. I got up and strategically place our dish washing totes to collect most of the water that was dripping down from the strut fasteners. I popped my head out to discover another fishing boat was within 75' of us, in the dark, in the rain! OMG, talk about nothing better to do! I crawled back into the v birth and cuddled up with my lil nuddling partner (nuddling is naked cuddling, it's the best!). It was almost ten before we finally emerged from the cabin to get our day started!
 The rain had finally let up and the boat was starting to dry off a bit. I dropped the lifeline and just jumped in to get woke up. Wow! That will wake you up! Probably a good thing I did as the wind had died down during the night and the anchor line had gotten wrapped around the keel again. I got it freed and then gathered the access line and put it on the bow. I am starting to think that maybe we should use the white rope instead of the nylon woven rope. It seems to float where as the other line did not. I really like the convince of the nylon rope as it has it's own holder and you can shake it dry. The other line has to be rolled up and then hung out to dry before storing it away.
 After I made us a couple of omelets for breakfast Cindy took off exploring on P2 while I fished off the boat with my spinning rod. Fish were jumping all around the boat so I was hopeful I might catch one or two. I did catch on lil stripper off the bow before I got a bit aggressive with my casting and forgot about the shroud lines. As I went forward on my cast I hooked the shroud! I managed to break the line and my lure hit the deck and bounced off into the water. Argh. Back to the cockpit to tie on another lure. I caught another stripper off the stern and shortly after releasing him I got to witness something really cool.
 There is a eagle's nest along the south shore of where we anchor. I saw a large eagle launch from the nest tree and fly straight out to a point about 100 feet off of our stern. He made a tight right hand turn right towards our boat then just folded his wings back, dropped his head, and dove for the water. I am just standing there on the stern watching with my mouth hanging open as I love watching big birds! He dove down till he was about 2 feet above the water and all at once his wings popped out, his feet went down, and his head went up. There was a large splash followed by a lot of wing flapping and hitting the water but in no time he was back up in the air with what looked like a 8-10" bass flipping around in his talons!!! He struggled to fly a bit till his wings shed all the water off them then he made a right hand 270 degree turn and came right over the mast about 10 feet above it almost as if he was showing off his catch to me. He flew back to the south shore and landed in a dead tree to have his breakfast. I watched him eat his catch with our binoculars. Talk about something to see in real life. I had only seen an eagle fishing on tv before so I was really excited to get to see in real life and so close to me at the same time was awesome!
 Not long after that it started raining again. I looked out across the water and Cindy was headed back paddling fast trying to get back before she got drenched. I raised the anchor to go get her but by the time I got everything put away and headed over to her she was almost to the boat. I helped her aboard then loaded P2 onto the deck on the port side between the shrouds and the cabin top. We headed back across the lake to the dock as radar showed more showers heading our way. As we crossed the lake Cindy told me all about the big fish she saw rooting around in the mud right along the shoreline. She was paddling her board a few feet off the shoreline when she saw mud swirling around up ahead of her. She carefully approached and saw a fish that started out as 2 feet long but has since grown to 3 feet long. Seems it is not just men who exaggerate the size of their fish! It was digging around in the mud till it saw Cindy on her board then took off like a rocket! Once back to dock we tied off in a slip and I suggested to Cindy that since there was hardly anyone around she should take Pearl and trailer over to the boat ramp and practice backing the trailer without the boat on it while I put P2 up and got the boat ready to put away. So she headed off and practiced backing for about 20 mins while I did my chores. I headed over with the boat to meet her which was a role reversal of sorts as Cindy had never been on the trailer with me bringing the boat in. I carried a little more speed to the trailer than Cindy typically does and was off just a bit with the keel from lining up with slot in the bunk boards. The keel hit the right inside bunk board and knocked it in a bit. I had been meaning to modify the trailer but with me usually being the one on trailer I had just dealt with the issues but now is the time to fix it. I had to get off the boat and onto the trailer so I could muscle her keel into the slot between the boards. As soon as time allows we will launch the boat then tie her in a slip and make the modifications to the bunk boards so that there is a better mechanism to guide the keel into the slot.
 Since we had already taken the sails off the night before it did not take us long to get her all put up and get her ready to await out next sailing adventure. The cover I had made for the cockpit and the cabin top finally tore to the point it is time to make one out of real material instead of the Harbor Freight silver tarp. It worked well and we really liked having the top covered. We might have to make a whole top cover once we paint her but for now what we have will be fine. I am just waiting on the material to arrive so I can sew up the new cover.
 On our way home Cindy told me how much better she felt about her ability to back the trailer now after getting to practice that morning. We really enjoyed our first rainy night aboard and the idea of bringing the laptop so we could watch movies was a hit! Too bad we were out of Jiffy pop as  popcorn would have been nice. It was another wonderful adventure to add to long list of adventures we have already shared together and gave us many new ideas for future adventures yet to come!!!