Tom's Work Retirement Party

Tom's work retirement party was on Oct. 24,2008 at the horse racetrack in Romulus. It was actually held in a tent next to the ractrack. We had a great time, good food, and fun. Tom really enjoyed seeing lots of oldtimers that came to the party. Tom's last day of work is Oct. 31. He keeps telling everyone that he can't wipe the smile off his face. I think he is REALLY excited about being retired. Hopefully he'll get his new job, so he'll have to enjoy his retirement quickly!

Tahquamenon Falls

Day 2 of our northern trip found us headed to ride the train and then the boat to Tahquamenon Falls. This was an all day trip. First we went to Soo Junction where we caught the Toonerville Trolley that wound us through the countryside of the UP. We didn't see any animals as it is already hunting season and the animals stay out of sight. We did see a bit of the fall colors though. After the 5 mile ride (1 way) on the train, we ended up at the Tahquamenon River and enjoyed our 22 mile ride (1 way)on the boat. We headed up the river to the Tahquamenon Falls. After we got as close as the boat could take us, we had to hike almost a mile to get to the actual Tahquamenon Falls. It was well worth the hike and the steep steps to see the falls. What a beautiful world we have! The train was a narrow guage one, and boy was it a bone jarring ride! The boat trip was fun...we even picked up a 6 year old girl that had to sit by us the WHOLE ride(because she wanted to sit by us instead of her grandparents)....she was a chatty little thing who got on Tom's last nerve....but at least she didn't do any hollering, just talking. All in all, it was a fun trip. And we would recommend it to everyone!

Mackinaw City & Mackinac Island

We got to spend 4 days up North at Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island and touring the U P. I'd finally convinced Tom that I REALLY needed to go to the island before we moved from Michigan. As it was the last weekend everything was open up in Mackinaw, we decided we better just go do it, thank goodness Tom still had 2 days of vacation. We had a great time and enjoyed our 4 days together, even Tom was glad that we went! My alltime favorite movie is "Somewhere in Time" (which was filmed on the island at the Grand Hotel). I was so excited to get to go through the hotel and enjoy "being" there! We also did the carriage ride around sections of the island and enjoyed visiting Ft. Mackinaw. It was really fun being in a place that has no automobiles! Besides horses, there are LOTS of bicycles. I don't think I've ever seen so many bikes in one place before. And boy can they get going FAST on those downhills! What fun we had watching all the horse drawn wagons/carriages carrying people, luggage, bales of hay, boxes, etc. around town. I didn't envy those guys that had the job of cleaning up after the horses! They really did do a great job at making sure the streets were cleaned up quickly and often! You can rent bikes, horses and even buggies! I don't think we could have gotten a horse pulling a buggy to even move, and I was sure I wouldn't get toooo far on a bike. The horse sounded like fun, but at $35 per 15 minutes, I couldn't afford it, and I was afraid I'd fall off!

There is a motorized ambulance and fire truck. Even the taxi's are horse drawn carriages. In the wintertime the residents who stay on the island do get to use snow mobiles and lots of winters the lake is so frozen they can ride the snow mobiles to St. Ignace and do their shopping! Sounds scary to me! There is also an airport on the island, but most people get to the island on the ferry boats, an 18 minute ride. If you ever get the chance to experience Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island, you won't regret it!

Job Opportunities

Tom has decided he wants to stay in the airline industry and has applied for a couple of jobs. One in Savannah, Georgia and one in Grand Junction, Colorado. Of course, we'd like to be able to just go to Grand Junction now (that's where we had wanted to retire to anyways), but it's not looking good for that job. He interviewed with Gulfstream in Savannah, Georgia and the posibility looks good for a job with them. We still won't know any details for a few weeks. It is possible that we will have to be in Savannah by the first part of December. We will keep you posted as we learn more.

Election Time is almost here again!

By now most of you, like me, are really tired of all the campaign ads on TV. Some of them are really irritating! I don't want to get on my soap box, nor do I want to endorse any candidate (we all have our opinions and I don't want to step on any toes). BUT... I do want to encourage EVERYONE to get out and vote for the candidate of their choice. IF you don't have a choice yet, PLEASE, PLEASE start paying attention and get knowledgeable! You also need to know who is running for your local office and know something about all propositions on your ballot! Your VOTE DOES COUNT!!!!