The Michigan Visit Continues. July 18-25

I guess we can't say we are visiting home in Michigan being Florida residents, but we are having a great vacation visiting family and friends here in Michigan!
After we left Jordan and Eliza's we went to our old church, The Cathedral of St Andrew in Grand Rapids, on our way to Mom's apartment in Muskegon for a visit.  It was great to see Fr G and some of the parishioners who were in attendance.

We arrived at Mom's. took a ride to Buzz's in Whitehall eating lunch and then driving along the lake to see all the big waves! Julie made some fresh zucchini (Mom's request and a favorite of all of us) and made a pot of pea soup for mom to eat tomorrow and put in her freezer. We, rearranged some furniture and coached Mom on her Kindle skills.

We looked at old pictures with Mom until 10:45 PM.  Julie was able to capture a few notes for the back of some of the photos too.  I think Mom really enjoyed looking at the photos and telling a few stories about them.  Speaking of old photos, here I am swimming with my Mom.

Our children's great and great, great grandmother.

We spent the night and Monday morning I cooked pancakes and sausage for breakfast.  It was great to see Mom again!  We will be over to see her a few more times before we depart back to the boat in early August.  In fact we already made plans to take her to Church and lunch on 7-24.

Monday afternoon we arrived at our friends Brian and Sue's home for a visit.  They joined us for a great dinner at Boatwerks Restaurant in Holland.  They were great hosts...in fact we "cramped" their style a bit as we both had to fast for a blood test on Tues. morning so all their kind offers of snacks and beverages had to be declined! We stayed with them for a couple nights while we attended to doctor appointments etc. We had wonderful time visiting, enjoying old stories and photos, and enjoyed the cats looking for a little attention from time to time. We had a wonderful home cooked and grilled meal on their deck on Tues night. 
We took nice walks in Hager Park behind their home a couple different times. 

It was nice to be back in the old neighborhood, and we even got to drive past where kids still play on the street in front of our old former house (on the right in this photo)....no hockey net though Jordan and Brett!

Julie and Sue were able to do some shopping and Brian and I went golfing on Wed.  So I got to try out the rotator cuff surgery....it performed well and much better than my golf game for sure!  Thanks so much for the hospitality Sue and Brian!
We also had dinner with Karen and Jeff at the Rush Creek Bistro.  It was wonderful to catch up with them and we even went to their condo for a great dessert.  Thanks so much.  And congratulations on the new job Karen!
On our walk, we passed Karen's spot in the local community garden.

We also spent some time with Deb & Kevin and Erin and Craig.  It was so nice to see them and catch up a bit.  We will have a dinner with them next week too.
Craig and Erin even have a seven toed cat like Julie had when she was young.  This stray, now named Tiger, found its way to their home and is now regularly fed.

We stopped to say hello to Julie's Uncle Bud who will soon be 98.  He is always fun to visit with!

On Wednesday night we arrived at our friends Susan and Mike's for a few days.  Again, we had lots of errands to run each day and they also had volleyball, golf and other activities which didn't allow us much visiting time until Friday night.  Friday morning I even was able to help out and mow most of their lawn while Mike was at work. After selling our home seven years ago this was a first with a power mower in a while!

They prepared a wonderful grilled meal on Friday night and we also enjoyed some Marie Catribe (a local favorite bakery) desserts.  Later in the evening Sarah and Joe stopped by to say hello as they were staying with Joe's parents in Jenison for the weekend.  Here they are strategizing Ticket to Ride.

Saturday morning Mike fired up the stove and made some wonderful omelets.  Oh, and let's not forget about the great French press coffee each morning!  Thanks so much for the kind hospitality Susan and Mike.

Saturday night our "Supper Club" group was reunited at the recently opened Iron restaurant in Grand Rapids.  It was great to spend some time with Mary Beth & Jim and Mary& Kevin.  The food and company was great! 

Sunday morning we left Susan and Mike's during a pretty good thunderstorm.  We picked up Courtney in Spring Lake and then Mom in Muskegon and attended church downtown Muskegon.  And a big surprise was engineered too....Sarah and Joe joined us there and surprised both Mom and Courtney!  We all had a great meal at the Lake House and said good bye to Sarah and Joe as they were on their way to visit Jordan and Eliza on their way to the Detroit airport.

We also took the opportunity to say hello to some of our old "dock neighbors" at the marina.  It was fun to say hello to Mark and Amber and Colin and Kristy (and meet their new addition too!)
We took a little detour into Grand Haven to have Mom show us the home she worked at in the early 1940's.  She was a cook and housekeeper in a large home for a prominent resident.  Here is a shot of the home as it looks today.  

And here is Mom in front of it in the 40's. 

We got back to Mom's apartment and went shopping for a kitchen storage cabinet for her.  I spent about an hour and a half putting it together and it looks like it will be a great improvement for her kitchen. 

We again spent the evening with Mom and spent a little time on the Kindle on Monday morning before we left.  Hopefully we departed in time for her to make the Tai Chi!  Almost 93 and still finding time to exercise....wow!
We will stay the next couple days downtown Grand Rapids as we again have routine medical appointments to attend to.  More later.....thanks for following our blog.

Back to Michigan. Working for our Room and Board.... July 11-17

We left Colorado and arrived in Grand Rapids on July 11 with great connections and on time flights. It is so nice not to have delays!
Our first stop was our 5'x10' climate controlled storage unit to check on it's contents as well as pay for another year of storage. All looks good.

We then made our way to Kalamazoo and had a nice dinner for two at Martell's before going to Jordan and Eliza's. 

Michigan is so green and clean at this time of year.  We needed to rest up for a week's worth of painting at Jordan and Eliza's so the relaxing dinner was great.
Tuesday we readied the back porch for painting by taping, replacing a window pane and generally organizing everything for an early start on Wed.



Jordan grilled us all some chicken for dinner....boy was it great!  After dinner Jordan and I pulled four additional doors from the second story for painting, given the weather forecast was great for painting outside.  Why is it always more enjoyable to paint for someone else?....
We also cut the edges off some doors so they would not bind when shutting.  Jordan was unable to find his safety glasses so sunglasses work.  But who is operating the saw here?

 

 

 

 Cabinet doors getting another coat.

 

 Stripping underway.

Each morning we walked to the local hardware store to get needed items, stopped at the coffee shop and got ourselves attired for a day of painting.  The hardware store clerk "scolded" us for being a little late one morning (about 8:30 AM).  I guess we became "regulars"....but that is a necessity when one is working on a 100+ year old house. 
Each evening we watched videos our old TV which Jordan is "babysitting", but we were so tired from painting we normally fell asleep and called it a night.

 

 

On Thursday, Jordan and Eliza get a fresh produce delivery.  I think Julie checked three times for the "surprise"...here it is on the porch!  And the veggies were great for dinner!



We also went to Jordan's coed softball game. Had a great time.  Batter up!

Friday evening we went to Casa Bolero, a great tapas restaurant just a short walk to downtown from Jordan and Eliza's.  There are many great restaurants within walking distance so they really have a nice location.
Sat morning we all made an early morning trip to Menards for more supplies as Jordan was going to pull out the old windows and replace the sash cords to the weights in the window frames. Using the "window zipper" to pull out the old windows.

 

Eliza's counter top project underway.

Saturday brought a new supervisor to the work....

They are learning a lot with the older home and are doing a great job!  Here is a shot of the house all freshly painted on the outside.  Nice.

 

And a shot of the inside craftsmanship.  

 

Saturday night Jordan treated us to some great Italian food at Martini's, a block from their home.  The weather was great and we were able to dine outside on the patio and a three piece string band started playing about halfway through our dinner.  A very nice spot again a very short walk from their home.

Thanks Jordan and Eliza for a great visit.  And best wishes on the continued project work around the home!  We will be back to help again.

 

 

Washington and now Colorado...the Family Visits Continue! July 6-11

So after a great visit to Sarah and Joe's we are on to Brett and Natalie's in Denver.  Thus far our air travel has been great...on time and uneventful. Our flight out was an early one at 5:30 AM local time so we were up at 3:30 to catch the 4 AM shuttle from the hotel to the airport.  Arriving in the Rockies.

With the time change we arrived for the next shuttle driver in Denver at 9 AM....and our shuttle driver was great.  Of course he should have been given it was Brett!  He arranged for a rental car through the dealership where he works so that was really easy too.  A nice VW Tiguan for the few days of travel with them.  Brett checking out the rental car to us.

We spent the day getting organized in the Springhill Suites, our home for a few days courtesy of Marriott points.  In the evening Brett treated us to a wonderful dinner in Boulder at a local, organic, fresh scratch type cooking restaurant, Shine Restaurant and Gathering Place.  We were fortunate to go to Boulder early as it became hotter every day we stayed.  Plus, unfortunately a fire started that would have caused traffic issues to drive there.  It was fun walking the shopping and restaurant district...oh and the ice cream wasn't bad either on a warm evening.
Thursday at noon we met Linda and Roger, friends we made 10 years ago while boating at North Shore Marina in Grand Haven. They have a home south of Denver and were kind enough to meet us halfway for lunch.  It was great seeing them and catching up a bit.  Sorry no pictures....had too much to talk about and we had to let Roger get back to work too.  :>)  We did steal this image from Facebook though.....you guys still look the same as when we met you 10 years ago!!

Thursday night we went to Brett and Natalie's home and had a great grilled chicken dinner...thanks for the expert grilling Brett!  The patio at their rental home was really nice to relax and chat.  And we also met the new kitten...wow they are small when 8 or +9 weeks old!  We made plans for the rest of our stay and had a wonderful evening.
Friday, both Brett and Natalie took the day off and we went hiking at Roxborough State Park. 

We hiked the Rim Trail, a 3 mile loop that was really nice. It got pretty warm by the end of the hike which ended just about time for lunch which we had on the way back to Westminster.  We left Brett and Natalie to enjoy the rest of their day off and we did chores...yes one still has laundry when on vacation.  Yes, this is a six week vacation from cruising and living aboard...and yes we do miss our home (boat) but are thoroughly enjoying our family time too!
Saturday Brett had a full day planned for us.  We were picked up at 7 AM for a full 12 hour day trip. Brett drove us to Steamboat Springs and we stopped at Dumont Lake along the way. A beautiful small mountain lake.  We also hiked to Fish Creek Falls along the way.

 

We arrived in Steamboat late morning and went to lunch at a cute little restaurant, Sweet Pea, along the Yampa River and watched fly fisherman and tubers float down the river.  The tubing looked like a lot of fun on a hot afternoon!
After a little shopping we got back in the SUV and headed up Buffalo Pass, an unpaved four wheel drive type road about 8 miles to Summit Lake.  It took quite a while at 10 MPH or so as the road was pretty rough.  Saw lots of great campsites along the way, one of which Brett pointed out he had camped at. It was a bumpy ride and was the reason Brett picked the Tiguan for our rental. 

Beautiful vistas up there for sure.

 Still snow in mid July!

 

 

 On the ride home we saw the smoke and heard about the fire west of Westminster forcing evacuations of over a thousand people.  In fact, we met one of the displaced families in the parking lot of our hotel later that evening.  We hope and pray they contain the fire which was started by careless campers not properly dousing their campfire. Here is a shot of a firefighting plane flying in a pattern over our hotel.

Three homes had been destroyed at the time of this writing (7/12).
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/07/10/campers-alabama-arrested-arson-colo-wildfire/86927252/
Sunday morning we picked up Brett and Natalie for brunch with Natalie's parents.  It was great to meet them and spend some time walking around old town Arvada.  A new record temperature was recorded in Denver...102 degree...so it was a warm afternoon.  So that meant a trip to the local ice cream store too.
Sunday night we went to dinner at Bonefish Grill with Brett and Natalie.  How does a visit come to an end so fast?!  We had a great time talking with them and wishing them the best with their kitten who was taken to the vet in the morning.  Long story short, thankfully she is much better as we write this.  Sounds to us like she is back to normal.
Our shuttle driver (OK our son) picked us up at 7 AM for our flight to Grand Rapids to visit Jordan and Eliza.  Thanks for all the driving and hospitality Brett and Natalie.   We had a great time in Colorado!   The wonderful family visits continue......