Author: Susie

Hi my dear blog friends… Yesterday we drove to Sault Ste Marie from Mackinaw City and took the "Soo locks tour." When explorers decided it would be a good thing to get boats into Lake Superior from Lake Huron… they couldn’t get boats through the rapids between the 2 rivers; Superior is 21 feet higher than Huron… so they built locks.  Been there done that.  Then we crossed the border into Canada, ate lunch in a park looking back on the Soo locks boat terminal and then went to the "I" (the information center.)  The really nice lady at the "I" suggested that rather than going to Sudbury and turning south, we turn south sooner and go through an island to the ferry and over to Tobermory.  She must have recognized our love for harbors and anything to do with water… so off we went.  The ferry was scheduled to go at 8:15 and the GPS was saying 7:15 eta.  The "I" had said we would be there by 5:30.  Well as it turns out, our GPS must not recognize that the mileage # is in kilometers which is about 50% less than miles.  So I sweated missing the ferry a little… and we arrived at 5:30.  We can use the GPS for directions only.  The ferry was huge and we arrived on time at 8:30pm in Tobermory.  Checked into the Princess a little hotel overlooking the harbor and awoke to a drizzly cool day… Will walk through the harbor, look into art galleries etc and then meander towards Saint Catherine north of Niagara Falls.  All is well but, like Dorothy…   "There’s no place like home…"  Love and God bless our friends at Saint Peters church on Big Pine Key who are sick.  Pray my dears for an end of suffering and war.  Today Pope Francis has asked us to pray.  Love Sue

Fish is the name of the game here on Lake Huron.  We’re moving through so much country that I have trouble remembering what state we’re in and what Lake we’re on…  Today is the shore of Lake Huron in Mackinaw City, Michigan. Last night we tried to go on a sunset cruise on the Ugly Anne, but the waves were too high under the bridge so we’re going to try again tonight. The weather is amazing. Sunny and warm, but need a light jacket.   Lots of sea birds (mostly sea gulls and geese). We stopped in at the American Legion last night before going to the Irish pub… and today stopped in again at the Legion to see if the same guys were there… different guys and they suggested we should go over the top through Sault St Marie ("the Soo") because the border crossing is so much easier and the ride south past the Georgian Bay is so much prettier than going on I75 through the peninsula.  It is the same I75 we drive in Florida!  So….. tomorrow morning we will go north back over that 5 mile suspension bridge (yikes… my edgeophobia will be in full gear) to turn south at the "Soo" and then come south along the Canadian Lake (Georgian Lake) and cross into Niagara Falls from the north.  Eating our way in fish through Michigan… burp. God bless you!

Sitting on the western shore of Lake Michigan, on a bench dedicated to a lady who passed away a year ago (born in my year, 1947), with artist paint on my fingers, I take up the computer as pen to try to project this amazing beauty that Miami and Key West mimic, and sometimes best. The besting part is that one can sit by southern waters 365/24/7 and never need more than a light coat.  Several Wisconsinites have stopped by my bench to comment on my painting and to say, “That light coat you’re wearing… multiply it by 3 for our winters!" With a gesture towards the harbor, they finish with, "This will be ice.” The thought of ice from my cozy bench all the way to the 2 light houses makes me shiver in anticipation.  It will be cold tomorrow I think as we search for a place to sit outside in St. Ignace at the top of the Michigan peninsula where Lake Michigan meets Lake Huron.  As a self taught artist, I look at my painting of the lighthouse and think “the perspective is wrong… it’s really not that color… etc” but what counts is trying to receive the beauty and save it.  Everywhere we go (museums, stores, restaurants) we try to support local work.  Like today supporting the Ice Cream Parlor that has been active since the early 1900s as a family business and the Maritime Museum where we visited the submarine Cobia who sank 13 Japanese ships worth about 20,000 tons of enemy shipping. She was restored for the waterfront here.  She is faithfully restored and beautiful and we thank the people of Manitowoc who love her.  When the Cobia stories are told, included is a story about a sailor named Ralph Clark Huston who was killed on the Cobia by Japanese gunfire in a "running gun battle" and buried at sea.  The Cobia was driven into the mud by depth charges by the Japanese ship that sank the USS Losarto, but the Cobia survived. Also celebrated in Manitowoc is the USS Losarto who was built in Manitowoc and sunk by a Japanese ship in 1945. There is a day of remembrance here in Manitowoc, and the USSVI (the convention we just attended) was formed by WWII vets to "remember."  As congressmen men and women debate marching into Syria with our bombs, I wish we would "remember" and stop going to war. … In our tolling of the boats ceremony, we celebrate the lost submariners and say they are “On eternal patrol.”  Well the young man supposedly stayed with the Cobia for lost things are returned, and other mysterious events occur… Let us say thank you young soldiers and sailors. I’m looking up at 2 lighthouses… this is the western end of Lake Michigan and I guess she blows here sometimes to need 2 lighthouses! I tried to paint them… (This was written at sunset on Tuesday evening) … I also watched sunrise and we’re packing to head north around the peninsula on Wednesday morning!  God bless you.

Today (Labor Day, Monday) we say goodbye to the Mississippi and seriously head east to Manitowoc, Wisconsin.  Actually yesterday when we arrived from Rochester into Winona, we took the bridge next to our hotel into Wisconsin for lunch.  We are in a small motel called AmericInn (I feel a little funny about them not spelling out America).  We have a tiny balcony that holds 2 chairs overlooking the Mississippi river.  We sat out there and talked to the many motorcyclists parking below and touring the roads… You can drive a long way up and down the Mississippi on small roads which is nice.  Today we head east to a town on another body of water… Lake Michigan. We met two ladies from the Maritime Museum there who offered to show us their submarine the USS Cobia. Looking back… yesterday we visited the Minnesota Marine Art Museum here in Winona. A small museum with a brilliant exibition that is here from August 6 to October 20 of this year. Illuminating the Word: The Saint John’s Gospel. The Benedictine Monks at the St John’s University in Minnesota decided to produce an illustrated Bible and chose a brilliant calligrapher and artist out of Wales (Donald Jackson.) If you get the chance… look on the web and even purchase parts of the Bible (it is reproduced in smaller forms than its original and you can purchase for example, Gospels and Acts, Letters, Revelation, ect.) The original is 3 feet by 2 feet when open and it is amazing colors enhanced by much Gold. Images of God and angels are gold… UknowWho is in darkest ebony and purple colors…   Ended the day with a stroll along the Mississippi and will begin today with a short jaunt along the banks of the river before crossing her for the last time this trip headed east.  Love to you and God bless you.

Saturday August 31, was an amazing day. The best! I thought I would stay in the room and "clean up" as the room and every crevice is full of "stuff".  We have collected Navy memories and information paperwork on the next 3 conventions (SFO, Pittsburgh, Reno)… For now, let’s talk about yesterday… We heard music in our room (we overlook Peace Plaza) and Chuck looked out and said, "they’re putting up tents" I looked out and said, "there’s a Jamison tent." Suddenly we realized there are leprechauns and fairies down there, and a band on the stage. Grab a cuppa coffee and out we go. We started listening to music and Chuck said "you need a tee shirt" and it was down hill from there. We listened to a wonderful band, a trio, a couple (all very Irish and with amazing beautiful voices). I had committed to go with several ladies on a trolly that was running especially for us to the Convent at Assissi on the heights.  The founding sister is the one who told Dr. Mayo if he staffed it she would build a hospital in Rochester. He did and she did. St Mary’s is the first of many Mayo buildings. The sisters are committed to working for Peace. I came back and went into a quiet room to watch a DVD on County Cork and ended up buying the DVD.  It is wonderful (did I say wonderful already?). Then I went to Mass for the last time and said goodbye to the big angel in the garden, and back to dress for the banquet.  Rear Admiral Mark Kenny (submarine commander and now in Naval support of counterterrorism and special ops) was our speaker. He gave a few statistics that I still haven’t got completely right… After Pearl Harbor the submarine force represented under 2% of the entire Navy. We headed out into the Pacific and destroyed about 60% of Japanese shipping at great loss; submarine deaths represented 20% of Naval deaths.  We celebrated the WWII veterans and then moved forward through cold war and into the nuclear age… I thought, "these guys here are pioneers and we are still out there…"  Several quotes from the dinner:  "Fortune favors the bold"  Submarines are "lurking where there is trouble… prowling the deep… pride runs deep… operating in denied areas… alone and unafraid."  He said, don’t listen to the stuff coming out of Washington… "don’t lose hope."  To close… in May a Submarine memorial will be dedicated in Washington DC, so don’t be surprised if we disappear North to celebrate that.   In a moment we’ll say goodbye to this convention and Rochester and head east to Winona and the Maritime museum there.  Mississippi River, here we come!  Heading East… God bless you.

Hi dear friends. What a great few days we have had in Rochester Minnesota. We had a tour to Lanesboro (a small art community) and 4 Daughters Winery with lunch.  The vineyard broke up the corn plots.  With the miracle of modern science, farmers are able to grow vines that withstand winters of 20 to 40 degrees below zero.  Next day we went on a tour of a nearby Amish community and a farm. I am so spoiled!  The farmer drew us into the barn to talk about livestock, and it was all I could do to listen and look interested as I dodged cowpies and flies and tried to breathe! Life lived simply is hard. … The Amish youngsters and women live bare footed, with hats and long sleeved blouses, they don’t seem to notice the smell of manure or the flies. The children seem small to me… we talked to two 14 year old boys who are finished with school and already working the fields and work shops. They seemed so small, but the men are bigger.  The farm wife cooked a meal for us and fed about 60 sailors and brides lunch in her front yard under trees. She fed us full and then brought out 5 kinds of dessert and home made ice cream!  Some of the women and I noticed her feet and ankles (we would have our mothers in the emergency room due to the purple veins standing out on her lower legs)… then my cohort reminded me she had probably had 14 children and maybe was in her late 50s…  yikes are we spoiled. We visited a wheelwright and buggy maker, and all I can say is God bless them for trying to live a simple life so as to be closer to God.  It got hot and we were overcome (96 degrees).  That evening Chuck and I walked through a street festival where he bought me two hand made ceramic angels and a beautiful cross. With a cold beer (ice in mine) we walked over to Soldiers Field Veterans Memorial for the Tolling of the Boats. We looked at the Honor Bell that Rochester women have refitted and carry around Minnesota to memorial and patriotic celebrations and then settled in to remember 65 lost boats that are considered to be on eternal patrol. Submarines represent about 1 1/2 percent of the total Naval force, but percentage wise they lost more boats while sinking great quantities of enemy vessels. A young lady from the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, Minnesota on the Mississippi led the flags in carrying a large bald eagle on her arm. The ceremony was prayer, the National Anthem, the Pledge of Allegiance and the naming of the boats and bell tolling with each name and the number of men lost. We closed with prayer and Taps. Today (Friday) I was able to get to Mass again and then we jumped on a bus and went to the National Eagle Center and then to a paddle boat ride on a big lake in the middle of the Mississippi River. Dave called to say the Univeristy of Miami played a football game while we were out, and … well I hope they won. Tomorrow I might get up to the Franciscan sisters retreat center with some ladies. I slipped into the ladies luncheon after Mass and listened to a sister of 60 years in the convent talk about "Family." Basically her message to us is try to create a space in life in which we live the Gospel. Accept one another in gladness (conscious of our own weakness and need for healing – welcome others). Give praise to God by being conscious of the gifts of the earth (she tends bees and gardens and helps with causes such as defense of women against sexual and labor slavery). Strive to bring about change for the good. How do we do good things? Every day, receive the day and bring about good. Keep faith growing and love flowing.  So what better way to close this night?  God bless you dear readers.

When we pulled into Rochester, I felt like it was the Jackson Memorial Hospital, Univ of Miami, Bascom Palmer hospital complex in Miami, but ever so much cleaner and with well thought out "subways" that connect parking to buildings and gardens. This morning (Tuesday) I took up a map and walked all over the underground system, coming out occasionally to visit gardens. Found St John the Evangelist church which has a beautiful garden with a big statue of an angel (I think it is Michael) holding a baby.  We ate breakfast with old friends and we have tours on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  The weather will be hot with heat warnings but I can stay underground except when on tours.  We have a big peace garden right next to the hotel that I have to go out and explore yet… God bless you!

A glance back at the week past:  We took the boat out every lunch time and had a meal at one of the local places on the lake. We would sit just like we do in Key West and people/ duck/ bird watch and eat. I packed most of the food up for a 7pm snack. I noted the following:  "Mother Nature is having a great day. The lake is calm and serene. I watched a large gaggle of birds (geese?) fly in formation. The leaders dropped back, others took their place and the entire herd changed formation and reemerged as the V they are supposed to fly in."  We had lazy days in Clear Lake… When our friends Tim and Kyla were with us I walked the dog who is very cute and loves Chuck who gave the dog too many treats!!!!   I went to Mass at 8:30 am every day and on Friday, Mass was at a care center where I met some lovely people. One lady said she wasn’t sick, just old. She looked wonderful!  After Mass, routine was drink coffee and paint, work on a puzzle (we completed 500 and 1000 piece puzzles), read, whatever. The hot water heater misbehaved and our friend Tim called the building manager and a plumber so we hosted them and they worked very efficiently.  In Miami and the Keys, our friend Dave showed Chuck how to reboot the hot water heater, but this one had been rebooted a lot and it was ready to be replaced.  It was replaced because it was old.  Made me think of what we do in our throw away society… throw away the old… never mind; don’t go there!   My knees have been hurting with a lot of walking so I had to give up long walks, I hope temporarily. Several people have told me about people who have had knees replaced in their early 60s and even sooner.  I am NOT looking forward to that even though the orthopedic surgeon I saw in January is cute… I’m just not looking forward to the big cut and the pain. I loosened up leg muscles with Kyla who was going for a run, and then I took a long walk, and my knees didn’t hurt afterwards.  I will try to keep exercising, but  I might have to trust the wisdom of the surgeon who told me my knees are bad. Like the hot water heater, old knees that get cranky get thrown out because they’re old. On Monday morning (August 26th) we packed up and loaded the van for the less than 2 hour drive to Rochester.  Driving into the hotel was like driving into Jackson Memorial hospital…  The convention hotel is directly across the street from Mayo treatment center. There are many hospitals and 2 churches in walking distance (St John Evangelist and St Francis of Assisi). I will be able to go to daily Mass tomorrow and get a bulletin and schedule.  Also there will be street market and festival on Thursday.  We brought our chairs.  We are taking 2 guys out for dinner whom we made friends with at past conventions and we look forward to sharing old stories!  Have a wonderful week. God bless you!

Beer’s good. Boat starts. Mother Nature seems a little iffy…. she would like to rain, but I think she’s holding out.  Chuck and I are sitting in a quiet corner of PM Park where we can get a burger and a beer in air conditioned comfort with WiFi… and I was watching the children playing outside… then the food arrived at the outside table where their Moms were sitting and the children ran in from many corners to eat. 2 Moms and about 6 children.  Then it apparently started sprinkling and in they came. How cute.  Little children on vacation. Chuck reminded me of the story telling we heard in Santa Fe where the giant said: "I think I want to eat little children!"  Naughtiness abounds. I think Chuck and I need adult supervision.  We have somewhat planned our trip east after our week in Rochester… will reveal more later.  God bless you!

Thursday we left our haven with Christy in Denver where the 10+ pound cat jumped up on our bed with a big woomp and if it was unlucky enough to get near Susie’s feet, was unceremoniously kicked off to a loud lummmmpf. Mostly the cat slept on the floor or in our suitcases, but it did spend some time at our feet which was fun.  We packed after a week at Christy’s and the cat was inconsolable, slipping into every open suitcase, hiding under piles of dirty laundry, watching very closely if the garage door got opened… OK so we said “we’ll take you with us.” Christy said we couldn’t take the cat… We drove to Lincoln,  Nebraska, and I was really impressed (as I usually am when we drive across America)… As we left Denver behind us, the mountains disappeared and the plains began.  Corn fields and cows abound and not much else.  When we stopped for gas, there was nothing but the gas station… It felt a little odd. 7 hours of corn fields and nothing else.  We drove into Lincoln which is the home of the big red “N”… The Nebraska Cornhuskers.  We drove through town and saw the University and several concert halls, ate dinner, and then off to bed.  We continued to drive on route 80 which is an interstate that takes the course of the old pony express riders’ trails… a straight line across the plains into Des Moines. Route 80 continues east, but we turned north and headed up to Clear Lake where we are right now (Friday evening)!  Basking in middle America sunlight and looking out over the big lake in the town where the music died (Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper performed their last concert here at the Surf Ballroom and then crashed).  We will launch the boat and go to dinner when Tim arrives. All is well. Saturday passed with eating sweet corn and beef and boating… and a vigil Mass at St Patrick church. …. Sunday meanders to a close as people leave the lake to go back home wherever that is.  I can drive easily to the small Catholic Church in town where I can go when they have daily Mass (Tuesday, Wed, Thursday).  We take the boat across the lake to town and the VFW (where I will send this message via Wi Fi next time we go) and we ear sweet corn and burgers or go to one of the several lake side eateries… like pubs where we can catch a picnic table and watch sunset.  Last night sunset was spectacular. The moon is half full and a giant planet hangs in the west after sunset. I’m thinking Saturn, Kyla thought it was Mars…    We’re also working on a puzzle of Key West that Tim and Kyla graciously provided. I don’t have internet access here at the lake and we might have to go across the lake into town to find a wi fi spot … look for me to emerge every once in a while with tales of the lake. God bless you.   Ps: Monday morning, Tim and Kyla are back in Des Moines (with Tim working to pay our social security) and we woke up to a little cloudy and 60 degrees.  Chuck chose to lounge and read and drink coffee while I took off to the north around the lake… I only walked for about a mile (21 minutes) before turning back, and it was all wonderful… It’s like Big Pine Key’s cousin… walk along the lake and the shore across the way looks like an island. Houses look over the lake and it’s like we’re home on Big Pine / Doctor’s Arm /Coral Way.  The “only difference” is this place will be covered with 5 feet of snow come November. They melt out around May and start really boating in June, and close up the sidewalks in September. One of many good parts about visiting at this time of year is the sales in the small shops that will close for the winter in Sept.  It warmed up and we launched the boat and came over to town to hang out in the VFW for the beer and WI FI.  It’s windy and they don’t have cleats on the town dock, so Chuck was a little concerned about leaving the boat… …. But we’ll leave here and go back on the lake to an outdoor restaurant to eat, read and paint..   Love to you, God bless you.