Presque Isle, MI
September 12-18, 2009
Sunday's sunrise over Grand Lake.
Sunday's sunrise over Grand Lake.
The lake facing south at the time of sunrise.
Here's the view to the north on another day. The people are my cousins Nancy and Rick. They're deciding where to plant a new perennial flower garden.
Ah, an allergy-free week in Michigan's North Country....
The purpose of the trip, besides relaxation, was to visit my aunt and cousins in their new house.
This side overlooks Grand Lake. My aunt's apartment is on the left, with the big window in front. It looks like she has an upstairs too, but that upstairs window is actually an upstairs room in my cousins' house.
The purpose of the trip, besides relaxation, was to visit my aunt and cousins in their new house.
This side overlooks Grand Lake. My aunt's apartment is on the left, with the big window in front. It looks like she has an upstairs too, but that upstairs window is actually an upstairs room in my cousins' house.
This is the house from the road side. The little porch to the right is where my aunt sits to get some sun. Warm sun... good for arthritis.
The garage. Holds everything but my cousins' trucks. (That's my hubby's car.)
On Sunday we went to the Posen Potato Festival. First we went to the parade....
The bandstand where the announcer would announce the floats, etc. When the military color guard came by, the announcer read a moving tribute to soldiers. Unfortunately, one of Posen's own, just 18 years old, now in the National Guard, is set to ship out soon to the war zone. Let's hope and pray he returns home safely.
The bandstand where the announcer would announce the floats, etc. When the military color guard came by, the announcer read a moving tribute to soldiers. Unfortunately, one of Posen's own, just 18 years old, now in the National Guard, is set to ship out soon to the war zone. Let's hope and pray he returns home safely.
A tribute to the fallen soldier.
The Potato King is riding in that car.
As you can see, the potato products are shown prominently...
2009 is the Year of the Priest in the Catholic Church. This is the Knights of Columbus float. Three local priests and a nun were riding in the "ship".
This float was designed by kids. It's called the Couch Potato float.
Lots of people of Polish descent in Posen.
Please don't ask me to translate. Although I am of Polish descent, I don't know a word of Polish...
Ok, I take that back. I do know one word Poznania means Posen. :-)
Please don't ask me to translate. Although I am of Polish descent, I don't know a word of Polish...
Ok, I take that back. I do know one word Poznania means Posen. :-)
This purple car is here celebrating some anniversary of the Mustang GT. There were quite a few very loud Mustang GTs in the parade.
The Sunshine Model A club. I just love looking at these old cars. Who would've thought back in the early 1900s that these cars would still be around.
Miss Presque Isle County and the Runner Up.
Hmm... We're definitely in Republican country...
And, farm country...
I think this is the band that tried to jazz things up and imitate Cass Tech. They should leave the fancy stuff to the "professionals" at Cass Tech. (For those of you who don't understand the reference, watch the Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade (now called America's Thanksgiving Day Parade) and look for the Cass Tech High School Marching Band.)
Ok. No self-respecting Snoopy fanatic like myself would leave this float out. Snoopy as the Red Baron. And, yes, Woodstock is there too.
Yep. We're definitely in farm country.
I thought that was the cutest name for a dog grooming establishment.
The Iron Workers float, Abraham Lincoln.
This float seemed to float along the street. Kinda neat picture with the fishing boat and the stand with wooden fish in the background.
Can't have a parade without the Shriners.
As the announcer said (paraphrasing): Isn't this a great country where everyone's voice is allowed to be heard. Sponsored by the local Democratic Party, of course.
Seems to me like the local Democratic Party needs some younger members...
There's Blaze the dalmation up on the fire truck!
A local favorite Polka band. The side of the bus says "The Fastest Polka Show on the Road."
After the parade we went to see my favorite Polka band, Pan Franek and Zosia. Unfortunately, when we got to the Polka pavilion, it was too crowded to get a seat anywhere near the band. We did stay for 2 numbers, however.
Monday was supposed to be the warmest day of the week so Dan decided to take a swim. The air might've been near 80, but the lake was COLD!!!
After the swim, Dan was teaching Shelby (Rick and Nancy's granddaughter) how to skip stones. Now Dan wants to go back inside and Shelby is chasing after him. Uh oh, she went past the white poles. One can hear Grandpa in the distance scolding her to get back to shore....
Also on Monday, Dan was nice enough to use his expertise in hanging pictures to hang some of the paintings my Aunt Frances painted. Doesn't the painting of the Materhorn look beautiful there?
On Tuesday I, Dan, and Aunt Stella went to go see the lighthouses. First, the Old Presque Isle Lighthouse.
Because my aunt can't walk very far, she decided to sit in front of the gift shop and museum while we explored the grounds. The museum contains artifacts from the Civil War.
Dan went back to the car to get his camera, so I sat with my aunt for a while. Here's a view from the porch.
Now to explore the grounds.
Although this lighthouse was decommissioned in the late 1800s, some still see a light in the lighthouse from time to time.
Now it's back to the car and off to our next destination, the New Presque Isle Lighthouse.
Dan was brave enough to climb up to the top of both lighthouses. Up, up he goes...
Here are some views he took from the top of this lighthouse. The lighthouse is 113 feet tall. Although when we were looking at it, Aunt Stella and I were convinced it looked about 3-5 times as tall as that.
That's Lake Huron in the distance.
To learn more about the Presque Isle Lighthouses visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Presque_Isle_Light
For the rest of the trip we pretty much stuck close to home. Nearly every day we took a walk up and down the road.
A view to the south.
For the rest of the trip we pretty much stuck close to home. Nearly every day we took a walk up and down the road.
A view to the south.
On our walk south we saw this sign on someone's fence. I thought it was cute. My inlaws have a sheltie.
A view to the north.
On Wednesday the weather turned cold...
That's my cousins' cat Toby.
That's my cousins' cat Toby.
The day was also cloudy and the lake was choppy, but the sun came out later in the day and shone across the lake.
One thing about living on the lake, every day nature shows you something different. I loved to watch the sunrise every morning. Each sunrise was something special with its own unique qualities. And, with that, I'll leave you with one of the last sunsets I saw on our vacation. Pardon the reflection of the kitchen lights on the right side of the picture.
Created by Joyce P. Simkin
Last updated in HTML September 19, 2009
Last updated in Weebly November 25, 2016
Last updated in HTML September 19, 2009
Last updated in Weebly November 25, 2016