Sandy Lake Michigan

Here I am in southwest Michigan, just a few miles north of Indiana. It's been somewhat windy since my arrival last weekend in St Joseph but I've enjoyed taking pictures of the Lake Michigan shoreline

St Joseph, MI is right on the shore and has some fantastic opportunities. I went down after work one afternoon and squeezed off a few frames. The wind was blowing steady and hard, carrying sand with it and felt like I was being sandblasted. Moreover, I was concerned about the Nikon.

The Weather Channel had quite a story on it and was broadcasting from Muskegon making it sound as if the entire lake was being blown onshore. It must have been a slow news day for the weather guys.

Saturday, I rode down into Indiana and checked out the Indiana (I never knew they existed) Dunes State and National Parks. I walked quite a bit on various beaches and climbed Mount Baldy, a huge sand dune. The 125 foot"climb" was pretty much a trail in soft sand that would make you pant for breath even if it was level. As it was, it gave me my cardio for the day.

I've spent a couple of winters in Michigan and hopefully, I'll be out of here soon as the temperature has been dropping into the mid thirties at night. A sure sign of colder times to come.

The Kingdom of Cornflakes

(click pictures to enlarge)
Since I was a kid, I've always seen names like Battle Creek, Michigan on cereal boxes and so the image of Michigan being the corflake kingdom of the world was pretty much set in my mind, just like Detroit makes you think of the auto industry.

Since leaving Ada, Michigan back in February, I had not given much thought about ever coming back up here. Fortunately, this time, I arrived in the fall instead of mid-blizzard like the last time.

Ray, the other guy I'm working with, and I took a drive over on the shores of Lake Michigan to the village of Saugatuck Saturday. Really a nice day driving through the colors of red, yellow and orange. He's from west Florida so we both agreed it was really nice seeing real fall colors. Usually, at home, the leaves go from green to the ground before much change.

Worth noting, is the fact that Lake Michigan is like being near the ocean when the wind whips up the waves and somehow your mind keeps telling you it's the Pacific. It even includes sand dunes much like you'd find in places like the Oregon coast.

Looks like I'll be here past Thanksgiving so I started scrambling today for some tickets home. Usually I don't get them this early but knowing what it's been like in the past, I thought it best that I put my name in the hat already.

So, I'll be hanging out in the cornflake kingdom for a while when I get back.

Boudreau and The Myrtles

(Click pictures for larger view)

<------Louis & Jan

Having finished up a pretty intense week in Arlington, TX, the kind folks at American Airlines capped it off Friday with baggage mishandling and a couple of hours delay for my arrival home. Already dealing with some kind of stomach bug, it all made for a particularly long day.

With no particular plans, Darlene and I visited our friends up north of St Francisville. We, along with Louis, Jan and her sister Denise enjoyed the buffet lunch at the Myrtles there in St Francisville. It was a nice leisure lunch with tables resting on the bricked patio where a couple of black house cats twined through our legs as the girls swapped folklore tales of haunted experiences here. A Red Tail Hawk watched us from the top of a Cypress tree and eventually flew off in search of it's own lunch buffet.

After spending a little time, we checked out some kind of "festival" of sorts, looked a few restored cars and enjoyed a retro band playing their interpretation of Pure Prairie League, Van Morrison and a few others. After driving up to Louis & Jan's place, we let our hearts and minds wander by looking at a few lakeside homes for sale before turning south back to Baton Rouge.

All day long, Darlene had told me I should buy that motorcycle I've been wanting ever since my brother-in-law came and took the Sportster away 7 years ago. I had pretty much made up my mind that if I were to buy, it would be a Japanese bike because they used ones were so much cheaper. With absolutely no intention of going for a Harley, Darlene and I dropped off for a look at the local HOG pen on Siegen lane. Before I realized it, a dead serious, heart throbbing lust for a red on black FLSTC Softail Classic had settled on me and wouldn't get off. Vowing I wasn't going to "write a check today" to Bob the salesman, I left there at closing time with VIN numbers and name and phone of the previous owner of the contraption folded into my sweating palm.

I muddled all day Sunday and that night about whether I should buy it or and wasn't really sure one way or the other when I went back Monday morning for further looking and drooling. Long story short,I now own "Boudreau" (named after the original owner). The irony of all this is, the moment I signed the papers to take possession, my cell phone shattered my living dream and now found myself booking flights and hotels to Grand Rapids, Michigan. If that call had come in 30 minutes earlier, I probably would have delayed and backed off the deal but now, I'll have only this photo of "Boudreau" and the memory of the roar of those Screaming Eagle pipes to entertain me until I get home in a couple of weeks.

Oh, by the way, the critics hated it but the movie, Wild Hogs was a hoot. I loved it and recommend it for a rental.