So Relaxed I'm Purring

A good, new friend invited me up to her family's cabin near Caseville/PortAustin for the weekend. The scenery was stunning (just the start of Michigan's color change). The food was fabulous (produce from the Farmer's Market and burgers from Walt's whose motto is "Nobody beats Walt's meat!"). And really relaxing and enjoyable company. I really loved spending time with the Lemmens & Somershoes! They are good people.

Missy and Diego, as well as Marilyn and Mike, drove me all over the tip of "the Thumb".

We visited lovely beaches. The water was so blue but low. Missy said water levels are 2 feet below normal and sand bars are more visible.

This park was really cool because the beach was so pristine that you could see small bird tracks and snake tracks in the sand.

We stopped at a wonderful Farmer's market in Port Austin.

And saw a really cool bank (converted into a restaurant) near the entrance.

Mibbs & Merlirin also gave me a tour of several historic cemeteries in the areas. Diego is standing next to a really cool headstone at Port Crescent Cemetery. The man buried here helped make the bricks used to build this chimney - aftera fire destroyed the chimney, his family used the stones to build his headstone.

This cool stone, which looks like a Chinese coin, is in the Caseville Township Cemetery.

Of course, the highlight of a trip for a group of geocachers is exploring the local geocaches. And my tour guides rocked! Headless Horsemen Bridge, the "Froggy" cache, their personal caches and a great bridge from the Michigan Lost Town series. This is the Village of Port Crescent bridge.

This Geocache series features Michigan towns that no longer exist. Reading the history is very cool - many in the Thumb were destroyed by the Great Fire of 1871. Here's a really cool gas station that Missy stopped at on the way home - the cache was missing, but the location was really neat.

I must admit that I'm saddened the weekend went so quickly. I had a blast talking with my new friends, playing card games, discussing our favorite episodes of The Big Bang Theory, eating ice cream at the local putt-putt.

But, maybe if I'm on my best behavior, they'll invite me back next year!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend too!

Elisa