Friday, September 29

While in the Traverse City area,
we went to Petosky. Had lunch at

Papa Lou's.

Had very delicious grinders!

Also stopped at

Fishermans Island State Park.

A very rustic campground.

No hookups and I don't think

they would be able to

accommodate a motor home!

And a nasty day!

Windy and cold and drizzly.

So on the way back to Traverse,

We stopped at Charlevoix.

A picturesque town!

Then on the way,

we had to stop at

Turtle Creek Casino!

Where we added to their coffers!

But, it was still enjoyable!

Holiday Park

Here's a pic of me at our campsite!
Do you see the ugly blue carpet!

That was left from the
"seasonal" person who had
this site this year .







Here's Craig checking on dinner.
We discovered that you shouldn't
use paper lights on your awning
if there's the slightest chance
of rain!
The colors will run!
the lights here are plastic.
Better choice!

We're still in a learning curve on the mo-ho. this site had cable hook-up.
The first time we had that!
So I remember seeing a coaxial connector in the bay by the door.
So hooked it up and nothing! Figured our wiring in the mo-ho was screwed up, or
their cable didn't work. So we used the antenna that first nite.
In the morning I was thinking that the cable should come in to the mo-ho where the electrical and water does, which is on the other side in the back. So opened up the back bay door and there it was, up on the side wall. Moved the cable and, Presto, picture!

So any way,
here's some
more pics
from our site!








Good thing there
was a tree behind
us, in case we started
to roll backwards!

Traverse City

Over the last weekend we went to Traverse City.
We stayed at a nice park called Holiday Park.

It was 7 miles south of Traverse City. But just down the street was urban sprawl! Including a Menards! It has been awhile since we've been here, and it sure has grown!
The park sits on the lower portion of Silver lake.
We had a site right on the water!
As with alot of parks we've been to,
there are alot of "seasonals".
What they call pepole who rent
the space all season, every year.
We were in site 47.

We tried to get a spot on the island,

but they were all "seasonals" of course!

They put you in pretty tight,

and the only way we got

lake front, was because the

"seasonal" people who use

this site were allready gone

for the rest of the year.

And we don't know how this park stared out, but

almost half of the "seasonals" that

were left had Airstream trailers!

Never seen so many in one spot!

fall continues

Other flowers blooming
this fall are Sedums!
I have numerous varieties!
Besides the ever popular
Autumn Joy ,
shown here
behind some Garlic Chives,















I have a variegated
variety called,
Ice Queen.
It has green
and white leaves, with
pink and white flowers.
And I have a Sedum collection
next to my pond that has
most of my varieties.
Among several creeping Sedums,
I have,
Sedum Chocolate.
A Sedum with
burgundy brown leaves,
with same color flowers.
And Sedum Matrona.
Green leaves, pinkish stems,
and flowers slightly darker
than Autumn Joy.
Sedums also make good cutting flowers.
Lasting a week or more in a vase!
Lots still going on in the Garden!
And I haven't even mentioned the Mums!

September 22nd

As the month comes to a close, I look around the yard and still see many perennials blooming!

The pics here are of my Japanese Anemone's.

I have several varieties.

From white to pink to burgundy!

They add such a splash

of color to the garden,

sending their airy flowers

high above the leaves!

I also have Hydranga's

still blooming!

Plus assorted other perennials,

including Heleopsis.

They look like a

pale yellow daisy,

but three feet tall,

False Dragon Head,

and

a shrub rose

called Coral Medillian!

So even as

fall continues, and

the leaves start to fall.

There is stiil lots

of color in the garden!

Wednesday September 20

Haven't posted lately, but then haven't been anywhere lately.
Mainly work, house cleaning, yard work, and mo-ho maintenance.
I'm sure the same stuff everyone does.
But I will add a favorite site for you today,
http://www.shop4tech.com/

I happened on this site when Craig needed a color ink cartridge for his very old Epson printer.

Say from 1996!

But it works, though very slow. Any way, we went to purchase one and found out no one any longer carries it!

So I figured I could get it on line! So off to E-Bay!

http://www.ebay.com/

And that's where I found this place! They claim to have Epson quality ink at a fraction of the cost! Can you believe we got one for $7.99? They were so cheap, I got a color and black cartridges for my printer as well, figuring if they didn't work, I wouldn't be out much!

And mine were only $5.99 each!

Well, I've been using them for quite a while now and see no difference at all!

So this is my little gift to you all. You don't need to spend a fortune on ink!

Saugatuck

Went back to Saugatuck last weekend. Stayed at the same campground, Campit.
It was their retro weekend. If you remember from a previous post.
This campground has theme weekends.
We arrived too
late for the tye dye t-shirts,
but injoyed the

reto dance with
70's music!

Great Fun!








Then the next day off to Saugatuck again!
There's a small park
near the dunes with
a staircase to the top of
Mt. Baldy.
We climbed all the
way to the top!
180 steps!


A wonderful view of the area!
this is the city below on the
Kalamazoo River!










Of course it was alot easier to go down!



While shopping,
we ran across
this lovely lady.
For some reason,
I could'nt get
Craig to give
her a kiss!
And she seemed really ready!

Navy pier extras

Apparently, Blogger limits the amount of megabits per post, so I can only post four to five pics per post. That's why Chicago has gone on for sooooo Long!
So, I can either make my pics smaller pixel wise or do more posts!
I think it's nice to click on a pic and see more detail, so I'll do more posts!
These are more
things we saw at
Navy Pier.
First up,
a tall ship that takes
people on tours
of the lake front!
Next,
Jet skiers entertaining
the crowds.
We actually saw one
run over another!
No one was hurt.








There is this super
large Ferris Wheel
here also.
Which offers
great views of the city!

And of course,
the Beer Garden!

Where an enjoyable
afternoon can be had!
The free music,
the people watching,
the boaters,
all make for a
relaxing afternoon!
And did I mention
the beer!

Anyway,
that was pretty much it!
on the way out of town,
we saw the museum
advertising the
tut exhibit!

I need to see that!

Navy Pier pt 3

Out at the very end of the pier is this large round room. They use it for wedding receptions and such. It has windows all around it , giving you a fantastic view of the lake and city.
And then it's lined
with all these very
large flags!

Very impressive!

And the views of the city

is equally impressive!

Here's a shot from both

sides of the pier!

The low building in front

of the second pic

is their waste water treatment plant.

It also sticks out in the lake ,

but on the backside of the pier.

It doesn't really look to bad.

The really tall building is the

John Hancock Tower.

The Sears Tower is farther back in the city in the first pic.

Did I say I love Chicago!

Well it was time to head

back to our motor home in

Indiana Dunes State Park.

On our way out of town

we went by the Field Museum.

http://www.fieldmuseum.org/

They are showing

Tutankhamun and the Golden age of the Pharaohs!

See! Just never enough time!

But we'll be back!

Chicago - Navy Pier pt 2

We stayed at the" Beer Garden" for most the afternoon.
Was fun listening to the music and watching the people! We had a great time!


This is our beer server Sharon.
She was sooo nice.

And we had a great view

of the lake and all the

boats and such.

Navy Pier is this enormous

pier that sticks out into

Lake Michigan!

I understand that originally,

there were to be several piers,

but this is the only one that got built!

There were great views of the lake and everything on it!

And it was such a beautiful day!

We had a great time!

But then,

I LOVE CHICAGO!

More in the next post!

Labor Day - Chicago - Navy Pier

We made it out to Navy Pier!

http://www.navypier.com/

This place is sooooo cool!
They have alot of
different things to do here.
Shoping. playing. siteseeing.

you can take tours of
Chicago from here on
the many company's
that work from here.
Lots of different types
of boats to chose from.

Open air boats to the

more luxurious types!

Besides the tour companies,

there are lots of

restaurants and

bars to intertain.

And lots of people!

We eventually made it to the

"beer garden".

That's the next post due to pic restrictions on this blog.

Labor Day - Chicago pt 3

All this site seeing made us hungry!

So we stopped at the
Park Grill.
This outdoor restaurant
is actually a skating rink!
In the summer they
convert it to an outdoor restaurant.

Here's Craig in front, with the "Bean"

up behind the building.

Very good food! Craig had shredded pork

tacos with pineapple salsa, and I had the soft shell duck tacos with mango salsa.YUMMY!

After we were fed and rested,

we headed down Michigan Ave.

to one of Craig's favorite stores,

Crate and Barrel!

//www.crateandbarrel.com/

It's probably six blocks or so from the park.

One thing I like about Chicago is all the landscaping they do.

In the middle of Michigan Ave.

they have these enormous planters

they fill with grasses, perennials,

and annuals!

They also do landscaping in

front of the stores.

Though it makes for more

crowded sidewalks!

But it also makes for a pleasant walk.

Here's Craig in the store.

See how happy he is?

They have tons of home stuff!

All that shopping made us thirsty, so we headed over to Navy Pier!

But that will have to be another post.

Time for work!

Labor Day - Chicago pt 2

Here's some more pics
of millennium Park!
This is called the
Crown Fountain.
It consists of two 50 ft glass block towers
at each end of a reflecting pool.
Water comes down the sides of the towers.
And they light up from the inside at night!

The pool is only about two inches deep.
Kids love to run thru it!


At about ten minute intervals,
they put a face on the screen
inside the blocks.



They supposedly have a thousand
faces that rotate.

It's a short video of the face.

You see them blink and look and
then after about ten minutes,
the close their eyes, purse their
lips and a large stream of water
comes out of the wall!
Much to the kids delight!



It's really quite cool and
people seem to love it!
And in between when the faces
are showing, they have
patterns that run under the water!












A great place to cool off the
kids during your sightseeing!