Dow Gardens, Midland, MI

While Doug was at work, we (Rosie and Bob) visited the Dow Gardens; not far from Doug's house. The Gardens are 110 acres of beautiful horticultural displays. They were started by Herbert H. Dow, the founder of Dow Chemical.

We'll walk you through some parts of the Gardens. Here's Rosie in front of a waterfall:

The water fall is part of the stream that flows through the entire Gardens.There are many interesting bridges in the Gardens. Bob is standing on the "Red" bridge. This is followed by the "Sun" bridge. The Sun bridge reflects in the water to make a complete circle.Here's Rosie in front of some flowers and grasses plus additional flowers around the Gardens.

Rosie is standing by "Dora." Dora is "an Alden Dow stature modeled after a "Sprite" designed by Alfonso Lanelli and Frank Lloyd Wright."

Our last stop was the rose garden. We saw some interesting colored roses and enjoyed the nice display of grasses.We thoroughly enjoyed our early Fall trip to Dow Gardens, but look forward to seeing the Gardens in the Spring. We think Springtime in the Dow Gardens would be outstanding. Maybe next year!

Climbing the Sleeping Bear Dunes

On Monday (Labor Day), we checked out of the hotel and headed up the road to visit the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. It was really a short drive, but we took the "scenic tour" on the way up. We were traveling down some very rural roads - it was fun.

We finally arrived at Sleeping Bear. The sand dune is really impressive. Doug and Bob took their shoes off before they started to climb.Rosie and Bod took it slow up the dune; complete with their "dorky" hats. "G'day Mates!Doug and Bob make it to the top of the first dune. From the bottom, this looked like the top. It wasn't! They were a bit disappointed to see more walking and climbing required.Once we reached the top, we could see the water on the other side. We also saw the two islands known as her (Sleeping Bear's) two cubs.We had plenty of time to take some pictures from the top with the lake and dune in the background.The views from the top were excellent - thanks to a clear day and plenty of sunshine.We were a bit surprised to see flowers growing in the sand. They were hearty little guys!Coming down was fun. It was really easy to sink your feet in the sand as you walked.Sleeping Bear Dune was a great place, and one we can highly recommend.

Driving the Old Mission Peninsula

On Sunday afternoon after Doug finished the triathlon in the morning, bathed and rested a bit, we headed out for a driving tour of the Old Mission Peninsula - also known as the Traverse City's wine trail. Our first stop was at the Old Mission Tavern for lunch; we were all a bit hungry - breakfast was a long time ago. The food was real "down home"; we had baked chicken (1/2 of a chicken each), with mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits, etc. It was yummy.

Don't we look a bit fatter after lunch?

After lunch we drove to the end of the peninsula to see the old lighthouse. It was very interesting as it was really built to look like a normal house with a light sticking out.

Another interesting fact - we were very close to the 45th Parallel of Latitude; basically halfway up to the north pole - yeah us!

At the 2 Lads Winery, Doug took a picture of us with the lake in the background.We visited several of the peninsula's wineries and took some pictures of the vineyards and grapes. The entire area was beautiful. We didn't realize how much farming there is in Michigan. We assumed they grew cars.There was even one winery that was in an old school. It was very interesting.There was also a "touch of Fall" in the air. Some of the leaves were starting to change colors and really stood out against the green background.

We had a great afternoon. The entire area was simply beautiful and the weather was excellent.

Doug participates in the BAREFOOT Triathlon, Traverse, MI

On Sunday, 06-SEP, Doug participated in the first BAREFOOT Triathlon in Traverse City, MI. He was in the sprint - 500 M swimming, 16 miles biking and 5 Km running; I'm tired just typing that distance! We (Rosie and Bob) were there as his support and official camera crew. Here are some shots from the triathlon.

What a nice day for a swim and I love that dorky hat - but everybody in the race has one. The water was a bit cool, but not cool enough for a wet suit. The air temperature was probably in the 60s at the start of the race (about 8:30 am for Doug's group). We have pictures of Doug going into and out of the water and in the first transition area (swim to bike).

Here's Doug with other participants getting ready to walk into the water. FYI - the race sponsors count them as they go in and out of the water to make sure they don't lose anyone during the swim.

Doug is very happy to be finished with the swim and headed to the first transition area.

Got the biking gear on and ready to hit the trail. We drove part of the bike trail the day before the race. It was very hilly - a difficult course.

Here's Doug coming into the second transition area after finishing the bike part of the race.

Run, Doug, run!

Here's Doug after running about 1 mile - trying to breath!

DONE! It feels so good to be finished. Unofficial time was 1 hr 40 min and 15 seconds.

Doug and Rosie doing a bit of celebrating.

Maybe we'll do this again next year!

Hey! Our Boat Floats!

Today, we took the bass boat out on Lake Balboa (in HSV - about 10 minutes from our house). We fished for about 2+ hours (with no fish to show for it) and spent a lot of time cruising up and down the lake. The weather was beautiful: sunny and about 70 F but a bit windy. However, when you're zipping across the lake, who cares about the wind.

Here are a few shots of us loading the boat on the trailer at the end of our fishing/boating day.

Heading onto the trailer:

No problem! We got it trailered and were ready to go. With practice, we're getting better at that whole backing and loading thing...

Ikebana Sensei At Work!

Rosie really enjoys ikebana (Japanese art of flower arranging) and is also very good at it. On Monday, Cranfords - the local grocery store - has their flowers on sale (2 bundles for the price of 1). Rosie bought some flowers and made several arrangements for the house using some of our home grown grasses. They were really neat looking. I asked her to take some photos to post on the blog for others to enjoy.

Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!