Great Lakes Great Times

Every year my family spends atleast a week at the cottage and this year was no different.  I spent my 4th of July at the cottage in Houghton Lake.  Leaving Chicago Thursday night was a bit interesting.  I played in my last kickball game with Kick in a Box for the spring 2011 season.

Kick in a Box

Shot of lightning from the gas station in Indiana

After our game I left and started my drive to Michigan.  I did not make it very far before things got very intense.  I made it to the Kennedy and looked at the city which was almost black.  By the time I made it onto the Skyway I panicked and had to pull over because I was getting bombarded with dime sized hail.  I had no idea what to do so I just pulled over for about 10 minutes.  Which I think everyone else did too because I was only passed by 3 cars in that span of time.  After the hail subsided my drive was quite electrifying.  I have never seen so much lightning before.  Every second almost another flash.  By the time I pulled over to get gas the rain had stopped but it was still lightning.

Michigan State Capital

I worked from home Friday and did a couple store checks for my company.  Apparently I am the only one who has ever been to a Kroger store before.  After work I ran some errands and wandered around Lansing.  I went to lunch with my friend Whitney at Spotted Dog Cafe.  Since I still had some time in my meter after we finished lunch I ended up walking around Lansing taking some pictures.  I ended up walking through the Michigan State Capital.  I had not been inside the capital since I was probably 8 years old so it was all new to me.  It is a very impressive building with a lot of detail through out.

House of Represenatives

Dome of the capital

FJ's in a line

I also made a relaxing trip out to my old "office" where I worked in college.  I went out to visit my old boss at the MSU Sailing Center.  This was a great place to work and I miss the life style.  Since I worked there they have expanded into also doing canoes and kayaks.  This is a must visit spot in Lansing for recreation.  Growing up in Lansing I never knew about it which is a shame because it really is a true hidden gem in the area providing a place to learn skills that not everyone knows but anyone can learn if they just try.

Sky Lantern

Friday evening I made my way up to the cottage where I was able to get in a lot of water skiing and relaxing.  Well the relaxing was relative to the constant hanging out with the family, the neighbors, and playing yard games, board games, and water sports.  We set off a few sky lanterns which I think I had more fun taking pictures of my parents doing that then myself setting one off.  And of course it wouldn't be Northern Michigan with out a few games of Euchre and bon fires by the lake.

My family is big on sunset cruises so of course we went on quite a few over the span of the week I was there.  We also really enjoy our food and I helped cook a few dishes this time.  I tried fixed a few go to meals I know like Grilled Pizza and Capresse Salad but I also tried a new recipe for Green Chile Stew that I found online.

My Grandma

Playing Cornhole

Since it was the 4th of July we had to celebrate a bit right?  Well we ended up having most of the neighbors over at our place drinking through out the day and just enjoying the perfect weather.  I had purchased a few fireworks in Indiana on my drive home Thursday night and we set them off.  I only got the big sparkler fountains which have come a long ways since the last time we bought fireworks.  These lasted a long time and had some really cool effects.  One of the fountains was really large and actually came a little too close for comfort as it got really close to everyone watching with the spewing sparks.

Throughout the week we mostly just hung out and lounged on the tubes and went boating and golfing and just lots of hanging out.  I actually own my own boat.  Now before you start asking me why it isnt in Chicago and why I havnt invited everyone out on it know that it is a 1978 Hobie 16.  I do love that boat and it is all mine which isnt worth much but its still a lot of fun to sail.  Its also a lot of work so I don't really use it as much as I should.  I only ended up taking it out once this week but that was because we did not really have much wind.  The no wind was a bad thing for sailing but worked out to be a great thing for water skiing because it kept the water flat.  I am really happy I was able to water ski as much as I did.  Almost everytime I went I had perfect flat water to ski on.

Mom hitting out of the sand trap

Me Water Skiing

Nice putt Dad

Like every year we try to make a trip to somewhere in Michigan we havnt been in a long while.  This year we went to Tahquamenon Falls up in the UP.  My friend Denise came with us and we made a few stops along the way.  First we stopped in the Straits and took some pictures and then made our way across the Mackinaw Bridge to St Ignace to get pasties from Bessie's.  We continued further north and made a couple stops along the way at some road side parks before reaching the falls.  Went went to both the lower and upper falls.  Michigan really has a very impressive park system and there is just so much to see and its super super cheap and very unique.

A view of a view of the bridge

Best Pasties!!!

Me and my parents and Denise at Tahquamenon Falls

Lower Falls

Upper Falls

My Mom and Dad

Road side park at the Cut River Bridge

Mackinac Bridge at sunset

Overall this week was perfect however I do miss my sister being there.  Yes, I might fight with her but its just not as much fun with out her there.  Liss when are you moving back to the Midwest?

The Cottage in a new color

Hi Mom!

Captain Bob

My Parents are pretty good at landscaping