Raincharm’s Weblog

Our return to reality has not been as smooth as some.
I put the cause, at least in part, to sleep pattern disruption.

Today, finally, I was allowed to sleep until I woke up. And it was only 8 AM, so not too bad.

Today has and is the day to catch up on mail, bills, and potentially most important – voting.
There is an election on Tuesday.
(Who knew? Well, I know my sisty-ugler was aware as it marked the end to her northern vacation.)
And in King County they urge you to vote early and often. At least early. And all by mail (or drop site). The voters’ pamphlet states

“Return your completed ballot as early as possible.

Not only will more results be available to report on election night, but we’ll have more time to connect with you if we have difficulty verifying your signature. Returning ballots as early as possible also helps us save tax dollars by keeping election costs down.”

I am not sure how I feel about this push to vote. It could reduce the time you take to make a decision, and you would not be able to consider late breaking information on a candidate or issue. And, most importantly, the candidates do not stop their incessant advertisements and robo-calls early.

We are voting near the end this time, but only because we were out of town when the ballots arrived. (I still read most of the pamphlet. The primary is always more interesting for those one-issue candidates that take their opportunity to put it out there for all to read.
I miss the polling places. It was an event that made you know you were part of the picture, especially for the big elections.

Now on to more mundane activities, like balancing the checkbook.

All of this done to the roar of the Blue Angels.
Tomorrow I am going to make an effort to be outside during the show.

We got home yesterday. Or was it today.
It was supposed to be yesterday when we landed, but it was this morning technically.
Sleep at around 3, up at around 6:30. I do not have my A-game today.

Carl also got up, and had not really napped, but put on his game face, and is putting his best foot forward.

He is pitching. They are currently up 2-0 over the cardinals. One of the cardinals gave us a ride home from the airport last night, er this morning.

Last inning was 8 pitches for 3 outs. The previous inning only took 3 pitches.
Hopefully this will continue for the rest.

Not much happening today. Except traveling a few thousand miles.

We did get to start with a brief Olympics interlude, thanks to jane. But decided to leave before they put us to work installing her washer and drier.

Sitting in Newark, watching the terminal wildlife. (Since we did not get to see any bunnies at Jane’s place.)

There should be a picture here, but who knows.

Hey – I’m on vacation.
You can’t expect me to find the time to sit down at a computer every day!

I think last time we had at least one child in attendance.
We drove downstate for a really early morning departure.

This was followed by a side trip to Cleveland.
Home of the Cleveland Cliffs.

What? You didn’t expect more boat photos?
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was our first main attraction of the day.

There were decorated guitars all along the approximately 1 mile walk between Jacob’s Progressive Field and the museum.

Which (Progressive Field) was our second destination for a game between the Indians and Tigers.

Even at a ballgame at a distant park I am never far from thinking of work.

During batting practice Carl managed to snag 3 baseballs, including one that was worth $10 in BP gasoline.

We finally retired to our seats.

And then immediately went to the shelter of the entrance.

The rain delay was about 1/2 hour – before the game started.

Once we returned to the cabin, the routine was predictable.

Beach walk to the west.

Beach walk to the east.

Just another Gnome-com-poop.

A lone Canada Goose trying to decide if we were worth avoiding.

Sun rising over the top of the tree.

Checking out a recent nose job (courtesy of Carl and a frisbee).

Today’s adventures included a kayak trip to Cedar Point (on the beach, not in Ohio).

We saw mergansers.

Potential invasive mussels??!? (This is a complete supposition, and we did not collect any samples)

One of our main objectives was to look at the eagle nest and the eagles.
We were assuming bald eagles. We have seen the adults.

But there are some on the beach that had earlier taken pictures in the same vicinity, and were pretty sure they saw golden eagles (banded by naturalists in the area).

The controversy continues as juvenile bald eagles and golden eagles are similar looking. Especially from a distance.

As the afternoon lingers on, Carl is taking care of a few chores.

The Mariners are playing the Royals and Carl is rooting for the sweep.

please note that some of the preceding pictures have been taken by the Grand Pooh-bah

Time to get back down to the beach.

Yet another day of lounging around, although we did enjoy lunch in town at Penny’s Kitchen.

After lunch we stopped by the old family home for a quick look.

This is a typical beach day activity.

A typical view when you look up from the typical activity.

Also found out that sleeping with your eyes not fully closed is apparently hereditary.

Kind of a lazy post, after a fairly lazy day.

 

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The vacation continues and so do the changing numbers at the cabin.
We were up to a high of 9, down to 5 and now back to 6.

And the sun just keeps on shining.
Even with the wind today, it was not necessary to wear more than a bathing suit on the beach.
(And sunscreen)

And the water has been very swimable.

The days have a fairly predictable rhythm.
Get up whenever. Have breakfast with whomever else is in the kitchen. Dishes. Walk the beach. Change clothes for a suit. Swim. Lunch. (The order of lunch and swimming are interchangable.) Read. Dinner. Walk the beach. Watch the sunset. Play Bananagrams. (Or Set) Finally go to bed.

I am not complaining.
Pictures from the past day.

The last 2 days beach walks have included golf ball gathering. Not sure where they came from, but it provided an amusing interlude to driftwood and crayfish claws. There were 81 at least, at last count.

Frog at the non-Doelle end of the beach pond.

Sunset

After sunset.

These are some of the hundred or so windmills over in Canada.
No pictures from today – imagine yesterday with waves.

We went to town today.

I used to think the Soo was the biggest tourist trap around.
I no longer think that, for I have seen Gatlinburg.

And it is still fun to go in and browse a bit.

And buy fudge.

We started the day with a walk on the beach. Or at least near the beach.

I chased a sandpiper for a bit – trying to get its picture. It is in here, just well camouflaged.

Before fudge, we indulged in the hamburger hangout that has been there forever, Clydes. We ordered and took our food to the nearby Rotary Park.

The seagulls were busy with others for the most part, and we got a great view of the Tregurtha headed upbound.

Sated, well – bloated, we headed back to tourist row for some exercise in the form of putt-putt golf. The kids had a threesome, and the next generation a foursome. Let’s just say the kids average was lower than the next generation. And because the next generation was playing second, only the next generation had a group breathing down our necks.

A great time was had by all, and we were ready to head back to the beach, and the lake. One last big ship before we left. It looked brand-spanking new.

Today’s lake adventure included a fit-ball. Try as everyone might, there was no sitting on the ball in the lake. And with the 5-10 mph wind, it could just about beat you back to shore.

Pasties for dinner, and a pie for dessert has just about rounded out the day.

The cook.

The latest arrival

The next to leave, with his Grandma

And for those that were here – note that I did not include the adventure in outhouses episode.

Well first there was Seattle, then Newark, then Detroit, Ann Arbor, Detroit, Ann Arbor and finally Birch Point Beach.

There must have been work, and I assume some stuff important happened.
But we are now on vacation, and I can barely remember the start of vacation – so there is no going back to before.

This may in part be due to sleep deprivation followed by very high temperatures. And a ballgame.

More specifically, when the vacation was upon us we packed until about midnight. When I set the alarm for our morning departure, the phone noted that this was in just over 3 hours. Luckily, the alarm was set partly to give a wake up call to our driver. [I think I owe him one now.] Once we reached the airport, there was no complaining about our early rising as it would seem everyone there had been through a similar situation.

Security took much longer than normal. Partly as all of the airport workers seemed to be arriving at the same time, and cutting to the front of the line. We eventually made it to our gate, and waited for the last group to be called to board. I should have taken the opportunity to read or nap on the first leg of the flight, but there was a movie.

The movie was The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The first movie I really remember watching on a plane was The Little Princess. Both of these movies had an Indian theme, with vibrant music and colors. It was a pleasant way to pass the time.

We finally arrived in Newark. This airport was different from Seattle in that there were many more people per square yard. We figured our next gate, and discovered we had to change terminals. This involved a shuttle bus and stairs. And our first introduction to the heat. Carl noted that the personal space bubble that exists in Seattle, does not really exist in this airport. Once we found the gate for our second leg we settled in to relax. There was plenty of entertainment just watching the people around us. While there were a lot of people, and a few harried parents with frustrated children, there were also instances of caring and kindness.

The flight from Newark to Detroit was short by comparison, and I was able to spy at least one great  lake on our route.

Detroit Metro was a veritable ghost town. Especially after Newark. Really – there were entire terminals that seemed to be unused. It was late, so perhaps there would be more action during the daytime. We eventually got the rental car and headed “home”.

[Side note: Jane’s new place is excellent. Shiny and new (for an old place).]

A2 was also hot. But there is a basement. And windows. And fans. And the evenings were quite tolerable. So for the one day that we were in town we waited for the middle of the day, and set out to see the Ann Arbor Art Fair.

The A2 Art Fair puts all others that I have attended to shame. It is large, spread out, and has a wide variety of art available.

Carl kept seeing some of the kids he has cared for over the years.

I knew we would not be able to see everything, so we just chose our route as it came to us. When we got too tired for more we found a Starbucks and called for a ride home. (Thanks Jane!)

Soon thereafter Rey arrived on the scene. Yeah – good to see him again. Vinnie Wydown passed 200,000 miles in Kentucky! So we put it in the garage for a well-deserved rest.

That evening was our Tiger’s game. Jane, Rey, Carl & I got there in time for BP. Carl caught one early on, and then had another tossed up. Fister was pitching for the Tigers. (He used to be a Mariner.) Our seats were between the home and visiting bullpens, so we were able to get a good view of Fister warming up.

The evening cooled to an acceptable 83 degrees and everybody cheered when they announced the temperature at the start of the game. The game was fun – the Tigers won handily. We were hoping to catch Cabrera’s 3rd home run of the evening. It would have been Miguel’s 300th home run. However, he did not hit even one. Instead Carl managed to get the bullpen coach to throw him a ball at the end of the game, which he presented to Jane. A nice rubbed up ball at that.

Our exit strategy from Detroit left something to be desired. We do not know our way around, and it took quite a while to hit the highway. In the end that was just fine, because our next stop was Detroit Metro. We just can’t get enough of airports!

This brings us to Ashlan’s day. She worked, went home, packed, got a cab to the airport, and waited for her plane. About as we got to the ball park she texted that her flight might be 2 hours late. Apparently there as quite a storm in NYC. I checked the American Airlines site, and they were suggesting 1 hour. A few more text’s from Ashlan indicated – 1 hour, then I am getting on the plane, and I might be early.

I checked the flight status a few times during the game, and it kept saying one hour. Since Ashlan had indicated otherwise, we were just a bit confused. We decided to go to the airport anyway, and check the flight status at the airport.

Just as we were arriving, the flight status on the phone changed to “CANCELLED”. Rey tried calling Ashlan – and she answered – saying she had just deplaned – in Detroit! What we did not know was that the plane she boarded was a different flight that had been delayed and had a few extra seats.

All I can say is – Thank Goodness.

Next morning we managed to squeeze in a breakfast with Jane before we headed north. The drive was relatively uneventful, and that is a good thing.

The cabin is the cabin. Somewhat changed from my youth, but still my favorite place in the world. Family, familiar surroundings, and of course the lake. We all took the opportunity to stretch our legs.

Today, our first full day, was a perfect beach day.
It may have been 80 degrees on the beach. Enough to chase us into the water.

Frisbee, walking, swimming, reading, sitting on the beach. (Sorry, no pictures. The phone is roaming to Canada, so I tend to leave it behind.)

Dinner is cooking, both kids are in the house, a nephew scheduled to arrive shortly, and life in this moment is just about perfect.

A few posts ago I was posting pictures of our front yard rhodedendron.
I did continue to watch its progress. Here is the complete cycle (at least until I stopped taking pictures). Just under one month from start until end.

Why won’t it slideshow for me??