Tahq Falls Camping

So me and the little woman decided to do some camping in the UP.In the first picture you can see her there wanting a camp fire sooooo, I decided we needed some wood. The park ranger came by a little later and put a stop to my chopping. It turns out you can buy wood.

So we went and looked at the Falls both upper and lower and spent a little time at the Shipwreck Museum. Which in reality is one large room with some artifacts, interesting just a little small. Unlike the rudder I am seen standing next to, which is not small by any means.

It turns out that they don't allow people to go to the top of the lighthouse...so needless to say we were asked to leave and no other pictures were taken.

So, with the falls out of the way and being asked to leave the premises of the Museum we decided to look for some wildlife.

We were visited by a fox which we did not get a picture of, a coyote, which you can kinda make out in this next photo...and then some small black bears which decided to stick around for some pets and photos....

So a nice relaxing time was had by all. There were very few people in our campground, probably because highs were in the 50's and lows in the 30's. Oh yea, you probably want to see a shot of the falls as well.So here you go....

Things I love about Florida

With Brendan up in Massachusetts for the weekend, seeing the first of the 4 Phish shows he has tickets to this summer, my friend Brilly and I decided to hit New Smyrna Beach for a few hours today. Because storms were predicted for the afternoon, we left early and go to the beach around 9am. In Florida in the summertime, it is already warm enough and sunny enough by 9am to be soaking up some good rays. The part of the beach we were at was in a state park and was almost completely empty. It was awesome. We snacked on pineapple and Parrot Bay coolers, took a little walk down the beach, got some sun, and did NOT go swimming, since the ocean was approximately 3 degrees. Or at least it felt that way. The Gulf side of Florida is definitely better for balmier waters.

We started to hear some rumbling around 1145am and the clouds were starting to increase, so that was our cue to pack it in and head to Capt JB's Fish Camp for some lunch. This place was EVERYTHING I love about a little seafood dive on the water. Casual and comfortable, decorated with kitsch and mermaids and all kinds of random things...Rolls of paper towels and packets of handi-wipes on the tables...and a great menu, chock full of all things seafood. Brilly had the Crabulous Sandwich and I had a blackened grouper sandwich, and man, it was one of the best grouper sandwiches I've ever tasted. There was a group of "salty dog" type of guys at the booth/table adjoining ours...they had arrived on their boat and were going back out on it. They had a table overflowing with oysters and bottles of beer and were pounding away at all of it. One started joking with me about us all having to do dishes to pay for our food, cuz they claimed they had no funds and I told him he was outta luck if he thought I could help, cuz I was hoping he would wash dishes to pay for meal too. He offered us an oyster...we politely declined.

As the over-served salty dogs were leaving, the oyster-offerer gave me a friendly pat and said he hoped we enjoyed our lunch. Then they staggered outside to get into their boat and motor it drunkenly away. Only when we asked the waitress for our check did we discover that Salty Dogs had bought our lunch. I gotta say...in my almost-43 years, I have never had someone buy lunch for me like that. It was a lovely end to a lovely day in New Smyrna. And now that I am home, I am enjoying the fact that there is nothing I have to do for the rest of the day if I don't want to. So I think I will just go lie on the couch, watch some tv, and wait for the Wings to come on. Days off rock.

Snoopy & Woodstock greet the Summer

Ahhhh....always nice when Snoopy and Woodstock welcome in the Summer with some nice, juicy watermelon. For me, Summer has arrived! Thanks...old pals!

Another One Beats Our Butts

Ah, the true Wings are starting to emerge once again. Off to a flying start, with Ozzie capturing an unbelieveable, and unrealistic, 1.00 GAA. Of course that can't last. Not that the Wings can't still win the cup. Yes, they've done it in the past...even with Ozzie, but I'm not losing any sleep nor keeping my hopes up. I think I have a better chance keeping my hopes up that I'll go up to Terry's cottage on July Fouth week, with all my kids, and there will be 80 degree days of sun and fun without sweltering, nor kid overload. That's what I'm really hoping and praying for. I won't go into detail about the game, because in part, I didn't watch all of it. I watched 1 then 1-1...then flicked it back on when Pens just scored a shorthander to make it 2-2. Saw their third....down hill from there. Luckily, I had other things to do...Wink's as good as a nod....
Hoping for the best, but have recall the days of Nick Polano, Danny Gare, and Peter Puck. Life goes on. Good luck to those of you who have put stock into them. Carpe Diem!!!

That's all right, that's okay...we will beat 'em anyway!

That's okay, Wings...we want to win the Cup on home ice anyway, so Penguins needed to win that one. It's OURS from here on out tho!!!

My Prodigies

Just a quick note to tell you that my girls take after thier athletic and multi-talented (did I mention humble?) father. Nicole was a scoring machine. At last count she had 5 goals...wait...she just scored another one. I think she ended up with 6 goals and an assist. I could be wrong because I had to leave a bit early to get Natalie over to T-ball. Just look at Cole playing defense. Don't bring your weak stuff to her house. I know that I was pretty scared just trying to take the picture.

BTW, both girls went 3 for 3 at bat in T-ball and both drilled at least one ball to the outfield. Notice Nicole's technique for getting to first faster. Hit the ball and just throw the bat. Never mind the follow through. Actually they both do very well at the plate as well as the field. The coaches are not all that sharp and just kind of keep putting the girls in the same positions. This gets boring for Natalie who loves to play first. Nicole loves any position where the ball comes to her. She is a vacuum cleaner with a thunderbolt for an arm.

I had to also add that Michael Jordan has nothing on Nat. Notice the tongue. I have plenty more photos where that came from. Yes Kee, you will be getting an all sports CD.

That's all the time I have.

I will say this. My new lens is pretty sweet. All of these pictures were taken on pretty overcast days as the sun went down. I just gota Canon 70-200 f2.8. Then I throw a 1.4x extender on to get it to around 100-280mm at f4. Eggcellent for the lighting conditions. I initially bought the lens for arena and gymnasium photographs, but it performs great in these conditions.

That's all the time I have,

You've been great.