Retired and Retiring!

Many of you will remember that last year, Bob "retired" from the hardware store he had worked at since 1999. He resigned from his regular position but agreed to continue working 2 days a week just helping on the floor.
The week before we went away, he really retired!  His store had done a nice retirement gala for him the first time around, but they had another sweet send off this time.
They had a potluck lunch which I was invited to join. Bob didn't know about that so he was surprised to see me show up.

During the lunch the owner and some managers did a little thank you and presentation.

They gave him this cool hammer, that they had engraved.

The owner had also written this up and had it hanging up near the lunch area.
Bob was so blessed to work at this place, and to get to know so many people in the community through his work.  He's been a hard worker and I know he'll continue working, just in different ways.

So that covers the retired part of the post.  Next up is retiring...
That's me! It was a hard decision for me.  I kept going back and forth since I'm not 65 yet and I really like my job and the people I work with.  However, I have Rheumatoid Arthritis which isn't improving.  I would like to be able to do things with Bob before it gets too hard for me.  I'd also like to be more available to our kids and also be able to do more things at church.  So, I finally decided that it's time for me to retire too.  My last day will be November 1.  I know it will be a hard day for me, but also exciting with things to look forward too!
I'll share more as the day gets closer.

Up North, coming home

Here's what we did on our last day "up north".  In Michigan, Up North is a relative term.  There's the lower peninsula and the upper peninsula.  We live about 1/3 of the way up from the southern border of the state, so when we say up north, it could mean the upper half of the state, or it could mean way up north in the upper peninsula. On this trip, we didn't cross the bridge to the U.P., although we do love it up there.

One last view of the lake and the sailboats before we left.

We left Traverse City a little before 9 am, but wanted to make a few stops on the way home.  Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state and we love to visit them.  We stopped at 2 of them as we traveled home. 
The first was the Little Au Sable Lighthouse in Pentwater.

This is the path to the Lighthouse, with a view of Lake Michigan.

Here's the lighthouse!  It was built in 1874.  It used to have a keepers house attached to it, but it fell into disrepair and was no longer needed so was taken down.

This lighthouse is 107 feet tall.

It was beautiful with sun, blue skies and a sandy beach.

I always enjoy seeing the waves come in.

A view of the lighthouse from the beach.

Our next stop was the White River Light House in Whitehall.

The White River Light House sits on a bluff on a channel from Lake Michigan.  It was built in 1875.  This is the view from the channel.

Here's the lighthouse when you climb the stairs from the channel.  The wood you see in front is a piece of a ship wreck.

We got home around 3.  We had such a good time, but it's always good to be home again!

Up North; Day 3

On our 3rd day the weather report predicted rain.  We were driving to Fishtown in Leland so we started out on time to try to avoid it.

We've arrived and are looking out on the channel to Lake Michigan.  There were lots of clouds, and I thought they looked so pretty reflected in the clear water.

Fishtown is a working waterfront that has been part of Leland for 150 years.  The pier around these old shanties was restored a few years ago. Some are still used for their original purpose, but many have been repurposed into shops.

On the other side of the channel is this scene.  Again, the water was so smooth that the reflections were hard to tell from the real thing!

We walked down to the Leland beach on the pretty path

Look at that sandy beach and the turquois water!

Our next place to visit was the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive which is part of the National Parks System.  

I love covered bridges and this is a pretty one.

There were lots of places to pull off and see scenes like this.  Can you see the leaves falling here?

There wasn't a lot of Fall color yet, but we saw little pops of color along the way.

Bob saw this as we were driving, so we stopped and walked back.  This is an Indian marking tree.  They took young saplings and bent them over, then back up, so as they grew, they pointed the direction for a trail.  So neat to see!

This was the view from another scenic pull out.  There are 2 lakes shown here.

This area is near the Sleeping Bear Dunes - so much sand!

And here's the view from our condo when we got back.  We had a little rain on the drive, by evening it was getting cold and raining.
We were thankful that we had good enough weather to enjoy most of the day.

Up North; Day 2

On our second day, we drove to Petoskey, MI; about 1 1/2 hours north of Traverse City.

We stopped at a roadside park along the way, to check out Lake Michigan.

We found another great barn!

Then we went to the Maple Moon Sugarbush and Winery.  They make wine from fermented maple syrup.  They also make maple syrup, jams, jellies, salsa and a lot of different seasonings.

We did a wine tasting which was fun!

When we got back in the car, we saw another beautiful barn.

Petoskey is a beautiful city with a large shopping area.  We did some shopping and had lunch at a fun little sandwich and pizza shop where the owner makes everything homemade - even the catsup and mustard!

Then we drove to the city of Charlevoix.  This mural was painted on one of the buildings.

This is the channel that goes into the city.

Charlevoix is another charming city on Lake Michigan.  We walked around the shopping area and walked to the pier.

One thing Charlevoix is best known for is the Earl Young houses; otherwise known as Hobbit houses, mushroom houses or gnome homes.  He designed and built 28 of these houses in Charlevoix, all built in the 1920's.  Here is one of the smallest ones.

This is one of the largest homes; although he did do a few businesses too.

This is a hotel he built along the channel.

When we got back to the condo, we took a little walk along the lakeshore.  It was another fun day!

Up North; Day 1

Bob and I had a long weekend away this past weekend.  We went to Northern Michigan with my sister Cheri and BIL Mark.
We had such a great time, and I plan to share some of our fun with you over the next few days.

We rented a condo in Traverse City; which is about 2 1/2 hours north of where we live.  I had seen something about a bridge called the Little Mac Bridge; a footbridge in Manistee (named after the Mackinac Bridge).  We decided to stop there and check it out. It's about 1 1/2 hours north of our home.

This is the view from the parking area; overlooking the Manistee River.

We had a short hike and found the bridge.  It's a wooden suspension bridge that's 245 feet long.

A view of the river.

Then it was back in the car for the rest of the drive.  Mark pulled over on the side of the road to let me get a picture of this beautiful barn.  I love a good barn!

We arrived in Traverse City before we could get the condo so we did a little walking around town.  It's such a pretty place!

Then it was time to go to the Condo.  It was such a nice place, with everything we might need.

The windows on one side looked over the Lake Michigan Bay.

There were 3 patio's; one off the living room, one off the dining room, and one off a bedroom.

Time to go out for supper!  We saw this old service station along the way, with an old car out front.

This is something else we saw while we were out.  There was road construction going on, and the trucks, excavators, dump trucks...  all said Team Elmer's.  My Dad's name was Elmer, so we had to stop to take a picture.  As Cheri said - we will always be Team Elmer!

After supper, we took a walk along the boardwalk in Traverse City.  

It's a beautiful spot!

We got back to the condo a little before the sun set.  This is a view from the condo.
What a great first day away we had!