Spending Some Productive Time in Wisconsin and on to Toronto via Michigan June 17th - July 2

Well, dear reader, have to say I was recalcitrant not keeping up with this blog after hitting Wisconsin and Michigan.  My decision to move east on a quicker schedule panned out well, as some of the work I anticipated in Wisconsin took longer than first thought.  I wasn't able to download necessary drivers from the Epson Scanner I had purchased and sent on to my mother's, even after spending considerable number of hours with Epson support.  They finally gave up and recommended I call Microsoft support to see if they could resolve why the file wouldn't download.  I did connect with Microsoft for a one-time issue support of $99 and they resolved the issue by completely deleting all prior driver files and uploading the necessary file from the Epson site.  I called Epson Support to be compensated for the $99 since their product is guaranteed to work with Microsoft and they couldn't resolve and had to have Microsoft intervene.  At the present time they refuse to compensate me, and I will be following up with a letter indicating that my reviews of the product and support will not be favorable and this will not be conducive to their marketing efforts!

It's always a little difficult to be I.T. enabled at my mother's as she is of the generation that doesn't avail herself of computers/internet.  This state of affairs is becoming more untenable as everyone fully expects customers/patients to have internet and email.  I have by default become my mother's electronic communication conduit.

One of the main purposes for me scheduling days in Rhinelander/Minocqua beyond having quality time with my sister, John and mother, was to rebuild my sister's deck with Trex.  When I say deck it is a bit of an understatement as evidenced by the pics.  Trex delivered late on Monday and couldn't start work till Tuesday.  I shored up and leveled the supporting frame and John and I started laying the Trex on the Tuesday.  Later on in the afternoon, our expert deck builder Jim, showed up and we had to make a few alterations to the under frame, but essentially were  on track.  We finished up the upper deck that day, and later in the week, John, me and Jim laid down the balance of the Trex decking material.  The Trex decking is similar to tongue and groove wood, and is held onto to the deck with a plastic "T" piece that screws down between the boards and puts pressure on the Trex decking grooves.  Quite clever.  We did have to do some screwing of the deck on the starter boards to insure they were well adhered to the under frame. I left on the Sunday with just the side boards to be installed where Jim had built frames.  Only potential maintenance is to power wash occasionally if there is mildew over the winter.

John Brant and Boyd rebuilding Trex Deck at Susan & Johns House

Success!

This is a multi-tiered affair with lots of steps. We got the deck mostly finished before I had to leave on Saturday evening with the exception of the side skirting.

Beyond the hard labor, I was able during this time to complete scanning of a number of old family photos dating from the 19th and 20th century, which will be incorporated into the family genealogy. Mother clarified some information about some of the family members and we solved a riddle of some pictures we couldn't all identify, determining they were my great-grandfather and great-grandmother after extracting them from their museum mount frames.

Great Grandfather, John McCleary

Great Grandmother Mary Aline (Illingsworth) McCleary

I had lunch and dinner at the Rhinelander Pub with my mother and friends, Jean and George Pratt, and we had a great family dinner at Jacoby's Restaurant not far from Susan and John's.

Unfortunately, while I was with my mother at a hospital clinic, Susan got distracted and fell off the new deck, breaking a bone in her foot so had to be in a cast.  Coming up the stairs was quite a feat using a walker, plus a gardening chair and a swivel routine.

Susan is now in a walking boot so life is a little easier thank God.

Spent the last night at my mother's in Rhinelander and after being stocked up with home made cookies from my mother, took off at 6:30AM for Boyne Falls, MI to pick up Ryan, my stepson, who works at the Boyne Mtn. Resort as the Adventure Center Supervisor.  Got to Ryan around 2:30 PM after an uneventful drive across the Upper Peninsula and down over the Mackinaw Bridge.  This is always spectacular with bright blue skies reflected in the waters hundreds of feet below.  We motored West to Traverse City after catching a sub and a beer in the car and met Jeannie and Bonnie Sommers, old friends from Ann Arbor days when I worked at the University of Michigan Medical Center.  Had some good Michigan brews lakeside, transferred two cases of Rhinelander Shorty beers to Jeannie and then drove to our campground on the Leelanau Peninsula.  Very nice campsite located just feet from Lake Michigan.  Leelanau Pines Campground is one of the nicest I have stayed at, very clean and well organized.  Ryan enjoyed setting up the Go and we had spectators as is often the case when setting up the ultralight camper.

The next morning, June 29th, we drove to the Grand Traverse Lighthouse

at the tip of the peninsula then made our way down to Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes.

Ryan Ley squinting at Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes

This is truly one of natures wonders as it crests hundreds of feet high and continues in it's undulating mode to Lake Michigan with Glen Lake behind to add to the brilliance of the scene.  Ryan climbed some of the high dune and threw his frisbee disks far afield then jumped off and cartwheeled down the face of the dunes.  As usual, getting off the beaten track meant no one other than us were at this location, with 95% of the tourists climbing only the first hill then turning around to their cars.  Getting off the beaten path is always pays off when attempting to fully appreciate one's natural surroundings.  We had a great shared lunch in Glen Arbor, then into Traverse for a beer before retiring to camp in the evening.

Dropped Ryan off at the resort after a Yelp recommended breakfast at a hideaway joint in Traverse, then drove to Fort Gratiot, MI to stay with my old friend from elementary school, Bill Doyle.  Met his delightful, artistic and beautiful daughter Elizabeth and we had a nice dinner after chatting at his home.

Boyd with Elizabeth & Bill Doyle at their home - Fort Gratiot

We went into downtown Port Huron and had dinner along the Black River.  They mentioned it was only a three hour drive to Toronto from Port Huron, being right at the border crossing to Canada at Sarnia.  In the AM I made the decision to bypass Ann Arbor, though with regret as I wouldn't see my friendS Lori and Todd.  The combination of them coming in from Washington DC late in the evening and then adding three hours to my Toronto commute made my decision.

Elizabeth Doyle at restaurant - Port Huron

Around 9:30 the morning of July 1st. Bill and Elizabeth took me to a friend's restaurant in Port Huron for breakfast.  A most interesting place stocked with antiques and memorabilia.  After breakfast of stuffed blueberry french toast with honey cream cheese, I got on to the bridge to Sarnia.  After a short interrogation at the border into Canada, had a fast 3.5 hour trip to Richmond Hill (everyone doing about 20km/hr over the speed limit of 100km/hr.)  and a warm welcome at the Robertson's (Andrea's sister, brother-in-law and children Victoria and Jake).  We had a dinner of brats on their back deck and later rode out bikes to the Canada Day fireworks

about 4km away.  You know you are in Canada when there is a dude on stilts in hockey uniform.

Stilted hockey player - Canada Day Celebration Richmond Hill, Ontario

Had a fun time on the bike path in the night coming home with five of us tooling along with Jake barking out the future turns and twists along the path.

Today, July 2nd, is catch up day for email, and blog before picking up Andrea from Pierrson International Airport in Toronto around 7:45 PM.