Golfing, Biking and Felling

On this Tuesday we decided to slip out to visit a bigger city, so we could see more cheap wonders of the american stores. After a lengthy hour long drive we arrived in Traverse city. Best-Buy was an experience, being asked at least 8 times whether I could be helped by assistants, bit of a contrast to any store in the UK. Despite being severely tempted by the prospect of a cheap tablet to replace my kindle, I resisted. Barely... Instead I satisfied myself with a Bagel... 

Mmm... big apple

...although a far cry from a gadget, the quality was excellent. Bagels are a tasty treat that I thoroughly approve of from American cuisine. After that point it was time to get serious. We were going to go play some golf. We were to play two rounds of 18 holes, the courses having low pars of 36 and 41, there being some rather extreme water hazards present and some extreme hill climbs and slopes. Of course... I am speaking of pirate adventure golf. The course was impressive, with a fantastic set and background.

And the Golf Pro lines up the shot...

Despite doing well initially, sinking the first few par twos with ease, things rapidly went worse for me, Jen taking a lead. But due to a series of bad luck I managed to pull back the first game. In the second, despite getting two hole in ones, I didn't do so well. Still... a rather fun way to spend an evening. Especially before the big trip the next day...

Visit to Mackinac Island

An early start to the day, marking our hour long journey to the ferry to 'Historic Mackinac Island', a local tourist attraction Jen promised was a treat. As we boarded the ferry with our bikes there were completely blue skies. Before long, it was full steam ahead with some amazing views of the 2600m long Mackinaw bridge crossing the two great lakes 

Mackinaw Bridge

After we departed the ferry we started to cycle round the island. 10 miles in circumference the island was very picturesque, with flat roads. No cars are permitted on the island, making the ride pleasant and safe. There were pretty beaches, clear waters, and old buildings, dating from the 19th century. It was great to be able to cycle in such clean and fresh air. A real change from the cough inducing atmosphere in Manchester... (and my bike worked for a change too!)

Amazing clear waters seen in the great lakes

We then stopped off at the main town and wandered up to the fort on the island. Due to the islands position between two of the great lakes it had some strategic value. It featured mainly in the 1812 war, a war almost no one remembers in Britain. This is largely due to the fact it happened alongside the Napoleonic wars, and ended in 1815 with the same territory both sides started with. It was interesting to see the re-enactments there, including the cannon firing! It was also good because the British both took and held the fort from the Americans.

OPEN FIRE!

We watched some local girl scouts change the flags, and then cycled further up into the hills. The view from the highest point was very nice, and after taking someones photo we got into the chat about the UK with some Americans. We've had this several times by this point... and people vary from being curious about where you're from to asking details about the olympics!

The town as viewed from the fort

Finally we had some time to spare before getting the ferry. And we spent it buying fudge. Of course we had to try all of the flavours first too.... we only got three after all... My favourite was the blueberry fudge. The sweetness of the fudge went very well with the bitterness of the berries. We left the island and went home.

Chilling and Felling Trees

After such active days it was decided that we would have a day off. So what did I do? I cut down some trees!

TIMBBEEEEERRR!!!!

Hopefully I'll get some fun things made from the trunks, and I'll upload the pictures. Whether they are epic win or epic fail! 

I got wood

Although I've been having increasing jet lag problems, hopefully I'll keep up to date on any of my exploits! 

Still in America

Lovely forest outside the shack!

As the sun rose next day, and we ate our coffee and dohnuts we learned that it was to be a scorcher of a day... a perfect day to run an jump in one of the local lakes. So... we jumped on the quad.

Jen ridin' on the quad

I jumped behind jen passenger seat, and off we went, back into the woods, trailing along dusty tracks and through the woods (taking care to drive on the right of the road). The bike skidded and twisted through the woods, until we arrived at the tranquil private lake Elizabeth. Despite the 35 degree weather the water was refreshingly cool as we went for a dip in the fantastically clear water. Its quite impressive compared to water in the UK where the lakes at their best are.... green. Here you could even see the bottom. After a bit of a swim we headed over to the nearby golf club....

The Golf Clubhouse

The clubhouse offered a refreshing selection of beers. And you do have to be careful about the beer you choose in America. In the UK - if you want a beer that isn't say Carlsberg, carling ect (so Bud, Bud light, Coors ect here), you choose the one on the pump. But all beer is bottled here... So after consuming a couple of blander beers I found what you need to ask for is craft beers. These are brewed similar to microbreweries in th UK, and have all the variation you would expect. After the beer we wandered back from the Golf course, going out for dinner, and watching films. Unusually I've had to take the small food option in the states, so large are the portions...

Golf Course - different to the UK. Why? No rain!

Off in the Woods... Again

Another sunny day led to the question... where should me and jen explore today? And jen took me to one of her favourite places... Hartwick pines. This is a state park consisting of wood land that was not felled in the early 20th century. As such there are much older, and bigger trees in the forest here. It seemed a more natural forest

Natural Pine forest

This was essentially how America does the National Trust. There were exhibits on history, people in period costume ect. The only difference was it cost $10 for an annual pass. For a whole car of people. To our good fortune it was also a 'black iron day'...

A blacksmith under his Gazebo

This was like your typical re-enactment day in the UK, although with significantly less actual history. You could watch blacksmiths at their work, making trinkets (or knives) out of iron for you to buy. What was interesting was how much people interacted with the history though. Although this was but a small part of the culture back in the time, you had as many as ten or twenty smiths just from the local area. These aren't just people who are paid to re-enact - they live as full smiths, providing ironwork for locals. It would be interesting to see what would happen if British history interacted in the same way. Would we see more Roman mosaics in contemporary housing? More chandeliers in our homes? Or just more grand tapestries?

Walk in the woods

After that we went for a nice walk in the woods. Sun shining above. Carefully watching for more wasps! But fortunately there was no nest in sight. After a rather pleasant wander we headed back. And on the way we stopped for some beers...

Yes.... more Boddingtons Pub Ale

.. and some fluorescent superman ice cream...

SUPERMAN - now with bonus e numbers

Relaxing Monday

On Monday we paid a casual visit to Jens grandparents. Whilst there we played on some retro pinball machines, and then had a quick dip in the lake. There were fish everywhere whilst we we swam, and I could feel the minnows swimming through my leg hair... This was a general day of relaxing...

Soon to be continued...

In America

Hi all, if you're reading this you are either wondering where I have vanished, curious about what I've been doing or just plain bored at work! I will attempt to document some of my exploits in america (fully complimented with pictures!)

First Few Days...

Flying over was about as painless as could be expected. By which I mean, fairly inconvenient and being forced to wait in queues. Despite fumbling at the border security after accidentally saying I didn't have a job 'yet'... we managed to arrive into beautiful Traverse City Michigan. A sunny and very pleasantly warm Michigan. Being severly jet-lagged we retired fairly quickly... the next day would be the true start to the holiday

First Day

The next day I was treated to the true American breakfast. Unlimited coffee (to help with the jet lag) toast and sausages (because I was hungry) and half a plate of hash browns (because... weeeelll....). A very satisfying and tasty breakfast. After that we wandered down to a farmers market and I discovered some of the differences in price of food. There was corn on the cob available for $3 a dozen... large home made pies for $8 and other fantastic treats. As well as the sight of my first Hill Billy. 

Very shortly afterwards we returned to Jen's parents 'Shack in the Woods', my home for the upcoming three weeks. And its certainly a pretty place, although a bit bigger than a shack, featuring a hot tub, air conditioning and a whole series of comfy communal areas. Yes.  Definitely not a shack.

Jens House

After having a little go in the hot tub (well who wouldn't) we decided to go off and explore the local area. We walked down the stairs visible in the picture. Straight past a nest of bald faced hornets. As they buzzed and stang I'm not proud to say that I might have screamed like a little girl... and made a rapid retreat back into the house, nursing a large number of stings. Me and Jen cowered on the couch in the corner for the rest of the afternoon, whilst Jens dad bravely went forth to tackle the nest with a hose.

One of the nasties that attacked us: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald-faced_hornet

And so ended the first day...

After recovering from the wasps...

On the second day of holiday my dear Jen took me to, a Wall-mart and canoeing. And whilst we were there we admired the selections of bikes, guns, and pet fish. Which was an interesting combination to have in one store, and one you would definitely not see in the UK. What impressed me was not just the size - the building was similar in size to a hypermarket - but also that the density in which stuff was packed was comparable to a UK supermarket. A truly monumental amount of stuff in a small space. Despite it being big and evil, we were drawn in by its low low prices... 

This was not the best part of the day, however. The highlight was definitely canoeing along the glorious Au Sable River...

Not my photo, but an excellent example of the river

... imagine gently rowing down a slow winding river. Clear blue skies. 30 odd degrees. Fantastically clear clean water, and the sound of the local wildlife. (Including drunk Americans who kept on falling out of their canoe). A cooler of beer in the back, to drink whilst paddling. It was a truly blissful afternoon, which led on to a relaxing evening eating huge burritos in a local bar.

Adventures in more big stores

After a fairly exhausting day, it was decided that me and Jen should embark on a slightly more local adventure. After customary coffee and (cinnamon coated) donuts in the shack we headed off to home depot.

Omnomnomnomnom... coated do-nuts go so well with coffee

It is a real shame that we don't have stores like this in the UK. For a fraction of the price this store had a huge selection of fun toys for any men. We went in for hacksaw blades, but I couldn't resist buying some rope for scouting activities. And I could have just as easily brought back power tools, or gardening equipment for my house in Manchester. Purely because it was about half the price of B&Q for so many items...

And it would need to be a double poilaroider

Then we went to Bob Evans. And I paid $8, and I got a mamouth breakfast...

That is 2 sausage patties, fries, 2 eggs over easy, and 3 pancakes with golden syrup...

Feeling rather stuffed despite not being able to manage all three pancakes, we headed back to the shack. And whilst there we started playing with Jens quadbike. After much effort, we got it started, and we went for a quick spin round the golf course next to the house. It was... rather thrilling... should I say. Dirt tracks and more fantastic forest. And that was but our first adventure on the quad. 

To be continued to up to date tomorrow....