A weekend with our friends Up North

John wore his horse out!



We had a great, fun time with John, Christie, Nick and Carolyn Listerman at the cottage. John, Carolyn, Francie and I went to Ranch Rudolf to go horseback riding. I was the photographer and everyone else went riding. While horseback riding, Nick and Wally took out the bb guns and mutilated the remaining Lilly pads on the lake and scared most little living things that moved. They probably shot off a thousand BBs with their bb guns. Cristie managed to squeeze in some well earned "me" time and just relaxed and read a book, the cottage is really good for that. After everyone charged up their batteries, we headed downtown to Traverse City to shop and tour. Lots of goodies to be found. Then for the grand finale, we hit the world famous Peegeo's for pizza and wings, man were we full. It was good times with good friends! Come back again, we had a great time!

2 Sep 06: Lake Bellaire and Wrapping it Up: Part 4

Lake Bellaire was the end of the route for us although I believe you can continue on to Intermediate Lake if your boat has a low profile due to a bridge. It will be the next trip. Lake Bellaire is another silent beauty, quiet and prestine. We raced to the North end then turned around with the wind and waves at our backs we pushed LuLu Belle to 41mph! It was smooth and fun.
It was time to return so we pointed our bow South and made the return voyage retracing our steps as Columbus had in days gone by... Oh come on, where's your sense of adventure!

2 Sep 06: Grass River Natural Area: Part 3

The Grass River Natural Area connects Clam Lake to Lake Bellaire. This is a protected area full of wildlife and natural beauty. It is a no wake area and takes about 1 hour travel time to go from Clam Lake to Lake Bellaire. There are several creeks one is actually call Cold Creek and yes it is "COLD". Why don't you stop off stop off and test your cold weather conditioning as we did. We chickened out after about 3 minutes before are ankles grew numb. There are lots of places to pull up the boat all along the river and go swimming or just hang out. The river mostly is only about 4 feet deep and runs probably 3-4 knots but I'm not sure. Its a wonderful boating area and a "must see" for the family. I imagine if you go around sunset or sunrise the images would be indeliable and unequalled. I will without doubt make this a often travelled place.

2 Sep 06: Chain of Lakes; Torch River and Torch Lake: Part 2

Here are some picture of Torch River and Torch Lake; we visited "the Sandbar" on the Southend of Torch Lake at about 11am, the party hadn't started yet, there were only about 20 boats there; as you can see, when we returned the party was raging and I estimated about 200-250 boats and 500-600 people just having a good time. Wally and Francie were bouncing along at 35mph on Torch Lake.

2 Sep 06: Chain of Lakes Michigan: Part 1

We (Ray, Wally, Francie and Cisco ~ Mom had to start the new job and was left behind) finally were able to take the Chain of Lakes trip which started from Whitewater Township Park ramp at Elk Lake, to Lake Skegemog, to Torch River, To Torch Lake, to Clam River to Clam Lake to Grass River Natural Area to Lake Bellaire. I planned 48 miles of water travel; 14 miles SLOW GO and 34 miles FAST GO >20 mph for a total travel time of 6.75 hours; gas consumption was estimated at 9 gal for a 90 hp Honda on a 19ft Carolina Skiff (Lulu Belle). The estimates were conservative and worked out about right; we finished with a half tank gas and well within our time limit. We were movin on Torch Lake as it was very calm in the morning and we had the wind at our backs on Lake Bellaire and were crusing at 41mph. This was absolutely a great trip and all the lakes are magnificant but Torch is just amazing; it truly is like being in the Carribean, emerald bluish green.Take money for gas, there are several stops along the way for both gas and food; compass, rain gear; food/water, blankets, coats, radio, flashlights and cell phone. Here is the website with specific information on the Chain of Lakes route http://www.fishweb.com/maps/antrim/chain-o-lakes/index.html