Stonewerks.net

How about a like to a fun site?

Someone has taken entirely too much time in their life to rate all the sax solos in 80’s pop music. And I have taken entirely too much time in my life to sit here and listen to them and chuckle or defend a song I like on the list.

SAX Solos

We did go camping but could not get in to the back country campgrounds, they filled up the day before. There were only a couple of sites left at the Platte River Campground so that is were we stayed at. Since the car was right there we decided to try some things out that we haven’t ever done before.

We did a ranger led tour of native beach plants from Glen Haven down to the Maritime Museum.

It started to rain so we found a pretty decent pizza place in Beulah. Then we headed up to Pyramid Point trail. The mosquitoes were fierce but the view from the top of the bluff was spectacular.

Heading back south on S Port Oneida Road we pulled off on S Lane Road which has a turn out to a secluded section of the beach. There were steps down to the beach but we couldn’t really tell if they were private of public access so we left with out venturing out there.

Then we pulled off 22 onto S Thoreson Road to Sunset Drive to Sunset Trail then right onto South Wheeler Road which Ts into Sunset Shores Drive. Another turn out there and more beautiful beach. This time we went down to the beach and stayed for a little while just taking it all in. There was no one to be seen in any direction and it was magnificent! The lake was so calm, like a sheet of glass.

Made it back to Thoreson Road and checked out an old farm on the federal land. Looks like they are trying to renovate it with volunteer labor. We peeked in the windows and the wood work inside was spectacular. They had boards with old photos on it to work from but the pictures were too far from the window for us to see them. A great house in an amazing location. It was a picture perfect location for a northern Michigan farm.

We stopped off in Glen Arbor for ice cream. Seems like quite a tourist town and nothing like Empire or Beulah. I think sometime when we want to be full on tourists we will stop in and check out the shops and restaurants.

That night it rained and we had some lightning.

Sunday set stuff tent gear out so it could dry while we hiked out to Lake Michigan before most of the campground was sleeping. We sat on the beach watching the waves come in. The day before there was barely a ripple and Sunday it was white caps and strong winds. We sat trying to stay awake against the sounds of waves washing onto shore. I think I did doze off a couple of times. Once we were thoroughly chilled we headed back to camp and loaded up to come home.

That drive home always seems to take twice as long as the trip going up there.

It wasn’t the trip that we had planned, it was still a really good time and now we have found some new places that we will need to explore more fully next time we are there.

We are fully loaded up and gone camping. Be back shortly.

I just finished up with spraying the last spindle on the deck. Over the two evenings I have spent 8 hours just spraying and cleaning the deck in preparation to staining it! I had no idea it was going to take me this long to do and have seriously misjudged the effort needed for this project.

I did run into a problem tonight. I found a rather large nest of bees in a corner of the deck and they were not happy to see me or my power washer. They really were not happy when I turned the power washer on the nest and the tried to sting me. Thankfully I escaped without and stingers in me and I was able to finish the job despite them buzzing me for the rest of the evening.

Tomorrow I will check to make sure I got all the filth off the deck and that it is ready for a new finish. If it is clean then I have to wait a few days for no rain and let the boards dry out from all the water I have sprayed into them. Then once dry, I have to find a window of no rain long enough to get the stain on and time for it to thoroughly set in. Once this job is complete, all we have to do is keep it clean and it should last us for a really long time before this type of effort is needed again.

Deck refinish project photo set.

Tonight I was able to get all the deck boards power washed and about 1/3 of the spindles. It has taken a lot longer than I expected. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to finish washing the rest of the spindles. Once the washing is done then it is just waiting for it to dry then we can apply deck stain.

It is looking nice and I will try to get photos taken tomorrow so you can see it.

The previous owner of our house was foreclosed on and on their way out, along with other stuff, they stole the air conditioning. We have not replaced it yet because it costs a lot and we could use that money for other renovation projects. The problem is that the forecast for tomorrow is for 93 degrees! I would love to have some AC now.

I stumbled across this broadcast on Palladia tonight and I happened to stop and watch. It was Shooter Jennings and Jamey Johnson doing a performance together. It was very good. In between songs it is video of the two talking to each other and then it would go back to a live performance cut of the two together. I will be picking up some Shooter Jennings and Jamey Johnson albums.

I have definitely taken a liking to the outlaw county genre. It has its own station on Sirius and while I can only stand a few minutes of new country, the Outlaw station gets extended play time in my car.

One of the things Marvin excels at is sleeping. He is a top performer when it comes to all things sleeping. This includes sleeping in positions that makes you wonder how on earth he can possibly stay in that position. Not sure how he was able to keep that one back leg elevated but it was in the air for a long time before he woke and repositioned for the next segment of sleep.