Sauna and sunsets

We are at the cabin again this weekend even though the weather is terrible...rain, wind and cold. Typical fall weather for Michigan but still hard to take after the last two weeks of beautiful Indian summer weather. We were pleased to find Mikes Sauna with walls and a roof when we arrived on Friday. The inside is not finished yet but Tim Hertler came on Sunday morning and we made some decisions about the inside. There will be a small changing area when you enter with pegs and a bench. The sauna stove needs room for firewall protection and there will be a two level bench on the wall with the glass block windows(the picture with Riggs). We will have lights inside and the inside walls will be all cedar. We hope to get the stove this week,,a Nippa stove made in Michigan. Mike has wood all ready for the first sauna experience. We travel to Chicago tomorrow thru Wednesday for a Cigar Assn. board meeting. I am the driver as the flight was almost $800 from TC to Chicago!! Not sure what I will do while he is in meetings on Tuesday as we are a ways from downtown Chicago. Today is still cold but the sun is shinning and we will go in this pm and have dinner with Patrick and Heather so they can pick up Riggs to dogsit. Sad day yesterday with the Tigers and U of M loosing their games. It has been a great season for both teams. I stared back to work this last week and can assure all of you that retirement does not make you loose your skills...it is like riding a bike. Good to see all the people as I have wonderful, caring and very smart coworkers. The sunset picture was from Saturday night...nice to see clear sky after all the rain and wind of the last two days.

Love from all of us in Northern Michigan....Kathy Mike adn Riggs

Indian Summer

Mike and I are at the cabin this weekend and the weather is spectacular. It is Indian Summer for sure with sunshine and 75 to 80 degree temps. The trees are peaking with their yellow, red and gold color and it is even more beautiful on the river. I kayaked today up stream and floated back downstream. Every curve was a feast for the eyes. Note the kayak view with my feet relaxing up on the bow of the boat as I floated. Mike is wade fishing but not having too much luck. Mikes Birthday is this week and we plan a low key celebration and will have dinner with Patrick and Heather. I am starting work again and my first day is Wednesday. It has been a wonderful 4 months and I thank all of you for helping me to enjoy myself. I am going to be working part time and look foreword to less stress and more time to sew and socialize.

Eyes of the River 2 or the Minnow??

Today we launched Mikes new boat on the Manistee River. Mike, Dennis and his brother in law Sorel are off on a 3 hour trip down the river. Hard to know which name to call the new boat but it did not sink and the day looks like a great one to fish. Mike is very excited to take two people fishing!! We can all look forward to some fun trips nest summer. We are at the cabin for the weekend again. The weather last week was fairly nice but Friday brought rain, wind and cold temps. Shades of what is to come. Today is beautiful and sunny but still cold. Riggs and I are going for a walk and he has his hunter orange vest on as bow season opens today...he looks too much like a little deer. We had the Smiths to dinner last night and played some great Euchre. We will be putting the Big Bad Boy into storage this next week so our wanderings are over for this year. I have the final mileage figures for the trip...9500 miles...June thru Sept 15th. Unreal!!

Kathy, Mike and Riggs

First week home

We have been home for a week and finally settled in to Traverse City Life. We went to the cabin last weekend and it was great to be there and enjoy a beautiful Sunday. Mike floated/fished with Dennis Carney in "the eyes of the river" and they had a great time...actually caught some fish. My garden is almost dead but weathered the summer without me pretty well. The black eyed susans are about done and the picture I included is the last bunch that have good blooms.

Tonight we went to a book premier of The Heart of a Priest. It is the biography of Father Fred. Mike wrote a section regarding the Father Fred Cigar Dinner and was asked, along with other people, to read a portion from the book and say a few comments. He looked great on the stage and did a wonderful job...funny and meaningful comments. The evening was a honor to a wonderful man and the book has many lessons for all of us...it is a good read. Patrick, along with other Hibernians, helped by selling books and tickets....came early, stayed late and worked hard....we are very proud of how hard he works at volunteering in the community!!

Tomorrow night we are going to Interlochen to see the GREAT Jackson Brown...then to the cabin for the weekend. Hope all is well with everyone...Love Kathy and Mike...and Riggs

Traverse city farmers market

Greetings. I have decided to continue on with somef blogs now and then to keep family and friends updated on our activities. Today is a beautiful sunny day in the 70's. Cool enough to sleep really well last night and not too hot during the day...I feel fall in the air. I went to the farmers market this morning and it was teaming with people and produce...saw friends and neighbors and bought lots of great stuff. The sunflowers are beautiful and we drove by field after field of them in North Dakota. The guy at the market said they are the sunflower oil kind...not like these. Got peaches, apples, honey, tomatoes and bread. I have spent the last two days unpacking the Big Bad Boy...finally about done. It is amazing how much we had in there! We are going to the cabin after Mike is done at the store and will be back in TC on Monday afternoon....we need our cabin fix...Love and hugs Kathy and Mike

Home

We made it home today at about 5 pm and Patrick was here to meet us...so nice to have a welcoming hug. The weather has remained cool and we had rain on and off all day as we traveled thru the UP to the bridge....note picture as we traveled over the big mac. The map on the side of the big bad boy is complete for this year with all the states we traveled thru accounted for. We have finally had cool enough weather to both wear our TC sweatshirts that Patrick and Heather gave us for the trip. I have worn mine and got lots of "so you are from TC Michigan" It was a great conversation starter. We have met lots of great people this summer. Fun to talk to and share experiences. Mike and I have enjoyed this trip so much...truly a dream come true. We thank all of you who helped us enjoy our time away from Traverse City.

Lesson for the day: Coming home is great and means you had a wonderful trip...so true!

Kathy, Mike and Riggs

on the way Home

We are back in Michigan!!! The trees are green, the water is blue and big and the temps are low...34 degrees at 9 pm tonight in Ishpming. It feels like fall. We have seen red branches of trees and gray clouds that look like.."snow" but actually held rain. We had spotty showers all day. We added the last sticker to our state map on the side of the RV..given to us by Patrick and Heather...note the empty spot for South Dakota. We will have to work on that next year. We had lunch with cousin Sally "Cookie" Ahnen Kivesto at the Italian restaurant owned by her daughter-in-laws family...The Liberty Bell in Hurley Wisc. It was a great lunch with lots of laughs and looks at pictures. Mike and I then dove thru Hurley with all the Bars...unreal(it was a wild west town during the mining boom in Ironwood and still has tons of bars..5 blocks with 50 bars!!)...and went to the cemetery in Bessmer where Kathryn Ahnen Nolan is buried. Mikes mom. We left flowers and took pictures for the siblings. We then traveled to a campground in Ishpming and will travel the rest of the way home tomorrow...Mackinaw Bridge here we come!