Lately it has been a chore to post Blogger, so I am wondering WTH is up...fellow Blogger users are you having the same trials? I know one is because she posted so. Rolling and stuck screens and "not responding" error messages. Blaaaaaach! I have been far too busy lately to share much but now our guests have departed (hallelujiah) and some semblance of what used to be normal returns. Outside the wall de and re construction is on day 2.
And another thing, I was convinced to remove the word verification for those wishing to comment on this blog direct after several other bloggy pals said it was cumbersome and discouraged comments and possibly blog traffic. Ok so it has been gone. My traffic has not increased and some still send email, not using the net direct. Lately though I have been getting strange occasional spam messages. These comments are usually over complimentarytoward my writings but written using poor grammar, spelling and cumbersome phrases. They are always posted anonymously and then invite me to see their blog. Well I do not click on their blog link and mostly I am "flushing" these, thank you for the term and advice, Ticklebear.
I suppose these are relatively harmless net surfing's and so far no damage done. I am considering reinstituting the must be approved for all comments before allowing them to show on the blog. That would preclude these strange postings.
Today I received an internet scam warning from our ISP. Every time I read one of these I am amazed at the gullibility of folks. It did not advise the source but basically, you receive an email from someone who claims you have ripped off, invaded or violated their email and taken their photos. This is being targeted toward college students and the University of Wisconsin has published a warning on their website. Apparently when the unaware try to respond by clicking on the email or replying, they are hacked. This sounds like a regurgitation of the scheme last year using fake Facebook alerts....by the way, beware on Facebook game sites and responses. I am a heavy user of Facebook but easily ignore games and applications there. Here is the site at Blaze that describes this scam on hacking....
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/black-friday-scam-alert-beware-of-facebook-and-itunes-emails/
Months back I got an email alert thanking me for sending $60 via Pay Pal to Shane Peterson. Whoa, sez me, I didn't do that. So I checked my Pay Pal account online which did not show such a payment. But feeling a bit uneasy, I called Pay Pal and the phone rep. immediately knew why I was calling. They had over 3,000 such calls the same day for what was a giant spam scam out of San Jose, CA that most Pay Pal account holders received. It was to entice the unwary to respond and there by be hacked. What a strange online world! I use my delete button easily and especially with emails from those I don"t recognize. If it is legitimate they can contact me again or by another method. I have never been a fan of the SPAM in the can and will run the other way if offered the same, so I suppose the very word "spam" and "scam" are enough to cause my nose to turn up.
There is a proliferation of online sites to educate oneself about the dangers including this onguard on line which shows a dot gov address, presuming it is government sponsored. I do no know about that but it does share information for the uninformed. http://onguardonline.gov/articles/0002-common-online-scams
There is also a site that identifies the Top 10 Internet scams and how to ignore them...
http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/scamsandidentitytheft/ss/top10inetscams.htm
Be safe out there....
I created this blog to record our RV trips and ;morphed into life in our retirement lane and telling my tales of life. Now my tales of life are on widowhood, my new and probably my last phase of l I have migrated to Facebook where I communicate daily, instantly with family/friends all over. I write here sometimes. COPYWRIGHT NOTICE: All photos, stories, writings on this blog are the property of myself, Patricia Morrison and may not be used, copied, without my permission most often freely given.
Other blog dominating
Blogger insists on showing my posts and comments to others as my Books Blog, You can click on it to get here and vice versa....the Book blog is just that while this one, my first, original has miscellany
Link to BookBlog https://patsbooksreadandreviewed.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
Ben Franklin nails it
Family visitors, from CA |
I call this, Checkin' it out online! |
Then there is their 13 year old who is a very quiet big girl. They do everything in a trio, or in a herd, my term. The niece masks her boredom well but when I suggest that they might consider bringing along a friend for her on travels, they gasped. What and dilute attention? I feel some sympathy for this child forced to hang with old people for two weeks and that includes us as well as her 50 something year old parents. We see underway another stifling of any independence or ability to think or fend for oneself. Mom hovers with consistent advice of what to do say, not do, even where and when to sit. This morning I turned my head to laugh when mom said to her, "Sophia say good morning to everyone...." "Good morning everyone" responds Sophia. Is this the new way that families behave or is this a late stage parenthood clinging to adolescence to perpetuate and define itself? I admit I do not understand it this business of being the child"s friend, their cohort instead of their parent. But then I'm done with all that.
I am tired because the weather had been unbearably hot and this visit has meant my thinking for three additional people who are bewildered at best and self confident in ignorance at the worst when visiting the SNF and MIL, what to do/not do/ and so on. Gads, you are supposed to be educated people, read up on dementia. One of SIL's funniest and yet sincere questions was "how do they float" when seeing the huge barges filled with grain being shoved down the Mississippi. Some of these questions need no answers. We did have a fun time at the Winona Great River Shakespeare Festival Saturday evening where I laughed for almost two hours at "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged" a spoof, a farce and all over ribald hilarity. Jerry opted to stay home and spend the evening watching Olympics, but I did enjoy it.
To top it off I had a dermatologist appointment today to remove a growth from my left shoulder top, not a cyst, not a mole, nothing malignant they are sure, but an unsightly and uncomfortable lump that was unsightly and annoying. I can spend the rest of the day icing and lounging, chilling. We have plenty of room in our home, beds and baths for all, but some how I feel older when it comes to tending to it all......maybe that's it I'm older. It's not easy and so it goes.... or I need to adopt Jerry's attitude, "expect nothing and not be disappointed..."
Here stands Sophia with 3 generations of underwear, hers, her mom's and her grandma"s (MIL) whose laundry I do while we are at home not traveling.
|
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Leggs Inn, MI Continued from the week
Continuing from yesterday, we
found a great place to stop, a place we would want to visit again, a working inn, along the shoreline of Lake Michigan.
The beautiful setting, the wonderful food is worth the wait and the trip there if one is in the area.
Apparently this place has been mentioned in famous unique inns and has been on some episodes of Food Channels, but I was totally unfamiliar with it. Local legends are not always as interesting .
We found Legs Inn easily right smack dab at the intersection of M-119 and what appears to be the main street of Cross Village. This was a place we could have easily spent the day, as it was the couple hours we could spare went all too fast. The tepee to the left was made of wooden bark hunks resembling shingles and was different from any tepee we had seen elsewhere in the country.
As soon as I saw the sign and the Polish link I knew it would be something enjoyable and my imagination rolled along thinking about the collaboration between a Pole and the local Indians even if it was the 1930"s. Jan Smolak immigrated to America in 1921 and made his way to the upper peninsula of Michigan. There were copper mines and ore mines in the upper that attracted the Polish immigrants. He also was talented musician and artist as we learned in the hallway art gallery.
I could not understand why the name Legs Inn but one sign explained it was for the legs placed along the roofline. Who but a seeker of curiosities would place legs along the roof? The photo below shows the side of the stone building, the Indian head carving over the door and the row of legs on the roofline.
We walked around the back of the inn to the gorgeous outdoor seating overlooking Lake Michigan. It was a warm balmy day which diminished the draw of the smell of real kielbasi and pierogi. To me that is food for the cooler weather so despite the thrill of the original, we did not indulge. There would have been a one hour minimum wait for appetizers at the bar so we passed.
Continuing from yesterday, we
found a great place to stop, a place we would want to visit again, a working inn, along the shoreline of Lake Michigan.
The beautiful setting, the wonderful food is worth the wait and the trip there if one is in the area.
Apparently this place has been mentioned in famous unique inns and has been on some episodes of Food Channels, but I was totally unfamiliar with it. Local legends are not always as interesting .
Jerry examines the teepee |
As soon as I saw the sign and the Polish link I knew it would be something enjoyable and my imagination rolled along thinking about the collaboration between a Pole and the local Indians even if it was the 1930"s. Jan Smolak immigrated to America in 1921 and made his way to the upper peninsula of Michigan. There were copper mines and ore mines in the upper that attracted the Polish immigrants. He also was talented musician and artist as we learned in the hallway art gallery.
I could not understand why the name Legs Inn but one sign explained it was for the legs placed along the roofline. Who but a seeker of curiosities would place legs along the roof? The photo below shows the side of the stone building, the Indian head carving over the door and the row of legs on the roofline.
Legs Inn is one of those the way places that one might stumble onto unaware while out exploring the backroads. It is the center of the village and as the bartender replied to one man who inquired if it was the only restaurant in town due to the big crowd and the wait to be served, "this is the town." Tell me that I can have authentic Polish food and I am hooked. Seeing it on the menu with accurate Polish spelling drew my immediate attention.
It was a feeling of pride, when I saw the Michigan Historical Site sign printed in Polish on the other side.
I have not seen this tribute to the Polish elsewhere. So I am quite enthused about Michigan for honoring the native language of these early immigrants.
Polish side of the sign |
We walked around the back of the inn to the gorgeous outdoor seating overlooking Lake Michigan. It was a warm balmy day which diminished the draw of the smell of real kielbasi and pierogi. To me that is food for the cooler weather so despite the thrill of the original, we did not indulge. There would have been a one hour minimum wait for appetizers at the bar so we passed.
Lake Michigan off alongside the outdoor dining |
Some primitive stone art
|
Talked to a man from New York who was sitting at the bar next to us, waiting for a table.
Some were eating at the bar and as I mentioned there was a long wait, but we were
quickly served beers on tap. The NY'er said, he had been in every bar in Manhattan and many all over the country but never the likes of this and he never had a bear staring at him. Usually I am squeamish with too many heads and taxidermy but there is so much of it inside Legs that it takes on an aura of a museum and was fascinating.
I called this Jabba the Hut from the Starwars character, but it is something more remarkable and one of the hundreds of wood carvings. This postcard captured the detail better than my photo |
A short trip to the gift shop took us past the art gallery. I purchased a couple hand decorated Polish Easter eggs and a book, Bootleg Buggy by a local author about her Polish immigrant roots to the area. And we had to be on our way. This is a place to return next visit to the area.
Portrait of Chief White Cloud as the Indians called Smolak |
We would exit out this front door, again notice the woodcarving, inside the workmanship captured Jerry"s attention. |
Off back along the tunnel of trees M119 to Bay Harbor and Petoskey.
Blogger is again protesting so I am off here for today....sometimes I think I should migrate the blog....
Labels:
Lake Michigan,
Legs Inn,
Polish,
RV motor home travel,
RV travels
Friday, July 20, 2012
Con't from Tuesday more up north
On travels and at home we see panhandlers alongside roads with their signs to attract donations, I admit I used to donate occasionally out of a benevolence or Christian duty, but I overcame that as I noticed the proliferation of the same compounded by the fact that when local business owners offered them a job they scattered. Panhandlers often station themselves at stoplight controlled intersections where there is massive traffic but this guy as a living bronzed statue in Mackinaw City outdid himself. People could place tips in his bike basket and take their photo with him. This attracted many tourists and children ad is either a unique way to panhandle or is an addition to the tourist draws. Several times as we walked by I thought that is a tough way to make a living standing immobile in the warm sun; he would move ever slowly when a donation entered the basket. I anticipated when he would walk away for a break but never caught that. I am not sure if he was an attraction from one of the shops or not but he was at the same place several days in a row, BTW the dog is a bronzed statue.
One shop where we indulged in ice cream had an exhibit of the local Lion's club fundraiser, a different sort of barbque grill. . Not my taste but Jerry got a kick out of it.
A local woman told us about the wonderful drive along Michigan Road M-119, known as the Tunnel of Trees 27miles between Harbor Springs and Cross Village and an alternate route to Petoskey. We are thankful she did because it was magnificent, very much a two lane twister that treated us to sights we'd have missed. I'd noticed the multitude of polished rocks being sold as Petoskey stones as decorative or pendants so I was curious about Petoskey. This Heritage route is a stunning display of northern hardwoods located close alongside the roadway, with no visible light above, creating the feeling of actually travelling through a tunnel. The route is a favorite of Northern Michigan visitors because of its rolling terrain, stunning vistas, and dramatic turns and curves; this would have been prohibitive in the motor home. There were many great glimpses of Lake Michigan along the way but no place to pull over to photograph safely . Although the traffic was sparse, there were ever so many motorcyclists along the way, a bikers dream despite names like Devil"s Elbow that was a crooked mile where the crooked man could have built the crooked footstep if I've ever seen one.
One shop where we indulged in ice cream had an exhibit of the local Lion's club fundraiser, a different sort of barbque grill. . Not my taste but Jerry got a kick out of it.
A local woman told us about the wonderful drive along Michigan Road M-119, known as the Tunnel of Trees 27miles between Harbor Springs and Cross Village and an alternate route to Petoskey. We are thankful she did because it was magnificent, very much a two lane twister that treated us to sights we'd have missed. I'd noticed the multitude of polished rocks being sold as Petoskey stones as decorative or pendants so I was curious about Petoskey. This Heritage route is a stunning display of northern hardwoods located close alongside the roadway, with no visible light above, creating the feeling of actually travelling through a tunnel. The route is a favorite of Northern Michigan visitors because of its rolling terrain, stunning vistas, and dramatic turns and curves; this would have been prohibitive in the motor home. There were many great glimpses of Lake Michigan along the way but no place to pull over to photograph safely . Although the traffic was sparse, there were ever so many motorcyclists along the way, a bikers dream despite names like Devil"s Elbow that was a crooked mile where the crooked man could have built the crooked footstep if I've ever seen one.
Just one of the many curves on M 119 |
Thick hardwood trees along the road |
Labels:
Cross Village,
Lake Michigan,
Legs Inn,
RV motor home travel,
RV travels
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
More Mackinac con't from yesterday
I did not take this photo of the 5 mile Mackinac Bridge at night, but it is just that spectacular. The bridge was begun in the spring of 1954 and opened November 1, 1957 and is designated as the number one civil engineering project for Michigan of the 20th century. It is currently the third longest suspension bridge in the world. For other data such as shown in the poster yesterday, you can go to this website link
http://www.mackinacbridge.org/facts--figures-16
We watched 4th of July fireworks from the American Legion, on the mainland, Mackinaw City. Being Legion members gave us the advantage of staying right at the bar inside where we could people watch for a break from being out amongst them. Besides the bartender, a local gave us tips on where to eat, avoiding the multitude of touristy places. It is always a benefit to get acquainted with locals.
They did show off with the best fireworks I have seen live since Calgary, Canada. We knew we were above the 45h parallel which is exactly half way between the equator and the north pole, up north as the say, but we were oblivious to how far north that is until we noticed day light lasts until 10 o'clock PM so fireworks could not start until 10:15PM or so making for some mighty cranky tots if their parents had not napped them earlier in the day. Many many years ago, when we spent summers in Prince George, British Columbia and Steve was a boy he refused to go to bed until midnight, because it was still light. We recalled that. And also when talking to the locals they mentioned the light is great now but oh those long dark winters.
Before this trip, I could not get straight whether nac or naw or Lake Huron or Lake Michigan but now that we have been there, I've got it. The mix up with the nac and naw is traced back through the history of the area way back to the Indians, the French, the British as explained by this clipping which you should be able to enlarge by clicking on in your browser. Fort Mackinac itself is very interesting and the re-enactments and docents in period dress travel and transport visitors back into history of the fur trades. The beauty of the area enhances the reality of the experience.
Seeing the Arch rock made me wonder yet again, why people who have never seen half of what there is to see in this country rave about traveling elsewhere in the world. The water there is as beautiful as the Carribean anytime. Of course we are flying adverse refusing to spend good money to be herded into a flying bus crammed with hundreds of others, packed like sardines and not even pickled. Nope, we prefer driving our 2nd home. I have another spectacular photo of this arch but Blogger will not post it correctly.
We got well acquainted with Dave, our carriage driver whom you met yesterday. When he saw me taking the following photo he asked if I knew his dad. I replied I did not, but that there was something about this sight that reminded me of some people. I asked Dave if he ever got tired of the view afront, what's that old saying, unless you are the head dog in the sled the view never changes...look on, recognize anyone?
Dave explained when he told his family he was returning to the island for another year for this summer job, Dad said, "uh huh so you are going to spend the day looking at yourself..." We learned that the horses are
transported off the island to the upper peninsula where they winter.
To be continued with our trip on the mainland along the magnificent tunnel of trees and to the Legs Inn.
http://www.mackinacbridge.org/facts--figures-16
We watched 4th of July fireworks from the American Legion, on the mainland, Mackinaw City. Being Legion members gave us the advantage of staying right at the bar inside where we could people watch for a break from being out amongst them. Besides the bartender, a local gave us tips on where to eat, avoiding the multitude of touristy places. It is always a benefit to get acquainted with locals.
They did show off with the best fireworks I have seen live since Calgary, Canada. We knew we were above the 45h parallel which is exactly half way between the equator and the north pole, up north as the say, but we were oblivious to how far north that is until we noticed day light lasts until 10 o'clock PM so fireworks could not start until 10:15PM or so making for some mighty cranky tots if their parents had not napped them earlier in the day. Many many years ago, when we spent summers in Prince George, British Columbia and Steve was a boy he refused to go to bed until midnight, because it was still light. We recalled that. And also when talking to the locals they mentioned the light is great now but oh those long dark winters.
Before this trip, I could not get straight whether nac or naw or Lake Huron or Lake Michigan but now that we have been there, I've got it. The mix up with the nac and naw is traced back through the history of the area way back to the Indians, the French, the British as explained by this clipping which you should be able to enlarge by clicking on in your browser. Fort Mackinac itself is very interesting and the re-enactments and docents in period dress travel and transport visitors back into history of the fur trades. The beauty of the area enhances the reality of the experience.
The following page said that the British never did develop a friendly relationship with the Indians and suffered for that |
Here we stopped to switch carriage horses mid tour |
Douds founded in 1884, on Main Street is the oldestAmerican family owned grocery market Their website is http://www.doudsmarket.com/history/ |
Although the lilacs were not blooming, beautiful hanging flower baskets are everywhere. Reminiscent of Victoria British Columbia |
Atop the island, the Fort lies down the hill. This is Turkey Hill, during the carriage ride we did see some wild turkeys. |
Hearse and fire carriages at the Island museum. The carriage stops here so passengers can use necessary rooms and grab a bite to eat. |
Arch rock looking down to the Lake is awesome |
A Girl Scout on duty working as a docent; summer jobs for youth abound for the industrious, willing to work and learn the history |
Dave explained when he told his family he was returning to the island for another year for this summer job, Dad said, "uh huh so you are going to spend the day looking at yourself..." We learned that the horses are
transported off the island to the upper peninsula where they winter.
To be continued with our trip on the mainland along the magnificent tunnel of trees and to the Legs Inn.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Retreat from the heat and wish we were there
It is to be 100 degrees today which is not our MN weather, but puleeze nobody tell the global warming alarmists. I walked early this morning and even then, by 8:00AM on the return I was sweaty; the high school track which I often have to myself for 1/4 mile laps was invaded by our Lancer football team and not wanting to mix it up amongst the boys twice my size and 1/4 my age, I departed the track for the 'hoods and woods. So its a good day to catch up and post some of the vacation photos. We have been home a little more than a week now and downloading, editing and dealing with the photos takes time. In old days, a simpler time, we just took the film out of the camera and dropped it off taking our chances with printed results a week or so later.
This 2+ weeks motor home trip to the Fleetwood Rally in Goshen Indiana followed by a swing up north to Michigan's upper peninsula and all the lake lore was a great time. Trip details, we added only 1376 total motor home miles, 26.5 hours actual driving time, consumed 163.7 gallons of diesel including the 3/4 tankful we brought back home, and appreciated the declining cost of diesel, spending only $587 on fuel. Altogether not an overly costly trip, $526 for RV sites including our rally gathering that had been prepaid in February, $93 for tours, $19 for tolls, $217 restaurants, $45 groceries, and a whopping $458 shopping for other items including my RV purse at the Indiana quilt shop, more microfiber mops and cloths at the RV rally from my favorite vendor, a new carved wooden sign for the RV which Jerry is now staining and shellacking to protect it (there never is a piece of wood that he can just leave as is) and other miscellany and finally a special rally deal to extend Good Sam coverage for a couple more years at $99. All total only $2044 spent. Further poof to those who doubt the economical side to RV travel and we never have to worry about bed bugs from hotels having our own home on wheels.
Now the first series of photos of Mackinac Island and departure to it, here I am at the dock mainland and it is a windy cool day, I was not ready to have my photo taken but in a rare moment Jerry had control of the camera, so here, do I look a bit like Ruthie? Do not answer! Ahhhh wish I were back in the cool lake with the wind. There was no need to comb hair because it would tousle around. Fortunately I have a simple cut that doesn't demand staying in place.
The previous day, on our drive to the area a rest stop along the American Legion Highway displayed a nice sign and photo of the bridge. We were a bit early for our RV site arrival so we dallied at the rest stop outside of Grayling Michigan. It is one of the few we saw amidst the plentiful forests of hardwoods of the area which reminded us of western Canada and British Columbia, an area Jerry especially loves.
We took a Ferry to the Island along with the multitudes of others touring that day. Although locals said that the numbers of tourists were down, we could not tell. To us if there was a downside to this trip it was too many people, more people than w see in a year here in our town. I especially dislike crowds so it was a bit of a stretch to have to be amongst so many of them the entire time both on the island and mainland. If we ever return to this area it would be September when the crowds disperse. Tourism is a key if not the key industry of the area.
Yooper Ruthie famous lady of the Michigan Upper Peninsula, aka UP |
It is to be 100 degrees today which is not our MN weather, but puleeze nobody tell the global warming alarmists. I walked early this morning and even then, by 8:00AM on the return I was sweaty; the high school track which I often have to myself for 1/4 mile laps was invaded by our Lancer football team and not wanting to mix it up amongst the boys twice my size and 1/4 my age, I departed the track for the 'hoods and woods. So its a good day to catch up and post some of the vacation photos. We have been home a little more than a week now and downloading, editing and dealing with the photos takes time. In old days, a simpler time, we just took the film out of the camera and dropped it off taking our chances with printed results a week or so later.
This 2+ weeks motor home trip to the Fleetwood Rally in Goshen Indiana followed by a swing up north to Michigan's upper peninsula and all the lake lore was a great time. Trip details, we added only 1376 total motor home miles, 26.5 hours actual driving time, consumed 163.7 gallons of diesel including the 3/4 tankful we brought back home, and appreciated the declining cost of diesel, spending only $587 on fuel. Altogether not an overly costly trip, $526 for RV sites including our rally gathering that had been prepaid in February, $93 for tours, $19 for tolls, $217 restaurants, $45 groceries, and a whopping $458 shopping for other items including my RV purse at the Indiana quilt shop, more microfiber mops and cloths at the RV rally from my favorite vendor, a new carved wooden sign for the RV which Jerry is now staining and shellacking to protect it (there never is a piece of wood that he can just leave as is) and other miscellany and finally a special rally deal to extend Good Sam coverage for a couple more years at $99. All total only $2044 spent. Further poof to those who doubt the economical side to RV travel and we never have to worry about bed bugs from hotels having our own home on wheels.
Now the first series of photos of Mackinac Island and departure to it, here I am at the dock mainland and it is a windy cool day, I was not ready to have my photo taken but in a rare moment Jerry had control of the camera, so here, do I look a bit like Ruthie? Do not answer! Ahhhh wish I were back in the cool lake with the wind. There was no need to comb hair because it would tousle around. Fortunately I have a simple cut that doesn't demand staying in place.
Rest stop sign about Bridge |
We took a Ferry to the Island along with the multitudes of others touring that day. Although locals said that the numbers of tourists were down, we could not tell. To us if there was a downside to this trip it was too many people, more people than w see in a year here in our town. I especially dislike crowds so it was a bit of a stretch to have to be amongst so many of them the entire time both on the island and mainland. If we ever return to this area it would be September when the crowds disperse. Tourism is a key if not the key industry of the area.
Our Cadillac arrives at the dock
|
Jerry took many magnificent shots of the world famous Macinac Island bridge from our ferry |
We learned too late that had we stayed across the bridge at St Ignace, the ferry would have taken us under the bridge |
Lite house and Ft Mackinac left, up the hill |
The ferry takes about 25-30 minutes to the island;
Here we approach as does another ferry
|
No kidding about the people and the bikes We arrive at the dock as others too come and go |
Breakfast dockside |
Main street on the island. Bikes, walkers, or those riding either horseback or carriages. We had a carriage ride and tour. It was a good choice which took us all around and over the island. |
The Island is famous for fudge and lilacs. This is one of the oldest lilac trees on the island at 100 years old. Bloom was done |
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