Summer 2023 Northwoods visit

Our summer 2023 Northwoods adventure to Michigan and Wisconsin would not be complete without a recap of what happened immediately before this trip...As you can see in the picture above, Hope is wearing a hospital bracelet.  For months, Hope had been experiencing increasingly bad lower back and leg issues due to a deteriorating disk pushing on one of her nerves.  We were finally able to schedule her a surgery for mid-June--the picture above was us taken at the Little Rock hospital early enough that morning that it is still quite dark outside (that is the window outside behind us).  Below, Hope hams it up for the camera just before being carted off to her outpatient surgery:

Her procedure was pretty quick and seems to have helped a lot, but it hasn't fully healed even yet, and she's still got some discomfort.  However, shortly after this procedure (and still benefiting from the pain medicines she was given), we were able to go out and purchase a new (to us) used car--a 2012 Hyundai Tucson with low miles that we are going to let the kids use:

We did not take the Tucson to Michigan--more on that later--but we did drive up to visit Hope's dad less than two weeks later in two vehicles (more on that later, too!).  Below, you can see Hope and Stephen visiting with Rick Pruden.  Beth and Kenny did not join us in Michigan (more on that later as well!)...

Rick's yard is filled with plantings and various gardens, many of which offer feasts of fruit in the summer.  Below are some of the black raspberries that were ripening during our visit (that's Rick's arm in the picture):

Not surprisingly, then, there is a lot of wildlife to see--probably more than you'd expect for being only a few hundred yards from what is basically an interstate highway in a bedroom community to Ann Arbor!  We were treated by a visit by a pair of sandhill cranes and their much smaller chick:

We also had visits from many other birds as well as deer, rabbits, and a skunk!  We took advantage of one day to drive to Dearborn, Michigan, which is very close to Detroit.  Dearborn (home of Ford Motor Company) now has a large Middle Eastern community from many of the countries in that region, and abounds with that region's cuisine.  Below is a snack shop we visited (mostly seasoned nuts, seeds, and individually wrapped candies and chocolates) that smelled amazing and tasted awesome:

Just down the road we visited the Middle Eastern bakery below and got a number of very tasty small pastries:

We then went to a great Middle Eastern restaurant just a few blocks away.  Not all of this visit was about eating--there was also some serious puzzle work, and indulgence of a lazy cat:

We (Hope and I) only saw Rick for a few days--he and Stephen had a different adventure planned!  After a shaky start (due to some flight changes), Rick and Stephen boarded a plane at Detroit Metro airport and flew to Hawaii for most of the next week!  Sounds like they had a great time exploring a few of the islands...

In the meantime, Hope and I drove up to Rhinelander.  En route, we stopped at a really neat location--Kitch-iti-kipi (Ojibwe for "Big Spring") Spring in Palms Book State Park (https://www.michigandnr.com/parksandtrails/details.aspx?id=425&type=SPRK), not far off of US Highway 2 near Manistique.  For decades we have driven past this park, but never stopped...given that we had time and good weather, we figured it was time to do so, and boy was it worth the price of admission!  As you can see in the picture below, the clear water flows up through light-colored sands and produces an amazing set of colors--yes, it really was that blue!

There is a raft with an openbottom that you can ride in that gets pulled onto the spring pond, and you can see the swirling sand as the water bubbles up (don't worry, Hope was careful not to drop her phone into the water!

This spring pond is very deep--like 40-50 feet deep--and has a bunch of large trout swimming around in it...I would guess the fish pictured below are at least two feet long, and dozens of feet below us!

After our brief stop at this park, we continued on to Rhinelander, and spent most of the next ten days visiting with my folks and various siblings who came swinging through.  Below, my sister Lisa talks with mom back by their fire pit:

We also treated mom to an antiquing trip to Minocqua, and then tried out a good burger place near Arbor Vitae.  As you can see below, mom liked her burger:

At the beginning of June, Beth had flown up to spend 5+ weeks with her grandparents in Rhinelander.  She was able to help them a lot during this time period, for which we are all very grateful!  (That is why Beth didn't join us in Michigan).  Beth also helped with driving them around in the sport utility my brother Bob lent them--mom and dad's minivan has had some serious problems, and is requiring some extensive repairs.  Hence, Bob's "loaner"--and our old minivan, which Hope drove up on this trip from Arkansas so they've got a car to drive while waiting on theirs to be fixed.

I found the time one morning to run off on my own...My plan had been to try fishing in a lake I'd never visited before up in Forest County (about an hour from Rhinelander), but when I arrived I found the reel I had brought was broken.  So, instead I explored some of the nearby old-growth forests, and found some really large hemlocks, like the ones pictured below:

Fortunately for me, that wasn't my only chance to go fishing--at the end of our visit, I got to spend most of the afternoon and evening fishing a local lake with my buddy Kevin.  While did not catch any "lunkers", we did have fun catching the fish we did, and the weather was pretty good:

As you can see in the picture above, we had a very nice sunset as well, thanks to those big wildfires in Canada!  The next day we said our goodbyes to my parents and headed down towards the Madison area to meet up with Rick Pruden (and get Stephen back from him).  We spent most of Saturday visiting my brother Bob and his girl Nancy and had some good pizza at a local restaurant and some great chicken wings that Bob cooked that evening.  The picture below was taken by our server at the pizza place:

We left the next morning to drive back to Arkansas.  So, the reason Kenny didn't join us is that he is spending 5 weeks this summer doing his archeology field school, a required part of his college degree program.  Kenny's in northwestern Arkansas not too far out of Fayetteville helping to excavate a historical pottery kiln.  Below, Kenny works on mapping a brick and stone scatter he has helped to expose:

This pottery operated after the Civil War and produced stoneware ceramics for a decade or two, and is in pretty good shape (for not being standing anymore):

This field school has been a great experience for Kenny; he's learned a lot and made a bunch of new friends (most of his fellow students are from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville).

Just yesterday we went to Monroe, Louisiana, on a quest for some building supplies, and while en route we stopped at a neat little aviation museum in that town...where Hope hammed it up with a World War II plane:

We are surviving a hot (and wet, for us) summer here in Arkansas, and before you know it, the kids will be off to their respective schools--Stephen back to Monticello High School, Kenny back for his senior year at Michigan Tech, and Beth will soon be starting her first year at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville!  Where does the time go?