Week 37: September 13-19

Another bad week of picture taking -- I'm not sure why I can't be more committed to taking more pictures.  I guess my life just isn't very interesting ...

Saturday - Tuesday

Wednesday - the drive home

Thursday ....

Friday - handmade quilt .. approved by the devil cat

Week 36 : Sept 6 - 12

Saturday - lighthouse window

Sunday - flying home

Monday - the devil cat

Tuesday - visiting a well known company

Wednesday - the devil cat, again

Thursday - home made laptop bag

Friday - Amelia Earhart (getting ready for a trans-Atlantic flight)

Remembering 9/11

2005

2013

2014

Waffles

At the first hotel we stayed at on our Michigan trip, they had a complimentary continental breakfast.  One of the things they had were waffles that you make yourself! (You all have probably had these before but this was a first for me.)

 The first thing you do is fill a cup with waffle mix.

Then you open the griddle ...

and pour the mix on

you close it and flip it over and the timer starts,,,

and then you have a fresh waffle...

Just add butter and syrup and you're good to go!

#4 - Walking across the Mackinac Bridge

#4 on my list this year was to walk across the Mackinac Bridge ...

They only allow pedestrians on the bridge one day a year, Labor Day, which fell on September 1 this year. So I made plans to come up for the walk.  We flew into the Hancock/Houghton airport which is close to Eagle Harbor, but about 5 hours from the bridge.  We spent the night in Houghton on Saturday, and then drove down to the bridge on Sunday.  We had time on Sunday for me to take a dip in the two lakes and then we drove across the bridge for dinner on Sunday evening.

(nice, healthy dinner, lol).

 

and then we drove back ...

So we got up bright and early on Monday, drove to a parking lot, where we took a bus to the starting point, and then, with around 40,000 of our closest friends, we started the walk.  It's about 5 miles from start to finish.
 

Here we are on the suspension part of the bridge where you look down through the grates to the water below.  I didn't get a very good picture of the water.  Interestingly, I found it easier to walk across the bridge than to drive. 

Me and Nevada (selfie)!!

 

After the walk, we wandered through town (Mackinaw City) -- mostly because the buses to return to the other side were strategically located on the far side of town, forcing everyone to walk past all the shops.

Here's a picture from the bus window on the return trip.  The bus ride took over an hour because traffic was so slow (due to half the bridge being shut down for the walkers -- that and probably 10-20 times more traffic than normal (or even more than that)).  I have to give the people who run this event credit -- it was super organized with lots of police and other people directing traffic, telling people where to go, where to park, how to get there, how to get back, etc.

My certificate for completing the walk ..

September Goals

This month is either going to be a busy month or a crazy busy month. I have vacation, an off-Broadway show (is that what you call them when you see a show not on Broadway?), a possible trip to the east coat, a trip to Napa (unless the earthquake damage is too great) ...

1 - swim in three of the Great Lakes: Huron, Michigan, Superior (actually I swam in two of them in August but I'm counting it anyway -- going with Australian time for that ...)

2 - put together a 1,000 piece puzzle

3 -make 4 Grinch blocks

4 - start a new project

5 - bake some bread

6 - make a new soup

7 - eat healthier - less snacking (not sure how to quantify that)

8 - go to Napa

9 - relax in Michigan

10 - be more intentional



August recap:

1 - make 4 Grinch blocks -- nope

2 - Start a new project - DONE!!  made the star quilt (oops I've forgotten the name)

3 - go to the gym 8x - I think I only went about 4 times.

4 - lose 8 pounds - I lost 2, oh well

5 - try a new recipe - I ate something new.  does that count??

6 - read a book - DONE!!  I read the second book in the Divergent series and am getting through the third one as well.

7 - unplug once a week (no games/blogging/facebook) -- I did this once.  I have tried cutting back on games.  I'm not candy crushing any more, or playing pyramid solitaire ...

8 - take a Saturday walk somewhere new/different - DONE!! found a new trail near our house! YAY!

9 - do something kind for someone "pay it forward" - nope, didn't do this one either, at least not yet.

10 - make improv blocks and mail them out -- DONE!!

Week 35: Aug 30 - Sept 5

Saturday .. the Portage Lift Bridge

 Sunday - the Mighty Mac
(The Mackinac Bridge)

Monday - The Mackinac Bridge

up close and personal (with 40,000 of my closest friends)

Tuesday - the tree (still there)

Wednesday - covered road

Thursday - foggy shaft house

Friday - Eagle Harbor light house

Swimming in the Great Lakes

I had  the great privilege this year of being able to swim* in three out of the four Great Lakes. On Labor Day, my husband, Nevada and I walked across the Mackinac Bridge.  Once a year, on Labor Day, they open the bridge for walkers and about 40,000-60,000 people walk across.  It's pretty amazing actually. 

The  Mackinac Bridge is located where Lakes Michigan and Huron meet which gave me the opportunity to swim* in two of the lakes without much effort.

Here I am getting out of Lake Huron.  It was shallow where we were and hard to get in (lots of muck).  You'll have to take my word for it that I went under. 

And here I am, in Lake Michigan.  The beach access was great and we were able to get some decent pictures.  The water was kind of dirty though -- lots of stuff floating around in it. Chilly, but not too cold.

It was probably in the 70s -- not great swimming weather, but not too horrible. That was on Sunday, August 31.  Then on Wednesday, it was in the 80s here in Eagle Harbor so I took the plunge into Lake Superior.  Three Great Lakes.  

I think one year, I'll put on my list to swim in all five in the same trip .. take a trip around the lakes.  might be fun.

*I use the term "swim" quite loosely - what it really means is that I got in the water and was completely submerged .. that's it.  no swimming strokes.  just getting wet (including my hair).

The Tree!

It seems that there are some things that don't change ... at least not much.