Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Busy Weekend


Katy arrived from Chicago on Friday afternoon. Tom, Colleen, Katy and I jumped in the car and drove to downtown Detroit to see the Star Trek Exhibit. We had a ball. When the girls were between 10 and 15 we were big fans of the Next Generation. We got to pose on the bridge (left to right, Beth, Katy, Tom and Colleen), visit Jean Luc Picard's ready room and transport.

The next morning Katy and I went to Oscoda while Tom went to Grayling. Saturday night Tom watched the launch of the Oscoda Canoe Race and woke the next morning to ride the Black Bear on his bike. He and his gang, The Barfly Bike Club, rode the 100 mile tour and arrived that evening at my sister's in Oscoda where I had cold drinks and a barbecue ready. Monday morning brought breakfast for 14, then a trip home. We stopped at the World's Largest Jerky Outlet on the M-61 exit on I-75 where Katy found snacks for her train ride home. On Monday Katy and I chose fabrics for a quilt for her. Her colors are chartruse, deep turquoise, carmel and orange. Lucky for me she found a Geisha fabric with the colors in it for me to refer to. Then we went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I even managed to squeeze in a little more applique on the Mermaid quilt for Colleen. This morning she hopped the Chicago train and I went back to work.


Wow, the summer is sure going by fast. It's almost football season and here's a little teaser.

Go green, go white!

Till next time...Happy Quilting

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Up North


Pepper's designed a free pattern for Quilter's Newsletter Magazine. It's a Drunkard's Path quilt called The Road Home. Click here to see it.

Last week Tom and I spent a few days Up North. We started by spending a night on Mackinac Island where we toured the Governor's Summer Home. We met some great girl scouts there. Each summer different girl and boy scout troops are invited to spend a week on Mackinac Island where they serve as tour guides and handle the flag ceremonies at the Fort and the Gov.'s Summer Home. They were very friendly and were especially good at taking pictures of tourists on the porch! After this picture we rode our bikes around the island. We logged 26 miles that day!









We left the island the next morning and made our way to Petoskey where we pedalled the Little Traverse Bay Wheelway. The Wheelway is a paved bike path from Charlevoix to the Little Traverse Bay State Park. We rode from Bay Harbor to the State Park and logged 16 miles. Here I am on the Wheelway as it overlooks the marina in downtown Petoskey.










Our last stop was Glen Arbor. We bicycled around the lake and canoed the Crystal River. We also drove the Pierce Stocking Drive. Pierce Stocking was a man who built a private road through the Sleeping Bear Dunes so people could enjoy the area. When he passed away the state took over the road named it after Pierce and now oversees its operation. There is a 1.5 mile hike on the drive called the Cottonwood Trail. We took the walk and I was surprised that it peaked at the top of the Dune Climb on M-109!
What a view, you can see both Glen Lakes and the Day Farm Barn.









Then we began our drive home. As we were driving past Crystal Lake we passed our Lansing biking pals Kathy and Mark! We just had to stop and get a picture.










Till next time... Happy Quilting and Biking!