MEANDERING MOOSE

     It is with a tear in my eye that I have to announce that this will be the last blog post of the MEANDERING MOOSE.  As I alluded in my prior post there have been some life changing events in 2018 which altered the course of our path.  2018 has been the most wonderful year of our lives as well as one of the worst years of our lives.      The year started on an ominous note as Nancy just got out of the emergency room with a pulmonary embolism; a major life threatening issue!  Then, in January, some of the best news of our lives happened; the birth of Darynn Rae Ransom, our first granddaughter!!!  This beautiful child proved to be the light of our lives considering the events to follow. Darynn Rae Ransom      In March Nancy lost her mother, a beautiful women and a perfect mom.  We loved her so much and this loss was devastating.  I had known her since I was16 years old and I cannot tell you how much this ...

     "Pardon me Roy, is that the cat that chewed your new shoes" … ... substitutes for these  lyrics : "Pardon me boy, is that the Chattanooga Choo-Choo?" from 1941 hit song "The Chattanooga Choo-Choo."  So I think it's pretty obvious where our next stop was after we left Connecticut in late September. The Chattanooga Choo-Choo.      Our 4 week tour of Connecticut became a lot more than our typical "visit the family" trip.  It ended up being extended by an additional 4 weeks as my mother suddenly announced that she was selling her home and moving into an independent care facility!  Coming from somebody who swore that she would never leave her house, this was quite a shocker.  This resulted in my brother Bill, his wife Joyce, Nancy and I having to clean out my mother's house, put it on the market and move her into her new digs.  My mother's new situation combined with a lot of other surprises, which I will discuss in my ne...

     The variety of beautiful stuff offered by Michigan's Upper Peninsula keeps on "wowing" us.  Our next stop on the U.P. was the town of Munising.  This quaint little town is the most tourist oriented of all the towns we visited on the U.P. and for good reason as it is the home base of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  This fantastic park has it all--spectacular waterfalls, great hikes, interesting sand dunes, beautiful beaches, but the highlight feature is the towering "painted" cliffs along the park's shoreline.  There is only one way to view the highlights of this park and that is on the water.  Although kayaking may be the favored on-water activity, we opted to take the boat tour as it travelled for many miles along virtually all of the famous pictured rocks area. Munising Falls. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. 3 Photos of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore      The pictured rocks are huge sculpted cliffs...

One of Nancy's creations from U.P. Rocks.      We finally made it to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan a.k.a. the "U.P."  People from the U.P. are referred to as "Yoopers" by those living in the Lower Peninsula.  Not to be ignored, the Yoopers refer to the residents of the Lower Peninsula as "Trolls" as they live below the Mackinac Bridge which connects the 2 peninsulas and forms the State of Michigan.  Since we stayed in the U.P. for well over a month I guess we were temporary Yoopers. These 2 photos are of Copper Peak Ski Flying Hill.  It is no longer in use and is now a tourist attraction.  In order to get to the peak you need to ride a ski lift to the summit of the hill, then take a 16 story elevator to the lower staging area, then walk 8 stories to the top.  The final 8 stories hang in space, sway in the wind and are enclosed by wire fencing  with open, grated metal steps.  It was way too freaky for me but Nancy ...