Goodbye 2014!

It's been six weeks since my last post. They have been crazy, busy weeks of work, holiday stuff and trying to keep life simple. Truth is I feel like things have been in a bit of a rut and I'm not sure exactly how to jump out of it.

2014 was a pretty good year...no major blowouts, breakdowns or trauma. Here's hoping 2015 is even better.

Parade Day

The Albany Veterans Day parade is the billed as the largest Veterans Day parade held west of the Mississippi. This year, the DAR took particiapted as we have for many years, and I can attest to the lenght of the parade. We were entry 193 of 219! The parade began at 11:00, and we finally moved from our staging area at 12:50.

I love a good parade, and this is one of the best. The turnout to watch is incredible, and the people are incrediblly friendly. There's a general feeling of fellowship and gratitude. I love it!

Rant: Election Day

Yesterday was Election Day. It's one of those emotionally charged days, where political theory and "what if" meets the reality of an electorate that doesn't always mesh with your personal views. It's a win-some, lose-some proposition, at best.

Voting is vital to a democracy, and I really do believe that if you don't vote, you can't gripe about the outcome. That being said, I don't want to gripe about the outcome of some of those idiotic measures that showed up on my ballot, or the idiots that don't agree with me. I want to gripe about a few other things.

First, the media. I live in a small state on the West Coast, which means that the election results for Presidential elections are called long before the polls actually close in my home state. And as irritating as I find that to be, it really yanks my chain when our local races are called before a majority of the ballots have been counted simply because a computer model predicts the outcome based on 17% of ballots returned in one metropolitan area. I completely understand why people living in other regions of the state feel disenfranchised.

Second, campaign advertising. In Oregon we vote by mail. My ballot was completed, signed and mailed two weeks ago. I understand that not everyone does this, and that the goal of the extremely absurd amount of commercials are geared toward those people who haven't made up their own minds or who are waiting to see how the wind blows. I've become used to watching tv with the remote and mute button handy, and stopped listening to the radio on my way to work. But how many trees do you have to kill to keep stuffing my mailbox full of crap that, literally, makes it as far as the recycle bin? And stop calling me. If I don't recognize your number, I don't answer the phone. Does anyone?

And one more thing, pulling in "experts" from out of state to persuade people that their opinions are wrong doesn't really work. It just pisses people off.

And the powers that be wonder why we're disillusioned with government and the entire electoral process.

Halloween 2014

Ariel and a Knight in Shining Armor

A decade later...

She's gone from the little sister....

To a young lady...

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Fall Colors....

In the Willamette Valley

and in Central Oregon.

Saying Goodbye

Today we said goodbye to one of my dad's cousins. The memorial was wonderful, full of funny stories and good memories. He was taken by a horrific disease, ALS, but his loved ones rejoice with the good memories and a belief they will all be together again.

Labor Day Weekend

We spent the weekend at Foster Lake enjoying the last gasp! of summer vacation. School starts the day after Labor Day, so it was a brief interlude sandwiched between setting up my classroom the week before and molding kids back into school condition the next.

Music Festival

Another year at the BiMart Willamette Country Music Festival. We had a great a time!

Montgomery Gentry

Gary Allen

Thompson Square

Eric Church

Sara Evans

Blake Shelton

Michigan - Day 8

For our last day in Michigan we headed back to the shore, but this time we decided to explore Saugatuck. It's a cute little town with art galleries and restaurants. We ate really good hamburgers at The Butler. And watched the chair ferry make it's trip across the Kalamazoo River.

We drove out to Oval Beach, and waded in Lake Michigan. It's so strange. It's a lake, with signficant wave action and you can't see across it. One might think it was an ocean. But, as my sweatshirt says; no salt, no sharks!

We ate dinner in the nearby town of Douglas, at Zing Eat Drink. Our steaks were excellent, but we were disappointed to only find one Michigan wine on the menu.

Tomorrow we go home. I'm ready.

Michigan - Day 7

Today our destination was the Meijer Sculpture Gardens. Several people told us it was a must-see while in Grand Rapids. They were right. It's an interesting mix of art meets gardens. There were a few sculptures really liked.

But the most impressive was the American Horse. It's based on a design created by Leonardo DaVinci. 

After lunch at the cafe, which has a wonderful Chihuly glass display (see more about Chihuly's work here). 

We headed back outside to visit the Children's Garden. It was wonderful. they have fountains, a treehouse village, sculpture, and a miniature Great Lakes where kids (and adults) can float boats down the lakes. It's very interactive.

Dinner tonight found us back at Founders Brewing Company. 

Michigan - Day 6

After one last meal - group breakfast - everyone headed in their own directions until next year. We packed up our stuff and returned to Grand Rapids. We couldn't check into our hotel early, so we headed downtown to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum.

This was the first Presidential Museum I had visited, and I was impressed. Gerald Ford is a presidential anomaly. He was never elected to be vice-president or president, yet he had to see our country through a very difficult time. The museum had a nice exhibit on his growing up years in Grand Rapids, his tenure in the House of Representatives, and his presidency. The museum grounds also house the graves of President and Mrs. Ford.

After leaving the museum we wanted a late lunch/snack and stumbled on Founders Brewing Coumpany. They have a really nice taproom. Really good food and beer. I had a glass of Rubaeus, their seasonal raspberry ale, and we split the beer cheese dip. I have a feeling we'll be back before we go home.

Once we checked into our hotel and got settled, we drove around Grand Rapids a bit. We decided we needed one more snack before calling it a night, and ended up at Smokey Bones. We had eaten at a Smokey Bones in Louisville a few years ago, but decided to skip a large meal and snack on appetizers this evening.

MIchigan - Days 4 & 5

Friday and Saturday were our Family Reunion days. We spent most of the time hanging out with the family and just spending time together. On Friday a bunch of us had lunch at Hank's Tavern. The food was good, but the service was so-so. One of the cousins made a special request which the kitchen didn't honor. One the servers replied, "That's how it comes" and walked away.

On Friday evening, our hosts for this reunion invited us to their home for a light dinner. It was nice to just relax and visit. We spent some time working on filling in some gaps in the family tree.

Saturday morning we all met at Toast 'N Jams for breakfast. The food was excellent, and obviously one of the best places in town since the entire time we were eating there was a line waiting for a table.

We headed to Holland after breakfast. It's a cute little town with a nice downtown shopping district and some cool public art. I loved this.

We paused briefly for beverages at the Curragh Irish Pub. It was convenient meeting place. Since the weather was beautiful we did some browsing and bought a few souvenirs. Some wandered down the farmers market. And then we had to have some ice cream at Kilwins before heading back to Muskegeon four our reunion dinner and business meeting.

Michigan - Day 3

Today was about animals. We headed north with a couple destinations in mind. Our first stop was the Country Dairy in New Era. My dad grew up on a dairy farm, but this is a FARM. The Country Dairy milks 1300 cows three times each day. They give tours, have a farm store, deli and pizza shoppe. How could we pass that up? Actually, we love factory tours. They're usually a lot of fun and educational.

On this tour we got to pet calves, saw cows being fed and had a tour of the processing plant. At the end of our tour we were offered free moochie (cheese curds) and chocolate milk samples. Since our tour ended just before lunch, we ordered from the deli and ate on the patio. Our sandwiches came with bottomless cups of milk. Did I mention our family drinks a lot of milk? That was definitely a win.

Our second stop of the day was near Ludington at the Amber Elk Ranch. This was so much fun. We paid for our tour and boarded a tractor-drawn wagon. Over the course of about an hour we drove through several pens of elk: Mature bulls, cows and calves. But the best part was getting to feed them. Some of the bulls were pretty aloof. The calves avoid people and the cows were total pigs. 

This was the closest I've ever been to elk. They tend to be shy and like all wild animals, can be unpredictable and aggressive. As our tour guide said, these tours don't happen in the fall when the animals are in the middle of the rut. It's simply too dangerous.

We got to back to Muskegeon in time to meet some cousins for dinner. The Station Grill came highly recommended, so that's where we went. They have huge hamburgers, homemade potato chips, fries and onion rings, all served in a '50's themed restaurant. The food was excellent!

Michigan - Day 2

This morning we woke up, had breakfast and decided to drive down to Holland, Michigan. Holland was settled by Dutch immigrants and still closely identifies with that heritage.

As we drove into town, we noticed a sign that said "Windmill Island Gardens" and decided to check it out. Not knowing exactly what to expect, we were very pleasantly surprised to discover that the park has a genuine, 250 year old Dutch windmill, called De Zwaan (The Swan).

The windmill is still operational, and has a Dutch certified miller who supervises the milling of wheat into flour.   According to our tour guide, this was the last windmill that was sold by the Dutch. They are now considered cultural treasures in Holland and cannot be sold and removed from that country. Our tour explained why the windmill has slanting bricks, the process for milling grain, and some intersting facts. The windmill is 125 feet tall, and it takes winds 16-25 mph to power the sails. 

In addition to the windmill, the park has an antique carousel for children, and an antique street organ from Amsterdam. In the spring the park has thousands of tulips in bloom.

After leaving the gardens, we wandered through Holland's farmer's market as it was closing down for the day. Then we headed back to Muskegeon.

Michigan - Day 1

This year our Family Reunion adventure began with a very early flight to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Having never been to Michigan, I was looking forward to seeing a new part of the country.

We arrived in Grand Rapids and picked up the rental car before heading west to Muskegeon. The weather was beautiful, in the low 70's, (as compared to the 90's Oregon was experiencing). We checked into our hotel and spent some time checking out the city and getting acclimated. After a long day of travel, we really just wanted a nice meal, and some rest.

For dinner we splurged a bit, ending up at The Lake House Waterfront Grille. Our table was on the patio, and we ordered some really good food. The Tuscan White Bean and Goat Cheese Dip was amazing! Then dinner arrived: filet mignon, yellow belly perch and parmesan crusted walleye. We don't eat much perch or walleye in Oregon so it was nice to experience something different. In keeping with the regional theme, we drank Michigan wine and craft beer. The craft beer industry in Michigan is big and growing fast.

After dinner we drove out Muskegeon State Park and walked on the beach/shore of Lake Michigan.

The lake was kind of fogged in, so the view wasn't great, but we enjoyed our walk and first up close glimpse of one of the Great Lakes.

Remembering....

Yesterday the family gathered to remember Aunt Vi. She passed away last month at the age of 97, the final survivor of this little group. Miss you all.

Grams, Uncle Howard, Aunt Vi and Grampa

Piano Music

My great-grandmother's piano became mine when I was six and it was moved into my parents' house after Granny passed away. Today the kiddos finally figured out it was a piano. Now they're going to want to play all the time.

Watching the Harvest

Our field was cut last week. Today, the combines, rake and baler did their job. And they had an audience. Of course, Papa (former farm kid) spent more time watching than the kids did.

How do you battle a heat wave?

You put on your swimsuit and make a backyard water slide, break out the buckets and enjoy some sun with a pair of little hams!

Raspberries!

My mother, sister and I picked 37 pounds of raspberries today. Then we made jam and froze a couple dozen quarts in simple syrup. I love the bounty of fresh berries in Oregon, but I wish the day had been a bit cooler.

4th of July

We spent a very quiet holiday at Blue River. No fireworks, no commotion. A little fishing, some boating, and a who lot of doing nothing. It was nice.