If It's Monday, This Must Be Manchester

Another beautiful day developed - perfect for road-tripping and geocaching, of course! Altogether we found six caches - two puzzles, three cemeteries and a clock tower. Most of them were in the area of Manchester (Home of the Famous Chicken Broil)!

One was in Chi-Bro, a village park named for the chicken broil - how would you pronounce that? That park had some great playscapes for kids, as you can see.



We had lunch at the Hungry Wolf. It was a really nice shiny new place with kind of a mediocre menu. The food didn't measure up to the really nice facility.

When we got home Dick went to the mall and found these trees that are blooming - in October! Those little blossoms are in for a big surprise!




Back home at Valley Ranch, a hummer and two other big SUVs were parked right in front of our apartment door. It seems that Homeland Security has moved in to the apartment next door - boy, do we ever feel safe!

Vibrant Town

After the tough disappointment of yesterday's game, we discovered that it's still fun just being in Ann Arbor.

We drove around the stadium, checking out all of the new contruction - it's extensive, and won't be completed until 2010.



My forecast as of today is that by 2010, if the football program doesn't improve tremendously, the beautiful, huge, expanded new stadium will be almost empty on game days!

Dick found these comments about the Michigan 2008 Football Program in the Ann Arbor News website. The first one is my favorite - I feel the same way:

Why should this coach get a pass? He's taking a winning program, turning it into a losing program, just to turn it into a winning one. If he was such a great coach, he would know how to evaluate talent, and devise a game plan with that talent. He needs to take responsibility instead of coming up with excuses (players are soft, I don't have the skill players I need, etc). I would expect him to be winning a National title by the 3rd year, otherwise, why was he hired? Michigan was already winning consistently and going to bowl games.

The next one is a little bit silly, except that we figured from the outset that if RR would walk away from West Virginia and his alma mater, he would certainly walk away from Michigan too.

Well, Michigan fans, you were all in such a hurry to push a classy guy like Lloyd Carr out the door in a knee jerk overreaction to App.State. All I can say is, enjoy your new girlfriend.....it's just a matter of time before you catch her in bed with someone else.

I must say that I agree with this next comment word for word. It seems that we have to look at this season in a philosophical way in order to live through it.

RR must stop making it about his coaching philosophy and the way he wants to do things and begin focusing on how he can equip his players and coaching staff with the tools they need to be successful. The focus must return to Michigan traditions and what has made this program the great program it is. Regardless of the current won-loss record, the unwise decisions of an AD or the total debacle of RR, none of these will negate what Michigan football is all about. However, all have contributed to this sad time in Michigan football history.

Downtown, tons of people were have a leisurely breakfast/brunch out on the street cafes because it's a gorgeous day. Ann Arbor is such a vibrant town. I wanted to have a German Sunday dinner because that's one of the things that AA is famous for. The Heidelburg wasn't open yet, so we went for a drive and wound up at Metzger's, which is now out on Zeeb Road after 75 years downtown.

Dick needed more books, so we went to the library - we got library cards last year and they just had to be renewed at the desk - no problem. We use the Pittsfield Branch of the Ann Arbor Library. It's a beautiful new building - unique architecture - and it's right on Oak Valley Drive, not very far away. We feel like it's "our" library.

A little shopping at Meijer, and then home to play World of Warcraft - it was so much fun - we finished a quest that's been bugging me for a year (the Jump-a-tron). Tom and Jana were playing too - it's always fun to "see" them.

Ouch

Today was another historic marker in the new Rich Rodriguez era of Michigan Football. Today we lost to Toledo, a member of the MAC. It was our first ever loss to a
MAC team. We had several chances to pull out a victory, but it wasn't to be. We were all very dispirited - especially poor Tony, who never in his wildest dreams imagined that such a thing could happen.

It was a beautiful day for a football game, warm and sunny. The stands were not as crowded as last week, so we were all comfortable and had plenty of room for a change. It was a noon start which we all prefer over the later starts. Everything was perfect except for the football team. I'm no expert, but I can only remember 3 or 4 plays that were well-executed and successful in the whole game. It was really a pathetic performance that we watched this afternoon. We are becoming discouraged, dejected, demoralized, disheartened and depressed. Next week these boys have to go to Happy Valley...OMG.

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Michigan Stadium)
Score: Toledo 13, Michigan 10
Records: U-M (2-4), Toledo (2-4)
Attendance: 107,267
Next U-M Game: Saturday, Oct. 18 -- at Penn State (State College, Pa.), 4:30 p.m.


ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Trailing by three with eight seconds remaining in the game, fifth/senior kicker K.C. Lopata (Farmington, Mich./Farmington) missed a 26-yard field goal wide left as the University of Michigan football team fell 13-10 to the Toledo Rockets on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 11) at Michigan Stadium. U-M's loss is the first to a MAC school in program history.

Justin and Heather (Wolverine Warriors) sat with us today. I'm sure they thought they were guaranteed to see a victory against an opponent like Toledo. No such guarantees this year. This team is changing the meaning of "Blue". Instead of Go Blue, we go home blue.

Little to Offer

Neighbor Mary sent me this blog address: www.womenagainstsarahpalin.blogspot.com
It's a collection of entries by women venting about The Twit. Even for me, some of the entries seem a little vitriolic, but on the other hand some of them are right on the mark. My favorite thought or idea is the following one, comparing running for election with going for a job interview, and pointing out the Twit's total lack of ideas on major issues:

Sarah Palin's smear tactics do not represent me because I am a thinking woman. When I present myself for a job or for office, I present why I am the best person for the job. I explain why you need me. It is a waste of my time and yours for me to go on about why the other guy is bad—why the other guy is bad has no bearing on how good I am. It is completely irrelevant.

What Mrs Palin's mudslinging strategy does is show us that because she has so little to offer, she has to resort to the lowest tactics of all to win the race. She can't tell us why she is fit, because she's not fit. She can't tell us about her excellent ideas for the economy, immigration, crime, world peace, etc, because she has none. Her only option to win this race is to kneecap the other guy. Nancy U. age 44

Monty Python Strikes Again

Have you ever watched the old TV show Monty Python's Flying Circus? It was so sunny, funny, entertaining, memorable and a little bit strange, being British.

Have you ever watched Sean Hannity? Out of the adjectives used above, he is merely strange, being terminally and disturbingly conservative and egotistical.

Last night on TV, Keith Olbermann read this poem, which was written by John Cleese of Monty Python fame. Hearing it is probably funnier than reading it, but I thought it was so clever and funny that I couldn't pass it up:

ODE TO SEAN HANNITY
by John Cleese

Aping urbanity,

Oozing with vanity,

Plump as a manatee,

Faking humanity,

Journalistic calamity,

Intellectual inanity,

Fox Noise insanity,

You’re a profanity,

Hannity.

Talked to Laurie this morning - Dylan fell on his head and got a huge bump on his forehead, but he's OK - no harm done.

Dick and I went geocaching in a northerly direction - mostly in Livingston County. We had lunch in Hamburg, but we ate corned beef.

Nine caches were uncovered - one virtual and eight regular. Again, we had perfect weather - an absolutely beautiful day.

We had fun in the Hudson Mills Metropark - there was a large group of small children, wearing uniforms, together with several adults and the park naturalist. They walked around the park from place to place - when we first saw them they were examining little fish and water bugs in big tubs of water on picnic tables.

Some of the caches were in a new Metropark - so new that the entrance is down a dirt road. It's called Huron Meadows Metropark - but it's so rural, it takes the "metro" out of metropark! It's a terrific place, and seems to be popular - there was a lot of activity there today. It's near Brighton.

Breakfast With Lloyd

Gee, we had a good time. Lloyd is the same guy that he was 30 years ago. It was very comfortable and fun and interesting. I especially enjoyed hearing him tell about his trip to China. His stories about past football players were really enjoyable, too. We didn't spend anytime reminiscing about the old days in Belleville, but we did catch up on the kids and grandkids. He has 5 grandchildren - 2 boys and 3 girls.

We also discussed the current money crunch - but I'm afraid we didn't solve any of the nation's problems.

It was interesting to hear him talk about the difference in coaching today versus back in Bo's time. Back then there was no sports talk radio, no internet, no ESPN - so even though coaching is always stressful, it was less stressful at that time. He said that Bo often said that he wouldn't be able to coach these days - and Lloyd told him, "You'd be able to coach, but it wouldn't be as much fun!"

We had breakfast at The Broken Egg - it's a cute little shop on Main Street decorated with every possible University of Michigan item that was ever made - no kidding. He says that at certain times of the day you can't get into it because it's full of students.

Dick thinks that Lloyd is glad to be out of the pressure cooker, and that he likes his new job - mostly public relations - and that Lloyd has a good working relationship with Mrs. Coleman, President of the University.

Afterwards we went geocaching and found 12 caches - That's a lot for us. Well, OK, most of them were the easy parking lot type of caches, but still. It was the perfect day to do it, and our excursion took us very near our old stomping ground. We ate lunch at La Fuente Authentic Mexican Restaurant in Ypsi Township. It was great - we would go back there.

Maya Grace

Our family keeps growing...hooray for babies! Sharon and John are now grandparents!

Congratulations to everybody.

We are very excited to let you know that our granddaughter arrived at 4:22 am this morning.

Name: Maya Grace Washington
Weight: 6 lbs, 6 ozs.
Height: 19 inches

Maya and Amy are doing fine. Kevin is too!

There Must Be Something....

Well, let's see...there must be some positive things about today....umm...let me think.

OK - the weather was great for football...um...I had a good tuna sandwich for lunch, and...and...um...George and Alice came to the game for the first time this season and it was good to see them...um...Dylan called this morning and we talked for at least and hour - mostly about his Spore game...I had a nice chat with Kim about the new computer game called Spore that Holden and Dylan like so much...I felt good physically at the game today - I think because of the moderate temperature...um...the stadium was colorful...the band was fun to watch...Michigan had the lead for a while in the first quarter...I like our colors better than Illinois'...we saw some cute kids at the stadium...um...

Ah, yes, halftime was enjoyable...
It's Homecoming and the alumni band played with the big band...we had a chance to sing the Alma Mater...they played an old Michigan song from the distant past...

I want to go back to Michigan,
To dear Ann Arbor town,
Back to Joe's and the Orient,
Back to some of the money we spent,
I want to go back to Michigan,
To dear Ann Arbor town,
I want to go back, I gotta go back
To Mich-i-gan. Ohhhh,
Father and Mother paid all the bills
And we had all the fun
In the friendly rivalry of college life
Hooray and we have to figure a hell of a lot
To tell what we have done,
With the coin we blew at
Mich-i-gan!

Give me a minute here...um...oh yes...it was nice coming home to our apartment. I'm glad to be here, away from the scoreboard.

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Michigan Stadium)
Score: Illinois 45, Michigan 20
Records: U-M (2-3, 1-1 Big Ten), Illinois (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten)
Attendance: 109,750
Next U-M Game: Saturday, Oct. 11 -- vs. Toledo (Michigan Stadium), Noon

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan football team looked in control with a 14-3 lead in the first quarter, but Illinois quarterback Juice Williams responded with a record-breaking performance, helping the Illini outscore the Wolverines 42-6 through the final three quarters of play in a 45-20 Wolverine loss on Saturday (Oct. 4) at Michigan Stadium.

Black Comedy and Drama in the Dark

Since it's Friday, we went to the Mall for the Geezer Workout. It seemed harder this morning, probably because our fearless leader decided we needed to polka. I sat that one out!
Here's our intrepid group:


Richard doing his thing!


The one in the yellow shirt is our Fearless Leader:


Afterwards we did a nice drive around Ann arbor - I LOVE driving around Ann Arbor - did a little shopping and then came home to rest and clean up.

Jan and I went to the movies! Yaaaay! It's one of the perks of living downstate for a while. We saw Burn After Reading, which was a lot more entertaining than I was even expecting. Can't really go wrong with George Clooney, John Malkovich and Brad Pitt! It's a funny, funny movie, with two murders - go figure - it would definitely be called a dark comedy. My favorite character was Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich) - his character was aggressive, appealing, intelligent and silly all at the same time. Jan liked Brad Pitt (Chad) the best. His character was shallow and a little low on the intelligence meter - but funny and cute. Frances McDormand was hilarious as a gym employee who's willing to risk everything for cosmetic surgery - she was priceless. Who knew these actors were comic actors! You had to overlook a lot of bad language, except that after a while the bad language became part of the comedy, believe it or not. We had a great time - it was a fun, fun movie.

After the movie, we went out to dinner with Sniders at the Outback Steakhouse - another great time, and yummy too.

Drama when we got back to the apartment - my door key wouldn't open the door. We were locked out at 9 0'clock in the dark on a Friday night. Dick went to the office and learned that it wouldn't be open until Monday! For a while it seemed like we might have to spend the weekiend with Sniders, wear the same clothes all weekend, and miss tomorrow's football game. Drama, and more drama.

Then a neighbor pulled up and Dick asked her if she knew what we should do - and she went inside her place and got the emergency number for us. In no time at all, a fellow drove up and let us into our apartment! Ta Da! We were very grateful - and thank you Sniders for hanging around and offering shelter :)

An interesting day in many, many ways.

Day Trippers

Beautiful day for a drive. There are so many caches around here that it's tough to pick a destination. It's like being a kid in a candy store!

We went through Saline, Clinton, Tecumseh, Manchester, and some even smaller places if you can imagine that. We had lunch in Tecumseh at a sports bar that was empty at lunch time - we felt like part of the staff! They were friendly and the food was good, so I can't explain why it was empty!

Found 8 caches, and plan to go back to Tecumseh after we solve all of the puzzles for the puzzle caches. My favorite was in rural Saline, where the cache was just down the road from a pig farm. Luckily the wind was in the right direction today, and we didn't even get a whiff. I was surprised at how noisy the pigs are - I never knew that pigs made so much noise! The cache was also my favorite because I discovered its location :)

Hidden Lake Gardens was another favorite. What a fantastic place. I remember coming here 30 years ago - it was very nice then, but it has been expanded and improved so much. It's a delightful drive, reminiscent of the Pierce Stocking Trail without the dunes! The drive has been decorated with figures for Halloween - they are just fantastic - creative and adorable. From a distance, they absolutely look real!

We enjoyed the drive so much, and found the cache we were looking for, but now we have to go back on another day because we discovered that there are several more caches in the Gardens that we hadn't been aware of.

Found it 10/2/2008 You found Quazy Cache #4 (Unknown Cache) We are staying in Ann Arbor for football season and visiting some old haunts while we are here and gathering up some caches on our drives. We have learned that going paperless makes puzzles tough. We managed to work our way through this one and were able to score this cache after a thorough search. We traded sigs and swapped a frog for a clip. Thanks for the fun!

Found it 10/2/2008 You found November 11th. A special day ! (Multi-cache) [visit log]
A great hide, we found it fairly quickly and left our card and a heart. TFTC

Found it 10/2/2008 You found HLG Pothole (Virtual Cache)
We are staying in Ann Arbor for the rest of the football season and visiting old haunts during the week and gathering up some caches along the way. Today we drove down to Tecumseh. We might not have continued on to Hidden Lake had it not been for the owner of this cache. After the effort she put forth on our S2S series, we couldn't pass this one by.
Over 30 years ago this was a turn around stop on day 4 when I taught driver ed. We both loved Botany in college and brought our children out here for Sunday drives. Boy oh boy have the gardens changed. This area was not open to auto traffic then. We loved the Weeping Beech. A lovely spot and a lovely drive, well worth the price of admission. Thanks for bringing us here!

Found it 10/2/2008 You found LaPlaisance (Virtual Cache)
We are staying in Ann Arbor for the rest of the football season. GO BLUE!! During the week we are visiting our old haunts and grabbing some caches along the route. Today we came down to Tecumseh for lunch. When coaching freshman football more than 30 years ago, we played here a number of times. Thanks for giving us an excuse to stop here.

Found it 10/2/2008 You found The LowLands (Traditional Cache)
Had I been running solo today, I would have really been "in Dutch" but fortunately, old sharp eyes was with me and she spotted an anomaly. We found it about 10:30 on our cruise south today and signed the log and left our sigs. thanks for the hunt.

Found it 10/2/2008 You found We Love Libraries (Unknown Cache)
We love libraries too. We were teased when the circulation at the TC public library increased 10% the year we retired and moved north. This is a great one and the nature trail is a plus. We had a problem because we counted a curl of hair as a button. Once that was resolved it was a quick find. Traded an NMC pin for a cat pin and left our sigs. Thanks for the hunt.

Found it 10/2/2008 You found CAMO (Virtual Cache)
Out on an afternoon drive to visit some of our old haunts. It's been over 25 years since we've been in town. Thanks for the fun.

Found it 10/2/2008 You found In memory of our soldiers (Virtual Cache)
Very neat spot. We don't remember a painted Union statue before. Thanks for showing it to us.
We wonder about the WWII date. Where did they get that?

Yes, on that war memorial, they had the dates for WWII as 1941-1946. What's up with that? The WWII that we remember ended in '45.

We watched the Vice-Presidential debate, and were disappointed. In my humble opinion it was uneventful and a little boring overall. The Twit didn't make any amusing gaffes or anything. She did kind of follow her own rules and turned a lot of the questions around to topics she felt more comfortable with, but nobody called her on it, or made her respond to the original question. Biden seemed tired to me, and he was almost too polite and restrained with the Twit. I was sincerely disappointed.

Bomber Breakfast

Van Buren Public Schools retired teachers meet at the Bomber on the first Wed. of every month for breakfast. Today was the day! Last year we were able to attend two of the breakfasts, but because of a different schedule, this will be it for this year. Too bad for us!

It's supposed to start at 10 a.m., but we went early to meet Dan and check on the progress of his treatment and just chat over coffee for a while. It was great to see him - we haven't been with him since his whole ordeal started. He's just the same as ever, mentally - funny, sincere, and very nice.

Then the arrivals began, and we wound up having to use an overflow table - I think there were approx. 20 people altogether. I sat with Diann, Tom F., Dick, Dan, and Linda, and Kay. I also had a chance to talk to John and Jim, and to plan a lunch with Dorothy. It's always a pleasure, and today was no exception.



Back at the Ranch, it was laundry day - Whee!

Auzzie Auzzie Hoy! Hoy! Hoy!

Our friends Dennis and Chris have moved to Australia - permanently. Chris is originally from New Zeeland and her parents are still there, but her brother lives in Australia. They plan to live near her brother.

The reason I'm mentioning all this is that we have received the first email from Dennis since their arrival in Australia. I laughed so hard - it was hysterical! Dennis has this style of writing that is unintentionally dry and so, so humorous. Here is part of his letter:

We have spent some time on my brother-in-law's farm in the hinterland. Unfortunately he got bitten by a python while removing it away from the house. Normally, pythons can be handled but this one became agitated because of mating season. My brother-in-law was not seriously injured. I guess it is common for pythons to rest on the roof tops of farmers' houses.

All of the other snakes on the farm are too deadly to mention - you keep your distance. The alpacas on the farm are quite friendly. One alpaca likes to live in the farm house and thinks it is human. I don't think this is normal but I do not question the Australian way.

Well, enjoy Ann Arbor. I miss Michigan football. Go Blue. Dennis

Are you rolling on the floor? "Too deadly to mention"? "I don't think this is normal"? Pythons on the rooftops? Really makes you want to emigrate, right? Dick's comment was "At least there were no snakes on the plane!."

He also mentioned that their luggage arrived 5 days after they did...not quite so funny.

We had a farewell dinner with them not long ago in T.C., and we were cracking up then, too - Chris was telling about her new daughter-in-law who is a pagan, a witch, and has a PhD in mushrooms!!! I'm telling you what, this is a very entertaining couple! They gave us a lovely gift from their home - a painting of the Boardman from the viewpoint of our campfire circle. The painting was done by an ex-Belleville High School art teacher amd is beautifully mounted and framed.

New Old Routine

It's easy to fall into the routine we had in Ann Arbor last year. This morning we went to Briarwood for the "Old Geezer" workout. The U of M sponsors this workout every M-W-F, and it's free. It's a good workout, aimed at older citizens - aerobic and strength and flexibility mostly.

Back at the apt. we had the maintenance man come and do a couple of things that were out of whack - he was fast and effective.

Tim had his surgery today. Susie called to tell us that everything went OK and that things were fine - so we're relieved about that.

Lloyd Carr called and we're all going out to breakfast a week from tomorrow - should be extremely interesting.

We went geocaching and found 5 micros right here in our area.

Dick is cooking steaks tonight on the little grill that we bought for this apartment last year. The charcoal takes longer to heat up than the gas grill - it's been a while since he's used charcoal!

It's Great To Be a Michigan Wolverine!

Sometimes. And today was one of those times. Wow. We are still in a kind of euphoria of disbelief. Just one Wisconsin player lining up in the wrong place saved us from going into overtime - it was exhilarating.

Tim and Susie went with us - it was a beautiful day for a football game. It was Maize Out day, and the whole stadium area was awash in bright yellow. We even got free shirts at our gate - a nice souvenir of a memorable day.
We sat through the worst half of Michigan football at Michigan Stadium in decades. These are Michigan's miserable first half statistics: Wisconsin leading 19-0, 21 yards total offense, three fumbles, two interceptions, one first down at halftime. It was totally dejecting. We were so upset and frustrated that we got a little punchy and we were trying to turn the whole thing into a joke - because the team actually looked like a joke there for a while. When they left the field the stadium resounded with boos - I haven't ever heard such booing of an M team. I've been going to U of M games since I was 12 years old and booing the team has just never been the Michigan way. Today it sounded like the entire world was booing - I was stunned.

I have to say that Tim and Susie were a bit more optimistic than we were at that point. I think they were trying to shore us up a little bit - great seatmates to have on a day like this one was!

The Michigan Band did a splendid halftime show - it was based on Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It was fun and imaginative, and multi-media. They used the big screens on the scoreboards to help tell the story. I thought it was very enjoyable, but a lot of fans were too busy grumbling to really take it all in.

The team did come out for the second half despite some predictions from fans around us. The team was greeted with the usual cheers that they hear whenever they take the field - it was as though the fans were saying, "OK now let's try this again."

Can't explain what happened in the second half. The team came to life and actually showed some offense. When they finally scored a touchdown, everybody was ecstatic even though the score was still 19-7. It was like the Wolverines proved they were capable of at least scoring somehow. We were proud and amazed that they showed a little spark for a change.

Then things began to change rapidly. The fourth quarter was a dream come true. Three more touchdowns! What a turn-around - a complete 180. Wisconsin made a great effort to come back, and they threatened to win right up to the last minute. It was a tough way for Wisconsin to lose the game, especially since they were so highly ranked (9th), but it was wonderful from our side!

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Michigan Stadium)
Score: Michigan 27, #9 Wisconsin 25
Records: U-M (2-2, 1-0 Big Ten), Wisconsin (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten)
Attendance: 109,833
Next U-M Game: Saturday, Oct. 4 -- vs. Illinois (Michigan Stadium), 3:30 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan football team rallied from a 19-point third-quarter deficit with 27 straight points, including 20 in the fourth quarter aided by a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown by fifth-year senior linebacker John Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Crockett Technical) to complete a thrilling 27-25 comeback win over Wisconsin (No. 9 AP, No. 8 USA Today) on Saturday (Sept. 27) in the Wolverines' 500th game at Michigan Stadium

Even more amazing when you learn that Thompson had stitches in his chin from a first half injury!

We all had an afterglow back at the Ranch, and then Tim treated us to dinner at Joe's Crab House - and it was the perfect end to a perfect day.

Sliding Down the State

Here we are DownState for the month of October.

First of all, Dick worked at the Visitor Center from 9 to 12 - he logged 70 visitors, including a former Belleville student and Kelvin.

Then we were off to Ann Arbor for the football season. It was a lovely day for a drive, and it went fast - trips always go faster when you take naps :).

We pulled into the Valley Ranch around 5:30 p.m., and the door was locked. We had thought that it was going to be unlocked with the keys on the table. The woman in the office didn't know anything about it, so Dick made some phone calls and got it all straightened out and the woman let us in! Whew. It seems that painters had been doing some touch-ups and they were supposed to leave the door unlocked when they left, but instead they locked it.

Luckily, we have the same apartment we had last year, so it almost feels like home.

Moved in, grabbed a burger at McDonald's, did some grocery shopping at Meijer, put everything away and collapsed to watch the debate. The debate was a little ho-hum, or maybe we were just tired.

Cringe-and-Wince-a-Palooza

How many crises do we need?

We're in the middle of a Presidential election that is turning out to be kind of a national embarrassment. First of all, John McCain has chosen a Twit to be his running mate. Sarah Barracuda is turning out to be clueless in a national setting. When she is speaking or being interviewed, it's cringe and wince time. I saw a bumper sticker in T.C. that said "Big Mac and Cuda". Now that's what I call Presidential. I'm waiting for McDonald's to sue. I think the bumper sticker should say "Twit for Veep".

There's also a problem with her religion. I was brought up to be respectful and tolerant of other people and their beliefs, but that doesn't mean that I have to suffer fools gladly. This is a person who is a creationist, which flies in the face of rational thought. Fundamental evangelism is her religious background, and it's very scary to me that a person of that ilk could actually wind up being President of the USA.

She's also anti-abortion, which means she wants the government to step in between a woman and her doctor and dictate what she should do with her body. Sometime I want to do some research and write an essay about governmental intrusion into human reproduction. I would use the example of the Chinese government limiting families to one child each and forcing abortions. I would also reference Hitler's Aryan breeding program trying to create a super race. Once you let government into reproductive issues there's no telling how far it might go. I personally believe that most folks agree that abortion should be legal, safe and rare.

Somehow the Republican Party has the formula for ruining our national reputation all around the world. I'm sure the rest of the globe cannot understand how we choose and elect these hapless candidates over and over again. I'm sure they can't understand it because I can't either!

Now the Powers That Be have come to the conclusion that the Federal Government needs to take over Freddie Mac, Fannie May, AIG, and ......... To do this they will need to borrown 700 billion dollars. And who will pay for this? Taxpayers - meaning you and I will pay for it. Where will the money go? Well that's a good question. I'm cynical enough to think that several millions will go to CEOs and COOs of the companies which have failed. I would love to be wrong about that.

How many greedy people can the country afford?

Everyone is a bit worried about the money situation - investments are way, way down in value. Chip's friend had trouble getting his money out of Bank of America (scary). We're all right so far - I think most of our liquid funds are FDIC insured - but of course that depends on the stability of the Federal Government. Oh dear.

It could be that we really are going to Hell in a Handbasket. I have my fingers crossed. I wish you would cross yours too.

Happy Birthday Basswood

For half of every year, I'm 6 months older than Dick. Today is the day that he catches up with me - so hooray! No more old age jokes for another 6 months!

We spent the day geocaching - just around T.C. - there are so many new ones we can't keep up! Today we did about a dozen. We had a great time and the weather was perfect. It couldn't have been a nicer day.

We had an early Chinese dinner at Hunan, and called it a day. No cake, no ice cream, but a very happy birthday.

Thank God it was an Away Game

Michigan Stumbles at Notre Dame 09/13/08
Sam McGuffie rushed for 138 yards and added 47 receiving yards with a score, but Michigan was unable to overcome six turnovers in a 35-17 loss at Notre Dame.

Stumbles? That's all it was? A stumble? Six Turnovers? ESPN called it the Rock Bottom Bowl, so guess who is on the Rock Bottom...oh well, win some, lose some, and then lose some more. Sam McGuffie looked good. Threet did a couple of good things. Heavy sigh.

We're Ba-a-a-ack

Syracuse to T.C. !!

Home again - we left Syracuse at 7 o'clock this morning and got home around 7:30 p.m. - a long day on the road! I don't know how Dick does it - I can only drive a couple of hours before I get really sleepy. I could drive from Syracuse to T.C. in about four days!

Dick wrote an email to the kids - I couldn't say it any better, so here's his email:

We made it.
Once we started this morning in Syracuse, I planned on pushing all the
way home. It was a shorter trip than the run last winter from W. Va
no snow.

What I didn't count on was the rain, (it ranged from a frog
strangler to a mist most of the day.) crossing Canada,that is, entering
and leaving, and Friday "Up North" traffic on I75/US10/M115.

We may never go to Canada again. It took us a half hour to get in at
Buffalo. The line to cross the border and pay our bridge toll seemed
endless. Little did we know. ( This was after the guy in the gas station
backed into us and dented our rear quarter panel. There are advantages
to having a slightly beat up '02 with over 100K miles on it.) Why is it
so hard to get through customs? We had passports for Pete's Sake!. (BTW,
did you know that Old Pete is the Devil?) OK I Know, 9 11 changed
everything, but does paranoia really make you safer?

The stern faced young man checked our plate and could see that we last
entered and left Canada the previous Sunday. What do they care what we
have been doing for the past week since we left at Niagara Falls? At
least when the unsmiling Canadian Customs Official handed back our
passports, he said "Go Blue!".

At Port Huron it took over an hour to pay our toll, cross the bridge and
clear American Customs. If the government wants to do something about
pollution and gas consumption, they should look at the border crossings.
There were hundreds of cars and trucks that were creeping, no, inching
forward in at least ten lines trying to enter the US. The traffic going
to Canada was worse. There the bridge was packed, three lanes full from
Port Huron all the way across. We were wondering how much weight it
could hold. Couldn't we just take a number? Make an appointment?

On the Sarnia side, before we could even cross the bridge, the toll
booth operators took a break for some reason and for about a quarter of
an hour, no one in three lines moved. Meanwhile, there was an empty open
line next to us that nobody could get to. I half way wanted to pull
through an opening in the barricade to it, but when I suggested that, I
got "The Look" from the passenger seat.

Finally we paid our toll and crossed the Blue Water Bridge. The Homeland
Security/ Customs Agent at the front of our line was a chatty Buckeye
Fan who wanted to know what I thought of the new Michigan coach.
Operating under the influence of my bride, and remembering the
consequences some thirty plus years ago when, at the same border
crossing, our son and heir piped up with a smart aleck comment from the
rear of the motor home, I politely indicated my view of "The New Guy"
and relayed our position that we are always in favor or the Big 10 team
when they play outside the conference. These guys are obviously not paid
based on the number of cars they clear.

The rest of the trip, while not completely uneventful, was much less
stressful and I was surprised to realize that I am much more comfortable
driving in Michigan that any place else. There is indeed no place like
home.

Wednesday - Lexington to White River Junction

Wow! We felt really lucky to be heading north this morning - the rush hour traffic into Boston is horrendous! Mile after mile of bumper to bumper traffic - sure would hate to do that every day. We thought that Saturday's traffic on I-696 from Ann Arbor to Port Huron was bad - but it was at least moving.

We did have a bit of a goof-up this morning when Nuvi decided to send us up I-93 instead of I-95, but Dick's super navigational skills got us to the right place.

Today we finished all 8 of the States that we were targeting - today we did Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

In York, Maine we found the Duck Pond cache - that was a weird little pond - loaded with ducks and very loud geese.

We drove more than 1200 miles to find this cache.
We started out this morning in Lexington and drove up 95, we are eternally thankful that we don't have to face that drive every day! What a relief to get off and drive some back roads.
This was a unique cache, we weren't sure if the fence was to keep them in or us out. We signed the log and left our Maine coin. Thank you so very much for providing an us with a quick stop in which to drop it.

As soon as we entered Maine we began seeing pickup trucks loaded with lobster pots - the pots were plastic or metal, and very colorful. When we first visited Maine umpty-ump years ago, the lobster pots were all wooden and very weathered.

At one point in York, Maine a car was obviously following us closely, and Dick finally pulled over so he could pass. Instead, he pulled over too. It turned out that he saw our license plate and he was a Univ. of Mich. alumnus and just wanted to talk. It was a unique experience.

On to New Hampshire - another pretty drive. We found 2 caches near Concord, and continued on to White River Junction, Vermont.

We found a cache near White River Junction, and that completed our quest! With these 8 states that we've done this week, we now have found caches in 34 different States. Hooray for us! 34 down and 16 to go!

I have to say that White River Junction is not a place that you would want to live. The motel is fine, but the town is very down-at-heel and the homes all need heavy maintenance and trash pick up. We were disappointed because our experience has been that New England is crisp and clean and well maintained - but this town is a major exception! We did find a nice place for dinner, though - so maybe we just never drove around on the right side of the tracks - but then again, we were here all afternoon.