Running Bear 2014

I discovered the Running Bear Run last summer when I was up here camping at D.H. Day Campground in the national park, just west of Glen Arbor. A Tuesday race is out of the ordinary and thought it was a great way to spend part of my vacation time. I enjoyed running it last year so kept my eye out for it this year.

The race is organized by the Glen Arbor Women's Club and all of the proceeds go towards scholarships for students at Glen Lake Community Schools and towards other community activites. The GAWC puts on a great event, and the the large turn out they get on a Tuesday morning reflects that.

The ladies of the GAWC have this machine well tuned...if you're registering on site then you start by filling out a sheet at this table...

...and head to the table that's to the right of the "preregistered" table. I had preregistered, so it was smooth sailin' for me.

Next I went and bought my shirt. Normally race registrations come with a shirt. In this case, however, the race fee is about half the price of most 5K's (only $15 before July 22/$18 on the day of the race) and you have the option of purchasing a shirt when you arrive. Shirts were $15 adults and the children's shirts were less, although I don't remember the exact price.

Front of the shirt...

...and a neat design on the back.

Every year they have a warm-up 20 minutes before the race begins. It's led by the owner of Lori's Pilates in Glen Arbor, and of course her name is Lori :). I didn't participate but instead took a few photos, then found my "ready spot" at the start.

Here's our start at the corner of Lake and State Streets! This is also where we end...you can see the finish line and schute that they pull out after the race has started.

The course was an out-and-back, taking us down Northwood Drive and offering one water stop after the turn around (I don't always stop for water in a 5K, but with how humid it was this water stop was very welcome!)

And here I am finishing...thanks Bryan!

After finishing, I of course had to go check out the awesome--and delicious!--spread that these ladies provide! The brownies were amazing!

This race is not chip timed, so while we were waiting the GAWC held a raffle with some pretty nice prizes. Here they are calling out numbers in front of Cherry Republic with the help of Running Bear. Cherry Republic is a huge sponsor. You can see a table to the right that holds the prizes for the age group winners--they are all donated by Cherry Republic. A delicious reward if you ask me!

It took a while for the results to be posted because everything is done manually (no chips here!). Our bibs had slips of paper you ripped off, they wrote down your time on the slip, and eventually they staple the slips to some plywood on the side of a truck.

23:07 isn't too bad for me, and only two seconds slower than last year's time.

I got this photo off of the Running Bear Run website. It's a photo of the overall male winner and the 20-29 female age group winner...a husband and wife celebrating their 4th wedding anniversary! They were up north celebrating and found out about the race the day before the event. Pretty neat!

A weekday race was a nice distraction from the daily grind. I'll look forward to running this again next year!

Backlog Post: Good Harbor Waves

On Monday, July 14 Bryan and I went down to Good Harbor Beach to try and catch the sunset. We unfortunately just missed it but, as is always the case, there was something else that caught our attention.

The wind and waves were pretty amazing, probably the highest we've seen them. They were about 3-5 feet when we first got to the beach and increased in size from there.

Seagulls enjoying the waves...most likely picking up any scraps that beach-goers had left behind.

Waves, as we saw them when we first got to the beach...

...and they kept increasing. (Good Harbor Beach is on the north end of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The houses shown here are just north of the park's border.)

These old dock pilings, all that are left from the old Good Harbor lumbering days, took a beating as the waves grew in intensity.

Most likely the cause of the "rough seas". Bryan and I often see thunderheads developing over the lake. Sometimes single cells will roll in and provides us with an impressive lightning show.

I also took some video of the wave action. The wind was loud, so I recommend turning down your volume a little if it's on a higher setting:

We find something new every time we go into the park. If the waves were this high within the bay, I can't imagine what they were like out on the open lake!

Unexpected House Guest

Bryan found an unexpected house guest in our basement on Thursday night...well, more accurately, he saw her out the window and thought she was cool, so let her in...

First clue...

Any guesses??...

It's not a bat...

Give up?

This is a Polyphemus Moth, otherwise known as a type of giant silk moth.

Bryan took this photo after catching it. He used his foot as a reference so that you could get an idea of how large it is.

I looked it up the next day and, according to the photos I found, it looks to be a female. According to Wikipedia.com, its wingspan averages about 6 inches in diameter, which is about how wide our moth was.

Here's a close up of the giant silk moth. It's slightly grainy because the photo was taken in a dark area, but you can still see the cool color pattern, including the purple on around the "eyes" and stripes on the hindwings.

We definitely don't see insects this large very often, so it was neat that Bryan found this one. There's more info HERE if you're interested.

Mid Summer Chill

On Tuesday when I checked the temperature we were sitting at 57 degrees and the weather service predicted that we'd get no higher than 60...not exactly summer weather but perfect for preparing for this winter. I know, I know, it just warmed up a few weeks ago (literally) but when you're main heating source requires burning wood then it's never too late to start preparing!

Here's Bryan splitting some hardwood behind the house on Tuesday.

The wooded portion of our property has many downed trees. Bryan borrowed his dad's chainsaw, went back there, and cut up some of those trees. He chainsawed off and on for three or four days before splitting.

His first split and stacked hardwood on the side of the house, taken on Tuesday.

Bryan finished stacking on Thursday. Here it is two piles deep instead of one, like above.

Finished! I'm hoping it will be a VERY long time before we have to use this!!

It's nice that we have a stack of hardwood finished. We also plan on ordering some slab wood to supplement this.

Here's to many, MANY more warm days!

Fireworks Extravaganza

Happy belated Independence Day!

It's been a while since I've posted but not because I haven't thought of it. Every time I think of posting I always get side tracked by something that needs to be finished. I've been trying to get caught up on all the house things that didn't get done when we moved in last October and also over the winter...I must say that it's nice to be able to sit and enjoy my home.

There was so much going on this past weekend I almost didn't know where to begin. Fireworks, air shows, festivals, good food....! I looked at the calendar and did my best to plan out what we wanted to do.

JULY 3

I love going to fireworks shows. Can't say why, I just do. There were so many to choose from around the area this weekend. We began our weekend extravaganza by going up to Leland, the closest to our home, for their fireworks show on July 3. We found a spot near the park for the show..unfortunately I didn't take any photos except this one of Bryan and me:

Double selfie while waiting for the fireworks! Woot!

They also have some other activities going on that we didn't attend, including patriotic sing-along in the village green in the evening before the fireworks. I'd like to try to go up there and check it out next year (who knows, I may discover something I can use!)

JULY 4

On July 4th itself there was, of course, a ton of things going on, most notably the beginning of the Cherry Festival in Traverse City. Now, I'm sure that the fireworks show was spectacular (the best around!) but going to downtown TC on a Friday, during a major holiday, and at the beginning of probably the most major event that the city hosts all year is not my idea of a relaxing 4th. Needless to say, I looked for other options. Enter: The Northport firworks show!

With all the people up there we were luck to find a spot to sit and even luckier to have this awesome view of the bay. As you can see, many boaters were on the water to get a good view...

...and were decked out for the holiday! But more on that later...

Sorry for the blurry pic...we were definitely crammed into Bay Side Park!

It was fun to watch the pre-show! Of course there were many setting off their own fireworks. These happened to be close but many could be seen up and down Old Mission Peninsula. We also saw what looked like a professional fireworks show, but I haven't a clue who was putting it on.

Let the show begin!

After the fireworks Bryan and I took some time to walk around and check stuff out...it definitely beat sitting in traffic forever!

Pre and post show entertainment! I heard their music before the fireworks, but didn't realize it was a live band.  I thought it was someone playing their radio super loud. (Sorry, I didn't catch the name of the band.)

My favorite part of the evening might have been the decorated boats on "B" Dock in the Northport Village Marine. Everyone looked like they were having a blast!

The entrance to the "B" Dock. Very patriotic!

Their flag reads "We Salute Naval Aviation"...lovin' the blue lights and flags!

Get this guy to "B" Dock!

Tried my best to get a panoramic shot...

I wish we would have been able to take a stroll down "B" Dock, but it was a bit crowded...I'll just have to get there a little earlier next year to check it all out!

And what kind of Independence Day would it be without a little grilling? ...this was a little difficult without a grill (we're getting there!) but we did the best we could! Earlier that day I picked up some hot Italian sausage from Suttons Bay's local grocer, Hansens. I've heard many rave about their local sausage, and I have to say it was a good choice. Last, I'd hoped to have strawberry short cake, but couldn't find ANY fresh strawberries anywhere because they were sold out! I remedied this ASAP, but I digress...

It was so much fun to be out there enjoying the holiday with everyone, especially for my first Fourth as a resident here. I'm looking forward to next year!

Good food, good entertainment, and great company! Is there a better way to spend a holiday?

Asparagus Festival

The weather has been gradually warming up (too gradual for my taste, but I digress...) and it's getting harder to stay indoors. Today Bryan and I ventured out to explore the area around our new home.

It was only about 50 degrees when we left home. Colder than we'd like! It's supposed to warm up a little more this week, though.

Our original goal a couple of weekends ago was to visit the Empire Asparagus Festival. This is a fun little festival that's in its eleventh year. There are various events including a vender tent with live music (for a fee), the "Kick Your Ass-paragus 5K" (I ran this a few years ago and enjoyed it,) a pancake breakfast brought to you by the Lions Club, and a parade. Here are a few photos below of the festival and around town in Empire:

Near the Town Hall.

Entrance to the event tent: Live music, food, and vendors. 

You can see some of the vendors that were in the event tent area. 

They blocked off much of Front Street (the main road) so people could walk around. Sidewalk chalk was piled in front of Town Hall so kids could demonstrate their artistic abilities. 

We were just in time for the parade:

Lead by one of the county sheriffs, EMT's, and fire trucks, the Asparagus Queen began the parade. 

I didn't catch what type of truck this was, but wanted to include it because I enjoy old trucks!

Adding a little excitement!

The Lions Club Kazoo Band.

They grow quite large around here...

After the parade Bryan and I rambled around town:

Daffodils are everywhere right now, domestic and wild. These lined the sidewalks all around town.

A gnome garden!

The white magnolia trees are currently blooming, and the pink ones are getting ready to. This is one of my favorite trees!

This Norway Maple was quite impressive!

I think this building is so neat.

Here's part of what was previously Storm Hill Orchard. It's now being sold off to build homes.

Another neat look at the Storm Hill Orchard building along an old fence and bunch of trees.

I noticed these little plaques on many of the homes in Empire. It's neat that they commemorate these buildings.

Before heading home, Bryan and I decided to take a small detour:

Here's the entrance to the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive! You'll find some of the most beautiful views along the route.

The covered bridge is the first landmark you come to. I read that the original bridge had been taken over by porcupines and had to be rebuilt. The bridge now has a higher clearance than it previously did.

My favorite stop off along the Scenic Drive is the Lake Michigan Overlook. The views are absolutely spectacular.

The Dunes are constantly moving...here you can see that they've covered the path...

...and the path needed to be carved out again after a long winter season. (The Drive is closed to motor vehicles in the winter and is groomed for cross country skiing.)

This is a zoomed in shot of the South Manitou Island Lighthouse. Bryan and I can see this light from our home. On a clear day you get a good view of it from the bluffs on the Lake Michigan Lookout.

Bryan here checking out the amazing view.

After the Scenic Drive we took the scenic route home...