Raincharm’s Weblog

Really – our last full day here this year.
And it was a beach day.
The kind that is almost too hot. (Is that possible in the UP?)

And we managed to spend a good bit of it on the beach.

And some of it on the water.

In fact, even Dad got in the water.

It started clouding up a bit in the evening, so who would have expected such a spectacular sunset.

As always the time flies way to fast, and I am just starting to get into the swing of vacation.

Windy – but sunny.
Perfect combination for beach time and no bugs.
So we set off to the east.

I made this little video so I can calm myself down when needed in the future.

And a few pictures from the hike.
Including an eagle nest that we had been told about.
If you don’t get sea-sick, you can see what a horrid little videographer I can be.

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Yesterday was a good day all-in-all.
I did not take any medicine, only a vitamin and calcium supplement.
I only sound like I am still in the middle of illness, instead of on the long end of feeling better.

We started with laundry!
Woo-hoo, choices and clean clothes.

The day started overcast, which made the town visit easier. It got warmer as the day progressed.

And then there was Not-Thanksgiving dinner. Good to have a picnic with so many around. There were four sisters in the good or evil wear. Pretty funny, and unplanned. (I think maybe you need to be older or younger to truly appreciate the sentiment. I am told that another set of older sisters also have the shirts, but the young adult sisters do not see the fun.) If I can grab a picture from Pooh I will post it later in this post.

As the dinner was winding down, the temperature was winding up.
Carl & I picked enough berries for 1/2 a pie in front of the cabin. We will try to get the other 1/2 to celebrate Jane’s arrival. (Hopefully. A2 experienced 6 inches of rain in 12 hours a day or so ago, and with that a branch through a window that she is working on getting repaired.)
I have heard that there are berries that appear in your bucket faster in locations west of here. But it has been a while since I have picked enough cabin berries for a pie.

It was warm enough to convince me back into my suit, and into the water.
Spent a good long time in, playing briefly with a 3-year old, and then frisbee with a slightly older set.

Finally time for some reading. 1/3 of the way through the book that is my goal for the cabin reading.

Stayed up a bit late, but got up early anyway. It rained last night, but is now sunny and breezy. Carl & I are planning to walk the rocks to the eagle’s nest area.  The pictures are from the last few days.

So yesterday there was a hike to Betty’s Cove, on the northern shore of Gitchee Gumee (in Canada). But I missed it due to lack of sleep and too many cold symptoms.

What I did do was read. I finished “Dooms Day Book” by Connie Willis. My son lent me the book, and I will leave it in A2 so he can get it back the next time he is there. It was a good read. [Rey – I was sure that Father Roche was somebody from the future. At first I was sure it was Dunworthy, but that did not work, so just somebody. In the end I was wrong.]

This morning we got up a bit late. Pooh rode to the Point Iroquois lighthouse, and we followed later in the car.

After a bit of walking around the point we adjourned first to the Dancing Crane, and then to the Cozy Inn for a whitefish lunch.

 

Apparently the lunch was more than some usually eat for lunch.

Carl & I took a beach walk. It was very smooth water, and the water was out – leaving some areas where the water could move in very shallow waves over the sand.

The blackish stuff is sawdust and vegetation.

It helps define the ripples in the sand.

A day or so ago there was a big blow, and there were at least 5 dead seagulls, a dead Canada goose, and a dead fish (or shoe) on the beach. Lots of live gulls too, and some mergansers.

I have also started another book, The Map that Changed the World, by Simon Winchester. I need to finish it before returning, as it was borrowed from St. Louis.

OK – I am on vacation, and I have not been posting regularly.
I could blame the lack of internet access at this remote outpost, but that would be a lie.
It is really more due to lack of energy. I never get sick – at least not when I am in my normal work life. And to tell the truth, we had been on vacation for more than a week before I decided to really relax. That was after the driving from here to there, and schedules, and things to do had been done.

I think the problem was that I did not have any structured plans once I got to my place of relaxation, so those little bugs that just kind of hang around on the periphery decided this was their chance.

Nothing bad. Took a mile or so walk a few days ago, and then basically slept the rest of the day. Aches and pains, no stomach upset. The next day was a bit better, although it only had a short walk (Doelle’s) at the end of the day. Today is “better”, but really it has just moved to the next stage, which in my case involves post nasal drip (there was no pre-nasal drip to go with this) and coughing. I signed my life away to get my favorite dry-em-up drugs [I don’t do meth] and hope to go for a hike tomorrow.

So there has not been a lot to report on recently, and I still don’t have the correct frame of mind to reconstruct our days of travel in the oppressive heat. (Maybe I just don’t want to relive that part.)

However, I had started writing a bit earlier about a strange occurence, and reoccurrence while we were in St. Louis.

When we were visiting Pooh and Mark’s fine abode, I merged its floor plan with Carl’s parent’s old house in Wilmette, Illinois. Every time I went to go to the stairs to the second floor I headed in the wrong direction. Every time. And we were staying on the second floor, so I had ample opportunity to go to the stairs. Not just the first day – but all the way through the 2 days we spent in their company.

I would get up from the dining table, the kitchen, the living room, etc, and head toward the front door, from which point the stairs should ascend. There was a side table, closet and entrance to the computer room at this location. Realizing my mistake at this point, I would circle back through the living room and dining room to the correct location off of the dining room.

When starting at either the kitchen or dining table, I would basically walk past the correct entrance to the stairs to get to my incorrect location.

Pooh was sure if I just walked into the closet by the front door, just once, that I would cure my little issue with directions.

I have been to this house before, less than 10 years ago. And Carl’s parents moved to Colorado, probably more than 10 years ago. Who can tell why my brain works the way it does.

OK SHORT DESCRIPTION OF TODAY.

Up by 7:30, without prodding.
Breakfast and coffee.
Walk the beach.
Futz around. (Carl & Pooh both did some sweeping chores)
Went to Penny’s Kitchen for Monday lunch. [REY – a shout-out from Barbara Mullin. She says she misses you and wishes you were here.] Also got to catch up with Daschie (sp?) Piedmont-Colbert (not sure what she uses as a name, but her husband, Charles Colbert just published a book titled, “Haunted Visions, Spiritualism and American Art“, and Betty Piedmont. (When I had just given birth to Rey, Betty’s youngest had just given birth as well – and that baby just got married! Are they old enough?!?)

And now it is time to go spend a bit of time in the sun, in case the predicted thunderstorm comes to pass.

Short post – many things have happened since the last time I blogged, which I think was 3 days ago.

I am sitting on the new front porch of the old cabin – on the internet.
Thank you KW & GG!

There are two freighters out on the lake in the waning sunset, both west of Round Island.
One is a salty that has apparently been there for a few days, most likely waiting for a pilot. The other is a lake freighter, loaded and downbound.

I would post a picture or two I took from the beach, but the cell phone is roaming, and thinks we are in Canada. I don’t know what it would cost, and want to limit the damage, so I have turned it to “Airplane” mode. Hopefully that will provide some $$ protection until I figure out from those that know – what my options are. One is just turning it off completely.

There is our last day in Tennessee to discuss.
And there are the travel days to report on – Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and of course Michigan. But I am a bit too tired right now, and am leaning toward sleep.

Suffice it to say – it is always great to be back at the cabin.
Friends and relatives, and quiet – and of course, the lake.

Yes, we have been swimming. And for Lake Superior, it was rather easy to get in, and under. Temperatures in the 80’s here (during the heat of the day).
But that is 20 degrees cooler than yesterday – and we are not complaining.

My only wish is that more were here to share this with us.
And Happy Birthday Mark. I thought about you as we were eating Aimee’s cake.
Your car is running beautifully, and we will clean the windshield when we get gas.
I

We have been internetless for a day, so did not get to post these last night.
Actually, come to think harder about our schedule – we left about 8:30 AM and did not return until 1:15 AM (this morning).

We started by going to a Smokey Mountains Visitor Center.
This happens to be located at the ball park where Rey works.
We dropped him for work and spent a bit in the Visitor’s Center deciding where we should spend our day.

First stop was a Food City grocery store, to lay in supplies for lunch.
Oh, and gas was really the first stop, but that is like saying you have to occasionally stop for a restroom.
Then it was on towards, “the quiet side of the Smokey Mountains.” In other words, anywhere that is not close to Gatlinburg.
We went through Townsend, and on to the Cades Cove loop. This is a scenic 11 mile drive, that will likely take you an hour to traverse. The road is like a grown up kiddie-car race track loop. Up and down over small hills and valleys, with turns to the left and right. Except there is only one lane, and the cars move exceedingly slowly.

About halfway through the loop there is a trailhead for the Abram’s Falls hike.
We parked and with our sandwiches in hand started along the 2.4 mile trail to the falls. The trail “follows” Abrams Creek, but with some ups that the creek just doesn’t take. They tend to flow downhill only. If you can see the creek in this aerial shot (dark line amidst the trees), the ups are where the red line (very approximate trail location) does not follow the creek.

We stopped for the first sandwich at a location where there were sittable rocks in the stream.

Evil? Good? You decide.

Then we continued on to the falls.

There was the adventure of finding different fungi along the route – but that is more of Pooh’s thing. I did try to capture some wildlife.

We did this hike last year as well. “It was so nice, we did it twice.” This year there seemed to be more families. Although towards the end there seemed to be more groups of old kids/young adults, making their way to their local swimming hole.

And a butterfly (Blue Skipper?) that held still for a picture.

If you look closely, there is a butterfly on the top of the boot.

After the trek back, we dipped our feet into the cool waters.

But this was just the entre to the day.
After spending the next half hour completing the rest of the Cades Cove loop (who knew a few deer could cause a traffic jam), we were out on the open road.

Back to Rey’s office at the ballpark.
As it turns out, they were using the ballpark for the opening ceremonies for a softball tournament.

We got to see the last hour, and waited for Rey to finish cleaning up and putting away.

Finally released, it was on to Knoxville.
Dinner at the Downtown Grill and Brewery.
Very good food – and enough that three of us needed a to go box.
Which went back to the car, and we headed for the piece de resistance.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2.

The 10:05 show.
It was a good show, and none of us even threatened to fall asleep.

After we returned home, I looked at my phone, and it said 1:15!
Thankfully, Rey was the only one in our party that had to get up and go to work this morning. And we have spent a relatively quiet day.

The Seattle Sounders game was on yesterday afternoon.
Rey does not have a television set, and it was not on ESPN3, so we set off to find a watering hole with TVs.
After a brief stop at the library, the move was on to Soccer Taco.

Soccer Taco is a mexican restaurant catering to sports – with a heavy emphasis on soccer.
Most of the TVs were tuned to the Copa American – quarter finals.
We managed to get them to tune some to the Fox Soccer Channel.
The Sounders were playing the Colorado Rapids.

The Rapids scored early, but were tied by the Sounders. Each scored again to make it 2-2. Finally the Sounders pulled ahead 4-2. The Rapids made it interesting near the end by pulling within 1, but it ended 4-3. Yeah. Our cheering certainly caught the eye of a few of the other patrons, and theirs did us.

We took a short walk down to see the Tennessee River. If you are trying to cross the river, you will want to choose your bridges carefully.

Then it was back to the square in old Knoxville. This was where the Shakespeare on the Square was being performed. A Comedy of Errors was the play for the evening. Well done, but with a few microphone issues that meant occasional lines were missed. For those that don’t know, the play involves two sets of identical twins. For further hilarity, the cast included a set of identical twins, although not in the roles where their identicalness would have been useful. It did, however, provide the opportunity for several double takes amoung the cast members throughout the play.

This morning we rose and breakfasted at home. And eventually made our way to Morristown and the Witt Baptist Church. This was, I believe, the first regular church service that Carl has ever attended. He survived, and everybody there was very cordial and had nice things to say about Rey. Here we are in our Sunday finest. (Not bad for vacation wear.)

Left St. Louis during the morning rush hour.
I had some pictures crossing the Mississippi, but have not been able to get them to the correct location to post – so use your imagination.
The first was a picture of a bit of the Arch, with several other buildings around it.
The second had a bit of the Arch (on edge) with Pooh driving (so Mark would know I did not wrest the wheel from her immediately).
Then a bridge adjacent to the one on which we were traveling.

Eventually we stopped at a rest area outside Metropolis. (At which point I did wrest controls of the car from Pooh.)

After reaching Jefferson City (Tennessee) we stopped long enough to unload the car, and loaded back up with a full load of people. We took off for Greenville and a Pioneer League game between the Elizabethton Twins and the Greenville Astros. The game went well, although the Twins prevailed 8-0.

After arriving back at Rey’s place we set up our bunk house.
Two full size beds (one blowup and one mattress) and four people.
I think everybody slept just fine.

So up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and we are still hanging around the apartment.

That should about wrap up our day. Except we bookended it with chatting in the morning and a birthday party at a brewery (Schafley) in the evening.

The City Museum is like no other place I have been before.
It is an old shoe factory that has been transformed.
The transformation includes parts of other factories, buses, planes ….

And slides – there are slides everywhere.
And a ferris wheel on top.
And at least two mazes – they go up and down, and through holes, and down slides, and across the ceiling overhead of those below.
And did we mention the slides, including a 10 story slide.
Which 3 of the 4 of us went down, spiralling down until the last bit straightened out.
And the slide that started with squeezing into the top part, to make sure you could fit into the tube. And down and through the tube, but not quite all the way out so you had to scooch the last bit.
And the glass bottle wall, and ….. on and on. Here are a few pictures.

And then we went to lunch at The Fountain on Locust.
They serve martinis.
And ice cream.
And after about 5 pages of drinks and desserts – they had sandwiches, soups and salads.
One of our party had dessert for lunch, but the sandwich I had was delicious.

For a one day trip – it was great.
(Great hosts help out immensely, along with the temperature staying below 90)