We went driving, hoping to catch some local flavor.

But I just can’t remember where we went. I think it was north from Petoskey. Maybe more pictures will help.



Oh yeah, big bridge. Pretty area. Lotsa trees & greenery. Nice day.


Oh yeah, a big car show! And that big bridge was everywhere. Where did we go?




Wait, wait, wait….it’s coming back to me. Big bridge, dogs chasing ball into the lake, all-you-can-eat fish fry.



That bridge. Ohhh, that guy leaving the car show in a hurry! Ohhhhhhh yeah, Ryan’s new friend….the big, quiet guy. Don’t tell me….I’ve got it….


I think it mighta been St Ignace….yeah, I think we were Yoopers for a day!

Petoskey sits in the middle of a fertile crescent ripe with tourism.

A good tourism, not endless lines of cars & campers inching toward gas stations and bait shops.

Robyn’s bike path, the Little Traverse Wheelway, runs the length, skirting the large bay with sweet stops to savor the view and stay comfortable with cooling breezes.

Shoreline temperatures so far have been in the very low 70s, and the breeze has kept the coach from becoming an oven in the constant sun!

There are numerous parks for casual stopping….next to marinas, beside creeks and rivers that flow into the bay, interrupting the endless woods with a spot for a picnic….

Most of the restaurants and stores are locally owned and operated, with local taste reflected in their offerings.

We’re lovin it, and don’t want to leave!

The boys had fun one evening this week jumping on the masonry floor of the bandshell in Charlevoix (imagine the sounds!), then we had fun eating fresh fish in one of the nearby shops.

The next afternoon we went discovering in Harbor Springs, and hit paydirt: sailboat art, artists painting sailboats, homemade cookies by Tom’s Mom, an entire peninsula owned by a private association that keeps the rest of us from even walking along their streets!

And back home in Petoskey, always an entertaining sunset on the bay….

Dave VanDenburgh, this one’s for you:

We’ve said before that our excursions in the Lil Taxi often don’t do justice to our destinations.

That would be particularly true of yesterday.

Boyne Mountain.

I learned to snow ski here….back in the day of black-and-white television, I think.

Turns out it’s a happening place even in summertime, because they have an indoor waterpark!

They keep the grounds around the condos and hotels at the base looking lovely in fresh green growth. It would have been great to run up the mountain and shoot from there….

Here’s some trivia about Boyne: it has current use of the first ski chairlift erected in the world! The lift was originally located at Sun Valley, Idaho in 1936, but was later moved to Boyne. Parts of it operate there today.

The two daytime photos below were taken with a new camera we have, with a super-wide lens that is cute but lacking in detail for outdoor panorama shots. Its claims to fame are that it’s tiny (2.25 x 1 x 1.5 in), can do action video in HD (no focusing), and it has an underwater housing with a remote trigger! We’ll have fun with some novel shots in the coming months….

We had some fun around sundown and later, as the Super Moon rose in the eastern sky. If only I had Roger’s 400mm and teleconverter….

All photos taken within minutes of each other:

We noticed a trolley drive through our park this afternoon, and found out it made an hourly loop through town.

This was the first evening of its season, and ridership is always free!

Turned out the driver is Kyle, a lovely lady who teaches school the rest of the year. Her husband even joined the ride at a stop along the route.

Both are long-time Petoskey residents, and we received a wonderful description of the town features as we passed.

It helped to be the only riders. Kyle even stopped so we could take pictures!

Tonight was Gallery Walk, with art galleries open late and artists displaying their work and talents everywhere we went.

The stained glass window below is in the town cultural arts center.

As we finished the loop, Kyle’s husband offered to take our picture to commemorate the event!

What a place! We’re having so much fun in the town of Petoskey and with the great people who live here!

Wmph mummph ummn wha?

Robyn woke me before 6am.

No, coach not on fire. “Killer sunrise,” she said.

Okay, maybe. You be the judge, I’m going back to sleep.

Just kidding. We got going earlier than usual today, and spent the day doing stuff right around town.

Thought I’d share a couple of the oddities we pass every day.

The music equipment store:

The vacation house furnishings store and its pair of fish chairs:

Nothing odd about a brief race between friends on their sailboats:

We’re back in the Taxi watching the sunset out the front windshield….to end another day in paradise.

Ahhhhhh…..