The family had a great time at Greenfield Village, Trick-or-Treating! I think Lorna and crew had the best costumes!
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Halloween Nights
The family had a great time at Greenfield Village, Trick-or-Treating! I think Lorna and crew had the best costumes!
Friday, September 20, 2013
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Barn Quilts in Traverse City!
Up in Traverse City with my sister, Lorna, this weekend, we had a wonderful surprise. Driving up the Old Mission Peninsula, we saw many barns with large quilt blocks painted on the side. Many of the barns were on the properties of the celebrated wineries that dot the island. We even saw some painted on the side of private homes. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stop to grab pictures as the road is quite busy and curvy with no pull-offs. If you get a chance to go to Traverse City, it’s a must stop!
I did find some wonderful pictures here: http://www.freshlemonsquilts.com/?p=1266
My sister and I were up enjoying the early change of colors in Northern Michigan, geocaching, photographing, and eating. All the joys of life! Although Traverse City has quite a few really nice quilt shops, we didn’t stop as we only had about 24 hours total to enjoy TC (and my sister isn’t a quilter).
I thought I’d enjoy some pictures of our trip.
1 - Lorna and Elisa
2 - Old Mission Lighthouse
3- Rock Art on the Sand Bar
4- View from Sand jutty back towards lighthouse
5- Traverse Bay
6- Pure Michigan baby!
7- also the 45th Parallel
8- Lorna at the Old Mission General Store
9- Can you spot the geocache?
10- View from our motel
11- View from our motel
12- Cherry Republic, Glen Arbor
13- Beautiful Rain
Hope you enjoyed the pictures!
Elisa
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Saturday, August 10, 2013
31 Days of Geocaching: Day 10
Yesterday was an AMAZING day!
My sister, Lorna, (caching name WikidKriket) just completed her 366 challenges (she cached every day for 366 days completing both a streak and her 366 grid). In celebration, we spent the day Geocaching from Harrison Township to near Jackson, Michigan, picking up challenge caches along the way!
We started early, after a snack stop at 7-11, heading East. First stop, Harrison Township where I claimed my 500-day caching streak challenge. We drove along the Eastern coast. We found Virtuals (more on this later), regular caches (called "Traditionals"), more challenges, and puzzle finals (you have to solve a puzzle to assemble the final cache coordinates).
One of the more memorable challenge finals was the Pulling Teeth: The 365 Day Streak Challenge. It was located behind a dentists' office. I was having sympathy pains as I had emergency dental work the day before!
After completing the East side, we cruised to Heritage Park in Farmington Hills. On this beautiful, blue day, Lorna and I walked the 1/2-mile River Path to the 366 Calendar Date Challenge cache.
Although the trails don't appear on our GPSr, I've been here enough times over the past year to walk us right to it!
We found it! Lorna tried to eat it (just kidding)!
But that was a HOT walk - a mile, round trip, in and out of the direct sun, up and down some undulating paths. After that was a break in Pei Wei's air conditioning!
OK, off to Scio and Jackson!
A friend of ours likes to hide geocaches near the former sites of movie theatres, ballrooms, and Drive-in Theatres (the Michigan Cinema History and Detroit Cinema History series). In his cache descriptions, he includes the history of the cinema and the history of that particular structure (often accompanied with the most amazing photos).
On the way to Jackson, Lorna and I stopped at the Scio Drive-In Theatre. This drive-in has 2 very interesting factoids:
After that challenge, onto Ann Arbor for Cherry Republic! Yum! For those not from here, Cherry Republic is a community-minded, environment-devoted, Michigan-based company that sells cherry products. The best cherry products. And they have a storefront on Maine Street. Outside the store, we saw two things of interest: a wolf playing violin and a fairy door. There are doors throughout Main Street catering to the wee folk.
As we left the store with Cherry Root Beer, Cherry Gingerale, Cherry Brownies, and Cherry Mustard, Lorna and I realized we had time for one last adventure... A Virtual!
A Virtual is a grandfathered cache type - very rare and can no longer be created. They were a way to draw attention to a site, usually of historic or artistic significance, where a traditional cache could not be hidden. To prove that you have visited the site, you must generally answer verification questions (and, sometimes, take a picture of yourself).
One of the Virtuals in Ann Arbor is The Wave Field. This field was created as a memorial for a former U of M graduate by his Baroness mother. And, let me tell you, it was DECEPTIVELY comfortable!
Now, THIS is caching!
After another small stop (we'll discuss Earth Caches another day), we headed for home where my Sweetie had hot chocolate chip cookies awaiting.
I love Geocaching because of the people I meet, the places I go, and the things I learned. And that sums up my motivation for my 526 (to date) day streak.
My sister, Lorna, (caching name WikidKriket) just completed her 366 challenges (she cached every day for 366 days completing both a streak and her 366 grid). In celebration, we spent the day Geocaching from Harrison Township to near Jackson, Michigan, picking up challenge caches along the way!
 |
| Blue dot is home base |
We started early, after a snack stop at 7-11, heading East. First stop, Harrison Township where I claimed my 500-day caching streak challenge. We drove along the Eastern coast. We found Virtuals (more on this later), regular caches (called "Traditionals"), more challenges, and puzzle finals (you have to solve a puzzle to assemble the final cache coordinates).
One of the more memorable challenge finals was the Pulling Teeth: The 365 Day Streak Challenge. It was located behind a dentists' office. I was having sympathy pains as I had emergency dental work the day before!
After completing the East side, we cruised to Heritage Park in Farmington Hills. On this beautiful, blue day, Lorna and I walked the 1/2-mile River Path to the 366 Calendar Date Challenge cache.
Although the trails don't appear on our GPSr, I've been here enough times over the past year to walk us right to it!
We found it! Lorna tried to eat it (just kidding)!
But that was a HOT walk - a mile, round trip, in and out of the direct sun, up and down some undulating paths. After that was a break in Pei Wei's air conditioning!
OK, off to Scio and Jackson!
A friend of ours likes to hide geocaches near the former sites of movie theatres, ballrooms, and Drive-in Theatres (the Michigan Cinema History and Detroit Cinema History series). In his cache descriptions, he includes the history of the cinema and the history of that particular structure (often accompanied with the most amazing photos).
 |
| All that's left of the Scio Drive-in |
- It was the first drive-in in Michigan that featured double ramps to compliment its 65' screen.
- It was closed under controversy because the last owners projected porn on its 65' screen, making it easily visible to the motorists on I-94.
After that challenge, onto Ann Arbor for Cherry Republic! Yum! For those not from here, Cherry Republic is a community-minded, environment-devoted, Michigan-based company that sells cherry products. The best cherry products. And they have a storefront on Maine Street. Outside the store, we saw two things of interest: a wolf playing violin and a fairy door. There are doors throughout Main Street catering to the wee folk.
As we left the store with Cherry Root Beer, Cherry Gingerale, Cherry Brownies, and Cherry Mustard, Lorna and I realized we had time for one last adventure... A Virtual!
A Virtual is a grandfathered cache type - very rare and can no longer be created. They were a way to draw attention to a site, usually of historic or artistic significance, where a traditional cache could not be hidden. To prove that you have visited the site, you must generally answer verification questions (and, sometimes, take a picture of yourself).
One of the Virtuals in Ann Arbor is The Wave Field. This field was created as a memorial for a former U of M graduate by his Baroness mother. And, let me tell you, it was DECEPTIVELY comfortable!
Now, THIS is caching!
After another small stop (we'll discuss Earth Caches another day), we headed for home where my Sweetie had hot chocolate chip cookies awaiting.
I love Geocaching because of the people I meet, the places I go, and the things I learned. And that sums up my motivation for my 526 (to date) day streak.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Oh Deer!
Yesterday was my nephew, Jon's, 13th birthday! He's an absolute delight, and he loves nature. At the last minute, I decided to attend his hockey game, take him for coneys, and then off to a nearby nature center. Although just a few miles away, I'd never heard of the 100-acre Lloyd A. Stage Nature Center in Troy, but many people said you can see deer there.
Can you see deer? We lost count after 22! Here's a few highlights from his day!
At this point, still no deer.... And then... Bam!
It was really cool! Some of the deer grazed within 5 feet of us and several literally followed us, after dusk, along the trail back to the nature center!
What a great place, and Jon said I'm the best aunt ever!
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