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Hall Lake
Looking for a nearby hike, we find our way to the Yankee Springs Recreational Area. The Hall Lake trail gives us a couple of miles worth of exercise, while serving up ducks, a Great Heron, and turtle tracks. There is also a good supply of mosquitoes, and it’s hot and muggy out, so we don’t…
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Douglas Beach
These Lake Michigan beaches are some of the nicest I’ve been to. We start in Mom’s old neighborhood at Douglas Park Beach, where she painted her popular Lake Effects posters. The roads are shady and quiet here, the beaches sunny with sand so fine it buzzes when you walk on it. There seems to be…
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Cousin Dougie’s Bachelor Party
In keeping with the time-honored tradition of comitting the events of a bachelor party to utter secrecy, I shan’t post about it on my blog. Well, not the best bits anyway. Frisbee golf – that won’t upset anyone. I kind of like the game, to my surprise, but not because I’m any good at it.…
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Indian Valley Campground
Our accomodations for the week are provided by the Indian Valley Campground on the Thornapple River outside Caledonia, MI. During the week it’s a peaceful, sleepy place. The Thornapple is so calm here I can’t tell which direction it’s flowing. Birds seem to love it here, and we see cardinals, mourning doves, and catbirds. Ann…
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Meijer’s Gardens
I wouldn’t have guessed that we’d be dazzled by cactus in Michigan, but it happens at Meijer’s Gardens in Grand Rapids. This place surprises us with interesting art, many diverse plants and animals, good walking, and even a giant horse. It’s the perfect place to meet after our family reunion luncheon. We can all stroll,…
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Bay City River Roar
We happen to be in Bay City during a major event, the River Roar. This is an outboard motorboat race, where boats that can accelerate from 0 to 100 mph in 3 seconds and top 130 mph circle a tight 1-mile course on the 700-ft wide Saginaw River. Mom has an invite to a dockside…
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Empty Building
While it might evoke mixed emotions from Bay City residents, I found this abandoned building on the Saginaw River rather beautiful. The missing window panes and complex internal structures are a feast of detail for the eye.
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Bay City River Walk
Mom gives us a little tour of the Saginaw River in Bay City on the local river walk trail. We pass the burned, sunken hulls of ships from the 19th-Century Davidson shipyard. A Great Heron catches fish in a marshy inlet. A freighter works its up the river, passing under the city’s four drawbridges. It’s…
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Flying to Michigan
It’s the first time Ann and I have traveled by airplane together. We find our likes and dislikes in airports to be similar, thankfully, as they are in most things. We like our friend Sean for dropping us off (saving parking or shuttle woes), prefer the much shorter security line at Denver International that requires…
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Movie: Bubble (2005)
A spare film that takes away nearly all the glitz we’re used to in movies. The actors were picked from Ohio valley locals, and they improvise much of the dialogue. The heart of the film is an effective human story, and that’s all it needs. I welcome this relief from overdone movies. Referred by Celluloid…