She’s younger, spunkier, much more beautiful and vaccinated. I’m just an old goat with the sun glaring in my eyes[(-D]
Dave, …Do yourself a favor and take her on that road trip[Y]
The surroundings are almost but not quite perfect where you’re at now. The Best memories you will share together are where you both haven’t been yet.
TF
Good evening to all my fellow diners.
Our travels and adventures were extensive today. When we woke up, we jumped into the car and crossed the bridge into the Upper Penninsula of Michigan, a place I have never been before.
I drove North through the Hiawatha National Forest, and found Lake Superior. I have now seen all five Great Lakes.
I walked through a small access pathway, and this was my first view of the mighty lake. It was so peaceful. The only noise was the surf rippling against the sand and the birds chirping. There were no cars on the road and no one else on the beach. I sat there for about 30 minutes and just marvelled ay how perfect this spot was.
Today we visited four Michigan State Parks and saw lots of beautiful sights, including these waterfalls. In one park we rented a row boat and spent about an hour on a lake just drifting around.
It was wonderful.
I will never listen to another transplant-to-Florida complain about the bugs again! The bugs up here are insane! I saw butterflies twice as big as anything in Florida. Mosquitoes are everywhere. Biting flies the size of quarters attacked us several times. There are dragon flies that are bright orange and about 4 inches long, and then we saw this demonic thing.
Nope, Florida DOES NOT have the worst bugs in the country.
As we drove about, we stumbled into Oswald’s Bear Ranch and took a quick look around.
I saw a couple of old train depots today. Both had signs on them that they were property of the CANADIAN NATIONAL railroad. I also saw a few train cars, but no trains.
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Hello Railfans!
Top of the evening to yas! Mild summer weather finally here, so for those of us on the back porch - its a very nice night.
Today was the first day back to the working side of life. Man oh man, nothing like a year off and a new pair of steel toes to remind one just how out of shape one can be. I think id much rather be in the train shop making models.
Always wished i had a railroad job - dont we all? But building models for a living would be the next best thing. Oh well, someones gotta dig the ditchs, slop the pigs, and put the wash out to dry, aye?
Mr Beasley) Remember Fortran? Yep, right along with COBOL, Assembler, and a few others including Basic which i code in still, just about everyday. Such a nice lil language!
TF, Kevin, and traveling companions) Thanks for sharing your vacations with us. Ive been enjoying the postcards.
Like Dave, i too was wondering what in the she-elles-zabob is that in the water? Kinda scary. Looks like to me an off shore tanker tie off, that got a lil run over. Definately scary!
And that picture of the, well, what looks like a ‘small ferry’ or ‘bigger yacht than i can afford’ with a rooster tail behind it. Now forgive me as i chuckle profusely, but arent those usually reserved for speed boats? I mean, where is this cruiseliner off to, and is it late??? [(-D]. Ive never in my life seen a boat like that one, shoot water like that, but im thinking… grab the tail!
(Props for showing the CG #83! My FIL was a Coasty Commander.)
TF - your mirrors, were they folded in when you did that? That close? [(-D] The pics of Keystone were awesome! The Badlands look aptly named though.
Sheldon) 1700+ albums… and i cant even think of who would make a phonograph in this day and age to play the only two albums i have that survived the
That is one of the Mackinac Island ferries.
I assume the boat has a jet drive. With this type of propulsion, excess water in the jet nozzle is directed out of a vent hole and makes the “rooster tail” you see in the photo.
I suppose the excess water could be vented off beneath the surface, but what fun would that be?
The Key West Express ferry boat out of Fort Myers has four jet drives, each powered by a 2,500 HP 50 liter diesel. When all four “roster tails” on that boat open up, it is an impressive display.
-Kevin
That is quite the photo TF, a keeper for sure.
1966, went for a ride on the Black Hills RR. Dad took nine weeks off work and we went on a mega road trip. My sister and I talk about it often to this day.
The greater Vancouver area is a little different and if you look from Google Earth, it shows you can go from Urban to the wilderness in short order. Today we took a short drive north into the mountains for a hike with two of the dogs. On the road, into where we would start we saw a cougar and two bears. The dogs swam in the many small lakes we passed and we returned quite refreshed. We got a kick out of the signs that say cell service ends here. I wonder how many people have a panic attack at the thought of being cut off from the world and turn around right then and there. It works for us as the fewer people the better.
Dave, you should throw caution to the wind and hit the road. My buddy and I took some dandy road trips in my RX-7 and had great times.
Never followed a schedule and we had days we felt tired of traveling. On those days we just stayed at the hotel and lay by the pool all day. The same if one of us did not feel well, no biggie, we just stayed put for a day or two. I mentioned earlier that we took road trips where we rented a car and headed in one direction with the idea of when we had enough, we went to an airport, handed in the car, and got on a plane for home. I have traveled a lot all over the world and I hate structured travel. If I find a place I like, I’ll stay as long as I want. Also, you never have to miss or cut short visits to cool places you find along the way just because you need to be somewhere by the end of the day. We often found the motels on the highway booked up and would find lots of vacancies if we just drove into the core of the adjoining ci
Gidday Chloe, Cornish Pasties all round, please! [dinner]
I’m well aware that American and British humour is different! That bad joke that was served to Kevin just proves the point! As I wrote over in the latest WPF, Kevin has been keeping us “entertained and informed”, and that is true in this case, as with a quick bit of research, I find that the Cornish miners who migrated to work in Michigan’s Upper Peninsular in the 1800s, did introduce the Cornish Pastie to the local cuisine and that a “proper” Michigan Pasty looks and, I suspect tastes, like the original. To be fair though I’ve never tasted a Cornish Cornish pastie.
“The pasty can still be found in a few American communities, but in some of them it has fallen on evil days.”
“So ya’ say when you opened the doors a MOTORCOACH came out, eh?”
“Well it WAS a fire engine when we put it in there! It’s still the red colour you ordered, eh?”
Cheers, Ed
Good morning Diners. Tea and toast please, Flo.
If the clouds clear it will be a warm day.
Lovely pictures posted by TF and Kevin. Not keen on that crawley bug thing though.
Was the motorcoach made to fit into the boxcar or the boxcar fit the motorcoach? [:-^]
A minor family challenge today, so I had better help.
Stay Safe Everyone.
David
Good morning diners! Chloe, scrambled eggs and bacon please.
Ran a couple trains last night resetting the staging yards. I haven’t gone down to just run a couple trains in a while. Seems like I always end up fiddling with something else. It was nice.
TF, glad you made it home safely.
Kevin, good to see you had a pasty, but it’s completely the wrong time of year for them. Yours also looks a bit overdone. I hope they gave you gravy to put on it, or at least some ketchup. They are great in the winter, but can also be heavily dependent on the recipe. Comfort food you know. Did you go to Munising, and go on one of the Pictured Rocks boat tours? Looks like at least one of your pics is from the water. From what I recall, Miner’s Castle looks more like a castle from the water. Same with “Indian Head” and “Battleship Row”. Of course, you have to look with a little creativity in your eye, but that shouldn’t be hard. You are a model railroader after all. June is also the worst month for bugs in the U.P. The black flies tend to stop biting in July. I agree though, they are pretty gnarly!
We hosted three British soccer coaches one summer and they were asking for food that was unique to Michigan. They were floored when I told them our unique to Michigan food came directly from England.
Have a great day gents!
The bugs in MI are indeed bad. Those biting flies are the worst. Always needed lots of bug spray.
Good morning …
Kevin … I’m glad to see your photos of the UP. It looks like you are enjoying it in spite of the insects. If you want to experience cold water, try swimming in Lake Superior ( I don’t recommend it.) . … The CN track in the UP was originally Soo Line track which became Wisconsin Central track. CN acquired WC and there they are. I have been in the UP in the summer and in the winter. … I recall eating pasties, and they were good.
Here is a sample of what the Upper Peninsula looks like in the winter. Milwaukee Road once ran passenger trains from Chicago to the UP. .
I spent a few days in Ironwood, MI in the winter. It is in the far west of the UP at the Wisonsin border. There was an amazing amount of snow. That winter, they had 5 snowstorms with each exceeding 3 feet of snow. The weatherman predicted snow flurries, and that meant a foot of snow.
Brent … Interesting photo of the bus being unloaded from the boxcar. The bus driver must have been skinny to fit between the bus and the wall of the box car to get in the bus door. [:)]
Ed … The firetruck photo is also interesting.
Good late morning, diners. Just coffee today.
I just got back from an office I have grown to dislike. I can’t believe that Medicare pays for that physical therapist to inflict pain on me.
David, thanks for the kind words. Your wife sounds like she was a wonderful teacher.
Ed, you also must have had an interesting career working with GE. Pretty amazing stuff with the mirrors.
Garry, I love E and F units, even if they’re covered with ice and snow.
Bear, your picture of a Cornish Pastie and Kevin’s picture of a Michigan Pasty look quite a bit different. I would imagine they taste quite a bit different, too.
Brent, I kind of wanted to know the same thing. Did they push the bus into the boxcar? I can’t imagine how a driver got out. This reminded me of our tour bus in Alaska riding on a flatcar.
TF, it seems like it’s always that way – it’s great to leave home on vacation, but it’s always great to return home, too. That is a nice photo of you two with the presidents. Six great people!
Kevin, great pictures and wonderful trip. It’s no wonder many people in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin have screened-in porches instead of open decks. Those insects sound like they could fly away with small dogs. I imagine some pretty big areas of Canada have the same insect issues.
Not much going on today. I going to sit in my recliner and recover from my morning.
Have a good day, everyone.
Good morning from the sunny Pacific Rim.
No flying insects out here on the coast, when the relatives from Winnipeg visit they can’t get over how all the doors are just left open all day long. We have had the occasional Bat fly in at night but not often.
The people that did our kitchen were just here replacing six doors that were ever so slightly warped. They came in about a month ago for a final inspection and noticed them. The warp was so tiny I did not notice until they pointed it out.
Grrrr, the wife wants me to go to Costco with her, more later.
Not just dogs. [(-D]
Edit: Anybody know how to get rid of the little box that shows up before my photo, or the “alt=” stuff at the end? That info isn’t in any of the text I paste from the flickr link.
Good evening Diners. Just a quick visit. A coffee, no milk, al little sugar please, Brunhida.
Had phone calls and visits. I need a rest. [yeah]
[dinner] Halloumi Cheese with Dal. A Naan Bread to ‘mop up’.
Stay Safe Everyone
David
Mike, we’ve put water butts (aka large garbage cans) at every downspout we can manage for water for the garden. I’m told it’s better for the plants, and watering cans fill way quicker by dipping than by waiting for a faucet to fill them![I]
David, it took a while this afternoon, but I had a very successful and pleasant couple of calls within Digikey about reistors I need to be able to run ditch lights from a Digitrax decoder in N Scale. The tech dept guy (another David) was very helpful and understanding; and found me just the surface mount package I need after quite a hunt - then Valerie in sales could not have been more charming and helpful. All this for an order the shipping for which is about 4 x the cost of the 10 resistors! Total shipped Fed-Ex just cents above $10. They won’t get rich from this one order, but I’m putting it out there; a good company with whom to deal! [bow]
Mike: Does flickr give your the option to “Copy Link” ? If so, try in your post [ IMG] (I put a space in there right after the [ so as to not have this post think it’s dealing with an image!) then paste in the copied link from flickr, then [/IMG] (again without the space after the [ See if that helps.[2c]
Testing.
I think I figured it out. Don’t use the insert image button provided in the header where you build your post. I copied the “BB Code” info from Flickr and pasted it directly in line with the rest of this post’s text and voila. No more stupid box or “alt=”" stuff. How hard can it be? [(-D] I’ll just have to remember to set the shared image size in flickr as I can’t limit the size using this method.
Evening
Back to the normal realm of things and got done with the handyman special early today[:(]
Just wanted to drop by and say thank you to everyone that gave appreciation and acknowledged my photographs of my trip.
You were exactly right John, the Badlands was a little bit goes a long way. Custer National Forest and Wind Cave National Park was where it was at over there. And it’s always the anticipation to go but then again always good to come home[Y]
For real I didn’t think of that Douglas. Fold the mirrors in through the one-way tunnels like at the bank drive-thru[:^)] I scraped one as it folded in by itself[(-D] Like that hasn’t happened before[:-^]
Brent I’m glad you liked the Needles Highway picture. It was amazing what your imagination could see in the rock formations over there. It would have been scary to see those rock images that one day in the 70’s[(-D][:-^] One of the guests at our resort let me drive his brand new rotary engine RX-7 when I was 15 and I had a blast.
I can’t remember what you said now that I’m posting Mike but I do remember I got a smile on my face[:)]
Same with you North Britt. Our Good Ol’ across the pond David[Y]
And Dave, …Take her across the land on that vacation! [swg]
Garry[swg]
Der John[;)]
CN Charlie, …My thoughts still with you and hope you’re healing a little more everyday from the loss of your friend
I hope I didn’t miss anyone in my singled out appreciation here. I probably did but my ‘B’ Ticker isn’t as good as it was 10 years ago[:S]
I must say I was dogged by Kevin and was a bit surprised[:|]
A few years back I was a little ridiculed and told that I had the same hairstyle as my friend Sasquatch[(-D]
Let’s look at the comp
