Open Air Market

Tomorrow is theme day again, and the theme is open air markets. This one is from my archives, taken on a trip to the Holland Farmer's Market earlier this month with Jim and Kelsey. We never did make the blueberry salsa.

Not Exactly What I'd Planned

The month is nearly over, and as usual I find that there are fewer miles in my bike log than I would prefer. I headed out early this morning to add to the total, but the air was thick and 'unhealthy for sensitive individuals.' It seemed foolhardy to push it too hard, so I rode my typical ride, plus a couple of miles. I returned home to find this -- men on the roof.
And this mess in the yard. The shingle damage is the result of hail damage from a spring storm. Re-roofing is a loud process, especially on the inside of the house being worked on. We decided to beat a strategic retreat to the bay ... which was re-roofed last week.
JB took the truck, and as I had no bicycle at the bay, and I want to ride tomorrow morning early -- last day of the month, and all -- I re-cycled. Riding my bike to the bay added another 5.5 miles to my total ride for the day. It turned out to be a longish mileage day after all.

Winding Down

With just a week of summer vacation left to enjoy, the COTU had a few things they wanted to do at least one more time before school starts. One of them was a trip to Tres Lobos for Mexican chicken fingers and chips. Another was a trip to Captain Sundae.
We ate at Tres Lobos last night, leaving the trip for evening ice cream for tonight. The girl COTU had her hair cut this week, and it is getting harder and harder to see the baby in the beautiful teenage girl.
Totally Jammin' had his usual hot fudge shake. There is nothing on a stick offered for sale here, as far as I know. 

In bicycling related content, the professor and I took a bike ride this morning... the Quincy Park Golf Course ride, for those of you who have done it. At the end she commented that she's up to 39 miles for the summer now (I've blogged about them all). She was doing exactly what the kids were doing ... one last shot at a summer activity before her schedule fills up with work. As for me, summer continues on. It ain't over 'til it's over for the Senior Cyclist.

A Birthday and a Bike Ride

Yesterday was OSLO's birthday, like it or not. Here she is blogging about her day. She is wearing one of the new shirts that she got from her children. We finished the day with a trip to Muskegon for dinner at Olive Garden.
We had a chilly night overnight, so it was about 10 this morning before I got out for a ride. I tried a few different roads, including a couple of gravel roads. It turns out that there is quite a bit of difference in the quality of those kinds of roads. New Holland Street, where I took the photo of the cows, below, turns to gravel east of highway 31. It sucks. And it is home to at least one dog whose owner doesn't believe that leash laws apply to country settings. Perhaps he's right.
128th Avenue is also gravel, but much smoother and harder packed. Not much different from the chip and seal road surfaces. I could ride along at 10 or so mph with no problem. It was an interesting jaunt out into the farmland and soybean fields, but not totally satisfactory. The wind was stronger than it's been for a while, and the combination of wind and bumpy roads produced more muscle fatigue than I'd expected. In a slightly related side story, I met our new neighbors today... the ones who bought the red house next to Lynne's. He was wearing a fresh cast on his arm, the result of a collision between him and his bicycle and a car. At the intersection of 152nd and New Holland. The car ran a stop sign, and he hit the car broadside. I did the right thing, and asked him how his bike was. His carbon fiber Madone is no longer functional.

Lake Mac Benches

I believe the phrase goes 'just wearing some of the rubber off the tires.' I had no plan, so ended up riding out to the State Park, then along Lake Macatawa for a while, just enjoying the views and the last days of summer.
Pre-college conferences start tomorrow at Hope, and faculty are required to attend. I won't be there, so I guess that means that I am officially retired... again? Or still?

Hidden Beaches

22 miles.

Most visitors eventually discover the obvious beaches near here. The Holland State Park, Tunnel Park, Kirk Park and the Grand Haven State Park are all clearly marked and well used. There are several other public access points that aren't as well known or as easily accessible. This one, at the end of Van Buren at Lakeshore (duh) doesn't exactly welcome the casual visitor, though it is easy enough to find. The sign says Port Sheldon Township Residents Only.

If you ride further north, past the power plant, and over the top of Hill, there is another very nice beach, though if you're not 'from here' you'll probably never find it. This sign, at the intersection of Lakeshore and Croswell, talks about a Wildlife Habitat Area provided by the power company, but makes no mention of a public beach. Curious.
This sign indicates that there is water off in this direction, but it only mentions Pigeon Lake. Curiouser.
This is not Pigeon Lake, obviously. It is a lovely, sweeping sand beach with hundreds of feet of access to the big lake.
You can see the north pier of Pigeon Lake off to the south of this beach, but access to it is very complicated.
Looking north you can just barely see the house that was the setting of a Tom Hank's movie a few years ago. (The Road to Perdition.)
This sweet, not so little beach sits in the shadow of the power plant, which may partially explain why it isn't a major beach destination.

It's a nice ride down hemlock lined roads to the beach, and I hadn't taken that ride this year until today. I'm glad I did. I also felt like I'd done enough work to justify one of these. You know what, you know where. (No, not New South Wales.)

Villagers

There have been a couple of side trips, including one without a bicycle. This photo is of GZ explaining the likely origin of a rock -- on the outside wall of the Nature Center at Hemlock Crossing Park a couple of days ago.
The sumac growing on our dune were obstructing the view of the lake from the deck, and the men gave the problem some thought, bought a Swede saw, and took care of it. It makes a huge difference.
Multiple trips to Tunnel Park have taken place on most days. Here TJ and his Great Uncle TT return from one of those trips.
More of the villagers returning from the same beach walk. It was a little cooler last night than it has been since the visitors arrived.
The Prairie Princess, with her eagle feathers (okay, maybe not eagle feathers.)
A bike ride to Kirk Park has become an annual ritual for GZ and BB, and time is running short. Today was the day for it this year.
It was a near perfect day for a long bike ride -- the sun came out on the way out, we had a nice tailwind on the first leg, and we found plenty of shelter to minimize the headwind on the return trip.

Free Australia Beach

Two more of the village people arrived late last night, having been delayed a bit by summer storms. This morning TT, PP and I caffeined up and headed out to the local farmer's market. We scored a surprise box of Sweet Jersey blueberries, which are nearly as good as Blue Crop, the berries that we ate while Andy and Mark were here, and much, much better than the dreaded Eliots.
Half the town showed up to shop there this morning, and we bought local green beans, peaches, and tomatoes and enjoyed the crowd scene for a while.
We put most of our purchases to good use at the evening meal. TT made some tasty Asian green beans, that he may put on the food blog eventually. Burgers and cheezy brats, sliced tomatoes and cukes, potato salad, and chocolate pie and blueberry buckle made up the rest of the menu. More of the village people arrived to share the day, the beach and the meal with us. We made up a small crowd all by ourselves.
Returning from Tunnel Park, the COTU and PP had enough energy for some dancing on the beach just before sunset. Cousin fun. Summer without a visit from PP would just be unimaginable.
In a change of pace, tonight's sunset was viewed from the beach instead of the deck. It is hard to get the whole village in one spot for a photo, but this is 8 of the 11 who had dinner here tonight.
I've never seen a smiley face sunset before.... it seemed somehow appropriate. We watched the light fade, then OSLO and her five headed for home. More family time to come.

Not Tahiti

It was hot again here by early afternoon. OSLO reported that her car recorded a temperature of 105 in her driveway, though 90 was the official high in Holland for the day. After getting rained out yesterday morning, GZ and I took the opportunity this morning to get out for a bike ride.
We rode out to Quincy Park in the early morning fog, and saw our first glimpse of blue sky on our way through the golf course at about 10 miles into the ride. The sun came out before we got to the PSPS, and from then on the heat just kept building. A bit over 24 miles, a longish ride for me.
There was a short shopping trip after lunch before OSLO and the COTU arrived. Water high jinks broke out in the swimming hole at the base of the dune, and continued off and on until a supper of leftovers -- rotisserie chicken, brisket, potatoes, gravy, stuffing with wild rice, corn, bean salad, potato salad, sliced tomatoes. The young ones took a walk around the neighborhood with BB before heading for home. Just another day at the beach. There is a rumor that there may be more village people joining us soon.

It's Not The Heat

GZ and I took a bike ride this morning, leaving the house around 8 am. Widespread fog gave a clue to the humidity in the air, though the temperature was reasonable at that point. We stopped in the new Nature Center building at Hemlock Crossing. I refilled my water bottle while GZ asked the attendant where the rocks in the Orientation Rotunda wall came from. Minnesota.
We had a nice chat with the county park people, though they learned more about the rocks from him than he did from them. He's a pretty good amateur geologist, it turns out. The return trip was considerably warmer and the air was noticeably thicker. The rest of the day was spent inside with only occasional trips out of doors. Even BB, the hard core outdoors person, didn't venture out for very long at one time. We did venture out for a quiet dinner at Logan's (two dinners for $14.99), but mostly we just hunkered down and we're waiting it out.

Traditions Persist

"I need air," I gasped as I stumbled in the door from a walk with BB. The high humidity/dew points made it hard for old people (that would be me) to breathe on a casual walk around the neighborhood.
The travelers appear to have successfuly settled in, with the big decisions about drawer space having been settled more or less peacefully. Beef brisket, wild rice, broccoli and sliced tomatoes, just in case you're curious.

Dew Point 75

This will not be one of those years when it will seem like we've been cheated out of summer when the leaves start to change color. The windows on the house were fogged up early this morning -- the dew point was 75, as was the temperature when I got on my bike and rolled out of the garage. I wasn't sure if I was biking, or swimming. I rode the PSPS loop again, with a jog down 160th to see if the cardinal flowers survived another year. There aren't many of them blooming along the edge of that woods.
I took it really easy, stopping often to wipe the moisture off my glasses so that I could see. There wasn't enough wind to even stir up the air, and every once in a while I would ride through a spot that was noticeably colder than the rest of the air -- it was very reminiscent of riding the Yellow River Loop out of the Yellow Lake Lodge a few years ago. My hour and a half ride took an hour and 45 minutes, but I returned alive and no worse for the wear. Today's bonus for getting up and getting out was that I was home before the rain arrived.

Blueberry Blues

I rolled out into the mist this morning, with dew points climbing back into uncomfortable territory. It's been that kind of summer, hot and humid, and it has apparently had an impact on our local blueberry season.
I stopped by Bowerman's later in the morning, with The Beast, and asked what variety of blueberries they were selling. The answer came as a shock to me, as I assume it will to at least a few of you. Elliots. Yes, the dreaded Elliots have replaced the sweet and tender Blue Crops. There was a table in the middle of the room with some marked down berries on it. That was all the Blue Crops that were left, I was told, and they were marked down because they were too soft. Over ripe before they were picked. From the last picking of those fields. I bought them all, and loaded them into the truck and took them to the Bay to store in the refrigerator there. Not that many, maybe 10 pounds or a little more. I have never known a year when Blue Crops were done by August 1st. I hesitated to make this information public, but eventually decided that I must.

Bright Colors

It is theme day again today.