Proud Lake Recreation Area

I have a couple of questions that need answering, so I'll start with those.
Vicki, the dogs are doing great. The have really adjusted to this life quite quickly, and we are grateful for that. As you know, we started getting them accustomed to being in the trailer by themselves at the rally. We just make sure that there is a routine, and they are used to it and what it means. We always pull the shades down, turn the fan on and leave the tv going as a buffer for any outside noise. They get a walk before we leave, then treats, told to get on their couch and be good, we'll be back soon. And for the most part, they just nap while we're away! Al and I are not on the same time schedules either, there is some overlap some days, but really, the longest they go alone is around four hours. When my hours get longer after Memorial Day, I can walk back during breaks and let them out for a few minutes. And Al is always driving by in his cart, and able to check on them as well. So it really is working far better than I had imagined.

Sherry, scooping ice cream is an art :-). You want to make sure the level of ice cream goes down evenly, so as to not have ice cream climbing up the sides of the container; that can lead to grainy or gummy ice cream. You imagine the container as being divided into quarters. Put your scoop in about a half inch deep, at the 3 o'clock position, along the side, and scoop up towards 12 o'clock, then straight dow to the middle, and across back to 3 o'clock. This is supposed to give you a nice, 4 oz. scoop of ice cream. Plop it down on top of the cone, with an overhang (giving the illusion of extreme generosity with your scoop!), and there's your single scoop ice cream cone. Repeat with the other 3 quarters of the container, and then start your next layer down. Sounds easy, we'll see how co-ordinated I can become :-).

The entrance to the Park Store. It's supposed to be slated for painting, we'll see if they get to it before we get busy!

Racks of canoes and rowboats available for rentals by the lake.

One of the jumping in spots for the dogs.

Chelsea's little "frog pond"; there's several frogs living in this pool, and she has to check it each time we walk past.

Tuesday the sun was actually out when we got up! It was short-lived, but at least we saw it :-). It wasn't as cold, either, and I was ready to get out of the campground for awhile. I had shopping to do, the fridge was getting a tad empty, and so I looked through my papers for a nice walking spot close by. I settled on Proud Lake Recreation Area, about 13 miles from here. It covers 4700 acres, and has over 20 miles of hiking and biking paths. It's situated along the Huron River, with Proud Lake at the eastern end. There's great fishing (yes, Al does have his Michigan fishing license now and will be heading up there with his rod!), a group primitive campground, and a modern campground with 130 electric RV sites.

We decided to do the Marsh Trail, onto part of the red trail leading to the dam, then followed the Chief Pontiac Trail to the River Trail back to the parking area. It wasn't a long hike, but it takes us awhile, as we like to take our time and look at everything :-).

Michigan State Parks have a very nice trail marking system. You can pick up a numbered trail guide at the park office that co-ordinates with these markers. Each marker has a trail guide posted, and numbered arrows showing you which direction to take, especially helpful when there's a crossing of multiple trails! So you're able to mix and match trails according to how far and where you want to go. It's really nicely laid out. Seven Lakes had this system, but Highland Recreation didn't, at least not yet.

This little bird landed long enough for a picture, anyone able to help identify him? We also saw our first Scarlet Tanager, but he was way too fast for me to get a picture!

It's one mile around the marsh itself, and there's a nice system of boardwalks in place over the mushy areas. Or at least, there are on this trail...more on that later :-).

I saw lots of red-winged blackbirds here; I was hoping to see some of the herons and other marsh wading birds, but no luck. Al said they were hiding somewhere, shivering :-).

The wooded area on the far side of the marsh. This is where we saw the tanager, and also heard woodpeckers. The only one I caught a glimpse of was a red-bellied woodpecker. I'm still looking for that pileated dude!

This swan came gliding over to check us out as we were scanning the shoreline. There was a female sitting on a nest in a small island in the marsh, I guess this guy was making sue we didn't have any ideas of bothering her.

This is the portion of he Huron River descending out of Mossy Lake, a smaller lake spilling from Proud Lake. Right behind us is a dam, funneling the water into the main Huron River. This is where we saw some really large fish as we walked up, hovering right at the top of the dam.

Here you can see the dam, and how fast the water is churning as it goes over it, being funneled down river. The fish were hanging out right on the left side of the dam, I tried to get pictures but they didn't come out very well. We picked up the Chief Pontiac Trail on the far side of the bridge, down past that little outhouse.

Chief Pontiac was apparently an important figure in history along here. There were several markers posted along the trail, noting a feature of the area, such as a particular tree or feature, and then noted it's place in the Ottawa Indian lore, and then a note about how Chief Pontiac used it. It became quite clear that Chief Pontiac disliked the British very much, as most of the notes pertained to how he would utilize each feature in his rebellion against the British Invaders. When we approached the sign for the Oak trees, Al was surprised when it said nothing about the rebellion; he expected to hear how Chief Pontiac instructed his warriors to make bats out of the oak to beat the British soldiers with! There is a city of Pontiac nearby, as well as Pontiac Lake Recreation Area and yes, the GM vehicle was named after the chief :-).

The dogs never refuse a dip in an accomodating river!

There's a lodge in this park that you can make reservations for, and this campfire circle on the riverside is just a short walk below the lodge.

One of the boardwalks along the River trail; notice how it doesn't seem in as good a state as the previos ones? Well, you know there has been a lot of rain here lately, and the water levels are much higher than usual. We had come to an intersection, a short-cut back to the parking area, but we decided to keep going along the river.

Some wildflowers along the boardwalk. I couldn't get the angle I wanted on these spiky flowers, so after checking the area for any dangers, I laid on my side for this shot at plant level. I was happy with it, until a few feet further up the trail, after the boardwalk ended, we found this fellow:

Yes, I know, it's only a garter snake, but it's a snake! Yechh!

I cautiously made my way past, and we continued down. The trails were getting mushier, and water was starting to cover portions of the boardwalks. We splashed our way through some, jumping over deeper spots, until we came to s section of no boardwalk, and at least knee deep water; at least, it was up to Casey's belly! So we turned around, and headed back to the last intersection, and yes, I had to go past my buddy again! It was ok, though, because by going that way, we got to walk on this trail, with the tallest red pine trees I've seen so far!

We returned to the parking area, and got out our sandwiches and sodas for lunch. It was almost warm enough, so we ate outside at the picnic tables they have there. There's also grills, if a family wanted to come barbeque after walking the trails. There is a parking area closer to the dam for fishermen, and picnic area there as well, so I'm quite sure that will be an excursion for another day.

Before leaving the park, we drove over to the boat launch area, and checked out the campground. I took some pictures for folks who may be coming near the area. It looked very nice, and definitely quiet right now! There was only one motorhome in the whole place. They also have two cabins they rent. There's canoe rentals, and lots of activities for the kids..basketball courts, horseshoes, a playground, volleyball nets.

Check out the giant fire rings they have here!

Lots of swans were congregated down by the boat launch. This boat launch was specifically for the campground, and there's a public one further up the road.

These birds were swooping all over the lake, and one finally landed long enough for me to take a picture. They are tree swallows, and until he stopped moving, I had no idea that they were blue! They are really fast, and not afraid to dive-bomb you :-).

That ended our day at Proud Lake. We returned to Hartland, did our shopping, I had my ice order arrive just as I was returning to Waldenwoods, so I went up and took care of that. Al rangered last night, and the rain returned. This morning is still drizzly, but warmer, and I'm watching the birds out here. There's at least 2 sparrow nests in the pine tree, and a pair of robins are building one also. The goldfinches are eating dandylions! I had bought a couple of plastic planters and flowers, I'll get those planted today, and we have two hanging baskets of red/purple flowers and a hanging hummingbird feeder. And yes, the hummies have found their way here already, I'm just waiting to get a picture for you.

That's it for now. Al has two nights off, and then starts again, and I start up the store on Friday for the weekend. I have orders coming in that need to be marked and put away, and the forecast is nice and warm for Friday and  Saturday, so hopefully, a busy weekend is on tap. Until next time, have a great day!



Rainy Weekend

It was a rainy, cold weekend here, and not too much was going on. I had the Park Store open for the weekend hours, but there wasn't a whole lot of action going on. I worked with Chris on Saturdy for the first time, he is the one person that was re-hired from last year. He is going to be a big help to me, particularly with the various food machines and ordering. I did sell some scooped ice cream to a couple a families, and the kids were really cute :-). We also had the Slush-puppie machine up and running, and while Al was bringing me dinner Saturday night, I had a small burst of business, so he made a slush puppy drink for a little girl, and she said it was "really good" :-). We've been checking out a couple of different pizza places around here, and so far "Hungry Howies" has been our favorite. Although a couple of people have told me the pizza at the Mobil station down the road is very good..seriously :-0!! We may give it a go :-).

As I was closing up Friday, I glanced over the lake, and it was black as night, with flashing in the distance...it looked like a really bad storm was fixin' to come our way, and unfortunately for us, it broke before we got finished. Ranger Mark had come up to take my deposit to the office, so he gave me a ride back to the campsite, but I was soaked to the skin just running from the truck to the trailer. It was an all out monster storm, and Chelsea was NOT liking it at all!

By Sunday, it was cold as well; it went from the high 80's on Wednesday and Thursday to a high in the mid-40's on Sunday. needless to say, sales were not booming on Sunday, and most of the weekend people packed it in and headed out of the park. I did more organizing, and went through the store, making sure all of the items were marked with prices, so I won't have to be constantly checking prices when people ask "how much"! I also read the Hershey Ice Cream manual...:-). I was wondering how to ensure accurate, consistent "scooping", and I learned all about the "art of scooping" right there in the manual.

Al is rangering tonight, and tomorrow night. Then we both have off Wednesday and Thursday. The weather isn't suppose to improve too much, but I'll see if I can come up with something interesting to say during that time. We do have a nice weekend forecast so far, so hopefully the campground will be busier, and I might make some sales worth talking about!

I'm sorry I have no pictures...it's been pretty dismal for that. I'm starting to get hummingbirds at my feeders, though, so I'm going to try to get some pictures of them soon. You'll be the first to see them when I do!

Tulips, Ice Cream and Storms

I know, that sounds like an interesting combination doesn't it? But it pretty much sums up the last two days .

Wednesday was a beautiful day, warm and partly cloudy, and was a full day off for both of us.  One of our objectives in this lifestyle is not just to work in different areas of the country, but to explore those areas as well. So I've been looking at the various attractions in Michigan for things to do on our days off. A two-hour drive to the west from where we are is the town of Holland, Michigan, and every year they have the Tulip Time Festival. It sounded interesting, so we decided to make a day trip over there to see the tulips. Not knowing if the dogs would be allowed in the different attractions, I arranged for them to stay at the Dog House Resort and Spa for the day, getting badly needed baths and haircuts.

I will say the tulip festival was very interesting. The entire town, for the most part, shuts down for the week. There's no school for the kids, the main street is closed in the afternoons as there's a parade most every day, dutch cultural dancing exhibits, two carnivals, with all the associated carnival food vendors simply everywhere, bands, fireworks....you name it, they really go to town! What really struck us, though, was so many people dressed in old Dutch costumes; not just parade participants or dancers, but it seemed as if all the citizens were dressed up as well! The town was just beautiful as well, everything clean and neat as a pin, and of course, thousands of beds of tulips planted everywhere.

Tulip fields at Windmill Island Gardens.

This is a re-creation of a traditional street in the Netherlands, created by local craftsmen. Inside is an entire model village also created by the same craftsmen.

The Posthouse museum is an exact replica of a 14th century wayside inn. Inside you can view a 12 minute presentation about Windmills, The Netherlands and their own windmill,  "De Zwaan".

This is a 249-year old working windmill, brought over from the Netherlands in 1964. It's called "De Zwaan", meaning graceful bird.

Who knew there are so many different types of tulips?

Before the parade starts, there is the "sweeping of the streets"; it seems as if everyone in the town heads out into the parade route, brandishing brooms and buckets of water, and proceeds to scrub the streets clean. You can see in this picture how crowded it was, and how so many people are dressed up in traditional dutch clothing.

We did stay and watch the parade, it was about an hour and a half long, with several floats, civic groups, of course the honor guards and kids, clubs, and so many school marching bands. They were very good! It was a lot of fun to watch, really reminded me of a good old-fashioned small town event.

We then headed back to get our truck; as you can imagine, parking was at a premium, and it seemed as if anyone who had a piece of land anywhere near town had parking available...for a price :-). We decided we would park in a lot that the Boy Scouts were working, it's always good to support an organization like that. And from the looks of it, they made a pretty good sum from parking cars that day :-). Although the kid parking us did joke he should charge us double for the "monster truck" :-). It was still a bit early to pick up the pups, so we headed off the Holland State Park, on the coast of Lake Michigan, to catch our first sight of one of the Great Lakes.

The red lighthouse where the channel from Lake Macatawa meets with Lake Michigan.

The channel heading into lake Michigan...and the endless horizon beyond. The Great Lakes really are awesome. If you didn't know you were on a lakeshore, you's swear you were right on the ocean. The road leading out to the park was just chock full of marinas, docks, bait shops, all the acoutrements for a day of fishing.

I saw these ducks, and from a distance i thought the one was a mallard, but I'm not so sure; if it is, it was the hugest mallard I've ever seen! And couldn't find a duck resembling the one on the left in my bird book, so if anyone knows what types of ducks these are, let me know!

That pretty much ended our day at Holland. We picked up the pups, and headed back to Waldenwoods, and phoned home to wish Ma a happy birthday. It certainly sounded like there was a swinging party going on there!

Thursday was back to work for me. I had to finish updating the inventory in the computer, and get some of my orders going, especially ice cream. Ice cream makes up approximately 80% of the store profit, so we have to be ready to scoop those flavors! I had it all delivered today, Friday, and the store was officially opened for business today. My last workamper arrived and started this week, Lorraine, and we get along great. We now have the store all spiffied up, the kitchen is spotless, and we're ready to go :-). Unfortunately, the weather this weekend is not supposed to be great, a bit of rain, and as I'm writing we are in the middle of our third night in a row of some really good thunderstorms. It can definitely rain here! Florida type rain, pouring so hard you can't see out the windows. Oh well, it was expected, as the temperature yesterday and today were a quite unseasonable 85 degrees and humid. The cold front is zipping in now, and the highs on Sunday are supposed to be in the upper 40's!

Once I get the store fully stocked, I'll take a few pictures so everyone can see it; it's really cute, actually, painted blue and white with a summer beachy feel. Makes you want to buy ice cream ;-).

Al is pulling some late hours rangering, it seems like he's going to be doing the late night shifts most of the time. He's finding the different duties quite interesting...I'm waiting for his first unruly wedding! Being on the ambulance corps for so many years though, I guess he knows how to deal with, shall we say, slightly disorderly folks? Overall, it's been fun, and the people we are working with are great. So far, so good :-)!