Last Day Of Vacation

The Reinert family reunion, which we've planned for a year, is all over now. I'd say it went very well. Unfortunately I forgot my camera yesterday, so I have no pics. But everyone seemed to enjoy the change in venue (it's almost ALWAYS in Heritage Park). We held it in a smaller park on the other side of Frankenmuth. And despite fears of running out of food, we had more than enough. We fed roughly 50 people, and still took home bags of smoked pulled pork (pork shoulders smoked here at home and then braised for hours by Tim), buns, baked beans, cole slaw, corn on the cob, pasta salad and grilled bratwurst. And there were enough desserts there for a small army. Good thing I made a double batch of butterhorns, because after I pushed them, I mean offered them to people to take with them, I didn't end up bringing any home. People were getting into them before dinner was served (always a flattering thing to see). And they were deemed just as good as Aunt Selma's. Although there is the running debate over the optimum choice of nut to use: the hickory nut (hard to find, but solidly traditional among the old-timers) or walnuts, which is my preferred nut. Another tip I learned for future batches is to not let them rise so long and get so big.

Tom and Josie are on their way back to Arizona now, and John and Diana and the kids are on the road back to Pennsylvania. We're all scattered again for a few years. I am kind of sad to see the whole whirlwind week come to an end. But: we have tentative plans for a white-water rafting trip in the Grand Canyon next summer with Tom and Josie, and ideas for future camping trips with John and family.

Today, Tim and I are going to take part in two 'normal' hot weather activities: Going out to see a movie (Ratatouille!) and have nothing but ice cream for dinner.

The digital thermometer just hit 90.0F!!

A few images from this last week:


Rainy sky over Lake Michigan beach


Little Sable Lighthouse


Climbing Silver Lake sand dunes. This is part of the largest freshwater dune system in the world. Tim's 80-something parents suprised us by climbing these monstrosities with us.


A walk in the (mosquito-filled) woods near the campground.


A dune-buggy ride. These things seat 20-30 people, and they take you on a 45-minute roller-coaster ride up and down the dunes, and onto the beach of Lake Michigan. Jenna (the cute little imp in the center) shouted to her dad to put down his arms while we were careening down a hill because it would 'slow us down'.


Acres and acres and acres of ripe cherries abound in western Michigan. How can you resist cramming handfuls into your mouth (and then spitting the pits)??