Back from the UP

I can't remember what I've posted, but we had a great trip

up north. The scenery was as good or better than Hawaii.

Amazing crystal clear water with "reef" of sandstone visible. We got to see two sides of Lake Superior. One day was very windy and the

lake looked like the ocean during a storm. Then two days later, it was clear as a Hawaiian reef. But the water was COLD! I tried to stand in the water to my knees,

but my legs went numb. We also liked the bear ranch. I have some

special pictures from there which you will see later.

Its hard for me to type because while packing up to go home I was stuffing our trash bag in the bear proof garbage can and cut myself on a tin can lid. It went under my finger nail. So, basically I did some sort of chinese bamboo shoot torture to myself. But in reality, it didn't hurt as bad as cutting my thumb or knuckle in the past...

Today, I planted 30 bulbs with one hand! Also, discovered that voles are tearing up our plants and yard. One jumped out at me while planting bulbs. I threw my bulb digger at it and ran inside to get Brian. Miraculously, the vole was stuck under the digger. Then Brian had to kill it. It was sad, but then at least we know what we are trying to kill. They dig under our front step and Brian has already had to pay once to have more cement added after it dropped down from all the nesting under there.

Now working on painting the basement. Was at Lowe's 4 times today picking our various paint colors and getting more primer and such...

Brrrr!

Well, we made it to the Tahquamanon rivermouth campground. We tried our hand at fishing, but we were skunked. We ended up buying some good firewood from someone who sells seasoned hardwood by the face cord. We got as much as we could fit for $10. Last night was cold, but very quiet and peaceful. We ended up buying gloves. Brian set up our beach pop up tent over our sleeping tent to keep the rain and rain noise down. Tonight brian is going to put the walls on it so we have a double layer of insulation. But our sleeping bags were good. I had mine zipped up all the way with my pillow inside so I couldn't see out. There were coyotes calling frequently. Also, owls. Today a crazy chipmunk tried to attack our food with us right there. He charged right at me and brian and I had to take turns chasing it with a stick. Today, we are going to the shipwreck museum and the falls. Tomorrow we are going to the Bear Ranch where you get to see baby bears..

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The UP

We are heading to the UP today! We are planning on 5 days or so, depending on weather. We hope we have enough warm clothes for us Hawaiians. Hang on we are about to go over the bridge...

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Hardware Stores and Hiking

I wrote this last Thursday....

Well, as everyone knows we are back. The house was a disaster and getting a bit better each day. We have had to do extensive cleaning, and we are doing a lot of repairs. Knobs are broken off in every room, and the walls are beat up. The yard was a disasater. We are finishing up with the yard. We had the crab grass and dandelions treated and the lawn fertilized. We reclaimed part of the yard that the renters decided not to mow for 3 yrs and trimmed the bushes. We actually redid all of the landscaping. We redid the dropcloth, put in new bricks and mulch and got some new plants. We picked up all the trash left in the yard including my favorite, a used oil pan for changing oil in cars.

Now, Brian is doing drywall and we are getting our dryer vents cleaned. We went hiking yesterday in Saugatuck Dunes National Park. How did we run up and down those dunes so many times as kids?! Then we hit up Su Casa, a local Mexican restaurant Brian loves. We also went to a peach farm and picked some of the last peaches of the season.

I am narrowing in on my Hyundai Tucson. I am trying to start a bidding war between two dealerships. One is in Lansing, one is in Milwaukee but delivers. The Lansing one is red, is a demo so it has 5000 miles on it. It is at $26000 now. The Wisconsin ones are Grey or Silver and are just under $26000. So I'm working on it. Other ones in the area are around 30K, but have a sunroof which I'm not interested in. Do I really need more chances to sunburn and more wind messing up my hair? No. I'm hoping to nail this car thing down today.