Changes

We interrupt the Bonner Visit posts with this important message:

Changes are happening up on our property.  The excavator has been working again.

The thimbleberries are done.  (Most of them made it to the freezer waiting for a good jam-making day.)

Guess what's happening up in the trees?

Yes.  Leaves are beginning to change.  Can't complain, though.  The summer has been beautiful.

All is well in the Keweenaw!

A Bonner Visit

Whew, the last month has been busy indeed!  We put a lot of miles on our vehicles, but we had a lot of fun in the process.  I guess we should tell you about the July visit with good friends from downstate, Marty and Donna Bonner.  They brought along their youngest son, Luke, and his girlfriend, Allyson Mendham.  We've watched Luke and Ally grow up, and it was great to have them visit with us, too.  Marty, Donna and Luke have been to the Keweenaw many times, but this was a first for Ally.

Marty and Donna left the Saginaw area very early on July 26th, so we had some time to spend together sightseeing that evening.  We took them to a spot just off Hwy. 26 outside of Phoenix.  Most tourists never stop here, but it's a nice narrow, rocky area of the Eagle River.  The gurgling water winds its way around and over the rocks in numerous tiny waterfalls as it descends toward Lake Superior. 

Able-bodied young people enjoy hopping across the rocks, and it's a great place for a photo op. 

We piled back into our Traverse and followed the road until we came to the town of Eagle River.  We showed Ally the picturesque Keweenaw County Courthouse and the Sheriff's Department before stopping to photograph the Eagle River Falls.

It's amazing to see how little water is flowing here compared to late Spring. When we were at this same spot again last week, there was even less.  We then continued on just a bit further and stopped at Jacob's Falls.

Eagle Harbor was next on the tour.  We took the Marina Road to another good spot for photos where you can get a good look at the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse.

It was almost 9:00 p.m. by that point, so we decided to head back to Calumet.  Our visitors had already put in a very full day, and we had lots of activity planned for the next day.

All is well in the Keweenaw.

P.S.  Happy Birthday, Dale - August 22!    Happy Birthday, Cocoa - Today!

The Taming of the Shrew

We're confident the shrew thought he was quite clever when he somehow managed to enter the dryer exhaust vent.  However, it didn't turn out to be such a shrewd decision, as he was incapable of exiting the same way he entered.

The title of this post should have been, "The Death of the Shrew."  We're not sure of the exact cause of death.  It may have been starvation; it may have been heat stroke; or it may have been decapitation.  No photos attached this time.  No unpleasant odor attached either!

All is now well again in the Keweenaw.

Beach!

We've been kind of quiet again.  We were in Saginaw/St. Charles last week.  We're back in the U.P. now, but we brought a guest along. . . granddaughter Grace!!!!!

Here's Grandpa and Grace when we were at the beach in Eagle River yesterday.

We went home to get Cocoa later, and we ended up at the Calumet Waterworks beach for the sunset where I got a nice photo of the Sunset Girl.

The weather looks like it will be pretty good most of the week, so I don't think we'll be home very much.

All is well in the Keweenaw!

My New Buddy

Hi!  This is Cocoa!  Julie said I could write today's post.  I wanted to tell you that I have a new buddy!

More excavating has been going on at the property.  A guy named Ted has been operating the heavy equipment.

The best part?  Ted brings his dog with him.

I didn't know what to think of Tige at first.  I haven't been around very many other dogs in my life, so I didn't know if Tige was going to be friendly.  Luckily, she's real nice.  She's smaller than I am, and we get along very well.  We sniff and jump and play together.  The only time I didn't like having her around was when Julie came out to pick thimbleberries.  She spent a few minutes petting Tige, and I didn't like it one bit.  Julie says I was jealous.  I guess that's true, so I'm sorry about that.  Anyway, I now consider Tige my buddy.

I played so well with Tige on Saturday that Steve & Julie rewarded me with an evening trip to Lake Superior.  That was lots of fun.  I just love the water.

Well, that's all I have to say for now.  Julie says I should tell you that all is well in the Keweenaw!

Love & licks,
Cocoa

Cruisin' the Keweenaw - Part 2

Please read Part 1 before continuing with this post.  It will bring you up to speed on the End of the Road Keweenaw Cruise & Car Show.  Part 1 ended just after the participants parked along both sides of the street in Copper Harbor.  The road was blocked to traffic, and spectators walked down the street to view the cars involved in the show.

The Car Show had awards, live entertainment, food and refreshments. It was a benefit for the Copper Harbor (one room) School, which is in need of new playground equipment.  We had the opportunity to chat with many people and thoroughly enjoyed the experience of looking at lots of nice cars.  Here are some of the photos we took.

Here's a better photo of the car that was in front of us and the one that was behind us during the cruise.

What's a car show without a General Lee?

We spent quite a while talking with the owners of this truck.  They won a trophy that day.

Steve loved this antique snow machine.

More photos:

Here are some more shots of Steve's baby.

A few more old snow machines were on display in Copper Harbor that day.  They were promoting the annual antique snowmobile show held in February.

Since this was our first time participating in this Car Cruise/Show, we wanted to see how things were run.  We chose not to vote this year, so we weren't eligible for any of the drawings or awards.  Now that we see how well it's organized, we'll definitely participate again next year, and we'll be sure to vote.

We left town about 6:30 p.m. shortly after the prizes were awarded, and we noticed that we were surrounded by quite a few other participants as we traveled the reverse route. 

The water in Lake Superior was sparkling again.

What a great day!  We're already looking forward to next year.

All is well in the Keweenaw!

Cruisin' the Keweenaw - Part 1

There's always something happening in the Keweenaw.  Saturday, July 21, was the date of the annual End of the Road Keweenaw Cruise & Car Show.  The event began in Calumet and ended in Copper Harbor.  We couldn't pass up the opportunity to take Steve's baby out of the nursery for the day.

He spent some quality time pampering her to make sure she was in cruise-worthy condition, of course.

Car Cruise/Show participants met at the Pat's IGA parking lot on Sixth Street in Calumet about an hour before the cruise began.  That gave spectators a chance to gawk at all the cool vehicles without making the drive to Copper Harbor.  The local newspaper said there were about 125 vehicles involved.  We departed the parking lot and began our journey up Hwy. 41 about 12:15 p.m., and we followed this orange Corvette all the way to Copper Harbor.

Police blocked off the major intersections and waved us through, so we could all stay together.  It was very well organized.

As we drove through the small towns on our way to Copper Harbor, spectators were gathered in many locations along the route.  They waved, and we waved back.  Even people in some of the cars we were meeting on the road waved at us.

This green car followed us in the cruise.

The line of cars in front of us was impressive.

Steve noticed the Corvette's odometer hit 10,000 miles while we were on the cruise.

Not bad for a 2003, huh?  No wonder it still smells like new.  Of course, food isn't allowed in the vehicle, so the leather doesn't have to compete with the aroma of french fries or pizza either.  When the cruisers reached Phoenix, we were directed to turn left onto Hwy. 26. 

Hwy. 26 follows the scenic coast of Lake Superior and took us through Eagle River and Eagle Harbor before reaching Copper Harbor.  The weather was completely perfect with our typical blue sky and a temperature in the mid-70's.  Here's a shot I took through the top of the Vette while we were driving up Hwy. 26.

Like I said. . . perfect!  Steve was loving every minute of the drive.  He was wearing a Corvette shirt and a Corvette hat.

This group of spectators had stopped to look at Jacob's Falls.  The car cruise was a bonus for them.

The title of the event ("End of the Road") comes from the fact that Hwy. 41 begins in Miami and ends on the far side of Copper Harbor at a cul- de-sac.  When we reached Copper Harbor, we drove through the back streets of town and headed for the end of the road. 

Before we reached the cul-de-sac, we started meeting other cars that were ahead of us.  They were already on their way back to Copper Harbor.

We also looped around the cul-de-sac and headed back toward Copper Harbor. 

Now, we were meeting cars that had been behind us.

Hwy. 41 is the main street through Copper Harbor, and it was blocked to normal traffic.

We parked along both sides of the street for the car show, and spectators walked down the street to view all the cars. 

Due to the large number of photos with this topic, I divided the Car Cruise into a 2-part post.  I'll post Part 2 in a day or two.

All is well in the Keweenaw!