Photos from Connaway Anniversary and B-Day

Mid August Update

Wow, the summer has flown by rapidly! We are heading into cool weather here in Indiana already. It is getting down into the low 50’s at night. In Michigan the mercury is dipping into the high 30’s in early morning. When we are up at our cabin, we are using sleeping bags at night. They feel very toasty warm when you are in them, zipped up tight, especially if there happens to be a warm blooded Beagle in there with you, but when you wake up at 5:30 with an urge to go to the bathroom, it is a mental battle to unzip that bag and dash to the toilet. Our cabin has no insulation in it and it gets very cold inside at night. We are going up this weekend and one of the items I am packing in the Jeep is a Kerosene heater.
I am sure it will get fired up during that 5:30 am dash for relief! Since Sue Ann does not know how to operate the Kero Heaters, I am sure that I will be involved in the early morning dash, even if I don’t need to be.
John and Vivian Connaway celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary this month. Family and friends gathered for the event and Vivian’s 80th birthday was also celebrated. Sue Ann’s sister and niece traveled from California for the events. We enjoyed their visit especially while they were able to stay with us in Ossian. We enjoyed eating too much and watching the Olympics with them.
I will upload some photo highlights in the next posting, that were taken by Sue Ann. I did not go to Centralia with the girls. I was in Michigan trying to finish up the wiring on the cabin so that we can have an Inspection done. I was able to complete all the wiring except for a couple lights that need to be installed in the crawl space. The County Code requires that several safety features be in place and the crawl space lights are just one of them. I took Cooper, our 5 year old male Beagle with me. I violated Sue Ann’s rules for Dog safety by allowing Cooper to ride in the front seat of the Jeep during the drive up. It is a 5 hour trip and I enjoyed his company. He did fine. He also kept tabs on me while I worked alone in the cabin. I ran a line, about 75 feet long, from the cabin porch post to a tree out in the front yard. I attached his 15 foot leash to this line, giving him quite a bit of freedom to wander and hunt for Ground Squirrels. He had a nice time and was no trouble at all. And he did enjoy that warm sleeping bag at night.
This week my Dad is having tests run at one of the larger Hospitals in Fort Wayne. They will help to determine the best treatment for an Aneurysm very similar to the one that John Connaway had repaired earlier this summer. We are hoping and praying for a positive outcome and speedy recovery for Harold. He wants to get back to Florida with Mary Lou and their Pets as fast as possible!
We hope to do some relaxing this weekend at the cabin. I will celebrate my 56th Birthday on Friday. My gift is a big hammock! I can’t wait to find a couple stout trees to hang it from. I am sure Sue Ann will take a photo so that I can show you my gift. We also intend to get those Kayaks wet. We have worked so hard this summer that we have not had them out once. Should be fun.
That’s all I have for now. I’ll post more after this weekend.
Take Care!

Busy Summer

Hello to all.

It's been quite a while since I have done an update so here goes.
Right now I am sitting at the kitchen table with Vivian Connaway. She is asking me to tell her a joke! I will keep it clean! We are in Illinois for a long overdue visit. It's been fun to catch up on news, and see for ourselves how well John is doing after his surgery. He seems fine.
Next weekend we travel to Michigan for another weekend of Wiring. Hopefully the last one. I just need to run some lighting in the crawl space and tie up some loose ends here and there. Then we wait for an Inspector to come out to the cabin and look over my work. I hope he likes what he sees.
We took time to go to Cleveland last weekend to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Sue Ann's cousin Cathy and her family. I really enjoyed visiting the home in Euclid Ohio where I attended Grades 7 through 9. Is was really nice to see that my old school and house are still looking fine. It was a fun "overnight" for all of us. I have included a couple photos of the trip and also some photos taken in Michigan.
It's been a busy and quick summer so far.
Here are the photos. A self portrait by Sue Ann.This is our favorite place to go to dinner while we are at the cabin. This resturant overlooks a very nice lake.

Indoor Plumbing!!

Finally we are seeing the fruits of our labor on the cabin. Last weekend I was able to hook up the stool, shower and a utility sink. Plus we have hot water! We are moving ever closer to being able to stay inside the cabin on weekends. I am about a fourth of the way done on the wiring, and I hope to get most of it completed over the Fourth of July weekend as we will will be there for 4 full days. We will take the Kayaks along on the next trip also. Too much work and no play is not good, so we hope to do some exploring of one of the nearby lakes by Kayak.

We have been taking our dogs with us on the last few trips and they seem to enjoy being up there. Sue Ann has kept the dogs busy with walks and she has also taken several great photos. See the shots she has taken below.

Our neighbors on both side of us are really nice folks, and we enjoy seeing them and comparing notes on cabin construction. We have also visited several resturants in the area and we have found all the people up there to be very friendly and helpful.

We are very happy with the area we chose and now we live for the weekends in Michigan!

June News

Hi all,

It's been a while since my last posting so here goes.
Sue Ann's father is healing from a major surgery, as I mentioned on the last post. He seems to be doing well, although his strength was sapped by the procedure. Sue Ann and her sister stayed with her parents for as long as they needed to and now they are both back home. I missed Sue Ann BIG TIME!

I spoke to John on the phone recently and although he is still very weak, he seems to be getting back to normal.

Sue Ann and I went to Michigan this past weekend to work and to relax. I think we accomplished both tasks. Our Plumber is nearly done and the wiring is on hold until the plumbing has been inspected. I have installed a trap door that gives us access to our crawl space from inside the cabin. This access door should come in handy during bad weather.

The danger of forest fires has been high all spring. The sandy soil in our area sucks any moisture up right away, leaving the underbrush very dry.We have missed a campfire so badly, that we purchased a free standing fire pit with a screen so that we can safely have a fire. We have all the firewood we will ever need right on our property, so we can now enjoy the glow of a campfire whenever we want to. Here is a photo of the trial run, before we put the screen on top.

I also took some time to take a few photos of nature with my Canon. I hope you enjoy these shots.




That's all for now...........Take Care

Work at the Cabin

Hi everyone.

Just a quick update today.

My Dad and I went to Michigan this past weekend and got several chores done.

We installed an attic storage space 8 feet x 12 feet. No easy task lifting those sheets of plywood!

We also framed a wall in the kitchen and started putting up outlet boxes. We had a great time and my Dad got to see the area. I am not sure if I will go up next weekend.

Some not so good news concerning Sue Ann's parents. Her Dad had surgery on Monday of this week to repair an Abdominal Aneurysm. The surgery took 6 hours and the recovery process has been horribly painful for John. He is doing better today. Sue Ann and her Sister, Wynn are with him and also caring for Vivian, John's wife. Vivian is holding up well. Please keep them in your prayers.

I am sole caregiver of the Beagles for a few weeks. They miss Mom badly.

Later,
Randy

Happy Mother's Day to you Sue!

Happy Mom's Day to you from Randy.

I love you!

Mother's Day Weekend

Hi All,

We are staying home in Indiana this weekend. We have been busy with several Ossian based projects and we look forward to spending the day with my Mom and sisters tomorrow.

I have been busy planning the Electrical layout of our cabin. The Plumber will start next week and he should be done in a few days. So that will put the ball in my court, so to speak. I hope to be traveling up to MI next weekend to start running wiring. I may take a couple days of vacation so that I can get a good start. We spent a few hours today picking out ceiling fans and lighting fixtures.
I have to be very frugal on wiring because of the high price of copper wire. I paid $80 for one 250 foot spool of wire this week. And that is just a small amount compared to what I will need later. I framed in the shower stall last weekend and ran addition outlets for construction purposes. I spent some quality time down in our crawl space under the cabin. It has a very small door, that I have to back into while on my hands and knees. I have ripped out the crotch on 2 pair of jeans so far.
I may need to go in naked the next time to save on the cost of jeans.
We were the only people on our road last weekend so it was very quiet and peaceful.
We also had some free time to explore the area. We were advised to not leave our newly purchased bird feeder out at night due to bear problems! YEEHAWW! BEARS!
We visited the nearest lake (5 miles away) and we were pleasantly surprised to find a very nice boat ramp and crystal clean water. There is a State Campground on this lake and Trout fishing is available there.
We found out where we can dump our garbage and that the cost is included in out taxes.
We also ate at a very nice restaurant in Lewiston MI. We were seated at a table overlooking a very beautiful lake that is supposed to be full of Pike and Musky and Walleye. I can hardly wait to have time to fish!

Here is a photo that Sue Ann took after I finished the shower framing.
Later
Randy

Cabin Update

Hi,
We closed on the cabin Saturday, the 26th, so we are officially the owners, and the contractors. It was very exciting to walk out of the brokers office and head back to OUR cabin!
We did stop for a celebration beverage, but just one.

We met our new neighbors, on both side of us. Together we all own the road and share the responsibility of maintaining it. Our first group decision was to investigate installation of a gate at the end of our road. This gate will hopefully eliminate any traffic down our way. It is a dead end, gravel road about 1/8 mile long.

We met with 3 Plumbing contractors on Sunday before we drove home. We have now chosen one and he will begin the rough plumbing next week. I decided to pass on the plumbing and do the Electrical myself. What would take me several weekends to accomplish can be done by an experienced plumber in 2 days. Not worth the time and gas it will take to drive up there every weekend.

We have parked the RV up in MI for the next few months and it will serve as sleeping and eating quarters while we toil away. We took the Beagles along on this recent trip. Here is a photo of the RV, cabin and Beagles.

We are going up again this coming weekend to do some framing in the bathroom and to add another electrical outlet for the sub contractor. We will also do some shopping for a heating stove. That should be fun.

By the way, in light of the soaring gas prices, I have purchased a second car that runs on water. It will save us a few bucks.

Not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just checking to see if you are paying attention:)

Bye for now,

Randy

Finally Feels Like Spring

Hi,

It's Saturday morning and we are getting ready to tackle a list of chores. Nothing too exciting. I think we have to return a painting to the Library and make a run through Walmart. We have been checking out paintings from the Library all winter. They are full sized, framed prints that we have been hanging over our fireplace mantle. We get to enjoy them for 2 months and then we return them and choose another. It's been fun.

We will close on the Cabin in Michigan next Saturday. That's exciting for us, as we are really pumped about starting the Plumbing work. That's the next step towards finishing out the interior of the cabin. We will take the RV up with us, and leave it there for a few months. It will serve as our sleeping and eating quarters this summer. We found out yesterday that the cabins on either side of us are now sold. So we are anxious to meet our new neighbors. It will be fun to hear about their plans and compare them to ours.

Not much else to report. The coming week will be busy, as we prepare for next weekend. We intend to load the RV down with building tools and supplies. We are also planning on taking Beagles with us so it will be a fun packed trip! Sue Ann will follow me with the Jeep. Then we can leave the RV and drive the Jeep home next Sunday.

That's what's happening right now. Have a safe week everyone!

PS

I noticed a Robin nesting in our big Pine tree in the front yard of our Ossian home.
I took a few quick photos before the light went away. Here is one of them.

Staying home this weekend!

For the first time in a month, we are not traveling north to Michigan.
Closing on the cabin will probably be next Saturday. So we intend to pack the Jeep full of tools and materials for use on the cabin and drive up there on Friday night. I have spent a few hours walking around in the local building supply stores. I am taking written and mental notes about all the areas involved in the finishing of our cabin. I have not made up my mind about how much of the impending work to do myself. We need to provide all of the plumbing, electrical and finish carpentry in order to complete our cabin. I believe I am capable of doing all this work, but how long it would take is another matter. We would like to be done with all this work in one year. But, if I do it all myself, then one year seems too aggressive.
I may have to farm out some of the work. If I had to choose what to sub out today, I would choose the plumbing. I say this because I am still not confident that I understand all the codes associated with Plumbing. I have come to realize that correct plumbing plans are critical. If you mess up on the plumbing, the results can be ugly. Drains are the tough part. Proper venting is very important. If you get it wrong, you end up with a slow flushing toilet, and stinky odors in the house. Not to mention clogged drains. I don't want this to happen, so I am thinking of going with a plumber for this part.
I have more confidence in the Electrical area. Plus I have the added benefit of advise from my Dad and my brother in law, Steve. My Dad is a retired Electrical Engineer. Steve has done a lot of wiring on his own projects. I feel fine about tackling this myself, with their advise and help. Inside carpentry is the part I look forward to. That involves putting up the interior wall coverings, framing and installing kitchen and bathroom cabinets and all interior doors, etc.
We are planning on using Knotty Pine throughout the entire cabin. No drywall! We want to capture the "up north" cabin feeling.

Looks like I have some chores to do here at home also. The grass needs to be mowed, and the shrubs could use some attention.
It's going to be a very busy summer.
Bye for now.

Gamblers Weekend in Michigan

What a wonderful weekend we enjoyed. Good weather, good company and great times.

I'm referring to our overnight getaway trip to Soaring Eagle Casino in Mt Pleasant, MI.

We departed, on time, from Fort Wayne at 8:00 am on Saturday morning, and returned Sunday afternoon at around 2:00 pm.

The RV performed well, we ate well, and we all were relatively comfortable.

Mom made a batch of her famous Rice Crispy Treats! A select few were even winners at the Slot Machines.

My Mom was the big winner with enough Nickle Slots action and luck to take home some cash, including enough money to pay for the boarding of her sweet doggy, Lucy. Congrats to you Mom! The fact is, we all won because it was a great weekend!

Thanks to my sisters and Mom for agreeing to go along and put up with some tight quarters for the sleepover. Can't wait for the next trip.

Here are some photo highlights.

Steve is our Pilot for the trip home. Normally he is flying Lear Jets. What a switch!

Proof that the RV is well constructed!

Soaring Eagle trip tomorrow!

Tomorrow morning a few of my family members and Sue Ann and I will take a drive up to Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort. It is located in Mt. Pleasant Michigan, about a 4-5 hour drive.
I know we will have a great time even if none of us are big time gamblers. Can you imagine 7 people sleeping in a 31 foot motorhome? Yikes, I think sleeping is a stretch. Maybe just having laughs and a good time is what we will get. I hope so. I will report on the trip later.
I am off to Austin Texas on Monday morning. This is for company business. I don't return home until Thursday. I will miss Sue Ann and the kids.

Soon we will be going back up to our cabin to close on the deal. Then the fun really begins. One of the first tasks is to acquire permits for Plumbing and Electrical from the local County Building Commission.

By then, I hope to be up to speed on the necessary plumbing skills that are required to begin the work.

I will need to plan our trips this summer carefully, so that no time is wasted standing around trying to decide what to do next.

I worry too much. Always have.

Hope the warm weather starts soon. It is cold and wet today.
Here are a couple photos of the interior of the cabin. You can see that it's not ready for occupancy yet!

One of several deer that hang out on our property. Locals say that we will grow to dislike the deer. I can't imagine that.

Maybe the Beagles will keep the deer in check!

An Old Dream Comes True

I have had a dream since I was about 18 years old. The dream was to own a piece of property in Michigan. I had already fallen in love with Michigan, thanks to my parents, who took our family on vacation there every year. My Grandfather had a cabin up there, and I've always wanted to do something similar. The idea in my head was to keep this place simple and cozy. A getaway in the north woods.

Well, this weekend my wife and I were able to purchase this dream spot. I am a very lucky guy, to have a wife who is willing and ready to help me realize what has turned into our dream. Sue Ann and I have purchased a log sided cabin in the Grayling, Michigan area. It is called a cabin shell, because the interior is not finished. I am looking forward to doing the finish work myself. It is an 864 square foot, (2) bedroom cabin that sits on 2.5 acres. The nearest town is called Lovells. The cabin has a finished well, and septic system. Power is run to the inside. My/our job will be to wire and plumb the cabin, then finish the interior to our liking. It may take a while, but we are really excited about getting started.

The cabin is in Ausable River country. There are several small State Parks in the area and a couple nice fishing lakes. We have seen deer by the herd, for the last two weekends, while were were looking at the area. We have also seen Bald Eagles in the immediate vicinity. Sue Ann took several photos of an Eagle, as we sat in the car at a bridge over the river.

So now the work begins. We will be making trips to Michigan on a regular basis, and this year's vacations will be working vacations up north!

We are really excited about this new adventure. I will keep you posted on our progress towards completion of the cabin.

Report on the trip to Grayling

It's Easter morning and we are back home. We got back last night at around 9:00. We would have been home earlier but we stopped for dinner at a nice place in Auburn, Indiana, called "The Munchie Emporium". Pizza and Beer!

Backup Randy............we left for the trip to Michigan on Friday morning at 7 AM. The weather was fine. No storms as predicted. The trip to 4.5 hours with a stop for lunch included. It was a nice drive with very little traffic. As soon as we got into Grayling, we realized that the Motel we had booked online was not too convenient to the main part of town. We switched to the Days Inn and it is very nice by the way.

By 1:ooPM were on the hunt, using out Garmin Nuvi, to locate three of the bare ground properties we wanted to see. First was a 1 acre lot that I had hoped would be nice, due to the price. Well, no luck there. The lot was not very nice. It was split right through the middle by utility right of way power lines. I was disappointed and to top it off, I got the Jeep stuck in 10" of crusty topped snow. The owner of this property had a small lean to shed with a shovel inside. I used the shovel to dig out. I was pooped and winded by the time I rocked the Jeep out of the driveway. I don't like Snow any more!

So, we were on our way again to see 2 more lots. We met the owner of the second parcel of 1.5 acres. He came over from his Mobile Home parked next door, to retrieve his dog. The dog had been outside and barked at us as we were tromping around on the lot. He was very nice and after I asked him several questions about the area, he divulged that he owns the lot we were interested in. His trailer is also for sale next door. The lot is nice, but too close to the people on either side for our liking.

Off we went to find the third property on our list. But, we could not find it. We later found out the listing address was not correct. By this time we were pooped and we decided to call it a day and find someplace for dinner.

We chose a nice little bar & grill in Grayling called "The Keg and Nails". Good sandwiches and friendly atmosphere.

That was it for Friday.

Saturday morning we met with a realtor at her office and off we went to see several properties. We looked at an old cabin that had very low ceilings and a sagging roof for $43,000. I cracked my head on the main sagging beam! On the floor laid a metal jack post the the owner has been using in the living room to keep the roof up! I would have at least hidden the jack post!

Not interested!!!

After looking at a couple lots near a big lake outside of Grayling, we moved on. We liked the area, but it is pretty congested.

The last property of the day was a Gem for us. Here are a few photos of the place we fell in love with. It's an unfinished cabin shell on 2.5 acres. It's very peaceful and remote. It is a 25 minute drive northeast of Grayling. As we were standing outside of the cabin, 2 Bald Eagles soared into view. We could hear them screeching. Wow, was that wonderful to see.

The cabin would take a lot of work on our part. I would do all the electrical, plumbing and finish carpentry inside. The cabin has a new well and septic installed. Electic power is run inside to a power panel. Interior walls are framed, but thats it. The rest would be up to us.
Not sure if we can swing this place but we are giving it serious thought.

Time to unpack the suitcase and get back to reality!

On the Road Again

Tomorrow morning (Good Friday) we hit the road to Michigan. We will end up in the Grayling area. Saturday morning we meet with a local Realtor to view some properties.
We are scheduled to see 3 to 5 properties depending on how the first couple go.
First on the list is a 1.1 acre lot with lots of trees and no improvements. It is the least expensive property that we have been interested in seeing.
Second is a similar plot of ground at 2 acres. This one has an Association that requires dues of $150 per year. For that fee you get Snow removal, Access to the Ausable River, Access to a club house and a Pool.
Third is a cabin that's quite old but the photos seem to interest us so we will take a looksee.
The other property is a 2.5 acre plot with a new cabin shell on it. It is very nice looking, but would require a lot of finish work and $$$.
I will report back with photos early next week.
The weather report for tomorrow has 4-6 inches of snow possible for northern Indiana. Hope that is wrong.
We are both excited to have a look around in the Grayling area. I estimate a 5 hour trip.
Happy Easter to all.

Report on the first Garmin Nuvi Trip

Well, we just returned from a 625 mile round trip to Centralia, Illinois. We used our new Garmin NUVI 350 GPS device for the entire trip, and followed it's recommendations to the letter.

We are amazed at the accuracy this device has. It took us on a route through Indianapolis that we had not used before. We always had plenty of warning before the next exit or turn. We used it's extensive data base of information to find fuel, food, and rest areas.
I give this device an A+ for ease of use and accuracy! I estimate that the NUVI saved us about 15 minutes of drive time, each direction, over our usual route.
Plus it's kind of entertaining to see the points of interest on the flowing map along the route.
Thanks Garmin.

In Centralia

We are in Centralia Illinois this weekend. Sue Ann's Dad turned 83 years old this past week.

We are here to celebrate. We had a wonderful steak dinner last night and homemade Angel food cake.

Here is a photo of John Connaway and Sue Ann. Thanks to Sue Ann for a wonderful celebration dinner!

Garmin GPS Report

Last night we used the new NUVI 350 GPS for the first time. We asked it to show us the route to a favorite Italian restaurant of ours. The device had the restaurant listed in it's extensive memory. I have the voice commands set to an Australian accented woman. Sue Ann calls her Nicole, after Nicole Kidman. "Nicole" guided us, turn by turn, right to the restaurant. Cool!
After a very nice meal, I set our home as the destination. But, I purposely made a couple wrong turns to see how the devise reacts. Wow, it's amazing. Within 10 seconds after we passed the missed turns, the unit recalculated a new route and told me the next turn that would get us to our destination. It did not mess up either.
I am really impressed with the power of this device.

New Toy!

My wife surprised me this afternoon with a Garmin NUVI 350 GPS. I have wanted one for quite a while, but it was not high on the list of things we need to spend money on. Wow did she surprise me with this present. I will report on this unit later. It should come in handy on a couple trips we have planned for the next 2 weekends. One to Illinois and the other to Michigan.
Later.