Michigan My Michigan

“Adventure is worthwhile.” – Aesop

Murph planned a bit of a mystery trip for our anniversary last weekend. Our first stop was in the metropolis of Columbiaville, Mi – heard of it? Yeah, me neither! Anyway, we had lunch at the one & only café around. This sign was in the ladies room – what now!?!

*This sign was also in that same restroom. Quite a juxtaposition, right? After lunch we biked a very nice rail trail that started in Columbiaville and ended in Millington 10 miles north.*

*Luckily, after our ride we drove to Caro, Mi to spend the night at this lovely B&B*.

*A beautiful 1890’s home,* *lovingly restored by the current owners.*

*It took any entire year of hard work but it certainly must have been gratifying.*

*Murph even preordered these chocolate covered strawberries – yes! we dug in before I thought to snap a pic* 😋

*After breakfast in Caro we drove to Midland where they have the “tridge”* *– a 3 way bridge where two rivers meet – the Tittabawassee River and the Salt River.*

*It’s an interesting site but we were really there to bike the Pere Marquette rail trail.*

and nice views of the Tittabawassee, too!

*Pretty wildflowers along the route – this one is in the lily family.*

*Nicely surfaced for smooth riding – Oh, hi Murph!*

*After our ride we headed over to the Dow Gardens (also in Midland).*

*Along with wonderful flower gardens they had this fun exhibit taking place.*

*Spotted this little gardener in action!*

*They have a pretty cool canopy walk here – the longest in the nation at 1400’ and at places 40’ high. This rope bridge* *was part of the experience.*

*Murph was eager to try it out and I was eager to get a pic!* 😉

Playing leap frog – of course!!!

Don’t Doubt Detroit

“Life isn’t about how fast you run or how high you climb, it’s about how well you bounce.” – Tigger

We parked at Belle Isle and headed out on our bikes. First stop on our ride was the Oudolf Garden Detroit. A few years ago the Detroit Garden Club contacted Piet Oudolf – a renown Dutch garden designer – *and asked for his help in laying out a perennial garden on the island. It’s amazingly beautiful no matter the season.*

*We biked around the island and over the bridge to the Detroit River Walk, thrilled by the fact that after a multi year wait, the path is completely done and accessible* *for all to* enjoy!

*And wetlands with the RenCen (Renaissance Center) coming into view.*

*Detroit has a rich Underground Railroad history.*

Thrilled to stop & listen to this Motown band along our route.

*Nice mural with our “People Mover” passing by on the right.*

*Grabbed lunch in the garden* *of our favorite deli.*

*Biking up to the Michigan Central Station was definitely a* *thrill!*

*Built in 1913 – for 76 years this was our Ellis Island – it operated* a hub of Detroit life, the place where new immigrants arrived in the city and where soldiers left for World War II. But America’s transportation network changed, and the 18 story station closed in 1988. Scavengers and vandals turned the site into a symbol of urban ruin.

Imagine buying a house with a flooded basement and discovering a secret second basement (also flooded). Then you realize standing water has so corroded the steel beams that support the building that they resemble Swiss cheese. This is what Bill Ford and his team encountered after Ford Motor Co purchased “the station” in 2018. But look at it now!!!

*Despite setbacks that included a global pandemic and running years behind schedule, Ford refused to give up. So,* *look at it now!*

*A few days ago the doors*
*opened for all to tour!*

*We walked along this “ribbon”* *laid out along the great hall – rich with pictures and information and marveled at this great feat!*

*Way too much to say about our experience here but I do want to share this one story.*

*This is where that clock will be returned.*

*Heading back along the Detroit River with nice views of Windsor Ontario.*

*Renovations of the Belle Isle Conservatory are well under way on Belle Isle too!*

An iconic view on the island is the Scott’s Fountain.

Meanwhile

After spending most of the winter in Florida, we are happy to be back in good ole Rochester Michigan!

“We shape clay into a pot, but it’s the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want.” – Tao Te Ching

*Walking back from the yoga studio that I go to on the other side of our park, I stop to admire this sun dial. Erected in 2017 to commemorate our 200th year of becoming a town.*

*After a couple of years, a swing was added to complement the sundial. (a bit of foreshadowing in this pic) Fun fact: when Murph and I were dating we used to walk over to the park and sit on* *the old swing* 😉

*Beautiful perennial gardens for all to enjoy!*

*When spotted admiring the flowers a man insisted on taking my pic.* 🤷🏽‍♀️

This guy! Playing a piece from Les Miserable – I felt like I was in a Hallmark movie!

*Paint Creek runs the length of our park and beyond.*

*I love this cool mural that is on the side of the maintenance shed*❣️

*Look very close – zoom in – do you see what I see? (a blue heron)*

*Nothing better that splashing around in the creek on a warm morning.*

Walking back home we hit another jewel in Rochester – the Paint Creek Trail – it’s one of three local rail trails that we have. This one runs north approx 10 miles (about 16 kilometers) to a neighboring town. The Paint Creek parallels the entire path.

Happy Holidays

It’s that time of the year…

Murph’s birthday (or for some, Autumn & Halloween 😉

“I’m glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” – L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

*I can’t resist taking pics around town this time of the year.*

*Paint Creek runs through our city park* ❤️

And then there’s Halloween Hoot! This is an annual event at our local nature preserve, Dinosaur Hill (or as most of us say – Dino Hill). All in good fun, the high school kids put on “scary skits” as families walk through the preserve in the dark.

*This is certainly a fun event for one & all.*

*But getting frightened is not my thing – so we went over during the day to see them setting up!*

*She was also interested – wondering what was happening to her neighborhood.*

And here’s the Halloween birthday boy himself, hanging with a spooky witch!

*As most of you know, I’m a fairly new Nana so I just couldn’t resist* ❤️

Drum roll please…

Let’s hear it for my photographer and very own personal assistant (p.a.).

“If you live to be a hundred, I hope to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live a day without you.” – Winnie the Pooh

In this final post of our adventures, I have to give props to Murph. This guy spent endless hours researching and planning this marvelous trip. He booked 19 different hotels, B&Bs or Inns. He prearranged bike hires, car hires, & train trips (on one leg alone we had 6 different transfers to get from Colmar to Pontresina). He also reserved tickets for us to tour the Palace, attend the Paul McCartney exhibit and travel on the Bernina Express. He researched the best option for trains and cable cars throughout Switzerland (half fare cards served us well!). Oh yes, I should mention that he took a ton of great pictures – which made my “job” both easy & difficult. Easy because I had so many to choose from and difficult because I had so many from which to choose.

Piglet: “*How do you spell love?”* Pooh: “*You don’t spell it, you feel it.”*

*“Take only memories. Leave only footprints.” –* Chief Seattle

“*You have been my friend*…*that in itself is a tremendous thing.” –* E.B.White

*Do we always agree on everything? Well, here’s his favorite breakfast…*

*He even takes pictures while on the train! (How’s this for a rather surreal pic?)*

*“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” –* unknown

*“One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure.*” William Feather

“*May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” Edward Abbey*

*Once in awhile he actually gets to just look around* 😂

That’s it folks! A big thank you to everyone that commented on my posts – I realize several of you had problems with the site and I plan to contact them to see if I can get that corrected. But many of you texted or sent emails to let me know you were watching and I seriously appreciate all of your input – so thank you ❌⭕️ Until next time, take care.

Mürren ➡️ Wengen

“Traveling — it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battula

What a glorious sight and sound‼️

*Seeing these chamois in the high valleys – a type of mountain goat – was always a bit of a thrill.*

*“Well, check out this band of renegades – looking for trouble?!”*

*Oh! Or maybe for a stuffed animal as a souvenir.* 🤭

*When we saw that we could ride atop the cable car up to the top of the mountain we both said, “Oh, heck no!”*

*And, you know what? It was a VERY cool* *thing to do!*

*We rented bikes a couple of times in the Lauterbrunnen Valley – our first time* on ebikes. I have to stop here and say to my girlfriend and gardening partner – “Annie-Bo-Bannie, I get what you’ve been saying! Maybe not this year but definitely in our future.” Anyway, the rides were just amazing – deep in the valley, surrounded by high mountains and waterfalls abound!

*While riding through a village, I spotted this on the side of the road and I had to take a pic – Swiss vending machines sell cheese & eggs – pretty cool.*

*And I just loved the cows with the fuzzy ears – so sweet.*

*We traversed up and down steep mountains in these cog rail trains, propelled by…*

*One trip took almost an hour to climb 7,000 feet to Schynige Platte, in this open air car that was also driven on cog rails.*

*This is a very common sight in the mountains. Paragliders everywhere, floating high above the mountains, into the valleys below for bird’s eye views.*

*It’s all fun and games until* a *strong breeze comes up or the “jumper” miscalculates how close he/she is to the face of the mountain. This guy had to hang from his ropes, hundreds of feet above the ground*,
*for about an hour until…*

*he was airlifted to safety. Of course, we were concerned and asked around. A woman at the TI (travel information) told us*, “*Well, we heard sirens so that indicates he’s still alive.” Turns out it quite a frequent occurrence around here!*

Bringing the cows down from the high meadows into the lower ones calls for a parade. Not quite as melodic as the cow bell video I posted a few days ago – but worthy of a look.

*I don’t know what you think, but she looks to me to be a bit embarrassed to have this ridiculous headdress on.* 🤷🏾‍♀️

Bernese Oberland – Jungfrau Region

Mesmerizing Mürren

“You know how every once in awhile you do something and the little voice inside you says ‘There. That’s it. That’s why you’re here.’ …and you get a warm glow in your heart because you know it’s true? Do more of that.” – Jacob Nordby