Our Day

Dental side effects are a bother, so we're off to see the dentist.  I have a new dentist since Dr. Kevin retired.  Her name is Christina Mazzola, and I think she is Dr. Kevin's niece.  She was very helpful and compassionate, and she gave me a lot of treatment options, and free samples.  (Note to self: PreviDent toothpaste, Rincinol mouth rinse, soft bristle brush).  She explained that the chemo attacks fast growing cells. Mouth tissues are fast growing, and that's why there is sensitivity.

While Dick was waiting for me in the waiting room, an older gentleman came in and took a seat.  Turned out it was Gov. Milliken!  We've seen him around town a couple of other times.  Our other local sightings include Michael Moore and Gordie Howe :)

We went to Eastfield and picked up our laundry.  That's our new routine!

Max's serviceman came out this afternoon to try replacing another switch.  Do I have to tell you what happened?  Just let me say that we'll be visiting Eastfield Laundromat again next Monday.  The repairman said he has talked to GE Tech, and they know about our dryer.  He'll be talking to them again to see what to try next.  One thing that's being tried is our patience.

A little grocery shopping, and that's been our day.

Goodbye DNFs

Dropped off our laundry.  Makes for an easy wash day.  (Expensive)

Also, Casey came out with a lady and a dog named Pericles :)  He wants to borrow the log splitter - he has some trees down on some property or other.  Since nobody else wanted the log splitter, Dick told Casey he could have it.  He'll be back later with a trailer to haul it away.

06/23/2014	You found  Harold's Sista		Visit Log
We managed to erase two DNF's today. Given the data that the cords are about 60ft off, we searched on each side without success and were about to give up when the better 1/2 pointed out what might be a clue in the description. It was. Made the find, signed the log and put it back in the tree. Took 3 sets of cords and our Garmin 62s showed the location to be - 40.154 and 29.958
06/23/2014	You found  Going to the DOGS		Visit Log
Well it turns out that our math was correct and the cords were right on. We learned that seeking this cache on a sunny weekend afternoon is not the best choice. There are times when this is muggle heaven. Today was much better, it was raining and the sprinklers were on so we had the place to ourselves. Signed the log and replaced as found. We had a TB that we had hoped to drop off but it just visited.

57

57

Brunch and yellow roses, Schelde's and flowers - we have this anniversary thing down pat :)

I told Dick that we should buy some ketchup today - it would be cosmic because we were married in 1957, and that was 57 years ago, and Heinz ... well, you know :)

After brunch we went to Family Fare.  Got groceries, but no ketchup

Welcome Summer

First day of summer, but I'm still wearing long sleeves and a jacket.  We went for a drive toward Fife Lake, and then Manton.  Nice day for caching, but we did have a bunch of DNFs.  Too bad, so sad.

 On one country road we saw a farm with its name painted on the bright red barn - Monroe Achers !  It's the second cutest farm name I've seen.  The cutest was  Jones Ranch - The Cheaper Spread.

We had lunch in Manton at the Merry Inn.  Dick said it should be in Marion.  Get it?  His favorite line overheard at the restaurant came from a very old gentleman in the next booth.  He commented that this thing (I don't know what thing)  costs $500.  "Why, you could buy a horse and buggy for that price!"

We drove home through Amish country,  Saw one very beautiful, very large Amish home.  Saw lots of horse tracks in the dirt roads, and also a lot of horse poop.  They need to use doggie bags for poop pick-up.

Our last cache of the day was CVCLUB. way down at the end of 10 Road.  While I was waiting for Dick I couldn't believe the number of insects that came crawling or flying past!  Mosquitoes, of course, beetles, little tiny flies, caterpillars, butterflies, big black things scurrying on the ground - crickets maybe?  Anyway, quite a collection in insect life.

Cache logs for today:

06/21/2014	You couldn't find CB SERIES #3 WOODSTOCK		Visit Log
We just were not Geocachers enough to scope this one out today. We gave it our best but we just weren't up to the challenge.
06/21/2014	You couldn't find Beer Can Alley		Visit Log
Things were going pretty well for us today but then the clouds darkened, the rains came and we collected a string of three DNF's
06/21/2014	You couldn't find Homage to The Past		Visit Log
We were blanked by this one today. We had to wonder after reading the hint if there was any connection to the broken solar light at GZ
06/21/2014	You found  TCO 8 Our "Up North" Cache		Visit Log
Today, the first day of summer, was supposed to be a sunny day in the mid 70's. We experienced some of that California liquid sunshine and a series of DNF's. Thanks for placing a cache we could find. Signed log and replaced the cache where we found it. Thanks for the fun.
06/21/2014	You found  CVCLUB		Visit Log
Boy this find was a bit of a challenge. Sure glad our RAV has 4 x 4. The cache is in extremely poor shape and needs to be replaced. The case is broken and the log is soaked. There was standing water in the container. Even though the log is wet, we signed it and replaced as found.
06/21/2014	You posted a note for  R.I.P. Liberty		Visit Log
We pulled into this little cemetery to seek a cache but were driven off by the mowing muggle trimming the grass near GZ
06/21/2014	You found  CB SERIES #4 LINUS		Visit Log
Driving south on 131 for lunch in Manton and this one popped up on the Nuvi. Pulled over and made the find. Signed log and replaced as found. TFTC
06/21/2014	You found  FLBP		Visit Log
We have found caches in this park before. After reading about their fates we were very careful today to not alarm the couple playing tennis. We were able to out wait them, they were about finished, and then made the find. Signed log and replaced as found. Thanks for placing and maintaining a cache here.
06/21/2014	You found  CB SERIES #2 LUCY		Visit Log
We set out to enjoy this first day of summer by driving some back roads and finding some caches which didn't require extensive hiking or bushwhacking. This one popped up first and we made the find. Thanks for the fun.

A "Plan" and a Parade of Homes

Max's called.  The serviceman apparently has a "plan" for our Hotpoint dryer made by GE (don't buy one).  Who knows what that could be.  They will call us next Tuesday.  Nothing happens quickly with them.  Have you noticed?

This morning Dick worked at the Visitor Center.   They dealt with over 50 visitors and eight phone calls in three hours.

From 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. we manned the table at one of the homes in the Parade of Homes.  We were representing the MEA retired teachers group.  That's one way that they earn money to give as scholarships.

Our house was big and beautiful - 4700 square feet - 6 bedrooms and 4.5 baths located in Incochee Farms.  It was very cold and rainy today.  We were set up in the garage, and it was very cold and damp.  We don't seem to have suffered any ill effects from sitting out there for 4 hours, so it's all good.  We really enjoyed the people who came to view the house - it was enjoyable talking to everyone.  By a lucky coincidence, the home builder is Brian Mohr of Calybr Homes.  He's the one who will supposedly be building our condo in Lone Tree.  I hope that seeing us reminded him that he has another job waiting.  He does beautiful work - everyone commented on how nice it was.

We had a late dinner at Harrington's.  It took me a while to warm up.  Hot tea is great - it warms the inside, and also warms the hands if you hug the cup!  It was a lovely dinner.  The restaurant was crowded and loud...and warm.  And, I might add, a bit over priced!

No Go

Our Hotpoint dryer is officially dead.  Don't buy one.  Max's serviceman came back this morning, worked on it for about an hour, and then signed the death certificate (well not really).  He says he will contact the GE tech department to discuss this dryer.  He thinks it might need a new motor.  Heavy sigh.  Max's will call soon to tell us the outcome.  In case you didn't already know, living without a dryer is a pain in the tush.

No Big Deal? Really?

Before 12:30 in the afternoon we went to the Tire Factory, East field Laundromat, had coffee and tea outside at the Green House on Front Street, and went to the doctor.  Whew

We must have damaged a tire yesterday on our excursion.  The Rav developed a slow leak in a tire, and it was completely flat this morning.  Luckily we have an air compressor so Dick could inflate the tire enough to make it to the Tire Factory.  They patched it up and rotated the tires for  $16!  What a deal.

We left two baskets of laundry at Eastfield, plus sheets.  You see, another switch had to be ordered.  It came in on Saturday, but the serviceman won't be here until Thursday.  Heavy sigh.

We had time to kill before we had to be at Skyview Oncology, so we watched the world go by out in front of the Green House for half an hour.  Great people watching!

Once again, at the doctor's office, I got the feeling that my case is just not very interesting to them.  I'm just an ordinary patient, nothing special.  Besides, I "look so good" and I "don't look sick"! I usually just say Thank You!  But the next time someone tells me that I don't look sick, I'll say "Well, then, maybe I have the wrong diagnosis."  It is so obvious that although this is a Very Big Deal for us, it's not important to anybody else.

After giving it some thought, I think that it really isn't such a big deal.  It just is what it is.

Meanwhile, back in the real world:

"There's a real foodie renaissance going on in U.S. cities," says Livability.com  Editor Matt Carmichael. "You're seeing that coast to coast, but these cities really stand out as great places to live and eat."

Editors describe Traverse City as a food fairytale, with dozens of great restaurants and opportunities to find fresh, wholesome ingredients for home-cooked meals.

Top 10 Foodie Cities, 2014

1. New Haven, CT
2. Scottsdale, AZ
3. Boston, MA
4. Asheville, NC
5. Traverse City, MI
6. Berkeley, CA
7. Boulder, CO
8. Burlington, VT
9. Omaha, NE
10. Washington, D.C.

We really do need to get out more!

Happy Father's Day!

Dear Old Dad

In 2014, here is what some Dads (like Dick) want to do on Father's Day :)

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06/15/2014	You found Summer Fun		Visit Log
This cache has the perfect name. Maybe technically it's not summer yet but today was a very summery afternoon. We were out on an excursion to once more enjoy the drive down M22 and spend this Father's Day starting our twelfth year of geocaching. I made this much more of an adventure than it needed to be by parking at the beginning of the trail on 4th Street. After going up the trail along the pretty little creek, I got to within 95 feet of the cache but it was straight up the hill. I went back to the cachemobile and drove back to Prospect as the better half had told me to do in the first place. From there we made the find, signed the log, and replaced as found. This one earns a favorite from us because, of the ten we found today, this was the only one we would call "A Real Cache". Thanks for placing it.  06/15/2014 You found The Rock Shelf   Visit Log What better way to spend Father's Day than go caching. We found our first cache on Father's Day 2003. We wanted to come down 22 to Manistee today. This town has a lot of memories for us, from high school sports in the 50's, to visiting friends who were Doctors here in the 80's and 90's. We pulled over to take a phone call from our son in San Diego and noticed this cache on our Nuvi. The cache was found but the process was a serious challenge to my agility level. Signed the log and replaced just in time to avoid some muggles on the path, a young fellow, his dad and grandpa. Thanks for adding to our fun today.
06/15/2014	You found Dixie's Cache		Visit Log
Another fantastic Father's Day. This is my 53rd one where I was the daddy. Time sure flies when you're having fun. A card I received this morning says, "Ever notice , the older we get, the more we're like Computers? We start out with lots of memory and drive, then we eventually become outdated, crash at odd moments, acquire errors in our systems, and have to have our parts replaced." We pulled up to this one and, as I was fiddling with the iPad, the wise one, still sitting in the car, said "There it is. No, over there" She signed the log and I put it back. Thanks for your effort in placing and maintaining these caches Red Hat Grandma, I hope you realise how much fun you have added to our afternoon today.
06/15/2014	You found Park Play Time		Visit Log
This stop just added to our fun on today's caching excursion down 22. This marks the beginning of our 12th year with this activity. Thanks for showing this cute little park to us.
06/15/2014	You found Trekking to the TT Ate - Baldy Trailhead		Visit Log
After a great lunch of smoked ribs and quesadilla at Dinghy's in Frankfort, we spent the afternoon cruising M 22 and seeking a few caches along the route. This marks the start of our twelfth year with this addiction. We pulled in and I began my search. I was called back by the micro maven and she pointed out to me what I was missing. She signed the log, I put it back. Thanks for the fun.
06/15/2014	You couldn't find Trekking to the TT Ate - Used to be a Lookout		Visit Log
Darn! Our second DNF on our excursion today.We did find an upholstered living room chair at GZ. With all the other DNF's and logs indicating damage and dampness, the owner might want to check this one out.
06/15/2014	You found CAP-CAP INVASION -- CREEPY		Visit Log
We were out on a caching expedition today to celebrate the start our 12th year of chasing down Tupperware and ammo cans. We pulled in and discovered that the muggles, mosquitoes, as well as spiders are all out in force on this Father's Day. We waited out the muggles, swatted and sprayed the mosquitoes, and carefully moved the spiders out of our way. Signed the log and put everything back as it had been when we found it. Thanks for adding to our fun on this beautiful northern Michigan June afternoon.
06/15/2014	You found Judy's Cache		Visit Log
The ribs were great and Frankfort is a neat little town to visit. After checking out the lake and the stores, we continued on down M 22 toward Manistee and this fellow popped up on our Nuvi. We made the find and signed the log. Then we put it back as found. We didn't explore the area because that wasn't on our todo list for this Father's Day. Thanks for the caches we found today RHG.
06/15/2014	You found Frankfort Needs Another Cache!		Visit Log
After receiving a hand held Magellan GPS for Christmas in 2002, we read an article about something called Geocaching and on Father's Day, June 15, 2003 we gave it a try. We were hooked. There is no better way to celebrate the day than to have smoked ribs at Dinghy's, drive M22, and snag a few caches. Thanks for placing this one RedHat, it wasn't the last of yours that we found today.
06/15/2014	You couldn't find May the 4th Be With You!		Visit Log
We found our first cache on Father's Day, June 15th 2003. That means that we are starting out 12th year. We did not want to start the day with a DNF but we did. Even the micro maven was blanked by this one

Mall Walking and Rav Riding on Flag Day

We had a nice walk around the mall.  Stopped at Target and got a card for Adam R. and some new shorts and pants for Dick.  Didn't feel like having lunch at the Food Court, so we decided to take a ride around Long Lake and have lunch at home.  It's a beautiful day for a ride.

After lunch we drove out to the Feiger quilt barn on the peninsula because a cacher had logged that there was no log book in the cache!  Both bays were spectacularly beautiful today,  Have to say that for a change, East Bay had more dramatic shades of blue than West Bay.  However, West Bay won in the dramatic sailboats category.  Driving along Peninsula Drive we could see 14 or 15 sailboats with multi-colored sails making quite an impressive display - a real treat for our eyes!

A Loaded GPS

Dick spent most of this day trying to load local caches onto the Nuvi.  It was a very hard job, with many fail attempts.   Even though it is Friday the 13th, he was undaunted and finally achieved success!  A pox on Friday the 13th.

We did take time out for a mall walk and lunch at the Food Court.  I'm a little tired of China Wok, so I got a bagel and cream cheese at Cool Beans.  Yum - honey cinnamon cream cheese :)

Here is Dick's report:
                      *****************************************************
Sunday is June 15th.   It is also Fathers Day.

 In 2002, Jana gave me a Magellan GPS for Christmas to use on our pontoon boat. The following spring there was an article in the Traverse City Record Eagle about Geocaching. It sounded like a fun way to use your GPS on dry land. We did research and decided to give it a shot. On Fathers Day in 2003, which is also June 15th, we searched for and found our first geocache. It was a film can placed by ABX Guy on the shore of Keystone Pond on the Boardman River. We were hooked! Looking for caches has taken us to every County in Michigan and every State in the country.

We found that we could load the locations of caches into our GPS units in the car. It is fun to see them pop up near our route as you drive along. Unfortunately, the more complex the new GPS, the more complicated it is to load them. After a bit of a struggle in January, I was able to load a bunch into our Nuvi while we were enjoying our first Snow Bird winter. Once they were in there, I couldn't get them out. It's frustrating to be back in God’s Country with a load of caches that are over 1200 miles away.

For this Father’s Day, I wanted to drive over to Frankfort to get smoked ribs at Dinghy’s. They are one of the few places who actually smoke meat in the area. After lunch, I wanted to drive south along Lake Michigan down M22 and look at the scenery as well as pick up some caches. To do this, I wanted to load some near-the-road caches into the Nuvi. I started on Tuesday the 10th working on our little Windows tablet. After a couple of hours without success, I decided to hold back until I had a chance to talk to Jay Finch at our meet and greet on Wednesday. He and Mary have racked up more than 2100 finds. I knew he loads caches into the same model Nuvi we use so I asked him for help. They are leaving in the morning for an event downstate and I didn't bring my 'puter so there wasn't much he could do. He did give me a tip about downloading a group of caches which came in handy on Thursday.

On Thursday, I put in at least 4 hours trying different ways to load caches from Groundspeak to GSAK to the Nuvi without success. All I accomplished was to once again prove to myself that, when it comes to computers, the technology has left me in the dust. Friday was another day. After about 4 more hours, I discovered that I could erase the Florida caches but every attempt to load the local ones in Michigan just loaded the Florida ones back in. Nancy attempted to bail me out, she took the little laptop and tried everything she knew to solve the problem but had no more success than I had. We learned that we have become much more adept at using our Apples than Windows.

I finally decided that the thing to do was to delete all Garmin files and start all over. I spent at least another 3 hours deleting and renaming. Finally I moved an empty folder from the desktop to the Garmin "D" file. Apparently the Nuvi talks to "D" not "C". After loading our local caches from GSAK to the "D" file, I used the POI Loader to move the Garmin GPX file to the Nuvi and waited one more time as the loading progressed. When it finished, I unplugged the Nuvi, turned it back on and - - TA DA!! there they were!

Today when we went for a ride they showed up on the screen as ammo can cache symbols. We are two happy campers. Tomorrow is Father's Day and we will go for a ride and start our twelfth year of Geocaching.

Max Returns. ReMax?

Max's Service came out again with a new part for our lemony dryer.  He couldn't fix it.  He's going to order another part.  He will be back Next Week!  So far, in one month, this dryer has dried 4 loads of laundry.  Eastfield Laundromat, we'll be back.

Never buy a Hotpoint dryer at Home Depot.  Really.

June Meet and Greet @ B.C. Pizza

basswoodbend Premium Member 3896  Attended 06/11/2014 We came, we saw, we enjoyed! We had a great time chatting with all the folks who came. This was definitely one of the best TC M&G's yet! Thanks Fins for bringing the gang together.

I'm at the end of the table in the checkered shirt, talking to Lydia.