Hell - Michigan, that is

John, Jay and Jim traveled to Saline, Michigan on Friday, staying with Irene and family. On Saturday morning John, Jim and Jay arose at 4:00 AM and drove about 45 minutes to Hell, Michigan. Jim was there to participate in the Dances With Dirt 50K Ultra Trail Run. There was also a 50-mile race and a relay race, making for thousands of racers and supporters. John and Jay were thee to cheer him on and to hike the trail. The race name was appropriate as the course was muddy. In one place Jim had to wade through water up to his waist. The weather was in the upper 50s during the race, making for comportable running. Irene, John, Elise and Kaj met up with John and Jay about a half-hour before Jim came into sight. They joined up with Jim to accompany him to the finish line but he had so much energy in reserve that he dropped his water bottles and made an all-out sprint to the finish line! He finished 38th out of 135 with a time of 6:03:47.5! Everyone enjoyed good food and good company back at the house. Jim has now completed a marathon or ultra in 20 states. What an accomplishment!

Round Valley Reservoir Outing

While Jim ran his last training run at Round Valley before next weekend's race, John and Jason did an 8-mile hike under overcast skies. Sheryl, Trenton, Oliver and I had a nice picnic lunch along the shore.
We found many little snail shells.

Thanks Sheryl for taking some good pics! Trenton had a soccer game at 9:00 and they headed here after that.

It was interesting to watch the SCUBA divers.

As soon as this guy popped up Trenton asked him if he saw any fish. He said sure, he saw lots of fish, even some big ones!

The Cushetunk Trail goes all along the reservoir, behind the dam in the pic above and then up the mountain. Jim runs all the way to the end where you have turn around, about 12 miles total. John and Jay walked 4-out and then back.

Everyone had fun playing, eating and sleeping over. It was wonderful to have them visit as we hadn't seen them in a month.

This big guy is now in kindergarten!

Jim's reading his old Masters of the Universe books to Trenton! Trenton loves playing with superheroes and action figures. Trenton can read extremely well, far above kindergarten level most likely.

I was trying to get a good pic of Oliver's big blue eyes and pale blond hair. This one isn't the best but you can bet I'll keep trying! Oliver can identify letters and numbers. Now he knows the sounds the letters make and he can tell you which words start with that letter! T, t = tree! What fun to see them growing up; what smart boys!

Happy Birthday to Me!

The Saturn served me well for eleven years. Now I'm driving a Chevy Equinox!
What a wonderful way to celebrate my milestone birthday!

Mountain Lakes Centennial Celebration

I joined Mom and David for another Mountain Lakes Centennial celebration. It was held at St. Catherine's church, indoors and out. You signed in at this table, picked up your program and were given a wrist band. When you left you turned in your wrist band and received your souvenir wine glass.
Frank and May are friends of Mom and David. Frank served the country heroically during World War II.

Food and wine tables were set up along the walls. You filled your little plates with all sorts of finger foods and received a taste of wine.

The brief program included recognizing long-time residents of Mountain Lakes. Mom set the record - 76 years!!!!

It was a delightful evening. The star buttons were given to those who had lived in town 40 years or more. David was the only person there who was born in a house in Mountain Lakes!

These special senior citizens have more energy than me!

Salmon Fishing, Lake Ontario, NY

This is one of the most interesting sunset pictures I've ever taken.
This is a typical sunset on Lake Ontario.
This sunset picture was taken while fishing on our boat.
The steam from Nine Mile Point nuclear power plant is an excellent wind indicator. When it goes straight up the wind is light enough for us to fish. This was a very calm day.

Hurricane Irene!!!!

Jason joined us for a few days. We were able to walk down to the water's edge from the Fort Ontario park. See the steam in the background? When it's like that it's too windy for us.

Nice picture of us!

At the end of the tour, our very young guide had us "load and fire" the canon.

Then John and Jason marched back to store the ramrods.

It was interesting to learn all about the fort's history.

It took us a while (several days) to get out on the lake due to windy conditions, but once it calmed down out we went. This first salmon was most welcome.

Another calm day - a bigger fish. The side of this big one is discolored due to being in the cooler.

These three big ones tired us out one evening. Incredibly, we successfully landed a double-header! I was fighting one when another one bit. John reeled that one in and netted it by himself while I continued to fight mine. As soon as the rods were in the water we got another one and then headed in with tired arms and a full cooler.

Jason's first fish is a beauty.

A rare action shot!!! It's hard work!

The one on the left is the biggest one of the day, about 23 lbs. The one on the right is a coho. Jason dunked his hat in the water and I doused myself because it was so hot.

What an incredible evening this was! We caught four fish in an hour! The last one bit when we had only one line in the water because we hadn't had time to put the rods back down yet! This was some fantastic fishing. Thanks Skipper for all your expertise.And so a very successful salmon trip comes to an end.