Michigan 2011

Another wonderful and exciting vacation in Michigan. Marco joined us again this year for a week up at Elk lake. It was going to be different this year without Granny. She was thought of often throughout the week.

We got to the lake just before Deanna and McKinley got there, so I could rub that in.

Sunday morning we got up and got some stuff done before our trip to Lake Michigan to fish with Captain Ed.

The weather was beautiful and we were all excited about the limit of trophy fish we were going to bring back with us. Captain Ed was ready to go after the introductions of the new people in the group. We got to set sail in his updated boat for the first time.

We went about ten miles out to catch our fish. We trolled for a few hours with no luck. It wasn't the Captains fault as he had every line he owned in the water and fish were on the finder. I think it was the storm coming in. It felt a little like Gilligan's Island as a storm came in and our little ship was tossed. We did manage to catch one Salmon as we were reeling in all of the lines. We went through a major rain storm on the way in to the shelf. We set the lines out again, but the waves were getting bigger and bigger. Lora didn't appreciate the waves and got a little sea sick. We ended up calling it off as the weather was beating us down.

We slept in Monday morning for a little bit and then we got the chores done before doing the vacation relax thing. We went out on Elk lake and Marco caught his large mouth. We had a campfire that night and watched the stars.

Tuesday the girls went shopping and the guys worked on the dock. It was an overcast day with rain on and off. The dock had to be braced up and the bench repaired. When the girls got back we got into some Sequence games and then Smear card games into the night.

Wednesday was another relax day. We took a walk around the lake and then did some relaxing. We got the Corn hole game going. That night after dinner we went to the Ice Cream shop. They were not opened yet so we entertained ourselves learning to whistle with our hands and doing the snap clap dance. That evening the toilet backed up and it was time for another septic tank search. We found out that the drain field was going to have to be replace.

Thursday was the Canoe trip down the Manistee river. Betty, Steve and Kathy came up to join us. It was a great day on the river. It was hot enough that we did alot of swimming and did the picnic lunch. That evening we celebrated Betty's birthday with some banana splits. Another night around the fire.

Friday we had Mandy, Melanie, and Kim join us as well as Aunt Micki. It was a beautiful day at the lake. We went out for a fish dinner that night and came back for another campfire.

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