Day Tripping

The other day we took a little day trip to Marquette, Michigan -  mostly so that we could eat at this restaurant.

There aren't too many of these left in the country - sadly!

Mom and dad have been notoriously bad picture takers

Zack photobombing

Marquette is on  Lake Superior (and far north) so it was suuuper cold - like 49*.

Look closely and you might be able to see the 49* temp on the mirror

Despite the ungodly temperature...locals were out in droves playing, running, biking, etc. Crazy people!  One thing I hear up here over and over is, "they are a hearty bunch of people."

Beautiful row houses

Lake Superior

Ollie, of course, enjoyed sitting on the lap of the person in the front seat...aka his booster seat.

More to come later

Walks - Pt 2

Another favorite place to walk while up here in north country is the beautiful campground - Lake Antoine.

This particular day there were schools there on end of the year class trips.  

The campground is still pretty deserted but come 4th of July it will fill to capacity!

I love walking around and smelling the campfires and people roasting hot dogs...it brings back so many memories of my childhood travels when my parents would throw us in the TravelAll, hook up the camper, and we would cross the country for vacation!  

Sleepy Dog

Ollie is pretty active up here.  At home he tends to sleep all day and have an awake period from 4:00-7:00 and then sleep again.

Here, he goes on at least 2 walks a day - sometimes 3 or 4.  Also, he is on almost constant watch for chipmunks, squirrels, and rabbits.  There is also a dog that lives next door that sits outside once in a while.  And yesterday we had a deer walk right through our front yard.  All these things excite Ollie and kick his hunting instincts into gear.

The result is a very tired dog by evening. As always...he just crashes wherever it is the most comfortable for him.

Walks

So, Ollie has been going for anywhere from 2-4 walks a day.  Every night after dinner I take him for one of those walks.  He knows it too...he won't take his eyes off of me while I help my mom clean up the kitchen.

The weather has been pretty nice and after we climb this horrendous hill...there is actually a pretty nice view.

Unfortunately, this was our view last Friday night on our walk:

NO kidding...I was standing RIGHT NEXT to this thing and I did not even notice it!  

While Ollie was busy lifting his leg on the 853rd tree, I was standing right next to this!!!  Once he was finished and we began walking, he kinda half stepped on it and half tripped over it and that is when I noticed it.

I stayed nice and calm (NOT)!  The thing did not move though so I suspected it might be dead.  But when I looked at it again I saw it was moving.  I am nowhere as near to it as the picture indicates - that would just be foolish of me.  I put the picture in Lightroom and cropped it.

Anyway, my dad tells me that it is a non-poisonous pine snake whose defense mechanism is to play dead (thank GOD or it certainly would have bitten me!!).  It is definitely the biggest snake I have seen - even the three snakes I saw while living in Florida were not that big!

All I know is I never want to see one again. 

Nightly Routine

We have fallen into a predictable nightly routine here lately with dinner, followed by a walk for Ollie (and believe me...he KNOWS it!), followed by showers for me and then Zack, and then three-handed cribbage.

The first to win two games wins the series.  The first 7 nights I was winless!  Not only had I not won a single series, I had only won 2 individual games.  I have since redeemed myself winning three nights in a row.  

Zack, for his part, is getting very good at playing cribbage.  He still tends to play into runs once in a while but he is excellent at knowing what cards to get rid of and how to count hands.  

You Talkin' To Me?

Stepping Into This Century

Believe it or not I am writing this blog entry from my parent's house while using their wireless connection.  

Yes, thanks partly to me, they have finally taken that step into modern society.  

Before this, all dad had was a portable wire that connected to his computer and could be used to access the internet.  It was a bit like dial-up in that only one computer could be on the internet at a time.  Also, the thing was so old and outdated, newer computers do not even have the kind of port necessary to support the wire.

My dad was faced with this dilemma this week when he finally broke down and brought a new laptop.  Therefore, his old and antiquated way of accessing the internet no longer worked.  He needed a new plan.

For various reasons, a traditional wireless router would not be the best fit for him so I went with him to AT&T this morning to price options.  

Option #1 was an option similar to what he already had but the connection was a traditional USB port connection.  The unit itself was $30.00 and the two year plan was $50.00 per month.

Option #2 was a wireless option with a small router that fit neatly into the palm of your hand so it can be easily moved from here to Florida and vice versa.  It can accommodate up to four computers at a time.  This unit was 99 cents and the two year plan was $40.00 per month.

Despite the financial sense it made to pick option #2, dad still dragged his feet, hesitant to try something new and quite willing to stay with his outdated and complicated way of using the internet and select option 1.  While the sales lady and I tried to explain all the reasons option 2 was the better choice.  She finally offered him a 14 day trial period.  

She knows as well as I do that he will be completely happy with this choice...once he gets used to it.  

Diploma

8th Grade Graduate

Pathetic...Pathetic...Pathetic

The title says it all

This and That

First day of June...summer vacation has begun.

Zack graduated 8th grade Thursday night and, wouldn't you know, my camera batteries died before I was able to get even one single picture.  Supposedly someone is going to e-mail a picture to me but I hate being at the mercy of others like that!

Graduation was the last thing on our agenda so on Friday, Zack and I packed up the car with as many belongings as we could fit and headed up to Michigan for the summer.  Unless something drastic or miraculous happens, we will never be back to our country home again.  

The plan is to find an apartment by August 1st with the money I will get from my share of our homes equity and then use the money I will get from my share of our 401K to move to Florida next summer - most likely Orlando.

Unbelievably, hubby gave me the only sincere apology I have gotten since our marriage about the way he had treated my boys.  It wasn't a "I-am-sorry-I-want-you-to-stay-and-work-things-out" apology but still it seemed to be sincere and from the heart.  I am just still confused why he would drag me and my boys 1300 miles away from our home and make me give up my house, job, belongings, etc...if he wasn't going to love and accept my children.

Oh well...we're moving on.  This blog may suffer for a while because my parents have no internet at their summer home up north so the only time I'm able to go online is when we go to restaurants with free wi-fi (right now we are at KFC).

Happy summer.