Oakridge Boys Christmas Concert

Corkey and Janie Gourley

Duane Allen

William Lee Golden

Richard Sterban

Joe Bonsall

The Oakridge Boys

On Monday night the 6th of December we headed over to the Mitchel residence in Tangent. We then loaded into the Mitchel soft riding Ford and proceeded on to Eugene, where we had dinner, using our Entertainment cards, to get a half price meal.
After dinner it was on to the Hult Center for the Christmas show being put on by the Oakridge Boy. Meanwhile, the Gourleys of Springfield, had hosted their State Farm employs and family's for dinner, and then met up with us at the Hult Center.
Attached are a couple of pictures from the show, but if you want to see all the pictures I posted, here is the link.

Michigan to Oregon

 Breakfast in Muskegon, MI

 Only a short distance in Indiana

 Onward to Illinois

 Then Iowa

 Across the Missouri River into Nebraska

 Across the heights of Wyoming

 Waters start flowing west from here

Just three hours in Utah

 Idaho - last state before Oregon

Oregon - Home Sweet Home

Just a few Laughs

 Barb cozying up to our Mascot

A group photo with our Mascot

Squash Man, Barb, Ginny, Dave and Dick

Fly on Fly

A Day of Sight Seeing

Loda Lake

Click here to see all of todays pictures

October 9

Fall is beautiful here in Michigan.  I had been wanting to return to Loda Lake  once the trees changed colors, so today was the day.   We never go anywhere the same way twice as we love to explore all the back country and snap pictures as we go.  We were not disappointed.  We found a couple of real nice Federal Forest campgrounds on lakes with hiking trails.  

Once we found Loda Lake, I was a bit disappointed as the breeze had come up so the lake had ripples and the reflections were not as spectacular as I had hoped.

It was the last weekend Woodlands on the Lake would be open, so we stopped in there to us the pool and hot tub. 

Our entertainment book had a coupon for an ugly burger, so of course we had to head for Sparta and try it out.   We headed home tired, but full and happy.

 Loda Lake National Wildflower Sanctuary

Loda Lake is an area that includes a small spring-fed lake, a bog-like wetland area, a creek and riparian marshy areas, oak forest, pine plantations, and an early successional old farm site.  Botanist Clayton Bazuin noted, “Loda Lake is ideally suited as a wildflower sanctuary and although near one of Michigan’s busy highways, can still be a natural reservoir of wild plants. This is due to the large number of ecological associations it affords in which they may survive".

Loda Lake is the only Wildflower sanctuary in the National Forest System, a project supported both financially and botanically by the Federated Garden Clubs of Michigan for over seventy years.

First Load on it's way to Oregon

Ginny helping Dave load bags on the fork lift

Up the ramp with the bag

Watch the forks so they don't hit the roof

First Load off to Oregon

We got off work at 3am and set our alarm for 8am to help get things ready for our first load to be sent back to Oregon. About 7:30am Dave is outside our window asking if Dick could come help him with the fork lift. He was trying to get the guard off so when the bags are lifted in the air with the forks upside down, the guard won’t hit the top of the container. One bolt was a fine thread bolt threaded into a course thread hole. Good thing Jim from TriBerry is just across the street. He had to heat up the metal so the screw would come out. Next the forks could not be put in upside down and again Jim came to our rescue. He was able to cut the notch bigger so they would fit. Soon the truck arrived and the loading began.

A little help getting the doors closed

Once it was loaded and on its way, we headed for Napa to get some bolts to reattach the guard. By now it was about 10:30 and we hadn’t even had our coffee yet, so we told Dave we would stop at the new bakery and have a coffee and donut before returning. He asked us to pick him up a couple of maple bars. I couldn’t see any in the case and asked if they had any. I was told they don’t make them. I suggested we just stop at IGA on our way back and pick them up there. Well, IGA doesn’t make them either. They have "Long Johns" with different frostings and fillings. So now it was on to Hansen Foods (I was on a mission) to see if they had them. Linda came to the counter and I asked her if she had any. She said she hadn’t ever heard of them, but if I would explain to her what they were she would try to make me some if I wanted place an order. I explained it to her and said I would get back to her and order some after talking to Dave. A few days later I stopped by to order some from her. She said there were some already in the case. Low and behold there were only three left. Linda said “people must like them.” I bought 2 for Dave and 1 to try myself and of course I had to get an apple fritter for Dick. So if you are ever in Hart, be sure and stop in for a maple bar! The folks are very nice in there.

Helpful Linda at Hansen's Food

Houses in Hart Michigan

A Week Later

 The start of a chilly morning

 The Grizzly Bear meal being delivered by the owner

 Sitting on the table

 After three servings

 Grandma peals all the potatoes for the 10# Grizzly Bear

 Left to take home after 6 helpings

Two carry outs for the left overs

Papa Bear's Restaurant

2280 E Apple AvenueMuskegon, MI 49442-4369 

Phone: (231) 773-2067

The morning started rather chilly, and I had to scrape the windows before we could head back to Muskegon.We were ready to indulge in the "Grizzly Bear" stuffed hash browns that we had seen while eating at the Papa Bear's diner last Sunday.  Having seen it on someone else's plate, (see last week's post), we knew we couldn't make a dent in it ourselves, so we brought some reinforcements with us.
Backing up a few hours, my best friend in High School and through two years of Vocational School, Harley Engel, had driven over from Manitowoc, WI, and arrived here in Hart Saturday afternoon.  It seemed logical that he should be the one to help us eat it.
After each having a helping, it didn't look like we had really made a dent in it. Even after two helpings each, there was close to 2/3 of it left. To date, we have fed three persons three times and there is still more left. A good bargain at $15.00.

Sunday in Muskegon

Late Sunday morning we decided to use one of our Entertainment Book coupons for a late breakfast or an early lunch. Papa Bears restaurant had piqued our interest. We headed South on back roads to take in the scenery on our way to Apple Ave in Muskegon. We missed it the first time, as it didn't look like a restaurant, so had to turn around and head back, this time checking the addresses for the location. We like to try out the non standard establishments, and we were not disappointed. One of the items on the menu that caught our attention was the "Grizzly" (hashbrowns stuffed with most everything that would go into an omelette minus the eggs plus sour cream) served with up to four plates, and cost $15.00. Since that would really blow our diets, we opted for a traditional bacon and eggs breakfast. A short time later, the owner/waitress delivered the potato dish to the two young gentlemen sitting next to us, and Barb quickly grabbed her camera and took some pictures .

My high school best friend, Harley, is going to visit us next weekend, and we are thinking that might be a good time to try it out. With the left overs she won't have to do much cooking!

We then spent most of the rest of the day scouting through Muskegon and working our way back to Hart. We took a break at this park that honors veterans along the Veterans Hwy. We arrived back at our Coach just in time to have dinner and relax a bit with Dave and Ginny before retiring for the evening. To see more pictures of our adventures, click on this link.

We also spotted every man's dream when he is out in the wild.

Spirit of America

We now have 18 ½ bags on the floor ready to send back to OR.  After the work was all done on Saturday it was time to kick back and have some fun.

Ginny and Dave joined us for a trip to Grand Rapids.  We had a great dinner at Malarkeys .  Dick had his GPS all set to find Van Andel Arena to see The US Army’s "Spirit of America", but when the exit is closed we do a little wondering around before we get to the arena.  The art fair is going on at the same time, so the police were out directing traffic and people.  We found a parking lot only a block away.  I think we got the next to last spot!  We were later than we had planned on so we got seats in the nose bleed section.  As it turns out, that was the best place to be.  The view of the whole floor was terrific for seeing all the formations and routines.  The camera had close up shots on the screen of anything we wanted to see close up.  The show lasted 2 ½ hours, but was worth every minute.  We headed home for a good night’s sleep to see what Sunday would hold for us.

To see more pictures of the Spirit of America, click here.

Snapshots of Seed Drying Life

Getting the loading ramp in place

Getting things ready for working

Getting our waiting areas ready

Our help Dave and Ginny arrive

We get a new washer and dryer from Oregon

Getting all the equipment ready

Replacing the polisher with a new one

Getting the overhauled seed separator in place at the cannery

Stopping at the farm for fresh veggies

More veggies

Seeds coming off the cleaner at the cannery

This is how it's supposed to look, white with seeds

Half a tote of seeds

Almost ready to take off the dryer

Pizza time on Sunday

Learning the finner art of seed drying