The Great Michigan Mushoom Hunt 2011

Got our game in at Delphos Jefferson yesterday, sunny and pleasant...only the 4th time I've worn a short sleeve shirt in over 30 games umpired this season.  I did the plate(as usual) as Jefferson came from behind to defeat visiting Kenton 3-2.  Tonight, if the rain/storms hold off, I will be over at Elida for a game between the Bulldogs and Paulding Panthers.   Tomorrow afternoon off to Bellefontaine for a game before the Michigan trip....some make-up league games scheduled when I get back.  No Regional or State game this year, marking the first time in the past 3 years I have not been involved past District level.   That's OK...I just wish they would give some younger guys, who are worthy, some Regional and State games, instead of some of these recycled old farts my age...who can neither see or move well enough to work a high level.  The politics has been old for years, and it just doesn't change...if being honest, causes me to get clipped out of future final weekend games, so be it.  The truth is the truth, and the state powers that be, wonder why younger officials and umpires drop out or move onto college officiating?....it's called the "Good Ol' Boy" system, and it is stinks...being around a long time doesn't make you worthy or qualified to do a Regional or State Final.  It shouldn't disqualify you either...if you keep yourself in good shape, and actually move around the diamond to get into position to make a correct call.... but enough of that rant!

Michigan Mushroom Hunting____

Thursday morning Rick, his sons, Clay and Guy, and our old college buddy Clint, take off for Michigan...Boyne City is the location, and the annual Mushroom hunt and Boyne City Mushroom Festival are on the agenda....we should return Sunday or Monday.....

I have missed the last two trips, because of District Baseball...this year I blocked out this weekend and days leading to it...plus we are leaving about a week or 10 days earlier...hopeful of some better luck.  2007 and 2008 were great, when we camped in Mesick, the past 2 years have been dry, and we have now moved the camp some 35 miles north.  The weather looks wet, but seasonable for upper lower Michigan in mid-May....will have photos and details/results when I return.  I also will finally get to meet my cousin Moe Houseworth in person, if all goes well...Moe, who I met through Genealogy Research, lives not far from Boyne City, and will be there for the weekend festival...so we plan on a little "family reunion"....


Yesterday, after our MRSI Board Meeting, I finally got out and planted a number of Sunflower and other seeds....with the wet weather and the cold, I held off, but the results, hopefully we equal the past two season...or perhaps be even better....time will tell.

Chores to take care of....one more blog post tomorrow before I head north...

back later>>>>

Photos-Michigan Morel Mushrooms...and Rick, Clint, and PRH, on our last hunt that all 3 of us attended, 2008 near Mesick...now being 30 pound less, maybe I can outrun the younger guys in finding the elusive Morels....maybe?

 

Things to do when the fish don't bite....Oscoda, Michigan

Got back a bit early from the annual fishing trip to the Au Sable River/Lake Huron area of upper lower Michigan....too little fish caught, too many cigars, too much beer/Drambuie, but all-in-all a decent time in the north country.

Thursday____

We arrived about 3 O'clock in the afternoon, and pulled in to our destination for the second straight year, the Blue Horizon Court...located at the beach on Lake Huron, just a few yards south of the mouth of the Au Sable River Bridge, and the Oscoda City Limits.  Bob, the owner, was in his office and we agreed on the same off  season rate as last year...$50 a night for the 3 nights, with an option to stay the 4th if we wanted...taking the same cabin, ajoining the office, as last year.

We unpacked and then headed to the local grocery to shore up our supplies....mainly beer, since we had already taken canned foods from both Nick's place as well as our basement....we would not need much extra food...a pound of breakfast sausage,  an equal amount of lean ground beef, along with butter, mustard, milk and salt.   A couple cases of beer would get us through the weekend, with plenty to spare.  No fishing on the first day...I cracked the bottle of Drambuie and fired up the first of a couple of torpedo cigars, and settled in to watch the World Series game #2...not much of a game, with San Francisco pounding the Rangers 9-0 and taking a 2-nothing lead in games.

Friday____

Up early, we talked with Bob and one of his workers about the fish and were they biting or not....Harrisville, some 13 miles north seemed to be where the Salmon were pooling.  First we headed to our usual first spot, the Foote Dam on the Au Sable, some 5 miles west of Oscoda.  A few guys were fishing in the rapids, but were having no luck...we shot a few photos and then headed towards Harrisville, taking the back roads around the perimeter of the old Wurtsmith Air Force Base...knowing the cold winters up in the neck of the woods, I was glad that I had not been stationed there after Vietnam, Rome, in upstate New York,  and Griffiss AFB was snowy and cold enough, I've talked to guys in our organization that were stationed here and in the UP at KI Sawyer, the weather was brutal, and the SAC Security Duty for AF Cops, was likewise.

We made it to Harrisville, but saw little action...and headed back to the cabin for lunch.  After fixing that we went the quarter mile where the river meets Lake Huron, and tried our luck, fishing mostly for Walleye, we caught a few, but nobody was having any luck with Salmon.  Friday evening, we hit the cigars, a shot or two of Drambuie, and watched the horror movie festivals on Turner Movie Classics, and AMC, some good old stuff, and some hokier movies as well.  We played some poker, with me winning the lions share of the $10 we invested between us...ended up drinking many beers to go with the Drambuie and cigars...

Saturday_____
Photos along the Au Sable from Foote Dam to Lake Huron...photo #3 is the mouth of the river at Lake Huron,
with a 4th looking from US Route 23 at the Sunday Sunrise over the Lake.

Waking up and feeling frankly like crap, we set around the cabin after breakfast and decided weather to try fishing at all...we ended up going to a antique and wood furniture place across the street...back to the cabin for lunch and I settled in for a day of football and baseball on the tube....in short, the fishing turned to bust, and no beer, cigars, for Saturday...I needed a break, and Nick may have been worse than me...sucks getting old!  We decided to say farewell to the Blue Horizon by Sunday morning.

Sunday____

Fixed our final meal at the cabin Sunday morning, watched an old Halloween Bela Lugosi movie, said our farewells to Bob and his dog, and headed back down US 23 towards Standish....stopping in Tawas for coffee at Burger King first.

100 miles later we were on the floor of the Soaring Eagle Casino near Mount Pleasant:

http://www.soaringeaglecasino.com/

Most of the "Indian" Casinos I visited on my RV runs over the 5 years after my retirement from the health department, we not up to snuff when compared to my trips to Vegas...the "Eagle" was a pleasant change.  Plenty of slots, a couple of good bars, and gaming tables that, while not equaling places like Goad Coast, were in abundance, the place was sharp, and a good visit.

I had no intention of playing any table games, and sat at the bar playing video KENO for about 2 hours..Nick meanwhile tried his luck at a Blackjack table, losing 30 or 40 bucks...before hitting the video of the same game at the bar, his winnings jumped up $150.  I told him to take his winnings and let's go...he had won enough to pay for his share of the cabin and supplies...but being the dumb ass he is, basically told me he knew what he was doing.  Turns out he didn't, and by the time I collected my $30 winnings from the KENO machine, Nick had lost his winnings, and ended up losing about what I had won....sorry about his luck, but I know that machines, and Blackjack nor Poker should be played on them, any winnings are just temporary, and his were indeed.

With 200 miles to go, we headed out and arrived back in Celina before 6:30pm....a day early, but with money left and sadly, no fish to show for it...next year, we may head south, the last 2 years, after a great 2008,  have not been that great fishing wise...but we still managed to have a decent time.

Epilogue____

It's probably best I got home early...seems Patricia came down with a nasty sinus infection that started yesterday morning(of course she would never complain to me)...that raged on through the night, she was at the doctor's office this morning, and will be off from school for a few days at least.

As for me, will take the new lawn mower to Coldwater for some work on the electric starter, still under warrenty, and tonight will head for church and kick the Dartball season off with a practice session and team organizational meeting.  Tomorrow is Election Day and I will do my part to throw the Obama supporting trash out with the rest of the garbage...hopefully "real change" will come, but even with a predicted GOP Landslide, I doubt much will.

Back Later>>>>

Photos from the Trip:  The one thing I enjoy doing when the fish aren't biting, along with the cigars and a good drink, is taking photos...of just about everything, as long as they are "point and shoot" type, and I don't have to think about what I'm shooting, and I have the 10 second mode....Cigar, Drambuie, specialty beers, and fishing...this year, for the 2nd straight year, the fishing was not quite as good....maybe time for a change of locations, wouldn't want things to get stale.  New Header Photo was taken on Friday with me at the Foote Dam, the rest throughout the weekend.

More Photos from northeast Michigan

Not much going on...Election Day was yesterday...in Ohio a Casino Bill was passed, now the stinking large cities can add the corruption of Casinos to their areas. I have no problem with Casinos, I frequent them in Vegas when I go...but I realize, they are not really a bargain for the states(except perhaps Nevada) that they go into...nor the cities that build them. We also passed a bill giving a bonus to Iraq, and Gulf War Veterans, I remember I was glad to get mine as a Vietnam Vet back in the mid 70s.

On the national level, the GOP Kicked Obama's sorry ass in both Virginia and corrupt New Jersey...make no mistake about it, regardless of what the talking heads say, this was a vote by people who are sick of what the Kenyan Messiah is bringing upon the tax payers and real Americans, that pay the bills for this once great Republic.

Basketball meeting tonight....as I rest up by doing the incline mode on the treadmill(to strengthen my legs) before the toughest of officiating seasons begin.

More Michigan Photos____

Not much going on today, and the fishing in Michigan story is about played, so I'll drop a few more photos from the 4 day trip on ya!

photo descriptions-Various Photos I took at the beach overlooking Lake Huron from the Blue Horizon Court:

http://www.bluehorizonct.com/

And a shot each of Nick{the fat short guy with the Orioles baseball Jersey} and the good looking older gentleman, me, both at the foot bridge overlooking the Au Sable River west of Oscoda, Michigan.

back later>>>>

Things to do when the Fish don't bite...part #2

Yesterday, being my first full day back from the Michigan Fishing Trip, saw me get some things done around the house....then finish things off at St. Johns but hosting our Dartball practice session, with 10 in attendance, and Sam and a player or 2 more not there, we should be in good shape, numbers wise for the upcoming season. Still with a mix of old guys(oldest being 91 years young), and young guys {youngest at 8}, we are a diverse bunch...the regular season kicks off next Monday night at Mendon, with our first home game the week that follows, the night I return from Wisconsin.

The weather was nice, a partly sunny high of about 60 as I shook off the effects of rain, cigars, and Drambuie, from the trip. A heavy frost kicked in overnight, and with sun on the horizon for today, the high is going to be about 50.

More on the Fishing Trip____

As I told yesterday, fish wise things were not to be this year...plenty of fishing, but few fish. Some years you have it{last year}, others you get wacked{this time around}. But a good time

was had anyway.

Friday we fished the entire day...starting out at the pier we tossed 4 lines in, and tried a combination of eggs sacks on one pole, and worms and Erie Dearie Walleye rigs on a second poll. A few Walleye bites, but nothing on the Salmon/Steelhead front. After a few hours there, we picked up and headed west along the River Road towards the Foote Dam. We met a couple of guys, who had been fishing since daybreak{this was at 10am}, and had came away with one nice Steelhead, and a Lake Trout....lots of time, for little fish. Nick and I fished in a steady rain, sometimes light, sometimes moderate, for about 3 hours...before heading back to the cabin, a 15 minute drive. Skunked Again! We had by this time, figured out this day, and with a front coming in for the evening, after the rain ended, that would stir up the river and pretty much disrupt any good fishing, we were in for a pretty tough weekend of fishing. But we had a plan to make sure the weekend and the trip went off AOK.....

We ate breakfast that morning at our favorite diner, a place called Mom's Country Kitchen, just off the bridge on route 23 in Oscoda. Plenty of daily and breakfast specials, we had eaten there on Thursday night, and were back for breakfast on Friday morning.

With the weather in flux, we decided we would be spending more time that we had planned in the cabin...so off the to store Nick went, after dropping me off at Blue Horizon Court....I popped open a beer, and fired up one of my cigars. An hour or so later, here comes Nick with about $100 worth of groceries...W-T-F? No more eating out, we would dine in comfort at the cabin for the duration.

We spent more time fishing, going back to the dam, and the pier as well...with similar luck, or lack of it, as was this year's situation. But we spent plenty of time sampling our cooking, beers, cigars, and I got out and used the new camera to take plenty of photos...Nick tried his hand at photography as well...gotta say, he sucks at that, at least with the new camera, using it for the first time.

Lucky for us we had a good TV, and great cable service, and got to watch plenty of football, the World Series, and just about any Halloween Scary Movie fare we could want....before finally packing it in Sunday morning, and heading home, arriving late in the afternoon on Sunday...fishless this time around, but we, God Willing, will be heading back to Michigan this coming spring to hunt Mushrooms, and next October for more cool weather fishing.

As far as the extra eating, smoking good cigars, Drambuie, etc....things that should have put a crimp in my Diabetes 2 Diet, things didn't change that much. 194 on my return after starting out at 193 last Thursday...and this morning the Blood Pressure reading was 125/70 with a resting pulse of 65....so what could have been a disaster, turned out to be a break even health wise.

back later>>>>photo descriptions below

Photos-The Au Sable as it wanders east towards Lake Huron at Oscoda/one of our mainstays...a double shot of Drambuie on the Rocks with a cigar{let the tips of the Cigars soak in the liquor, and taste the goodness}. The Foote Dam, about 6 miles west of Oscoda, my favorite spot to fish on the river. Double Click the Wild Turkeys along River Road...Wild Turkey's in Ohio are easily scared off, these females just moved a few feet into the brush. Me on the Au Sable Bridge...an example of Nick's shitty photograph skills, or me being dumber looking than I think. The Au Sable moving west towards the damn on Sunday Morning/Sunday morning looking out over Lake Huron from the beach at Blue Horizon Court. And finally Nick's food was better than his photography skills, one of the Saturday morning omelets that he whipped up....we ate well, but sane, the entire 3 days and evenings.

Things to do when the Fish don't bite...part #1

Got back from Oscoda, Michigan, last night....yep, a day early, but that sometimes happens when the fish aren't biting, at least not biting in the form you are accustomed to...

From the Beginning____

Nick and I took off from Celina about 9:30am Thursday. Although he temperatures were scheduled to be 'Indian Summer' like in both Ohio and Michigan with plenty of sunshine, that didn't see to want to work out. We drove up US 127 for about 250 miles before crossing over on Michigan 61 towards Standish and the Michigan "Thumb"...we then proceeded the last miles up US 23 to our destination north of Tawas City, Oscoda. We arrived about 4 O'clock and I guess we should have saw what was going to be our luck, or lack of it for the weekend at that time. We rolled into the little dump on Lake Huron called Aurora Resort to find a new management team on hand...and instead of the $25 a night for the rooms, the manager and his wife demanded $45. Well $45 for a one bedroom, 2 bed motel with a space heater seemed, at least in the off season, pretty steep, especially considering there were no other customers.

So we turned them down, and headed north on 23 towards the Oscoda city limits...after back tracking a bit, Nick pulled the Saturn into an again group of cabins with a sign that said...Blue Horizon Court "Spend a Night, Not a Fortune". We pulled the car into the parking area where 2 guys about our age with tossing the Corn Hole Bags into the game slots out back...I jumped out and was greeted by Jerry, and 101st Airborne Vietnam Vet, from Kentucky, who was staying for the winter in one of the single room cottages, and the owner manager, Bob Laliberte....I told Bob about our luck or lack of it with Aurora, and he said, he could beat the price, but would set us up in one of his 2 bedroom cabins with complete kitchen, cable TV and it's own heading system{no space heater required}...and we could have it for $50 a night...hummm, not much doubt there, The Aurora for $45 or Blue Horizon for $50 with twice the space and much nicer in general. It was a no-brainer. So I plunked down $100 for the first 2 nights, and we were ready to move in, unpack, and go fishing.

http://www.bluehorizonct.com/

At the mouth of the Au Sable River, where it meets Lake Huron, there is a large Marina with a bait, tackle shop with gun store called the Bunyan Town Tackle and Marina with the "Lock, Stock, and Barrel" gun store. We had purchased our fishing license with lifetime DNR Sportscard{required to purchase an out of state license}....we stopped in and picked up our license and talked with the owners.

As luck would have it, as we were walking out, I noticed a pickup truck with a Vietnam Flag as the front license, with a K-9 Dog Logo and SPS{Security Police Squadron} on it...the driver was just getting ready to leave when I tapped on his window...a fellow Air Force Cop from the Vietnam War I had discovered...we talked for about 10 minutes and invited Bob to our Mini Reunion in March in Dayton, and also invited him to join the Vietnam Security Police Association. He had heard of the VSPS, but was not yet a member. He promised to take a look at the web site:

http://vspa.com/

as we said our good-byes and he drove away....

The Fishing___sort of____

The reports we got were as expected...the Salmon run was finishing up and most had moved out into the lake...Steelheads were moving in, but large numbers had not been taken. Seems most folks were having better luck at the Marina, where the river met Lake Huron, and they were catching mostly Walleye there. Nick and I were old Walleye fisherman from as far back as the early 1980s when we would take the 22 footer out into Lake Erie and usually take our limit a time or 2 per day....we were really not looking to take Walleye, but we would see how things went.

One thing that was going on was the coming front and rain...1 to 2 inches of the wet stuff were expected, and it was going to start Thursday night. So we decided to grab supplies, including a bottle of Drambuie and Chili fixin's and at least eat well, if we were going to struggle catching what we wanted. So we grabbed some Bratwurst, Chili Beans, with ground beef, and the other ingredients that go with it, Romain Lettuce, and other fixin's for the salad....and tossed in a case of Miller Lite...we had a supply of 20 or so Cigars in a variety of hand rolled shapes and sizes, and some Folgers Coffee....

We were ready to try our luck at fishing...if that did not go as well as last year{when we brought home over 50 pounds of Salmon Fillets}, we were still going to eat well, drink well, and have plenty of good Cigars to sample.

back later with part 2

Photos-

A few photos of the first days at Oscoda...more, along with the continued story over the next couple of blog posts....Top Left...a Morning Sunrise off the beach at the Blue Horizon as it comes over Lake Huron. (2) The Blue Horizon office looking out over the Lake (3) Our 2 bedroom cabin (4) Nick and me with Cigars and Drambuie on Thursday night (5, 6, 7} Some of the home cooked fare...Chili, Fresh Salad, and smoked Bratwurst with cheese filling (8) Rainy Friday Morning at the Pier as the Au Sable flows into Lake Huron (9) Cigars and Coffee were the constants for after breakfast...Cigars and Drambuie and Beers were the constants after the fishing was done in the evenings.

Gone Fishin' Part 2

Heading out this morning on this Indian Summer like day in western Ohio...sunshine and a high in the mid 60s is predicted....not as warm in the Au Sable basin of northeastern Michigan on Lake Huron...and it looks like rain and wind for a couple of days. The rain will not effect the fishing, except to help, however the wind my put a damper on Friday, which seems to be the key day for the wind...time will tell.

The Forecast for Oscoda/Tawas City:

Today 56 with sunshine...but then things get "iffy"

Friday 70% chance of Rain with SSE winds to 25 mph and a high of 59

Saturday 30% chance of AM Rain with windy conditions and a high of 48

Sunday 40% rain chance high of only 42, but the winds calm down

and for the trip home Monday 45 with some rain...

Sounds about typhical for northeastern lower Michigan for the end of October beginning of November, it could be worse.

So will let you know how things went come late Monday or on the Tuesday Blog...

Back Later>>>>

Photo-Last October, me standing of the overhang at the Au Sable River, just east of the Foote Dam.

October 2009...The Month Ahead.

Well here it is...October. You can count on summer being pretty much finished for good...O' sure we will get a shot or two of "Indian Summer" here in western Ohio, and maybe a stray thunderstorm or two, but for the most part any semblance of Hot weather will wait until May of 2010 or maybe even later...the long winter awaits, but I'm not ready to pack it in for the duration, not yet anyway.

The Plans for the month____

First off, football will be the focus of the entire month...doing an 8th grade contest at Celina tonight, then for Varsity Friday, I've been picked up by another "Crew" to fill in at Delphos Jefferson vs Crestview...Jefferson is undefeated at 5-0 while I believe the Knights come into the Northwest Conference game at 1 up and 4 down...on paper it looks like a mismatch, but being a rival and league contest, you can bet it will be a competitive game...I'll fill in at line judge on the Delphos side of the field....Saturday morning I return to these 2 team's JV game, this will be played at Convoy, where Crestview calls home at 10AM....quick turnaround. I'll finish out the weekend by doing some early girls basketball at Celina Middle School on Sunday afternoon. The Rec Football League has the weekend off. The remainder of October will see an additional 2 dozen or so games, before I shut it down for upcoming basketball Season.

The OHSAA has cancelled the State Basketball Meetings for this season, seems there are only 2 rules changes and feel time and money will best be saved by forgoing the state meetings....the local rules meetings begin in late October, and scrimmages will begin about the 10th of November.

Once football is done, Nick and I will head for Michigan, for some serious, or not-so-serious Salmon Fishing about October 29th. We were pretty successful last year, the weather, while cool, was good for fishing. This year we may add the area near Traverse City on the Lake Michigan coast to our agenda, but we plan on starting out at Tawas City like last year, with Cigars and Beer in hand. Hopefully the mostly dry weather we have had{although the drought has eased somewhat in the past week} will continue through the Salmon Catch.

I also plan on a trip to the Houseworth Family's old haunts for some genealogy research....Waldo and Millwood, Ohio, await.....as do the great baloney sandwiches at G & R Tavern in Waldo....I can taste them now.....

Yep, October is one of my favorite months...the heat and humidity of summer is gone, and the brutal Ohio winter is a weeks away...I'm looking forward to it!

Photos-From the 2008 Version of the "Great Salmon Catch" in the "thumb/Au Sable River" area of Northern lower Michigan.

Thanks to my readers/visitors for another record month in September...over 2200 hits and just under 4000 pages were tagged for the month...beating out August the previous high water mark.

back later>>>>

Post #50

10:10 pm

Even surprise myself...50 posts since late July, and time is flying. Got the lawn mowed, Hal came home from Dayton for the day....actually to watch football and go to a party tonight...so we will not see him until sometime tomorrow before he heads back to WSU.

Ohio State smacked down an over matched Northwestern team 58-7...defense giving up no scores(only TD by NW was a opening 2nd half kick-off return). The local Celina High School team loses Friday to head in the other direction at 0-5.

Double header Rec League games tomorrow, and the nice weather beat goes on....seems a high pressure area is stuck over us, so the rain to the west in Wisconsin and Iowa never reach here....not to worry, we will get our share come November I am sure.

Sam on his way to Pomona, was in Nebraska last I heard from him....

The Michigan Lake Years

_____________________

Back in the mid 1970s Patricia and I would spend at least a weekend or two per year in the lake areas of lower Michigan. Usually around Memorial Day and then again in September before I headed back to Athens and classes at Hocking. We usually were blessed with good weather and took the "Kids", those being our Airedales Rags and Max....long before we had the real kids, Anissa, Sam, and Hal. The Airedales back then did just about everything we did....they were our constant companions, whether we dragged them along to see Patricia's folks in Wisconsin, if I headed up to North Dakota to see Jim Olson, or wherever our trips would take us...the dogs usually went along.

We would usually leave on a Friday afternoon and either end semi-primitive camping at Kneff Lake in the National Forest(about 20 miles from Grayling, Michigan), or we would choose to spend time at Higgins Lake, usually at the south State Park...not quite as rough....Higgins had showers and flush toilets, where as Kneff had the outhouses...both were great places...we even took the kids there about 15 years ago, but as luck would have it, it rained, and we headed on over to Lake Michigan.

Those days were special and I always remember them fondly.

[photos...Patricia and Rags playing ball at South Higgins.....Camping area at Kneff Lake....Me with my end of summer beard 1976 at Higgins Lake]

prh

Football=The Heat is on!

11AM

The Heat Is On, as the old 80's Glenn Frey song says....in west central Ohio, we seldom see 100 degree temps, just too humid, and unlike the western and plains states, we don't get the blast furnace winds....we do however get plenty of humidity....which makes the 90-97 temperatures we do get, that much worse.

95 through Thursday with high humidity to match......just in time for football scrimmage. I have my first one at Convoy Crestview Friday night, they take on New Bremen....now unlike baseball where almost all of my games are varsity, football is my new sport(2nd year officiating), and I do only the lower(JV and below, down to Rec Football)levels...I doubt at 58 I'll be looking for any varsity crews....baseball I like the pace of the higher levels, I'm content with the slower paced football contests for now.

No matter what the level, it's gonna be a hot early season....I don't envy the kids, or pros, out in this stuff.....not a lot of fun IMO.

Saturday we have the Bar Stool Open...12 bars, 12 miniature golf holes via the boat route around Grand Lake....we will be riding in Nick's boat again this year...right now I plan on being the Designated (Boat) Driver....2 years ago I got a reminder, not to boat and drink in 90 degree sun and heat....I'll let the rest of the fools do that.

Patricia is preparing to head back to school, I think it opens August 20th or somewhere in that time frame....Sam taking another RV, this one to Savannah, Georgia, Hal is heading with the Celina Moving crew to New Jersey, then down to North Carolina.....he'll be home later Friday, in time for his Bar Stool Open crew(not the same boat as us old guys)...Sam should be home tomorrow, taking the bus back to Dayton, where I'll pick him up around noon.

15 years ago

_____________we have for the most part taken our vacations in early August, sometimes starting in late July, 1992 was no exception. I've been delivering motor home RVs for 5 years now, off and on, since I retired. 1992 was the first time I had driven on of any size. We borrowed Mike and Dawn's 30 footer and headed north to Michigan. Patricia, I, and the kids made stops at Higgins Lake and Kneff Lake in the upper/lower part of the state, near, but just south of Grayling. After a couple of days camping, we packed up and headed over to Lake Michigan...we had camped at both Kneff and Higgins many times before kids(with our other kids, Rags and Max, the Airedales), but had not done Lake Michigan....we ended up at Pentwater, Mead State Park, on the southern region of the lake. Nice sunsets and a good time for the next few days before heading home....Hal would then play for the 8-9 year old baseball all-star tournament team in Rockford...his team, the Celina Reds would sweep the 3 game round-robin tournament, Hal hit .667 while switching between the Outfield and Catching. Vacation and baseball over, now time to get ready for school and soccer practice...soccer, a sport I once hated...now I was in my 3rd year of coaching, and would end up with much success as the years progressed.

prh