Odette

Roger's report:

Thanks to Sue's persistence making sure all the proper forms got signed, faxed, etc. Mom did move to the Bellbrook rehab center last Monday, after a 12-day hospital stay. The staff and facility there are very nice, and the location is very convenient for Dad. Mom has begun therapy and is beginning to steadily recover. She is in much less pain and is mostly bored. She appreciates hearing about what's going on in everyone's life, so feel free to send a card with a note to Spartan Court and Dad will make sure she gets it.
______________________________________

All we can do is write letters and cards - she doesn't want flowers. I hear that Odie is very popular at the Rehab Center because she tries so hard. She really wants to go home. We are really pulling for her.

A beautiful summer day - perfect in every way.

It's always fun to ride around all of the paths and trails in the golf cart, and today was the best day for it!

To top things off, we drove around the entire county in the Jeep - the Old Mission Peninsula is the most beautiful place in Michigan (in my humble opinion).

Meet and Greet

The Meet and Greet for this month was at The Cottage for breakfast instead of at B.C.'s for pizza. They have a very nice room, and we had a good time - the food is good, too! We met some new people, and traded stories with old friends. Next month we'll host the Meet and Greet, and we'll have it at The Cottage, too. Dick's planning to place five new unpublished caches in Hoosier Valley so the folks who come to the M&G can find them first.

Adam and Melanie and friends came out to go kayaking - it was a beautiful day for it. They went from Brown Bridge to Beitner, a really nice, long float. Melanie tipped over, but it was OK. Lydia is coming home for the Cherry Festival and Izzy's birthday - everybody is excited.

Dick mowed the entire yard - no small feat.

Father's Day

What's our favorite thing to do? Touring Leelanau, that's what! So what better way to enjoy Dad's Day.

We started out at The Other Side, a new coffee house by Scott's. It's so new that the staff hasn't exactly figured out how to perform service or clean up. But they do know how to socialize with friends. The breakfast was good - but once again we couldn't eat it all and boxed half of it up.

Driving north we came upon our old bugaboo, the cache at the Clinton F. Woolsey Memorial Airport. Couldn't find it again! Next time we will, though! Dick has since emailed the owner and we got a good clue. Can't wait to go back and check it out.

Near Northport at Peterson Park Dick found a couple that we hadn't picked up before. Despite the holiday, it wasn't crowded at all. We enjoyed driving around Northport and touring the marinas - it's a beautiful day.

It was also beautiful at Glen Haven on Lake Michigan - the historical center has built a new pedestrian deck/bridge/walkway thing - looks terrific.

Late lunch at Boone Docks in Glen Arbor - mostly because Art's was jam-packed with a line of people waiting. Boone Docks is always good. We ate indoors because it was a little too chilly to sit outside.

Dick's Father's Day logs:

06/19/2011 You found Glen Lake (EC) Visit Log
Because of its depth, Little Glen is one of the first lakes to warm up in the spring. A couple of years ago when we were in high school, there was an informal contest to see who would be the first to go swimming each spring. We would drive up here in May and give it a try. It was a different bridge with a lot less traffic when we used to jump off from it. Spent some time taking water samples and answering the required questions. Email sent.

06/19/2011 You found Crystal River (EC) Visit Log
We love to drive through Leelanau county and chose it for this years Father's Day caching tour. The rivers here, the Platte and the Crystal, meander slowly from their source to Lake Michigan. They are the only rivers we have canoed where, when the wind is in your face, you must paddle to keep from floating upstream. It was very busy today with lots of dads and their families enjoying their day. We spent some time observing the river at the portage and answering the required questions. Email sent.

06/19/2011 You found Foreign Exchange 2 Visit Log
Out on a Father's Day excursion. We found our first cache on Father's Day, 2003. Once we figured out how to approach the hide it was an easy grab. As non golfing geocachers, we think this is a perfect use for a golf course. The log book is full, we left a temporary one. Traded a Danish 2 Kroner coin for a quarter. TFTC

06/19/2011 You found 112 Steps to Rock Bottom Visit Log
Caching on Father's Day is a tradition for us since 2003 when we found our first cache. Today's excursion has been a wildlife medley. We've seen deer and fawn, fox, and here a brazen chipmunk and a pair of mergansers. We had a DNF on this one the last time we were here and we had to give it another try. I think GZ was closer to the steps today than it was the last time we tried. Signed log with our sticker, took nothing and left our pathtag and a gold nugget. Thanks for the exercise.

06/19/2011 You found Search & Sunset Visit Log
We came back up to the park today to attempt to remove some DNF's we compiled on our last trip. Went to GZ, spotted the cache, walked to where it was and - - - it wasn't there! Searched, searched and searched some more. Finally found that bugger and signed the log. Thanks for the challenge.

06/19/2011 You found Poet Tree Visit Log
Caching on Father's Day has become a tradition for us. We found our first cache on Father's Day. That was 8 years, 83 Michigan counties and 49 states ago. We stopped here today and found the pickin's in the cache to be pretty sparse. We took out some Geojunk and left a matchbook car, our Father's Day coin, Apache tears and Jack Squat.
Our poem was;
The Boy stood on the burning deck,
Eating peanuts by the peck.
A girl stood by all dressed in blue,
And said "I guess I'll have some too."
As to the trees, Cottonwood, maple and of course, cedar.
Thanks for the fun!!

Prairie Home Companion

Facebook informed us that there would be an opportunity to sign a petition against the State's Emergency Manager Law today at the Open Space. Since this is a program which allows the manager to come into a community and dismiss elected officials, we are only too happy to sign this petition. On the face of it, it's a power grab, pure and simple - unconstitutional and undemocratic: "...the law, gives emergency managers -- with the state treasurer's approval -- the power to effectively dismiss local elected officials, and to cancel all or portions of employee union contracts to restore financial stability."

After signing, we went over to Bay Bread on Randolph Street and got box lunches for a picnic. There is one lonely picnic table at the Open Space, and we were lucky enough to find it available. Great lunch, beautiful bay, fun people watching!

We had tickets for Interlochen this evening - Garrison Keillor and the Prairie Home Companion, and we wanted to get there early. Took a nice ride out around Long Lake on the way over to Interlochen.

We thought we were early, but today's concert was sold out, and the parking lots were all almost full already. Dick let me out by the auditorium area, and drove way, way down to where the parking lots are gravel. It was quite a hike for him to meet me.

Gee, what an enjoyable evening we had. We love to listen to the show on the radio, and it's ten times as much fun in person. Garrison did some funny skits about the cherry festival, and the Traverse City area in general. He also really promoted the Interlochen Academy for the Arts. They featured two students - one a violinist and one a harpist- we were so impressed.

After the show, we went to the newly refurbished Fresh Water Lodge, which is now called Harrington's by the Bay. (We remember when it was Schweitzer's by the Bay!) The dinner was wonderful - especially the salad - they know how to make a salad! The service was great, and it has a nice ambiance - a little noisy, but then it was really busy, too. It got significantly more quiet after one particularly noisy patron left! We would go back there.

Odette

Odie is still in the hospital. There have been some complications from the surgery and from the fall. Somehow her elbow was injured in the fall and has become infected. She'll be having another surgery on her elbow.

Here's an excerpt from Roger's update:

Mom is still in the hospital. After last Friday's leg/hip surgery, she had a lot of pain in her left elbow. By Tuesday her arm and hand were very swollen. Thursday an infection was confirmed, and early this morning (Friday), surgery was performed to clean the infection from the elbow area. The current plan is for Mom to transfer to Bellbrook (a rehab facility that's a mile from Spartan Court) on Monday the 20th.

Doesn't it seem that bad things happen to the best people?

Are You Geocacher Enough?

Dick's log is my blog for the weekend!


Are we Geocachers enough? If one were to simply look at our list of finds this weekend (and the condition of our Jeep this morning) one would probably think so, but looks are often deceiving.

Friday evening we shared a GeoPizza with Dino Duo and Capt. Bud and his First Mate. They graciously accepted our request to be their “Tag Along Teammates” for the weekend. Without their aid, energy, and enthusiasm we would have undoubtedly experienced another of our normal caching days, 10 - 12 finds on Saturday, maybe a half dozen more today.


They kept pushing until we reached our limit at 9:30 last night and had us back in the saddle at 7:00 this morning. Had it not been for a couple of slip ups, most notably at 266 Steps, we probably would have found them all.

(Team BassDinoBud, or Team DinoBudBend, or Team Capt.DuoWood - we couldn't decide.)


Although we wound up thoroughly exhausted in both mind and body, we had a fantastic time! It’s a blast to bump into our known caching friends and a pleasure to meet and make new ones. It’s a good thing this only happens once a year because it might take us that long to recover.

(Most of the caches were along the AuSable River - river caching = wet feet, so Tim and Dick came prepared!)





We appreciate more than we have the words to express, the efforts of the organizers, meaning Chad and his family, Jason and his family, Chris and the others who volunteered to help as well as all of the cash donors and sponsors. Although this was our first Road Rally experience, we believe it to be a major contribution to quality Geocaching in Michigan.

As Mrs. Bend often exclaimed as we were bouncing and jouncing, slippin' and a slidin', down beautiful northern Michigan two tracks toward an ammo can placed at a beautiful spot in the woods, “Now this is what they were talkin’ about!!”

That, and the folks who share our joy, are what keep us involved in this activity.

(Marty and Susie)

Odette

Distressing news this week from Rochester Hills - Odette had a serious fall today in the kitchen of her home on Wednesday, and has broken a bone in her leg.

She's hospitalized and scheduled for surgery and then a stay in a rehab center.

Roger and Susan are keeping us informed, and Dick is keeping in touch with Doug. At the moment, their lives are turned upside down.

George

George H. Howard |

Howard, George H. Burt Lake, MI
Age 72, passed away Saturday, May 28, 2011 at his home. He was born May 5, 1939 in Bay City to George A. and June C. (Davenport) Howard. On March 14, 1964 in Saginaw, George married Janet L. Irving who preceded him in death on March 8, 2006. George was an Industrial Arts teacher for the Van Buren Public Schools in Belleville for 29 years retiring in 1994. He also coached girls and boys middle school basketball and boys high school basketball. He enjoyed fishing, camping, woodworking, home improvement, reading and could tell a good story. Survivors include his two children, Kevin (Cathryn) Howard of Ypsilanti and Kristen (Eddie) Antkoviak of Cheboygan; four grandchildren, David Antkowiak, Jack Antkoviak, Ella Antkoviak, and Maci Antkoviak, and one great grandson, Oliver Antkowiak. Besides his wife Janet, George was preceded in death by his parents and one brother, Richard Howard. A memorial service will be held on Friday, June 3, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. at the Nordman-Christian Funeral Home with his family greeting friends, beginning at 10:00 a.m., with the Rev. Jeff Dinner officiating. Memorial contributions in George's name may be directed to the Cheboygan County Humane Society. Online condolences may be made at www.stonefuneralhomeinc .com. George's family would like to extend a special thank you to Delores Palmer for her companionship and friendship to George over the last few years.

Attended George's funeral today in Cheboygan. There were 5 of us there from Belleville - John T., Mike S., Tommy M. and us. It was interesting to see Kristen and Kevin again - they were just kids last time we saw them. Kristen teaches Kindergarten and Kevin works for Washtenaw County. George's grandchildren were very well-behaved and so cute! Dick was asked to speak at the service and did a really nice job telling some of our favorite "George stories". Kevin delivered the eulogy, and it was well done. There was a luncheon after the service, at Mulligan's. It gave us a chance to meet people and have conversations about George and times past.

Jiggety

Travel Day - all flights were on time, all connections were made, all bags made it home - a successful travel day. A couple of downsides - our alarm was set for 4 a.m. PST, and there was the noisiest baby in the free world on our longest flight Generally, though, things went very smoothly.

Dick wrote a letter to the kids:

And Dorothy was right on at least two counts. 1) We're not in Kansas anymore, (not that we ever were, but we're not in Cal, Nev, N.M., Utah, Ariz, or Utah anymore either) and There's No Place Like Home!!!

The San Diego area is beautiful, Tom is a great host, spending time with Miss Maya is a blast but - - We Are Home!!

Our trip from San Diego to Chicago was punctuated by the nearly constant piercing screams of the 9 mo old baby boy in the seat in front of me. According to Nancy, he was never quiet for a period of 2 minutes. Mostly the shrieks came in 10 second intervals.
So who cares now? We're HOME!! That's where the heart is and right now, that's where the butt is.

Jiggety Jig.