A Good Down Hill Run

On the eastern side of the Hamlin Dam Bridge in the Ludington State Park, there is a great hill for hiking up and then running down in the summer.  In fact, I wouldn’t want to pass up trying to either snow board or ski this particular hill in the winter.  However, the hill continues to your right near the bottom for another sixty yards or so still downhill. 

If you are bent on skiing or snow boarding this hill, you might want to consider going just straight when you reach that curve.  I have seen grown men hurdle young kids as they hit that blind spot on the hill at the curve, not being able to see around it when they are at full tilt.

If you’re thinking of skiing this hill, you and Lake Michigan will not be joining up as the hill would take you closer to the Big Sable River than the former.  And, with all our recent chatter regarding the Ward Hill Ski Area, why not try this run in the winter instead?  In that way you won’t have to “Watch out for that tree” which you would have to do at Ward Hills.

Sand dunes!  They just aren’t for summer anymore!  Now where did I put my saucer?

What A Day to Drive In!

Usually a drive from Ludinton to Scottville takes ten minutes or so, that is, except in the winter. If Ludington gets a lake effect snow, that same ten minute drive can stretch into an hour. Now don’t get me wrong. Usually the Michigan Highway Department gets right on the dime with highway clearing and does an excellent job in so doing, but lake effect snow is a challenge to anyone.

And, it’s never just the road condition either.  One has to endure all those idiot drivers out there that don’t know how to drive in these conditions.  Some go too slow while others think they’re on some sort of speedway and I hate to be in front of those idiots.  They want to pass you and they do but slipping and sliding all the way.

The older people like to drive about five miles an hour and then that trip would beg to be just an hour.  I don’t like to pass during lake effect snow storms because the visibility is so poor.  But, to be honest, I rarely drive my vehicle in this kind of weather opting instead for my snowmobile where  I can set my own pace.  I also don’t necessarily have to follow the beaten path that being the highway.

Oh well, winter comes but once a year.  Great, isn’t it?

Joplin Boys Club Kitchen

I really like the Joplin Boys Club kitchen in the new building. It serves the kids well for two meals a day. I wonder if they teach cooking to the girls and boys there? I wonder if that’s part of their schedule? In the old building cooking class was very popular. I once took two girls on the Carol Parker show to demonstrate cooking. As soon as the camera focused on them they froze. So much for the cooking demonstration. Outside of that the cooking class was very popular even though we didn’t have the appliances that the new Boys Club now has in their kitchen. Bone appetite.

A Fantastic Lake and Forest

I never tire of the Manistee National Forest which is chock full of lakes, rivers, and streams. It seems as if each county within the forest has its own charm.   Often I would ike to just walk in one of these pictures and live there forever.  Mike says the same thing about locations on the Little Manistee River. 

Michigan Highway 37 snakes its way through the Manistee National Forest from White Cloud to just short of Traverse City.  I love that journey because with each passing mile another superb scene of nature appears.  nd going off the beaten trail you find even more of these scenes for this one was taken on just one such road off of Michigan 37.

The clouds really make this picture.  Now don’t get me wrong as I dearly love my home near Scottville but I can always dream about living at nearly every place I photograph.  That is why Michigan is my favorite state for it has everything possible in it.  And, do you know that of all the states it has the most miles of shoreline?  I heard that on the television program Jeopardy.  What a state!

The Harvest Moon

I really enjoyed camping in Florida with the Bradenton Boys Club because even in the winter time it doesn’t get all that cold at night. We camped out at a nearby Forest with no water in sight accept what was in our canteens. I wanted no chance of meeting an alligator at night. What we did get to see was a beautiful bright moon which helped us on a night hike. Steve and Billy were our flashlight carriers as I only use them in case of emergency. When we got back to our tents we stirred up the campfire and roasted marshmallows. I told them a few ghost stories before bedtime. It was a great one night camping trip and all the boys pitched in to make it even better.

The Lights and Music of the Loon Lake Roller Rink

You could see the reflection of the colored lights on Loon Lake almost from every point of the lake, not to mention the theatre organ type music resounding off the waters. Inside was the slightly warped floor, the shutters flung open on warm nights so one could observe the night sky over Loon Lake, and that organ music belting out the tunes. Now and then all skaters had to leave the floor giving way to couples or all women or all men. I seem to recall some sort of ball that reflected different colors throughout the evening depending on the musical number.

I recall a side room with dairy queen like ice cream and a few pinball machines. As I said in another post, before this was a roller rink it served as a dance club. Otto Bartlett owned both the roller rink and the Big Bass Lake store so he was an early tycoon in the area. His daughter, Dixie, was a superb roller skater.

In the 1950’s when my family spent a few weeks at our family farm on Big Bass Lake we made several evening trips to that roller rink. They need another one on Loon Lake or better yet, Big Bass Lake.