Water and Trees

On Friday, we went to Harbor Springs and drove along the road with the Tunnel of Trees. Our friends Doug and Susan were in town too, so we got to spend the day with them. We started in Petoskey with a quick breakfast, and headed over to Harbor Springs. Harbor Springs is a town that dots the waterfront surrounding the bay, much like Petoskey. Harbor Springs has a more small-town feel to me, with quaint shops and restaurants that take full advantage of the views of the water nearby. We spent some time in Harbor Springs, then took the drive that goes through the Tunnel of Trees. I know I've talked about this drive before, and I could go on and on about it again. But I won't bore you. Suffice it to say that it was gorgeous at this time of year. This road goes right past Leggs Inn, the Polish restaurant which I've also talked about before. We stopped in for lunch, and had a great meal. We thought it would be more crowded, especially when we learned they were closing for the season on Sunday. After lunch we headed outside to their expansive lawn to check out the view:

We got back in the car and just started driving. Around every corner or curve were beautiful trees. We kept saying, "Yay, us!" because we timed our trip just right. And the weather was perfect for a drive.
I couldn't help but get these shots of a quintessential fall scene:

More posts to come. Bear with me as I relive the weekend. I don't think we realized just how much we needed to get away until we were there. And now I just want to go back...

Relaxed, Refreshed, and Rejuvenated

Just what time away can do. And it did. Our time up north was great, the weather cooperated, and now we're back. I'm so glad we decided to tack on two days instead of one to this weekend. We loved every minute of the time we were there. I have many little stories, but I'll save those for more posts during the week. Plus, there's laundry and unpacking to do. For now I'll give you some pictures to accompany my "checklist" that I talked about in the post before we left. Even though we didn't have an agenda and didn't follow a schedule, we did fit in a lot of up north fall stuff:

• Staring at water
  • Staring at changing trees
  
  • Taking long, scenic drives
  

• Stopping in roadside places for local foods
  

What's Carrying Me Through My Day?

A plan period of 2 hours, a possible shortened time with the lippy 4th graders, and dreaming about being up north this weekend.

We leave tomorrow after school for Petoskey. I can't wait. The weather forecast is sketchy, but as you recall, that doesn't really matter to us. What matters is time away, staring at water, changing trees, and having no schedule. Just meandering the streets looking in small shops, taking long, scenic drives, stopping in roadside places for local foods, and just doing whatever we want.

Trips during the school year remind me of the many trips that our family took while we were growing up. A day off here and there, attached to a weekend, leaving right after school. Going places familiar and unfamiliar, eating fast food in the car, and arriving at our destination late at night. Only to be greeted in the morning by a completely different place than we saw at night.

My blogging may be spotty in the next few days, but I'm sure I'll come back with stories and pictures to share. Have a great weekend!

Marathon Weekend

What a great, inspiring, and beautiful weekend. We started it off with a visit to Shark and Jane's on Friday night along with our friends Dean and Beth. Hanging out in Shark and Jane's kitchen, eating pizza and catching up was so relaxing and comfortable. We were also able to catch up a little more on Saturday morning before we headed into the city.

After dropping Dean and Beth at their hotel, we went up to Chris' place where we got to catch up with her too. She was taking it easy since the marathon was the next day. We went out to dinner and ate outside with Chris and my brother Rick that night. All weekend the weather was gorgeous (not so gorgeous for the runners on Sunday) so we tried to be outside most of the day.

Sunday morning Stein drove Chris down to the race and I slept in a little. We met Shark for breakfast at one of his favorite places, S&G, before starting our day of spectating at the marathon.

Our first stop after breakfast was our friend Ellen's house in Old Town. She lives on the street that was right after mile 10, so it was a great place to see some of the race. We missed seeing Dean, but saw Chris when she stopped by. Her brother Mike was jumping in with her at this point, and he ran with her the rest of the way. Here they are before starting on their way:
I especially love this picture because of the kids sitting on the wall in the background. They all had matching shirts on that were made for their friend or relative in the race. That's what I love about watching marathons. Everyone is so gung-ho about rooting for their friends or relatives. As it should be.

I got to see Chris two more times after mile 10, at mile 16 and then 20. Stein and Shark went ahead to try to catch Dean but they only saw him once. I traveled by el to different parts of the city to see Chris. Each time I would see the same people who were running just ahead of her and know that she would be by soon. For the five seconds that she ran by me, I would jump up and down and yell, "Go Chris! Alright Chris!" That's about all I could fit in in those 5 seconds.

At the end of the race, we were able to see Dean (I still need to get pictures from him) and congratulate him. This was his first marathon and he did really well, despite the heat. The day was extremely hot, in fact they were one "warning" away from cancelling the race. (Last year's marathon was on an even hotter day with terrible consequences, so they weren't taking any chances.)

Chris finished a little while later. She finished. I was so proud of her. I was lucky to also see her run the marathons in Dublin and New York, and each time I felt the same way. So proud. So impressed. So glad to see her accomplish another great feat. She felt good, a little sore, but okay. She fared much better than a lot of people who suffered from dehydration and overheating. Our friend Sarah's sisters ended up in the hospital that night. Luckily, they're fine now.

Stein and I stuck around to see Chris and her parents, and then we all took the el back north. We said our goodbyes and Stein and I were off to endure a marathon of our own: construction traffic on the way home.

So here's to you, Chris and Dean. You did it. 26.2 miles. We're all impressed and so, so proud.

Fall Foliage

Stein and I were out driving last Sunday and saw this tree. We both agree that this stage of color change is our favorite. When the leaves are still green in the middle of the tree, and full of red and orange on the outside. We're hoping when we go up north next weekend that we'll still be able to see some colors, but we think we may be a tad too late.

I know all the science behind why leaves change color, but it still baffles me every year when it happens.

It's Been a Long Time

The other night I was on the phone with Chris when Stein came into the kitchen holding his car keys. "Where are you going?' I asked. "To the store to get butter," he answered. "For what?" I asked, since we already had dinner and it was well into the evening. "Popcorn," he said.

And so that night, he heated some oil in the big pot over the stove, poured in the kernels, and waited for the popping sound that makes you giddy with excitement. While he waited, he heated up the butter, and poured it over the popped corn that shriveled from the liquid. He sprinkled some salt on top and poured it all in the big metal bowl. I wasn't hungry before, but suddenly I found myself digging into the bowl, and stuffing huge fistfuls of popcorn into my mouth.

This whole scene was a weekly ritual in our house growing up, down to the metal bowl. My mom would make huge batches of the stuff, while we would pour some Coke from a bottle (ah, Coke in a bottle...) over ice in a glass. Then we would get our napkins ready, unfolding a corner so it made a sort of pocket to hold our popcorn. This was done on weekend nights, and we would watch TV while we crunched our popcorn. Maybe 20/20 on a Friday night, or Love Boat on a Saturday night? It didn't matter. What mattered was the warm crunchy popcorn, flavored with butter and salt. Yum.

Very Cool

Stein and I went to the Obama rally yesterday evening at EMU. Oh yeah, and Brice Springsteen was there. I heard on the news Monday morning that he was going to play at the rally. I thought about trying to get tickets, but assumed that they were all taken. Then when I got to school, Linda told me that she was going. When I asked her how she got tickets, she asked if I wanted the 2 extra she had. Of course!

We're so lucky we got to go. It was raining in the morning, so I thought maybe it would continue into the evening. But the sun popped out in the afternoon, and it turned out to be a really nice day.
He ended up playing about 7 or 8 songs. He was by himself, with his guitar and harmonica. It was awesome. And he played Thunder Road, which is one of my favorite songs.

I'm not going to get into the politics of it. I don't want to get into it here. But I do have to say that the whole thing was very uplifting and hopeful. A great place to be with some great music to boot.