Honey, I'm home!

Aaahhh!  What a great week I had on the "Suncoast" of Florida.  I was invited by my sister-in-law to join her in Florida for a week of R & R.  It was wonderful!  I told her I had to keep pinching myself that it was real.  The weather was for the most part great, the water was inviting, the food was awesome and I had great company. :-)

I started out by flying into Hotlanta aka Atlanta, Georgia to join my sister-in-law for the first leg of our trip.  She picked me up at the airport and we hit the road.  Eight hours later we found ourselves looking out at the Gulf of Mexico with the palm trees swaying and the salty breeze blowing on our face.  How refreshing!  I felt bad for her though, because she drove through some pretty bad monsoons downpours that took expert driving skills to get through.  But we made it and it was worth it!

After sleeping like a log, we awoke, got dressed and headed out to breakfast.  We ate at the "Blue Dolphin Cafe".  I just love it when you are in an area that restaurants have the words "Blue Dolphin" in the title.  You know you are in a tropical location with a name like that.  We then headed to the nearby Publix grocery store for food and supplies.  I just want to say this.  Everyone I met in Florida was so friendly!  I don't know if it is all of the vitamin D from all the sunshine, but at every store, restaurant, whatever, everyone went above and beyond what was expected of them to make sure you were a satisfied customer.  And I saw not one of the self-serve cash registers that are so prevalent in my neck-of-the-woods.  I have issues with those, but that is for another post...

My sister-in-law needs to go into the hospitality business, because she made sure I was comfortable and kept me entertained.  We shopped until we dropped, ate at some of the best restaurants and laughed until our faces hurt.  I also got a nice sunburn.  I cannot go out into the sun without a burn, so that was totally expected.  If I left Florida without a burn, that meant I either spent the entire time indoors or it was a bad week weather-wise.  At least now I do not look like I belong to the Cullen clan in the "Twilight" books. ;-)

We saw beautiful sunsets.

Listened to some great music.

Ate food that was (almost) too pretty to eat.

And spent time on the beach.

It was heaven!  But as much as I loved being there, I was also missing my family and anxious to get home.  Hubby was wonderful and assured me that everything was going smoothly back home and to relax.  I didn't doubt that he and Ryan could handle it by themselves, but I missed them.  My sister-in-law was missing her hubby, too.  We packed up and headed back to Atlanta for the final leg home.

I left my sister-in-law at the airport already missing her terribly, but with wonderful memories of our time together. She will never know how much I appreciated her hospitality and friendship that week.

After a week of sun and balmy temps, my hubby told me that Michigan was in for several days of rain and cool temperatures.  Was I crazy for coming back?  As the plane was circling around and making it's descent over the Motor City, I could not help but think how good it felt to be back home no matter what the weather.

Now I have to go and unpack.  I wish everyone to have love, friendship and sunshine.  And I'll leave with a quote by Dorothy in the "Wizard of Oz".    "There is no place like home."

Thanks for looking in.

Camping

Leaky air mattresses, leaky tents, mosquitos.  What's to like about tent camping you ask?  Sitting after dark making smores and telling stories around a campfire.  Gazing up at a zillion stars at night.  Gaining a new appreciation for modern conveniences.

While I really do enjoy camping, my hubby and I decided that this year was our last year for "roughing" it.  Actually I made that decision around five years ago.  But I am sadly outnumbered by the males in my household.

Each time we camped, we would make note of something that was missing and made sure that we had that something for the next time we camped.  In the past, we have always had at least one cloudburst happen causing the leaky tent and sitting on a wet picnic table for breakfast the next morning.  So this time, we made sure that we had a shelter in place over the picnic tables to keep them dry for this camping trip.  Guess what?  Not a drop of rain. Isn't that the way it goes?  But at least we had peace of mind that we would be dry while eating.

That is one of many stories that create our camping memories.  We have the time that our camping "neighbors" kids decided to light all the campfires in the middle of the night.  Not only did it wake us up because the dad was swearing at the top of his lungs, but we were worried that our tent would catch on fire.  It was crazy! Or the time that we heard on the radio that "heavy rain will be moving into the area at 1:30 on Sunday.".  Was that 1:30 a.m. or p.m.?  I insisted that we break camp early, but hubby refused.  "It will be okay." Ha!  We woke up at 1:30 in the a.m. to the heaviest rain I think I had ever witnessed and it flooded us out.  We were drenched.  Or the time that we had a visit by a skunk.  Yeah, that would be this time.

But for every camping horror story, there is a good memory as well.  Making friends with your neighbors.  Laughing until our faces hurt. Trying out new "camping" recipes. Walking around the campground after dark and looking up and never remembering seeing so many stars.  The smell of the campfire.  Roasting marshmallows and seeing if you can get that perfect shade of brown.  Or burning it to a crisp. Those are the ones that keep us going back.

We have already decided that next year we will be renting one of the many cottages/cabins in the area or staying at the resort situated on the shore of Silver Lake.  Or in my mind, we will be in one of these.

Thanks for letting me share our vacation memories.  Whether you are "roughing it" or staying at a luxury resort, I wish all of you many happy memories on your next getaway.

Thanks for looking in!

The Beach

One of my favorite things to do when going to Silver Lake Sand Dunes is hitting the beach. White sand, surf, sun.  And with it being in the midwest on Lake Michigan, no threat of sharks.

My hubby and I spent a great deal of time on the beach and it was perfect.  Here you can still check out the dirtbikes, dunebuggies, 4 wheel drives and atvs.  But when you walk over the grass covered dunes, it's like you are in another world completely.  You feel the breeze on your face.  The only sounds are those of the surf and children building sand castles nearby.  You can sit on the soft warm sand or amble to the edge of the water and let the waves lap at your feet.  Or you can be like my son and waste no time and dive into the water.

I was hesitant at first, but when you "take the plunge" literally, it is so refreshing.

One thing that is a must when you go, when it is a clear evening, is to witness a sunset.

After eating dinner and cleaning up, we head back to the dunes.  Sometimes we will go to a nearby lighthouse.  We like to go about an hour before sunset so we can get a good spot to witness God's spectacular display.

When viewing this, you want to give God a standing ovation.  Actually when the last rays of the sun is sinking in the water, everyone is holding their breath.  Then you will hear clapping and whistles and vehicle horns beeping. If we think this is magnificent, I only can imagine what heaven must be like.  Isn't it awesome?

Silver Lake Sand Dunes

Sun, sand, surf. What's not to like?  Silver Lake Sand Dunes has been one of our favorite summer getaways for over a decade now.  Located between Muskegan and Ludington on the shores of Lake Michigan, it is a mecca for those who love to challenge the sand dunes on a dirtbike, atv or 4-wheel drive. Or fish. Or stroll the beach. Or go for a refreshing dip in Lake Michigan or Silver Lake.  You get the idea.  For summer fun, this is the place to go.

You know that you are getting close to where a good time is to be had when you see this in a nearby town.  I think every town should have this on their water tower. :-)

Even though Silver Lake is known primarily as a place for hitting the sand with dune buggies and such.  If you do not have an ATV, don't let that stop you.  You can either pack a cooler and bring an umbrella and stroll the dunes and take time out and relax on the beach.  Or there are several places in town to rent jeeps or to sign up for a tour.  Places like this...

And if you need souvenirs, look for shops such as this one....

Their motto is, "Come in a bug us!". Get it?  Volkswagon bug.  Bug us.  Oh-kay...moving on....

Here is the sandy corridor as you enter the dunes.....

And here is the view when you enter the dunes.  I love seeing the endless blue horizon of Lake Michigan and acres and acres of sand dotted with trees and drift wood here and there. It is like one giant sand box.

This motley crew was itching to see if they could make it up "test hill".  It is the tallest dune in the park and those with nerves of steel and no common sense make this climb.  If you go to YouTube you will find dozens of videos of people making this attempt.

And their off!  Can they make it?  Do their machines have the ability to make it up such a steep grade? Stay tuned.....

Hurray!  They did it!   On the first attempt!  They are such showoffs!  My hubby and I are old geezers, so we played it safe and went directly to the beach.  My son and our friends spent most of the day exploring the dunes and testing their machines to see what hills they could climb and if that area of really soft sand could be passable.  They had a blast!

In the next few days, I'll be sharing more pictures of the beach and camping stories. :-)

Thanks for looking in!:-)

Arizona Family Vacation-Part II

Upon leaving Sedona, we headed north to the Grand Canyon.  Along the way we passed through some beautiful countryside which included deep canyons and panoramic vistas.  Much of it reminded me of some of our favorite old westerns.  Especially this one, which happens to be one of my favorite scenes:

Here are some pics I took along the way.

We stopped at an Indian marketplace along the way.

After a couple of hours we reached our destination.  The Grand Canyon.  And how Grand it is!  I was finally able to mark another thing off my "Bucket List".  I saw one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World with my hubby and son.  Again pictures cannot do justice to the beauty and grandeur of this place.  It is a place that if you have the opportunity, you must go and see it for yourself.

Arizona Family Vacation

Over Easter break, we decided that we needed a break and headed off to the hills (and desert) of the Great State of Arizona.

What a beautiful time of year to visit. It wasn't too hot. (We spent some of the time in the Scottsdale area). And the flowers and desert blooms were beautiful. In the next couple of days I will share some memories of our trip.

We got off the ground without much difficulty.

After landing and loading up the rental car, we hit the road.

Let's see....Carefree Hwy.  Yep, I would guess that we are headed in the right direction.

We also knew we were in the Wild West when you see signs for "Horse Thief Recreational Area":-).

Our first stop was the small mining town of Jerome.  We ate lunch at the "Haunted Hamburger" at the suggestion of the nice girl that took care of the car rental.  Boy, am I glad we did!  It was delicious.  And the view was gorgeous.

This town has many cool shops and art galleries.  It is also now inhabited by a bunch of hippies and ghosts.  When the "Adopt-a-Highway" sign says, "Adopted by the Psychedelic Mariachis" we knew that we were in a unique place.  A t-shirt in one of the shops that we visited said "Twilight Zone + Mayberry= Jerome, AZ".  Ha!

We then arrived at our destination of Sedona.  My!  What beauty!  It is a must see when visiting Arizona.

Here are some pictures that cannot do justice to the beauty that you are surrounded by.