The frenetic pace of leisure finally caught up with me and I had a very lazy morning. Friday’s events had worn everyone out and Beth and the kids slept late, or so I thought they would. Despite the excitement of Friday afternoon, Olivia was up ready to go at eight. William and Beth woke up later. It was cloudy and sprinkling, it did not look good for the afternoon’s parade or the evening’s canoe race. Continue reading Day 57: The Parade and the Race
Friday began like the past two days, cloudy and overcast with the lake still, but no rain. We had had rain overnight Thursday leaving the ground moist. It is good for the Ausable Canoe Marathon because it raises the water level and allows paddlers to race faster. The forecast called for clearing Friday by midday and rain on Saturday. It will be a wet parade and wet start to the race. But, for Friday, it looked to be dry with time to be outside and enjoying Michigan. We had William’s race at ten and we needed to be ready to go at nine.
Rain in Northern Michigan remains a constant part of summer. I can remember summers at the cottage when the temperatures did not rise above 70 and it rained most of the time. Yesterday afternoon the rain came and brought grayness with it. It had not rained since Sunday and we have had four good days in between for outdoor activities, moon watching, and campfires, not a bad trade. Continue reading updated – Day 55: The sandman cometh and so does the rain….
Day 2: Sunday, May 30th, began by waking up at 3.45 and leaving the house at 4.15. I was headed to Indianapolis; today I would drive 350 miles and the drivers I was watching would drive 500. This would be by my eighteenth 500; I have been attending them since moving to the Midwest in 1991 and I have only missed only two. I was not going to miss this one or be late. I am always awed driving south on I-65 out of Chicago. At that early hour, the sun is rising and the fields are open and wide. I am driving through corn, soybean, and wheat territory and the slight rolling hills leave an open horizon. The sun coming up is wonderful and I am listening to my Marketplace podcasts – catching up from the hectic week. Midway between Chicago and Indianapolis, I come up a wind farm that stretches from the west to the east and is at least two or three miles thick along the interstate, perhaps more. I do not recall it from last year’s trip.