Joyce & Wiley's Great Adventure: May 2011

5/25/11 (Wednesday): I'm doing laundry this morning, and it seems like a good time to do a blog (I get a really good connection to WiFi in the laundry room, which speeds things up a lot).

Last week we visited Holland, Michigan, in time for their tulip festival. It's a pretty town on the Eastern shore of Lake Michigan, across the state from where we are. It was founded in 1847 by Dutch Protestants (Calvinists) who were being persecuted in Holland. Much of the population today is of Dutch ancestry. Many of the original settlers were also very forward thinking in their ideas about agriculture and science. The city suffered a major fire on October 8–9, 1871, the same time as the Great Chicago Fire in Illinois and the very deadly Pestigo Fire in Wisconsin. Manistee and Port Huron, Michigan also burned. I never knew that there were other deadly fires in the U.S. at the time of the Chicago fire!

The city was very crowded with families who came to admire the streets lined with tulips and see the parade. There were also dancers and (oddly enough), costumed street sweepers, which is apparently a Dutch custom. It was lots of fun to watch.

We had lunch at a restaurant in a historic building with really neat decor. Unfortunately, it was too dark to get a good picture of the interior. We both had the Dutch pot roast with mashed potatoes and red cabbage. Yum.

After lunch, we took a pedicab (a little surry pulled by a bicycle). This was a nice way to enjoy the old houses and tulip-lined streets. Some of the streets were lined with all one color of tulips and others had mixed it all up. The dogwood, lilac, crab apple and other spring blooms were all glorious, too.

Our next adventure took us due north to Frankenmuth. It was settled by people from Franconia (now Bavaria), Germany in 1845. The settlers were conservative Lutherans who were intent on bringing Christianity to the Chippewa Indian tribes in the area. Now it's a big tourist destination.

We did not have one of Zehnder's famous chicken dinners, but we did have a very nice lunch in the historic inn you can see here on the other side of the street.

Most of the buildings have exposed timbers in "X" and square patterns. This is typical of the Bavarian region of Germany, apparently. The two figures you see in this building "dance" to a german polka like a big cuckoo clock!

Our first stop was Brommer's Christmas store, which bills itself as the largest Christmas store in the world. I have to believe it, after giving up after making it halfway through the labyrinth of buildings. Mag would have loved the room devoted to creches from around the world. Wish you could come visit!

This reproduction of the German chapel where the Christmas carol "Silent Night" was composed and first sung has translations of the carol into hundreds of different languages posted along the walkway. It was quite lovely on this Spring day.

We enjoyed browsing through all the little shops and even bought a Christmas present or two.

There were not too many tourists (it was a weekday), so we were actually able to enjoy the brick sidewalks, gardens and pretty architecture. This fountain particularly caught my eye. It had statues of children playing in the water (blowing bubbles, splashing, etc.). Lovely!

We left from the back side of town over this covered bridge (not antique) and enjoyed the ride home over back roads lined with farm fields being plowed and Spring flowers.

This weathervane just outside of town caught my eye--very elaborate!

We passed through Judd's Corners (now known as Juddville) about halfway home. It's one of a number of old towns that thrived in a bygone day In the 1880's, there was a sawmill, blacksmith shop, general store, a creamery, and two churches. Population peaked in the 1880s at approximately 175 people and began to decline and the post office was closed in September 1902. This school house is about all that remains of the town.

We were surprised to see these long-horned cattle taking their ease in a field of dandelions. We thought they only lived inTexas and Florida!

But if long-horned cattle were surprising, this oil well was even more so! We had seen one other operating oil well on U.S. 12 just West of here. As it turns out, though, Michigan is actually having a boom in drilling for oil! Check out this link: Saginaw County Oil Wells.

Laundry's done, time to fold and go home for lunch! We don't have any big plans for the coming weeks, other than Wiley's surgery (hopefully in July), but we'll probably have some more mini adventures, so stay tuned!

MY SON, MARK, SUBSCRIBES TO MY BLOG, SO HE HAD A COPY OF THE ONE THAT GOT DELETED. HERE'S THE MISSING BLOG--THANKS, MARK!

5/10/11 (Tuesday): I'm doing this blog on a new computer! The old one has been dying by degrees and we just got our tax refund, so I'm the proud owner of a new Asus laptop. I'd never heard of the brand, but my research shows they've been around for a while and are quite trustworthy. Also, it was $100 cheaper than the Toshiba I'd been looking at and had exactly the same specifications. I also paid a little extra to have all my files transferred over and to have Windows '97 and MS Office installed. I just don't have the patience any more (and my computer whiz kid now lives in New Zealand).

Anyhow--a quick update on Wiley. We saw the neurologist and everything looks like a "go" for the DBS surgery in July. We'll be going through a fairly elaborate process of testing to assure that it's positioned in the best possible spot in his brain. Apparently, because he can't have an MRI (due to the wires already in his head), the second placement is not as accurate as the first. CT scans don't show as much detail as MRI's. They're aiming for a place in the brain the size of a Rice Krispie! We're quite impressed with the U Mich health team.

Mute Swan on Campground Lake

We've been getting out a bit more now that the weather has improved. One of our favorite things is to walk around the lake in the campground. All the campers are on one side of the lake, and the other side is fairly wild.

Mayapples

We always see lots of birds and wildflowers.

Sunset Over Campground Lake

The sunsets are spectacular!

Parker Mill, Ann Arbor

We had seen this old mill several times in our travels nearby. Turns out, it's called Parker Mill.

Fletcher Creek (Mill in Background)

There's a nice little park with a bit of history. It's only 26 acres, but it's got Fletcher Creek running through it and some wooded trails and this great old mill. The mill dates back to 1873 and was still in operation in 1958. The original, operable equipment is still inside.

Belted Galloway

Another day we took a trip to Hell (Michigan)! On the way we saw a bunch of Belted Galloway cattle. We hadn't seen any of them since our days in Maine.

Saloon at Hell, Michigan

We stopped in this "saloon" and bought pasties for dinner (they're a kind of meat pie made popular by Welsh miners in the upper peninsula). Wiley bought a tee shirt that says "I've been to Hell (Michigan) and back." There's not much to the little town--two bars and lots of lakes and forest. The Huron River runs nearby. We want to go back for some kayaking.

Hell Creek

The town sits on Hell Creek, which is quite pretty. If you'd like to read a little history of the town and how it got its name, click here.

Joyce, Anna, Margo, Claire, Kristin and Tom

Tom and Kristin took us to a fondue restaurant for Mother's Day. That was really fun! The girls really got into it, especially the dessert course (chocolate)!

That's about it for now. As soon as I download the pictures, I'll give you a little vicarious tour of Holland, Michigan, where we went yesterday for the tulip festival.

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5/16/11 (Monday): Well, blogger.com lost my last post. Don't know how many of you might have seen it (Tom had already commented on it), but I'll re-post what I can remember of it. Bummer!

Sunset Over Campground Lake

We had a few nice days (we're back to cold and rain now). The campground we're staying in (same one as last autumn) is great--close to Tom's house, nice lake with trail all the way around, and wonderful people.

Belted Galloway

We took advantage of the brief break in the weather with a couple of trips to nearby spots. We hadn't seen a belted galloway since Maine. This fellow looks a little shaggy--guess he doesn't have his summer coat yet.

Aspen?

We enjoyed a hike at the botanic gardens. The trees are just starting to green up.

Fletcher Creek

The trail we took follows the course of Fletcher Creek. A nice hike!

Who could resist following the road sign to Hell?! Not us! Turns out, Hell, Michigan is not much--a saloon, restaurant and pretty creek. We bought pasties here and had them for dinner that night. Pasties are a meat pie made popular in the Upper Peninsula of MI by Welsh miners.

Joyce, Anna, Margo, Claire, Kristin and Tom

Tom and Kristin took us to a fondue restaurant for Mother's Day. We had a great time. We all especially enjoyed the dessert fondue--two kinds of chocolate, one of which was flambe! Great fun.

That's all for now. Kristin is in Chicago visiting her sister and new niece this weekend, and Tom and I are managing the busy commuting schedule of the girls. I don't know how Kristin does it by herself! I need to go pick up Claire at preschool now.

5/2/11 (Monday): Spring has sprung! It's still pretty cold (high in the 60's) and it was the wettest April in Michigan since 1929, but the wildflowers have started to bloom. We've had even more birds at the feeder, which we're enjoying a lot. Enjoy these pictures!